Avoiding characters at a character restaurant?

[tiredmom4]

I have a 2 year old who is timid. He's scared of a bear head on the wall that he's been seeing since he was born. (It is a paper mache that his brother made for school; it doesn't even look like anything.) I have Cape May booked for breakfast because we are staying at BC and my DS12 wants to eat a buffet breakfast in the hotel. He doesn't care about the characters. Does Disney have a system where you can put say a sign or something on the table so that the characters will bypass your table? Or should I ask the waitress? Or will they be insulted that I don't want to meet the characters?

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Although you'd have to go to a different resort for a meal, The Wave and Boma have excellent breakfast buffets without characters.

There is no automatic system to get characters to skip you, but I've found if I don't want to see a character, I just wave at them disinterestedly and they move on. Or I go to the buffet when they approach the area.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

They won't be insulted. Each character has a handler that will visit the table with them, just politely mention to the handler that your child is scared and they can move on to the next table. No biggie.

 

[mom2rtk]

They won't be insulted. Each character has a handler that will visit the table with them, just politely mention to the handler that your child is scared and they can move on to the next table. No biggie.

That's interesting. I've never had a handler with a character at a character meal. That said, even if it's just the character, they're pretty good at reading visual clues. A wave and a shake of the head should do the trick.

 

[alliecat523]

We’ve had handlers at Cape May and Chef Mickey’s. The characters themselves are very aware of scared kids. They won’t be insulted if a kid doesn’t want to interact.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

They won't be insulted, but, just know, even if they don't stop at your table, they will be walking around the restaurant and will stop at the tables next to you. Will this upset your 2 year old? You are also paying an extreme premium to eat a mediocre breakfast buffet because of the characters.

 

[bffdisney]

They won't be insulted, but, just know, even if they don't stop at your table, they will be walking around the restaurant and will stop at the tables next to you. Will this upset your 2 year old? You are also paying an extreme premium to eat a mediocre breakfast buffet because of the characters.

Agreed! The characters could skip you, but be 3 feet away at the next table.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Do you know for sure he won’t like the characters? Maybe something in particular about that paper mache Bear is scary to him. My 2 year old son is shy in new environments...he’s very outgoing once he gets comfortable. We took him to Disney at 18 months last year and I didn’t know how he would react to the characters. I was a little surprised when he absolutely loved them! I’d say give it a try and if he doesn’t like them, just wave and shake your head as others above have said.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If it gives you any encouragement, Cape May was my first solo character breakfast and I did not want to visit with the characters. No one said anything, yet they seemed to have mental telepathy. When the character came by, I’d give a little wave and so did they. Minnie blew me a little kiss. No visits. Another time I was braver and they knew to visit

 

[DisDreaming4116]

I think to at least give one character a shot. The CM's are very good at reading cues and deal with cranky, tired, happy, sad, etc. kids all day and do a great job with the interaction.

 

[Skippyboo]

If you’re not on the dining plan, Swan and Dolphin has a breakfast buffet without characters that would be closer than going over to Boma at AK. Hopefully the 2 year can handle seeing a costume character because it’s hard to totally avoid seeing them in the parks.

 

[tiredmom4]

They won't be insulted, but, just know, even if they don't stop at your table, they will be walking around the restaurant and will stop at the tables next to you. Will this upset your 2 year old? You are also paying an extreme premium to eat a mediocre breakfast buffet because of the characters.

I don't think my DS2 will mind seeing them from a distance, even if it's only a few feet away. He doesn't mind the bear head unless I put him really close to it. From about a couple of feet away, he will point at it with interest and not mind it. Back when my DS12 was 4 years old, we did a character meal for lunch where he met Pigglet. He was a big fan of Piglet at the time, but when Piglet approached him, he got really quiet. He let Piglet hug him and everything and even hugged back. Then afterwards he said, "Mama, why is Piglet so big??? On TV, Piglet is only this big (showed me his pinkie finger). Piglet is too big!" He complained about it for the rest of the day -- the rest of the year! I tried to explain but it did no good. I just don't to repeat that scene.

Yeah, I heard that character breakfasts are rather expensive, but DS12 wants to eat one buffet breakfast, and Cape May is right there, so it will be convenient for just once.

Do you know for sure he won’t like the characters? Maybe something in particular about that paper mache Bear is scary to him. My 2 year old son is shy in new environments...he’s very outgoing once he gets comfortable. We took him to Disney at 18 months last year and I didn’t know how he would react to the characters. I was a little surprised when he absolutely loved them! I’d say give it a try and if he doesn’t like them, just wave and shake your head as others above have said.

Certainly, I don't know for sure that DS2 will be scared of characters. I'm just getting prepared for in case he does. If it turns out that he loves them, so much the better. (He does have a huge human sized stuffed bear and he doesn't mind it one bit). Yeah, maybe the bear head is just too ugly, I don't know. That thing looks pretty bad, but I leave it up because my son is so proud of it.

Thanks, everyone, for such helpful advice! Now I know what to do.

 

[tiredmom4]

If you’re not on the dining plan, Swan and Dolphin has a breakfast buffet without characters that would be closer than going over to Boma at AK. Hopefully the 2 year can handle seeing a costume character because it’s hard to totally avoid seeing them in the parks.

I did not know about the Dolphin buffet breakfast. Thanks for the tip! Just changed the reservation. We don't have DDP, and it saves us $25! DS2 should be fine seeing characters from a distance, but if he isn't, I can comfort him and just walk away. Thanks again!

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

My niece was 2 when we took her in 2016. She was scared of the characters if they came close to her, so we put her at the "against the wall" seat of the table and all of us sat on the aisle seats. She waved to Goofy and Daisy as they came by, but they could tell she wasn't into getting a hug, etc. The other two kids, 5 and 8 at the time, loved meeting the characters. So, we had them stop at our table, but they left the toddler alone.

 

[Skippyboo]

I did not know about the Dolphin buffet breakfast. Thanks for the tip! Just changed the reservation We don't have DDP, and it saves us $25! DS2 should be fine seeing characters from a distance, but if he isn't, I can comfort him and just walk away. Thanks again!

Just discovered that the place serves lunch buffet as well. We will be eat there. Our family love buffets.

I believe you can also use a AAA discount if you have one at the non signature restaurants of the SwanDolphin.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Be aware that Garden Grove at the Swan does have characters at breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[Skippyboo]

Fresh Mediterranean Market at Dolphin has breakfast buffet and no character dining.