Dinner on the night we arrive - maybe character dinner?

[Antonia]

Where are the character dinners that are not in the park? I know there's Chef Mickey's - are there any others?
Just trying to think of something good to do with 8 &10 year old girls.

 

[minces4disney]

Character Dinners that are not in the parks include Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother and the Mice) and Gullivers at the Swan (if it is still there?). We were at Disney three weeks ago and also were looking for a fun dinner the first night. Ended up at 'Ohanas at the Poly. Good dinner. Hula hoop and coconut races for the kids, and watching Wishes fireworks through the window. However, after a long flight and lots of plans for the week, we would have been much better off with a quick dinner at the resort and letting the kids swim the rest of the night. Our two kids 9 and 7 agree with that. Might want to consider.

 

[Antonia]

I have been giving this some thought and since we'll be at CSR our first night, I think we'll just go to that McDonald's nearby and swim at the resort. My nieces are McDonald's freaks and we'll just have a low key evening and maybe ride the monorails so they (and my brother) can get an idea of where we are. Then the next day we can hit the parks early.

 

[Antonia]

I have been giving this some thought and since we'll be at CSR our first night, I think we'll just go to that McDonald's nearby and swim at the resort. My nieces are McDonald's freaks and we'll just have a low key evening and maybe ride the monorails so they (and my brother) can get an idea of where we are. Then the next day we can hit the parks early.
Not dining with Mickey and friends in a pre-arranged setting may make their first park encounter with a character all the more special.

 

[Jo-Anne]

Antoinia, I think that's probably a good plan. One year on our first night at Disney, I booked a dinner at Ohanas. After an early and exciting start to the day with the flight and just plain excitement, our DD was exhausted and ate maybe two pieces of meat and was really grumpy and didn't get into any of the fun going on in the restaurant. I felt really rushed just to get finished and get her to the hotel to bed. Now, we usually take the first day really easy!