"Girl" and "Boy" Character Breakfast Gripes - LONG

[Crazy4mandms]

llebreknit.....

(QUOTE)There is such a thing as being so open-minded that you can become somewhat close-minded, you know? (QUOTE)

YOU ARE SOOOOOOO RIGHT!!!! WELL SAID!!!

 

[saturday97]

I would love to see more variety, in general, of character meals. I think parents of both girls and boys are frustrated with the lack of a Toy Story meal. I think we all just want to see our kids happy.

 

[crisi]

A Toy Story meal would be cool for both genders, but....

Disney has a lot of characters that you don't see at meals. Tarzan and Jane. Herc and Megera. Lilo and Stitch. Ariel never shows up at a Princess breakfast, even with legs. And a ton more - from Huey Dewey and Louie to the cast of Atlantis. There just plain isn't a lot of variety in character meals. Its Pooh and Friends, Mickey and Friends or Princesses - that leave a lot of characters and stories out. This is probably for a huge variety of reasons. Cost. Demand. What characters are available where and when. Logistics (that Buzz costume is not an easy one to move around in, probably a lot of juice getting spilled at a meal involving Buzz).

My little princess will be stuck with Mickey for the rest of her life. Her mother is not about to get up at 5:00am for CRT, her father not about to encourage what he sees as spoiled princessness.

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

Wow! what a facinating thread. I spent an entire semester of college discussing this topic. Not disney but gender issues, the effect of media and nature v. nuture. I really wish I could print out this thread and go back in time. We could have discussed Disney gender bias or not depending the perspective for a week!

 

[GeekChic]

My first post in this thread was short and I just wanted to add that I personally have no problems with boys having dolls, liking princesses, etc. In fact, I think that boys who take care of dolls, etc, are just imitating fathers that are loving and caring! But when I was a kid, boy if you saw a little guy who wanted a doll, the parents freaked out!

I would just like to see more 'adventure' themed meals for kids, regardless of gender. Sure it's fun to play princess and dress up for my DD but she is still asking me why there isn't a Toy Story breakfast. She loves adventure! I think that WDW is missing the boat on this! They could just do so much, I have a million ideas...HIRE ME, WDW! LOL

It's not about what is "boy-ish" or "girlish" to me, it's about fun new things they can do.

I'd send her on the Pirate cruise at GF but she isn't the best swimmer, and since they don't let parents go along, I just don't feel comfortable sending her out on a boat with strangers, even ones paid by Disney....

This thread is fascinating, kudos to all those moms who let their kids be who they really are and not try to jam them into categories! Hurray for you. Your kids will love you for it.

 

[saturday97]

Tiiiigergirl, I can relate. When I started to post, I was going to get really academic about this topic as I have a MA in Mass Communication and worked for a prof that had conducted over a decade of research on love and romance in the mass media (including gender roles). There is so much fascinating discussion out there about female characters in Disney movies and the effects on children!

If you all are interested in this topic, I recommend the books The Mouse that Roared by Henry Giroux and Understanding Disney by Janet Wasko.

I'd love to see more variety, in general, of character meals.