Insider's Tips on Best Children's Meals & Activites

[diznyfanatic]

I'm planning our next trip and wondered if the expert DIS'ers here can share with me some of the best "magical memory" meals and activities that may not be as well known as others.

For example, I had never heard of the Perfectly Princess Tea Party at the GF until recently, and I would love to be able to take my granddaughter, but it's pretty pricey.

Are there any other special meals and/or activites, other than the well known ones such as CRT, 1900 Park Fare, Princess Storybook etc...that a 4 year old "princess" would enjoy?

Thanks for any help!

 

[sarahsmom73]

My 4 year old princess just LOVED Chef Mickey's over Thanksgiving... She is a princess through and through but it was our first time there and she is begging to go back! She especially loved the Napkin Dance!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

This is a small tip, but Le Cellier has a moose shaped mouse that my DD's really enjoy. I've never see it anywhere else.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

My DD loved the Alice In Wonderland Tea at the Grand Floridian. It is from 1:30-2:30 and costs about $29. No parents allowed. The kids have sandwiches, "tea" and decorate cupcakes. They also play games and have visits from the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit--subject to change.

 

[goofy4tink]

The Tea Party with Alice is wonderful. My dd loved it. Just be sure your 4 y/o is okay with you not being there with her. The other thing that my dd loved was going to the Neverland Club at the Polynesian. It's a child care center where you leave your child and then you go off and have some fun by your self. It's probably around $10 an hour per child now, but it's worth it. The kids have such a good time. My dd was asking my dh and I to just go somewhere, anywhere, so she could go back there for a few hours.
The breakfast with Goofy at BC at Cape May is fun.

 

[3princesses4us]

Something neat I've heard about that I want to take my girls to is the ladybug release in the GF herb garden. I read on here once that is only happens in the spring during the flower & garden festival but then on a Disney website (can't remeber which one- maybe allears.net) that it happens every Thursday morning at 11 a.m. The Mad Hatter is the host and the kids get to release viles of ladybugs with him into the garden. Sounds different and fun and not too many people seem to talk about it. It's worth checking in to...

 

[diznyfanatic]

Thank you all so much for the information. The Wonderland Tea Party and the Ladybug Release sounds perfect!

I just found a few others that sound really fun. Have any of you ever attended the Grand Adventures in Cooking or Disney's Pirate Adventure? I can't seem to find much information on those.

 

[java]

Both at the Grand Floridian and people seem to love both. We never seem to have time for too many "extras" I think we get caught up in the whole ride magic that we forget to explore the extra fun stuff(either that or we get there and say no more $$ )

 

[3princesses4us]

Also, just so you know there are 2 pirate cruises (one at the GF and one taking off from the Yacht & Beach Club). Both are 2 hours long and the same price but go to different places. Ages 4 and up.
Epcot also has a Jr. Chefs program daily that's free so I'd look into that as well. I know the GF's Cooking class is neat but I think it's close to $30 and Epcot's is free.

 

[Wendy31]

Last year, our then 5 year old DD & 3 year old DS participated in the cookie-baking at The Land attraction in Epcot. (When you walk into the attraction, it's to the left of Sunshine Seasons & behind the "The Land" ride.)

They got cute little chef hats, baked chocolate chip cookies (full child participation), and then got to take a chocolate chip cookie w/ them.

And, it was free!

[Edited to add - This is the Jr. Chef's program that the above poster mentioned. Thanks! I couldn't remember the name! ]

This year, I'm thinking about the Wonderland Tea Party.

Also, in Epcot at each World Showcase country, there are "kidcot" stops. At the 1st country (Mexico), the child receives a mask & get to color it. Then, at each country, the child stops at the "kidcot" stop & gets his mask stamped. The "kidcot" CM also attaches a little paper cut-out to the mask that is symblic and/or memorable to that country (e.g., in Germany - it was a teddy bear; in Norway, it was a Viking ship). When the child has received a stamp from every country on his/her mask, he or she receives a small, full-color poster.

You can purchase "kidcot" passports that the World Showcase CM's will sign & stamp as well. However, we already had the autograph books & I thought it would be nice to have everything in one place, so we asked the World Showcase CM's to sign our children's autograph books - which they did. And, most of them, wrote something in their country's language in addition to signing & stamping.

There's also Belle's Story Garden at MK. We didn't do this last year, because we simply ran out of time! But, it's supposed to be relatively not-as-crowded as some other attractions, and Belle brings the children up on the stage w/ her to act out the parts. Her story garden is located behind the castle, I think.

