Character dining for sensory sensitive kiddo

[bsjs0708]

Hey there, my DH and I are taking our niece and her family to WDW. They basically just want CS meals but we would like to treat them to a character meal. We are paying for the tickets and hotel room they just need to pay for meals. That being said we thought it would nice to surprise them with this one character dining experience.
My question is their son gets very irritable and overwhelmed with too much noise and "in your face activity" so I really don't think Chef Mickeys is the best one nor do I think Akershus is either because although he has a younger sister I would like characters that would make them both happy..
Any happy medium you can suggest?

Thanks in advance,
Julie

 

[Princess Leia]

What a lovely thing to do! I would agree that Chef Mickey's is noisy. I would also add from recent experience that Tusker House is very noisy as it has tiled flooring rather than carpet. The one that I would recommend as a bit quieter is Garden Grove in the Swan hotel. As it is not part of the dining plan it can be overlooked as an option. They have character dining every night and character dining at weekends. In the evening the lights are dimmed so it is definitely not the sensory overload of other options.

 

[3Gsandme]

From our last trip, I'd recommend 'Ohana for breakfast. It was much quieter and more laid back, IMO, than the other character dining we did (1900 Park Faire, Akershus and Chef Mickey). 'Ohana features Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto, so it should be a good mix for both boys and girls.

 

[bsjs0708]

Thank you so much for the quick replies...I'm going to look into both of these..

 

[GreatLakes]

Look into Tusker House lunch as well. It is a buffet so there is something for everyone and it isn't all that hectic in the restaurant.

 

[SA mom]

One of our daughters is on the autism spectrum and both our girls were highly sound sensitive when they were younger (now 14, not as much). When they were 6, we booked Chef Mickey's and this was our plan. We booked the last seating for breakfast (this was before brunch so I would book the last seating of brunch now). We made sure they knew we needed a quieter place. They took us next to the windows that overlook Magic Kingdom. There were only a couple of tables occupied by this time. It wasn't as noisy and it was a smaller space. The characters came by 3 times.

We also took earplugs with us everywhere on that trip, but they only used them for fireworks.

 

[bsjs0708]

So I can request a quieter section? Did you still get the character interaction?

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Garden Grill in EPCOT has always been pretty calm.

 

[MikeTaylor]

I'd say Tusker House has the least amount of lighting among the buffets.

 

[SA mom]

So I can request a quieter section? Did you still get the character interaction?

The characters came around 3 times because there were so few tables left.

 

[DisMommyTX]

I agree with choosing either the first or last seating at any restaurant. And, our kids loved Ohana breakfast as well, but be sure to choose whatever time of day is best for the kids. I would also suggest posting this question on the disABILITIES board. People with sensory sensitive kids notice things that the rest of us might not.