Character meals for boys

[never_enough_pooh]

Hi All!

I am pregnant with our first and I just found out yesterday that we are having a boy!

DH and I have been going to Disney every year for the past 7 years. The next time we go it will be with a child! Naturally I am already thinking of when we can go again......

I know this is a bit premature, but naturally I started thinking about a boy and imagining all the fun things we will do in Disney. It got me thinking of what type of restaurants I will choose now that we will have a little one. I can think of so many character meals for girls, but are there specific character meals for boys? I figure we won't be going again until our little one is at least 1 yr old (no way I could wait a few yrs to go!) so the next trip it probably won't be much of an issue about chosing restaurants, but as our little boy gets older, what restaurants are best suited for little boys?

Thanks!

Heather

 

[gatormommy07]

Not specifically boys only but my two boys (and one girl) LOVE Chef Mickey's and the Crystal Palace. We have gone to both and they are nice.

The other character meal places are The Garden Grill, Tusker House, Cape May Cafe, 'Ohana, Hollywood and Vine, and Garden Grove. They all have various characters(besides princesses!!). Then of course the Girlly ones are Cinderella's Royal Table, Akershus(which we went to in Nov. 09 and my older boy was made at first but he eventually warmed up to it, all the princesses kept calling him their prince!!), and 1900 Park Fare. Hope this helps!!

P.S. Congratulations on your little one!!!! Boys are so fun!!

 

[RMulieri]

Not specifically for boys.The meals featuring Pooh,Mickey, Donald,Goofy, Pluto etc would be ok.But thats about it.

 

[LegoMom3]

These are the only two we've ever done, but all three of my boys LOVE both Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace! I would think anything except a specifically "princess" theme.

.

 

[jdisnut]

The best advice I have is to avoid the princess meals at Cinderella's Royal Table and Akershus because they are specifically geared toward girls. Otherwise, it does not matter too much. Some boys like Pooh and his friends, so Crystal Palace could be a good option. I also recommend any place with Mickey and his gang, including Chef Mickey's, Tusker House or Garden Grill.

 

[stephmarty]

Best Friends breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 'Ohana! Boys love Stitch--he can be a little on the rowdy side.

 

[HunnyJar]

Best Friends breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 'Ohana! Boys love Stitch--he can be a little on the rowdy side.

I agree with this poster. It's a great character meal. Mickey and Pluto are also there.

Garden Grill is also a good option with Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. We took our daughter (1) to both of these and she had a great time with the characters. One thing that I think helped a little was to introduce her to the characters prior to the trip. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has the Fab 5 of course, but Chip and Dale also show up in the show sometimes. We also own Lilo and Stitch.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip for you and your family!

 

[never_enough_pooh]

Thanks everyone!

I really appreciate the advice!

On a side note..... at what age do children "enjoy" the characters? I mean I don't want to schedule any too early if the characters are going scare him, but naturally I do want as many photo opportunties and interaction as possible!

 

[jfelcie]

They use to have a *Villian's Dinner* that was excellent. I wish it would come back.They probably got complaints of a child getting scared What would you expect from a bunch of scary villians? We took our 20 month old dgs and he loved all the characters. The best dinners for that age are Crystal Palace, Garden Grill and Chef Mickey's!

 

[HunnyJar]

Thanks everyone!

I really appreciate the advice!

On a side note..... at what age do children "enjoy" the characters? I mean I don't want to schedule any too early if the characters are going scare him, but naturally I do want as many photo opportunties and interaction as possible!

Honestly, I think it depends on the child. My son was 10 months when we went to Disneyland for the first time and LOVED the characters. I could NOT get that boy away from Mickey. My daughter was 1 when we took her a few weeks ago and again we had a big, big fan of the characters. She was trying to hug everyone! And after a few days she thought our servers at the restaurants were also characters and wanted to hug them as well. But every child is different.

 

[coconutsunshine]

I just wanted to say


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!


I was thinking about you for the past week so I thought I would see if you posted on the Dis lately... I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face, I'm so HAPPY and excited for you!!!!

ps I had a little boy too!!! We just got back from bringing him on his first trip!!

 

[taylor3297]

My son who will be 4 when we go on our next trip wants to eat at CRT because he loves the princessess. Ariel is his favorite. I asked him why he wanted to eat at CRT, and he said he had to meet Ariel before he could ask her to marry him. So, we will be dining at CRT, which my dd will also love.

