Fun restaurants for kids afraid of characters?

minniebride

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
2,250
Hi there,

I'm trying to find a sit down restaurant for my friend, her DH, DS3, & DD-6 months old. Her son has no idea who Mickey & the Gang are & has very little interest in TV. He LOVES Cars & Buzz Lightyear, but there are no character meals to meet those guys. As far as unfamiliar full costume characters, he once met the Easter Bunny & flipped out.

In addition, they are not taking the kids to the parks for this trip because they feel their kids are too young to enjoy it (I disagree wholeheartedly, but I'm not the mommy so I won't judge;) )

Anyways, they are looking for a fun kid friendly TS restaurant to go to for breakfast or dinner. They have a car so they can go to DTD or any resort.

I suggested that they drive over to AS Movies for a CS meal and see the Toy Story building, but in addition they will still need a TS restaurant. Even if the restaurant is nothing special, if it was situated in a fun area or fun resort to check stuff out after, that would be fine too.

No food allergies, her DS eats most "kid foods", mom is kind of a picky eater but she is also not a big eater so as long as she has a few plain options she will be fine (plain chicken, steak, french fries, salad, turkey, etc)

TIA!:goodvibes
 
We've always had at least one child afraid of the characters on all of our trips. We still do character TS meals for the environment, but we tell our host/hostess, server, and character helpers that our child/children are afraid. The characters will pass by our table with just a wave, and continue on. That works well for us as our afraid children like to admire them from a distance, and if our non-afraid children want a picture or autograph, we can do it a bit away from our table. Everyone is happy!
 
We've always had at least one child afraid of the characters on all of our trips. We still do character TS meals for the environment, but we tell our host/hostess, server, and character helpers that our child/children are afraid. The characters will pass by our table with just a wave, and continue on. That works well for us as our afraid children like to admire them from a distance, and if our non-afraid children want a picture or autograph, we can do it a bit away from our table. Everyone is happy!

Thank you-that is a great tip!!!:goodvibes
 
Ohana and Whispering Canyon have a fun atmosphere and activities for the kids.

The resaurants at AK Lodge would also be great because they could go see the animals.
 

Places our boys liked when they were young (that don't have characters):
Coral Reef
Hoop de Doo Revue
Rainforest Cafe
Tony's Town Square

They also liked Cinderella's Royal Table just to eat in the castle. They weren't interested in the princesses.

Some kids like Whispering Canyon Cafe with various hijinks but we ate there once, which was enough. Prime Time Cafe might be fun (haven't been there in years so don't know). The sci-fi horror films shown at Sci-Fi Dine-in scared our boys when they were little.
 
I really do think that 'Ohana would be great for them as a dinner. There is entertainment for the kids during dinner. No scary characters. Plus, the Poly is simply gorgeous. They could probably even watch the fireworks on the beach and even take a boat ride to MK and back if they wanted to make an afternoon/evening of it.
 
Ohana and Whispering Canyon have a fun atmosphere and activities for the kids.

The resaurants at AK Lodge would also be great because they could go see the animals.

Thank you-I will suggest these. Doesn't 'Ohana have characters though?

Places our boys liked when they were young (that don't have characters):
Coral Reef
Hoop de Doo Revue
Rainforest Cafe
Tony's Town Square

They also liked Cinderella's Royal Table just to eat in the castle. They weren't interested in the princesses.

Some kids like Whispering Canyon Cafe with various hijinks but we ate there once, which was enough. Prime Time Cafe might be fun (haven't been there in years so don't know). The sci-fi horror films shown at Sci-Fi Dine-in scared our boys when they were little.

I will suggest RFC-thank you! HDDR will be too pricy for them & the others are in the parks & they won't have tickets.
 
There are lots of TS places outside of the parks that are character-free and kid friendly. WCC and Ohana's are the first that spring to mind. But Ohana's does have characters at breakfast. They might really enjoy Boma or Sanaa at AKL. There's also Kona cafe, The Wave, Grand Floridian Cafe on the monorail, or Cape May at the Beach Club.
 
Whispering Canyon Cafe: great food, great restaurant atmosphere and they have games during dinner to keep the kids entertained
1900 Park Fare is a character meal but they human characters so maybe that won't be quite as intimidating as a character in a large bulky costume.
Rainforest Cafe is a fun atmosphere just beware of the thunderstorm every hour (in case the kids are scared of loud noises)
Planet Hollywood has a fun environment surrounded by movie props and items.

Those are just some of my personal favorites (I dont have kids but I have a lot of cousins who are very particular about where they eat! :rotfl:)
 
The OP has stated that they will NOT be going into the parks. The restaurants will have to be at a resort or at DTD
 
Ohana's is nice, characters are only there at breakfast.
Some fun themed restaurants include T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe & Planet Hollywood but these can all be a bit noisy so the little ones might not like that.

Do you think they would be as scared of characters that are just people dressed up and not in full costume? I mean like princesses vs Mickey. 1900 Park Fare at the GF resort has Alice and Mad Hatter at breakfast and then Cinderella and Prince Charming at dinner.
 
Ohana's is nice, characters are only there at breakfast.
Some fun themed restaurants include T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe & Planet Hollywood but these can all be a bit noisy so the little ones might not like that.

Do you think they would be as scared of characters that are just people dressed up and not in full costume? I mean like princesses vs Mickey. 1900 Park Fare at the GF resort has Alice and Mad Hatter at breakfast and then Cinderella and Prince Charming at dinner.

I thought about suggesting 1900 for breakfast, but they are actually going to 1900 for dinner one night during the trip with us for a Welcome dinner!

I'm wondering now if RFC or TR might be too loud for them. I have never been to TR, but I personally cannot tolerate RFC-the noise level really bothers me.
 
I'd vote for Ohana. The kids can get up and participate if they want, or they can just watch.

I am not a fan of RFC. Loud, uncomfortable, and I dislike the food.
 
I'd vote for Ohana. The kids can get up and participate if they want, or they can just watch.

I am not a fan of RFC. Loud, uncomfortable, and I dislike the food.

Would a 3 year old understand the fun and games that happen at 'Ohana? I've never been.
 
Would a 3 year old understand the fun and games that happen at 'Ohana? I've never been.

Hmmm...we were there many trips ago. I think they have the kids parade around the restaurant?? :confused3 I can't remember for sure but I know someone here will have been there recently and can help.

I can tell you that at all the places we've ate through the years, all but the youngest (at the time) of ours were able to participate. Whether he or she "got" it or not is a different story, but he or she had fun. I think! :)
 








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