How did you like Play n' Dine?

[DisneyTiger]

I was going to post this on the food thread but I'm really asking more about the experience rather than the food. I have this scheduled for our trip in a few weeks. We are taking our kids - DD3 and DS18mo. How is is? I really haven't heard anything about it. I am wondering if I should do another breakfast. Any thoughts?

 

[Mommy2JulietJocelyn]

We are taking our girls next week to Play n Dine with the Little Einsteins. Hopefully they will love it! I will look for this thread when we get back and let you knoe how it was.

 

[mommy2paris]

We went in Sept 2007, our girls were 7 months & 2 1/2 yrs.
We did have a good time and I thought the breakfast food was pretty good. The songs & dances were cute, and they recognized them from tv.
Our 2 1/2 yr old was scared of the characters (of all characters, lol), but we did get some good pics of our youngest in her high chair with each of the characters and as we were leaving our oldest was brave enough to give Jo Jo a high five and run!

 

[Girly_Qs]

We went for lunch last year when dd's were 16mos and 4.5yrs. They LOVED it, BOTH of them! Great character interaction, they visited a couple times each, danced with the kids, etc.

IMO, the lunch food was . . . eh. Breakfast should be pretty 'safe.'

We won't be going back this year, but only because my oldest isn't so interested in the characters there this time around, we just went last year, and we have 4 other character meals booked (that we didn't try last time, so they're 'new' to us).

If your kids are into the Little Einsteins, JoJo, and Handy Manny like mine were (older dd loved June and the baby went crazy for JoJo), they'll have a ball!

 

[brymolmom]

For kids those ages - DEFINITELY will love it. The first time we did it the kids were a little timid...wouldn't go up to the characters and dance with them. But the next time we did it they were TOTALLY into it. We still love this meal!

 

[kaleighmariesmom]

we loved it!!!! the characters spent so much time with our daughter... We are going back next week!!

 

[asoko]

We went last year for lunch. I thought the buffet was really good. It had a lot of stuff my kids would eat without just being chicken nuggets and mac&cheese. DD and DS were not into JoJo, but the interaction with the characters was so great, JoJo made even my grumpy, not feeling good 5 year old laugh and smile. Both DS and DD are uncomfortable with the full body characters (DD would climb on my head to get away), but we emphasized that June was a dancer and DD was dancer so she was more comfortable. Our waitress was also fabulous!!!

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

If your kids are into the Little Einsteins, JoJo, and Handy Manny like mine were (older dd loved June and the baby went crazy for JoJo), they'll have a ball!

Handy Manny is part of this breakfast now? I thought it was just Little Einsteins and JoJo (which my boys love!). They would flip to see Manny!

 

[dolfinjuls]

We went to a breakfast last month and loved it! I've heard the lunch isn't so good...but the breakfast was decent.
The characters are JoJo, Goliath, Leo and June.

The best thing was the interaction. I believe we saw each character twice and Leo we saw 3 times! That was just them coming to the table! On top of that our oldest got up to dance with them several times and loved it. And this suprised us because she's been pretty shy recently!

I'd say to do it for the ages your children are! They're not going to like it when they get older!

 

[robandkelly13]

Are you talking about the character dining at Hollywood and vine?

 

[eventamy]

We LOVED it! My Addi (4 then) had a blast! The baby slept through it, but in another year or two I'll take her there so she can experience it too!

 

[NY_MOM]

Took DD in 07'. She loved it, as she loves all the characters involved. Breakfast was nothing amazing, but it was ok. The little songs and interaction are fun for them. Overall, it was a good dining experience. After all we know the real draw are the characters, not the food.

 

[sohappy]

My kids liked it, but it wasn't in the top 3 for the week. We had character breakfasts every day (Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys, Tusker House and Ohana). With regard to the food, it was probably the worst. The interaction was good and the kids had fun. I think it is worth a try, but we probably won't do it again.

 

[MattysMommy]

It was great for character interaction. My son was a little scared of being too close to the characters, but he seemed to love June and Jo Jo!

The food not the best, but was good!

 

[Erin1700]

We took our kids last year and are scheduled to go again this year. They LOVED it. We did breakfast and it was okay food wise. I would definitely take your little ones!

 

[disneyandme]

We did the lunch last Fall and the kids loved it. We had an 8 yr old, a 4yr old, and a almost 1 yr old. They all had a great time. The characters are very interactive. The lunch food was good and a nice change from burgers and pizza.

 

[tweedlemom]

We scheduled the last breakfast seating (making it more of a brunch), so it was nice and quiet for our DS6 who has autism and is sensory sensitive. The characters were very respectful about "NOT" going near him. My DS5, however, LOVED the characters. It was close to empty and there may have only been about 10 other kids in the restaurant at the time. Our youngest even asked if there were any Hidden Mickeys in the restaurant, and JoJo helped point it out! Food was basic, but more than enough and tasted great. I would totally do it again.

 

[justintime]

We went for lunch in April and my DS 5 and DD 3 absolutely LOVED it. I didn't think the food was that bad - not fabulous but fine. They loved seeing the characters who came around a few times (Leo, June, JoJo and Goliath). And they had a blast with the dance breaks that they did. We had trouble getting them out of there when it was time to leave. They wanted to stay and dance some more.

 

[Miss LD]

For us it was the best character meal.
It wasn't as busy as the rest of the character meals which was a plus. DS (4) loved it, even though a week before we went he told me he was "too old" for Little Einsteins. He was so excited to see them though and totally got into the dancing.
Our waiter was Steve and I have to say he was our favourite server anywhere by far! He was soooo into his job and had a ton of fun with DS. By the end of the meal I think DS liked Steve more than the characters. He was doing funny stuff like calling milk "cow juice" which DS found hysterical.
The food was fine. It wasn't fancy, but it was perfect for a kids' buffet. We were all quite happy with the food.

 

[sage10]

We did this breakfast last October with 3 year old twins and a 1 year old. All the other character meals my 1 year old didn't like the characters. But for some reason he really enjoyed this one. He actually let these characters, especially June and Leo, come near him and interact. So we LOVED this breakfast. We are doing it again in November.