Character dining with 18 mth old??

[olivia's mommy]

I keep hearing great things about character dining and would love to book atleast one for our upcoming trip even if DD (will be 18 mths) doesn't know who all the characters are. So which place would be the best? She LOVES Mickey mouse so maybe Chef Mickey's? She also sometimes watches Playhouse disney so maybe the Playhouse Play N Dine at DHS? Any other good ones?

TIA!

 

[KatMark]

I keep hearing great things about character dining and would love to book atleast one for our upcoming trip even if DD (will be 18 mths) doesn't know who all the characters are. So which place would be the best? She LOVES Mickey mouse so maybe Chef Mickey's? She also sometimes watches Playhouse disney so maybe the Playhouse Play N Dine at DHS? Any other good ones?

TIA!

Crystal Palace with Pooh and Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet for breakfast lunch or dinner at Magic Kingdom. I am not sure where else Mickey appears. Maybe the Garden Grill at Epcot?

 

[MissionMouse]

Here is the link to the Character Dining options
http://www.wdwinfo.com/Just_for_kids/character_dining.cfm
They reference the characters in the beginning of each restaurants menu

If it is your first trip with your DD just realize young children react differently to characters. Some love them, other are shy or scared of them. We were lucky and are kids loved them at the age of your daughter. If you are not aware some of these places can really get loud too.

You could find some type of reference with Disney characters in it and observe how she reacts to them to help in your decision process.

Our youg DDs enjoy Crystal Palace (Breakfast/Lunch preferred), Chef Mickey's (Breakfast), Cinderella Round Table(Breakfast) and 1900 Park Fare.

 

[DisneyCatMom]

I agree with pp. An 18 month old may be really afraid of the large, animal characters. Maybe a princess meal as these are real people and not as scary!

 

[Ms Marigny]

DD was 18 months old on our last trip and she LOVED Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. She danced when the characters did the parade around the room. She also enjoyed Chip and Dale at Garden Grill.

I hope she likes the characters just as much on our next trip in Sept when she'll be 2 1/2! I saw far more frightened 2 year olds than 1 year olds at the character meals.

 

[disneymath]

You should be fine with an 18 month old ... you might try for "off-peak" dining times and hopefully you aren't going at a REALLY busy time of the year. No matter what, just be prepared for whatever reaction your chid has. If it's enjoyment, snap tons of pics! If it's fear, don't force it. I don't think the Disney characters would ever force themselves on a child, just be prepared that you may need to leave the restaurant to calm your child down.

We took my nephew to Crystal Palace for dinner when he was just shy of 6 months old ... he totally LOVED the characters - he was all smiles and let them hug him and stuff. Totally worth it for us!

He was very used to Pooh and Tigger though as my sister has huge, talking Pooh and Tigger stuffed animals. Also we knew to let the baby see the characters coming head on, no surprises. (When my sister and I were teenages, we had a horrible experience at our local mall when a non-Disney character snuck up on my cousin who was about 3 years old. He was terrified of characters for the longest time. His first trip to Disney, he hid behind one of us whenever a character was in sight! Second trip, he actually agreed to pose with Mickey and with TweedleDee and TweedleDum - just not alone. Different kids, different reactions.

We're heading back this summer - my nephew will be 14 months old - and going back to CP and trying Garden Grill.