 

[iloveeeyore]

My son who will be 4 when we go on our next trip wants to eat at CRT because he loves the princessess. Ariel is his favorite. I asked him why he wanted to eat at CRT, and he said he had to meet Ariel before he could ask her to marry him. So, we will be dining at CRT, which my dd will also love.

That is soooo cute! My DS(13) loves the princesses as well, and always has. CRT even is decorated with armor and banners, and they give out swords as well as wands. I don't really understand this notion about gender-specific characters? The characters are for everyone, boys and girls, young and old. Disney is all about stepping out of your traditional expectations, suspending reality for a little while, IMO.

ETA: about when kids are ready for characters, some who LOVE them at say 1 or 2 can be scared by 4 or 5 (because they have a better sense of danger and stranger anxiety by then). Some fears are character-specific; at 5, I loved all the characters except Captain Hook, who scared the heck out of me and almost ruined my 1st trip! I still have nightmares of him chasing people around Fantasyland with that dramatic stomp and that onimous hook held high!

 

[Nafinegar]

My son who will be 4 when we go on our next trip wants to eat at CRT because he loves the princessess. Ariel is his favorite. I asked him why he wanted to eat at CRT, and he said he had to meet Ariel before he could ask her to marry him. So, we will be dining at CRT, which my dd will also love.

We took our twin DS's at age 5 and they LOVED CRT. They each bought some plastic rings for Cinderella and she happily put them on her finger and hugged them. They were in love CRT presented them with swords and they were Princes for the meal.

This time around when they are 10 and younger brother is 7, they have chosen Garden Grille, CP and 1900 Park Fare. They would've happily done O'hana and Tuskerhouse, but we just couldn' fit them all in.

My youngest boy liked the character meals when he was two. He might not've enjoyed them much younger because he is a little shy. My twins however, could've easily torn the place up when they were 1 year. All depends upon the kiddos.

 

[Swimalie]

We just took our son to his first trip for his 5th birthday. We did Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys, The Castle and Akershus. His birthday dinner was at the Castle. Now whenever we see Cinderella's castle, he gets all excited and tells everyone that we ate there. He was thrilled to meet the princesses. At Akershus Snow White gave him a big kiss. Now he talks about how wonderful that kiss was. I think saying that a boy won't want to eat at a certain place due to princesses is being a bit sexist. Do girls enjoy it more? Maybe but boys can enjoy it too.

As for the age, it depends on the child. Our son was afraid of characters not showing their face until he was about 2. If we had taken him before he was over that fear, he would have freaked out in any restaurant.

 

[SGMCO]

My DS is a teen (14) now but when we started going to WDW when he was a toddler he really enjoyed Crystal Palace with the POOH characters,
then loved Ohanas Best Friends Breakfast at POLY (Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto) also Tusker House Breakfast is Excellent (Donald, Daisy and Goofy)--
I remember when it was Donalds Breakfasaurus (by the Dinasaur Section).

This will be the 1st trip we won't be eating a Character meal but DS is really into plenty of good food and not as much of the Character interaction.
He still enjoys the Characters though but is really into finding rare characters to complete his many autograph books. Boys are so much fun though. Congrates!!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Chef Mickeys will always be there favorite but they have been to them all and really liked all of them.

 

[superwy]

So funny...my son proposed to Snow White when he was four and offered up his two year-old sister to the prince! Now, at almost seven, he asked me if there were any "boy" things at Disney. Amazing how much they change in such a short time. I told him Disney has magic for all and he'll have as much fun this fall as he has every other year. Congratulations on your newest family member.

Kim

 

[pixarmom]

Congratulations, OP!

We have 3 boys (ages pre-school to pre-teen) and their favorite WDW restaurant has always been Garden Grill. (Although LTT was a close second when it had characters.) Our oldest went for the first time at 18 months - and loved the characters! It's a great way to see Mickey, and the boys also love Chip/Dale. We've always thought the atmosphere is really relaxed for a character meal, and the characters spend lots of time at each table - we usually see each character at least twice.

 

[vettechick99]

You are only a few days behind me - congrats!

Sure there are lots for girls, but for several years he will enjoy anything with Pooh, Mickey, Stitch, etc.