Best Character Meal with an Infant

[tigergrad]

Will be traveling to WDW with our DD, DSIL and DGS who will be 6 months old. Looking for suggestions for a character meal that would be appropriate for an infant - not sure how he might react to characters. Probably breakfast but lunch or dinner would be fine too.

 

[jlk806]

We took our 13 month old last year to Hollywood & Vine, Chef Mickeys, Donald's Safari Breakfast and Crystal Palace and he loved every minute and all the characters. I think if he seems frightened the characters will kind of keep a distance from him.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

I'm thinking the Garden Grill in EPCOT might work nicely. The restaurant revolves so there's something interesting to look at, you're in a private little booth area so it cuts back on the noise & when the characters come to your table it gave the appearance of you having them to yourselves.

So if you're concerned with overstimulation, that might be a good place for your first character meal to see how your little sweetie reacts to it

 

[HunnyJar]

I'm thinking the Garden Grill in EPCOT might work nicely. The restaurant revolves so there's something interesting to look at, you're in a private little booth area so it cuts back on the noise & when the characters come to your table it gave the appearance of you having them to yourselves.

So if you're concerned with overstimulation, that might be a good place for your first character meal to see how your little sweetie reacts to it

I totally agree with this. This was our daughter's first meeting with any of the characters and it was perfect! She took to all of the characters like a pro. It is a much more laid back restaurant compared with the party type atmosphere of Chef Mickey's. Loved everything about it. It was definitely the best choice for us for our daughter's 1st birthday! The characters spent quite a lot of time with her (multiple visits to the table, too!) and our server was very, very helpful and sweet. Can't wait to bring daughter #2 here next year for her first visit!

 

[Wild4Walt]

We took my 1 yr old neice to 1900 Park Fare for dinner. She was fine with everyone (Cindy, Prince, Step Sisters and Evil Stepmother ). Then we took her to Garden Grill and she freaked. Anything that looked like a giant stuffed animal set her off. We asked the characters to pass by - they would wave and she was OK with that but did not want them coming anywhere near her.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

We took my 1 yr old neice to 1900 Park Fare for dinner. She was fine with everyone (Cindy, Prince, Step Sisters and Evil Stepmother ). Then we took her to Garden Grill and she freaked. Anything that looked like a giant stuffed animal set her off. We asked the characters to pass by - they would wave and she was OK with that but did not want them coming anywhere near her.

That's what I was talking about in suggesting Garden Grill. If OP DGS who is only 6mos old (aww, I bet he's cute ) is afraid of the characters, at Garden Grill it's easy to wave them by. They'll still be all cozy in their booth with a calm baby & be able to still enjoy their meal. Whereas if at a noisier place like CM or CP, even if they wave the characters on, if the baby is scared he'll still see them at the next table & may be upset.

The talking (face) characters of Cindy, Prince, Alice, Mad Hatter is also a good suggestion but I was thinking more in terms of the non-talking ones for Garden Grill.

 

[griergirl2]

Our DD (17 months at the time) had the exact opposite problem of PP's...she LOVED the huge "stuffed" characters, but HATED princesses, etc (anyone that looked liked a real human). Who the heck knows why, but our Princess meals were terrible with her, but Ohana's and Chef Mickey's she was in awe and had a wonderful time! You just never know how they'll be

 

[quinnc19]

The other factor to consider is with which characters he is already most familiar. For example, if he likes Pooh books, Crystal Palace would be a good choice.

 

[rsmckale]

We ate at Crystal Palace in December, and a baby was dressed up as Pooh. Pooh played with him for 10-15 minutes. It was fantastic to watch. I highly recommend this character breakfast.

 

[KathyK]

We first went with my nephew when he was 18 months old. He was fine with face characters but freaked when anyone in a mask came over.

With my own kids, my older daughter loved characters on every trip. I remember her loving being fawned over by princesses when she was 11 months old, and running up to Pooh and hugging him when she was 15 mo. old. My yonger daughter had a fear of all characters until she was about 3. Though when we took her on her first trip (4 mo.), she wasn't really aware of what was going on to have a fear of anything.

So basically, all kids are different. But if the child is afraid of characters, you can seat the child away from the action, and let the characters know as they approach, and they will keep ther distance.

 

[Kathy Z]

All kids are different, that's for sure. Our son did not like Tigger at all when he was 5 but our daughter would have hugged the stuffing out of Tigger if that were possible (she was 7). She also had fun playing with Tigger's tail.

 

[pixarmom]

As many have already said, and for all the reasons they mentioned, Garden Grill is perfect for a baby/toddler/pre-schooler's first character meal!

 

[happycamps]

I also think Ohana for breakfast isn't bad - with our son, the noise level created the frustration - when we've been to Ohana for breakfast, the noice level was minimum and he loved it. Chef Mickey's is sooooo loud - if noises are a concern I wouldn't take my infant there.

 

[vinotinto]

I would choose a character meal that appeals to the adults. At 6 months, my kids would have been more entertained by the salt shaker on the table than by a "character". At that age, my kids also still took a nap from 9 - 10ish/11 am daily, so if I were booking breakfast, I would have booked it for 7:30 am if I wanted the baby to "participate" or book a lunch for 11:30 am (or simply assume the baby will sleep through it, which goes back to my point about choosing a breakfast that appeals to the adults). Also, there is a huge difference between what appeals to a 12-month old and a 6-month old. Lots of developmental milestones take place in those 6 months.