Boy's Character Breakfast

[Chameleon]

Is there any truth to the rumor that Disney will begin hosting a character breakfast for boys, including characters such as Buzz Lightyear, Woody, etc. ? I've heard the rumor numerous times, but Disney Dining is unable to confirm. If so, does anyone know where it will be held and when it will launch? Thank you.

 

[CMedley78]

I've heard this...There is supposed to be a Toy Story character breakfast at MGM in the Hollywood Brown Derby. There were postings on the employment website for people to play the characters. If I am not mistaken, I believe July is when they plan to launch the character breakfast.

 

[MJMcBride]

I had heard somewhere that that idea was canned. In fact, I had heard they are planning a different character breakfast at MGM, perhaps a JoJo's Circus deal.

 

[CMedley78]

That would stink, for lack of better terms. I would much rather see a Toy Story character breakfast. I'm really curious to see what the real deal is here. I am sure they'll keep us guessing for a while.
Colleen

 

[2Xited4Disney]

i belieeve i read on Jim hill that they could not use toy story because Buzz was too large to fit between the tables

 

[annie1995]

I had heard somewhere that that idea was canned. In fact, I had heard they are planning a different character breakfast at MGM, perhaps a JoJo's Circus deal.

I heard this too on intercot this morning. They are doing a playhouse disney character meal at hollywood and vine. Here is the article that came in my newsletter this morning.

Character Dining Returns to Hollywood & Vine Beginning June 25, 2006, Character Dining will return to MGM-Studios' Hollywood & Vine Restaurant. Guests can dine, get autographs, sing and dance with Playhouse Disney pals JoJo & Goliath, and June & Leo from Little Einsteins. The character dining experience is available for breakfast and lunch.

I would rather see another type of character more geared towards boys also.

 

[MJMcBride]

my son is 4 and my daughter is 2. Both like JoJo.

 

[Another Voice]

As the rumors go...

The original concept had been to use Woody and other Toy Story characters as the characters for the breakfest. There turned out to be a slight problem - none of the main Pixar charaters are "face characters", meaning that the costumed performer's face is visiable. Disney policy is that characters wearing masks can not speak, period. This turned into a problem since the reason the Princess meals are so popular is the characters can talk and interact with the children (for a five year old, there's nothing in the world that's better than Snow White saying your name). Another problem turned out to be the costume themselves - they're not exactly the size nor have the visibility to dodge between tables and all the screaming yard monsters.

The closest the Pixar crowd could get are the Green Army Men. They're not exactly what people want roaming the tables, so the breakfest began to evolve into more of show than what they do with the princesses.

Then John Lasseter showed up.

He is very, very, very, very protective of his characters (in exactly the same way Walt was) and was none to pleased that his beloved Woody was going to enslaved doing the pancakes and bacon bit. And there are many other areas where Mr. Lasseter and the Pixar crowd are having "chilly" relations with the rest of the Disney company.

It's unclear who pulled the plug on this character meal, but it seems that Pixar didn't want it more than WDW did want it. Hence, now the meal will feature Disney-owned characters that don't have a strong voice to protect them.

 

[MJMcBride]

Protect them from what?

 

[TinyLolitaBunny]

Protect them from what?

jsut repeateing the question. lol.

 

[Mickster]

I think to protect them from overexposure. Of course, it would be wonderful to have a boy oriented character meal and my family would totally love it to be Buzz and Woody, but I'm sure the Pixar folks might see it as demeaning for their "babies" to be at a breakfast or something. Just a thought...

 

[AdventurerKat]

I was disappointed when I heard this as well. My 6 y.o. and 3 y.o. would have loved Toy Story. I don't see the 6 y.o. grooving on Jo-Jo et al.

 

[Luv2Roam]

The Jo Jo breakfast plays in better with the new preschool marketing. That had to be a plus too.
If not TS, they could come up with a boy's theme character breakfast with other boy characters, including Indiana Jones, Alladin, Hercules, etc.

 

[mattmommy]

They totally forget about boys in their marketing. DS5 would love it. Do they forget parents of boys might have disposable income too? Maybe I won't buy a tiara, but you should have seen how much work was involved finding an Indiana Jones figure (very tough). And nice polo shirts? Practically non-existent. If I find any I buy them in a few sizes because I'll never see them again.

DISNEY -- WAKE UP!!! I have money to spend on my only child--a boy!!!

 

[MJMcBride]

Fellow jerseyian, I have to disagree with you here. Granted Disney Princesses is huge and not for Boys. But they've put out a lot of Pirates stuff recently. And lets face it, "Cars" is mostly for boys. And I just saw a whole bunch of nice polos at the Disney Store a couple of months ago. I got my 4.5 yr old a cool Mickey and Power Ranger polo. Plus, Narnia and Dash tees.

 

[dbm20th]

Protect them from what?

I can't speak for AV, but I have read alot about this too. I think that Lasseter wants to make sure that his charcters, especially Buzz and Woody, are used in only the absolute best manner. When he saw the plans for this, if AV's are accurate, he probably thought it half-hearted at best and didn't want his best creations to be seen in that showcase. As AV said, Walt would save Mickey for the best possible appearences. It is quite possible that Lasster will save Buzz and Woody for similar appearences, after all Buzz is RIDICULOUSLY popular with boys and they are both the sort of Icons of Pixar.

 

[annakris1973]

So why can't Disney do a "Hero's" breakfast and include Peter Pan, Aladdin, Herecules, Tarzan and other non-Pixar positive male characters? We did the Princess dinner last year at Epcot, and DD really enjoyed it- of course. It just left DS feeling a little awkward. Fortunately, for him...he had participated in the sword in the stone ceremony the day before. As each of the princesses came to our table, he would inform them "Hey, I pulled the sword out of the stone." Of course then the princesses would coo, and love all over him. Priceless, really. After all, what else is a 6 year old boy going to say to a princess?

 

[MJMcBride]

Hero's meal sounds pretty cool. They must have done some marketing research on "hero" meetings because they don't have a lot. For some reason the Princess deals are a big hit. Who knows. Having said that, I don't see the new Playhouse Disney breakfast as a "girl" thing, just more of a "toddler" thing.

 

[aLitlGoofy]

Why not the Power Rangers? My DS would love it!

 

[Mickster]

Or a Star Wars themed one? The Star Wars weekends are a huge hit and I know my DS and DH would love that one! Come to think of it, my DD would love it too!