character meal with ababy

[jann1033]

we haven't done a character meal for many years...trying to decide if we want to with a 2 yr old. not really sure how she'd react and if she'd eat anything or just gawck...when we went last the characters pretty much were there through out is this still the same? any suggestions for a good baby friendly one?

 

[Beachangel]

We went with my six month old niece in Dec and then again with her in May. She enjoyed the characters and watching her look at them, made great memories for us. We ate at the Crystal Palace with Pooh.

 

[Lynn4Mel]

When Morgan (DD8) was 1 1/2 we went to WDW and the ONLY character she would go near was Mickey Mouse. She screamed at all the others. She would have gone near Minnie but she was standing near Goofy and we all know he's about 7 feet tall. LOL

Now on the flip side my man Ben (little man I take care of) was at a party a few months ago with an Male adult dressed as a Care Bear for his daughter's bday party and he wanted to be up in the "care bears" arms. Ben was 1 1/2 when that too place.

Good luck!

 

[wood8176]

Last time we went, my daughter was 1 and eating was a problem, all she wanted to do was see the characters. To me that was only a minor problem since under 3 is free anyway and she was snacking through out the day.

However, on a separate occasion, we were with a five year old boy who was terrified of all the characters to the point where it was even difficult to walk through some of the parks.

I would definitely try the meal because the thrill of the one-on-one interaction with the characters and children is wonderful, but be prepared that they won't eat much.

At the last three charater meals I've been to the characters are escorted through the dining area one at a time, but fairly often (abt. every 5 to ten minutes?)

Enjoy!

I just made our dining plans for our vacation this time my youngest son will turn 1 on Nov. 10th. We're trying Liberty Tree Tavern for the first time.

 

[risy]

Our girls have all loved the characters. The Pooh chcaracters are all "soft" and might be less overwhelming.

Since "under 3 eats free", pick a restaurant with a buffet or family style and let her nibble on her favorites.

 

[TJA]

It's hard to say. We've taken our twins at the following ages:

7 mos old ~ they were fine with characters, they didn't really know....
13 mos old ~ they loved the characters
18 mos old ~ they loved the characters
2 yrs + 1 month ~ they were both terrified of the characters! They cried and cried and wouldn't eat and put up a big fuss.

We are returning again when they will be 2 yrs + 5 months and I've been spending a lot of time talking about "pooh," etc., showing them pictures, etc., in the hopes that they will take to the characters better next time. We plan to slowly introduce them to the characters, like seeing them around the parks and making it a point to be excited about it. If things go smoothly, we will try one character meal and see how they do.

I've read many posts about kids' ages and character meals, and I think it just depends on each individual child. Many people have told me kids go through a stage from about 2-3 yrs old where they are scared of the characters. So far, this is holding true for my twins.

 

[scouthawkk]

I say go for it! Carry extra snack stuff with you incase she doesn't eat, and then gets hungry after the meal, and enjoy!

We just returned, and did 2 character meals with DS2.

The first was Chef Mickey for breakfast. Unfortunately he isn't much of a morning person, so was a little cranky, and didn't eat much. But that isn't anything unusual for him in the mornings. He finally warmed up to the charactere (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip & Dale. Didn't want much to do with Goofey before we sat down).

The second was lunch at the Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. This time I think he ate more than me (guess he was hungry from not eating much at breakfast or morning snack time). He was a little distracted by the characters (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eyor) but had a blast. He ran up and hugged every one of them. We did prepare him ahead of time to let him know how big they would be compared to him (showed him pictures from his last trip at 7mos, watched the planning video a couple times and pointed out the size difference between the characters and the little kids visiting with them, that kind of thing). Other than his usual grumpy self in the morning, he loved seeing the characters at the meals, and just around the park.

 

[marj70]

You can't beat the photos you will get at a character meal, whether the child eats or not.