Advice for single parent of DD almost 3?

[LisaZoe]

My DD and I will be heading to WDW for the first time in mid-September. I now have the basics, hotel, flights and park ticket, as well as one character meal - the "storybook" one at Akershus with various princesses (I was too late for CRT, I guess). Now I'm just not sure what other restaurants/character meals to consider.

I'm thinking we'd enjoy the ice cream social and the luau at the Poly. Other than that, I'm not sure what I'm missing. We'll be there 8 nights so we can fit in a few special meals without leaving us overbooked. Oh yeah, we'll be doing a couple of the evening firework shows and parades but what "sit down" shows should we definitely see?

Also, would it be "too much" to bring special outfits for her to where to one or two special meals? For example, she has an "hula princess" set (my daughter's name for a set she wore to my sister's luau party in June - I made a grass skirt with matching leis for neck, head, ankles and wrists ) For the princess breakfast, I was thinking of making a princess dress/costume. Both could be slipped over her regular clothes so she wouldn't be hampered as we're visiting attractions before or after.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I want to make this a very special trip for both of us since it is our first to WDW and we probably won't be back soon (DL CA is so much closer for us that we'll go there more often, I imagine).

BWT - We'll be staying at WL if that should be considered in deciding things.

Thanks

 

[kelscross]

My girls will be almost three when we go this year. We are going to the luau as well. Chef Mickey's was a hit last year with them as well as Crystal Palace.

Chef Mickey's has Mickey and the gang and Crystal Palace has Pooh characters. Keep in mind that if your DD is still two when you go then she can eat at the buffets at no charge.

I like to have a lot of character meals that way we don't have to wait in line at the parks to see the main characters for autographs.

Enjoy this with your DD. Last year was the first time I had been with my girls and I got choked up several times seeing WDW through their eyes. It's amazing.

 

[fam4jc]

Hi. I sure hope you have a wonderful trip! how fun for the two of you!

Here are a few suggestions:

Keep some time to enjoy the resort pool. It's agreat way to break up your day before/after nap time.

Our girls wore their costumes to CRT but not to Storybook. It was just soooo hot they opted to wear princess regular dresses to the second breakfast.

We loved the Little Mermaid show at MGM, and the Figment Imagination ride at Epcot. That entire building in really cool. Lots of interactive activities.

We didn't do a Mickey meal our last trip and my girls missed it. So I would recommend trying to get into a meal with Mickey. There is Chef Mickey's at the contemporary and several others. Try looking on Allears.net at the character meal discriptions to select some others.

Fort Wilderness has a very nice petting zoo and pony rides. There is so much to do and see in WDW! Downtown Disney has a cool Leggo area. If you can manage it, take a boat ride and don't forget the monorail!

Feel free to ask any questions. We have 2 DD's and we all love Disney!

Shellie

 

[Barb D]

There's also a dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the mice at the Grand Floridian. The Fairy Godmother is in the lobby. Many, many of the little girls at the dinner the night we were there were dressed in full princess costumes. (My DD was in jeans and a princess T-shirt; I was wishing I'd at least brought her a princess hat or something.)

We also loved lunch with the Pooh characters at the Crystal Palace in MK.

You'll have a wonderful time. Just take it slow, take cues from your daughter, and take LOTS of pictures!

BTW, she may be fearful of the characters at first. My DD was at that age. By the end of the trip she was fine, though. It worked out well for us to have her first character meal with princesses, since they look more real.

 

[LisaZoe]

Thanks all. I'll definitely be researching the options listed.

I agree that having "face" characters for the first character meal is the right way to go. We have PS for the PSB our second morning (we're from Oregon so time difference will make early rising so much harder ). When we went to DL last Sept, she walked right up to Snow White but never did warm up to any of the other full costume characters. She says she wants to see Mickey and, in fact, asked if we'd have breakfast with him this morning I had to explain that we had to wait until we went to his home in Disney World.

I've tried to keep my references to our trip to a minimum because I know she doesn't understand why it can't happen now. However, it's tough as I love to see her face light up when she talks about riding the tea cups again. I don't know how we'll do on those this trip as at DL we had my sister, cousin and aunt to take turns riding that with her.

One other reason I'm going to try a few character meals is in hopes I'll be more easily able to get someone else to take some pics of us. We went on a cruise to Alaska 2 years ago (a birthday gift to myself ) and I don't have any pictures of me except the one taken by the ship's photographer on one of the formal nights (I think that was her first "full on" princess outfit - purple velvet, satin and tulle with ribbon roses and streamers)

 

[bode]

lisazoe,

me an dd will be there the 13th through the 18th. if we connect i will be more than happy to take pics of you guys.

we get there monday afternoon around 2 and we will be going directly to the pofq to check in then swim. then we will go to chef mickeys for a character dinner. i figure it will be a good thing to do so my dd can get used to the characters before we start in full swing.

i have also set up other meals as well figuring that this would give my dd the best contact with the characters.

maybe we will run into each other.

b