Our favorite character meal was breakfast at CRT - because of the wonderful interaction we had w/ Snow White! Absolutely pure Disney magic! Also at CRT, our DS accidentally turned his orange juice over, and he was so upset. The CM was so nice & friendly & brought him some "pixie dust" (gold confetti) to help dry his tears.

We also loved the character interaction at Liberty Tree Tavern.

And sitting up front in the monorail was a treat too. I had heard that the kids would get a certificate if we had the opportunity to ride in the front. We didn't receive any certificates, but it was quite fun just the same.

 

[jaysue]

There is a 3rd Pirate Cruise now - this one leaves from CBR Marina

cheers
jaysue

 

[luv2nascar]

my princesses loved the artist palette cookies you paint to Concourse steak house. I think you can probably get them at other restaurants too.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

My kids love the extra activities. They've done the Wonderland Tea Party three times (and are scheduled again for July), The Pirate Cruise (now there is one at the GF, YC/BC and CBR) twice and are trying the CBR one in July and the Grand Adventures in Cooking. They also did the Jr. Chef Nestle's program in Epcot in January (free!) and had a lot of fun. All the character meals are fun for the kids.

 

[MECH8T7]

I would recommend that you check out the Family Magic Tour at the MK which runs mid-morning each day. It is an activity that the whole family can do. I costs $25 per person. If you do a search on the theme park forum, you can learn more about it.

 

[Janet2k]

I'm planning our next trip and wondered if the expert DIS'ers here can share with me some of the best "magical memory" meals and activities that may not be as well known as others.

My daughter has attended the Grand Floridian's Children's Activities numerous times over the years, most recently during last Summer's vacation (she also attended the Yacht Club / Beach Club's Albatross Cruise for the first time). My daughter loves all of the kids activities at WDW, but her favorite is the Grand Adventures In Cooking Class (I find that very amusing since I don't cook).

In a trip report a few years ago, I wrote about my daughter's experiences with each of the GF's Children's Activities. I'll give links to those posts below. Please note that in those posts you'll find links to photos of the events, and you'll also find my daughter's descriptions of the events.

Pirates Cruise: Click here
Wonderland Tea Party: Click here
Grand Adventures In Cooking Class: Click here
My Disney Girl Princess Grand Tea Party: Click here

I haven't done a write-up yet on the Yacht Club / Beach Club's Albatross Cruise, but I do have photos (sadly, rather unorganized) in an on-line photo album: click here.

Here is my write-up for the Family Magic Tour that my family attended in 2004: click here. In that post you'll find lots (and lots) of links to photos of the event.

I hope that helped.

 

[diznyfanatic]

Thanks to all of you for sharing such great ideas and activities. Until recently, I had no idea some of these existed. I'm so glad to have found the great wealth of information contained on this board!

Can't wait to check out the information, links and pictures! I really appreciate all of your help!

 

[poohluvrs]

Janet2k - are the events for kids at GF suitable for two 3 1/2 yr olds? WEre staying GF & would love to try the Pirate or Princess Tea, or even Alice party, but wondering if they would enjoy it as 3 yr olds? thanks

 

[Janet2k]

Janet2k - are the events for kids at GF suitable for two 3 1/2 yr olds? WEre staying GF & would love to try the Pirate or Princess Tea, or even Alice party, but wondering if they would enjoy it as 3 yr olds?

Poohluvrs, the official WDW website lists the following information:

- - - - - - -
Grand Adventures in Cooking:
Have a delicious time painting an apron, decorating your very own chef's hat and whipping up tasty treats. (For children ages 4-10) Space is limited.

Wonderland Tea Party:
Join Alice and her curious friends for lunch, cupcakes and, of course, a spot of tea. (For children ages 3-10) Space is limited.

Disney's Pirate Adventure:
Don yer garb and set sail to exotic ports-of-call in search of buried treasure. (For children ages 4-10) Space is limited.
- - - - - - -

Please take a look at the age requirements and note which events will be appropriate for your children based upon their ages at the time of your vacation. If they’ll be four years old at that time, then all three children’s events will be open to them. If that’s the situation, only you can determine whether or not they should attend. I can’t make that decision for you. I can only share my own experiences in hopes that they help somehow.

My daughter has been attending all three of the Grand Floridian’s children’s events since she was old enough to. Here is a photo from her very first Pirates Cruise quite a few years ago: click here (she’s on the left). And here is a photo from last summer’s Pirates Cruise: click here (she’s in the green t-shirt with the braid). In the first photo, my daughter used to be as little as the children who are surrounding her in the second photo. My, how time flies, ~sigh.~

My daughter has attended the Grand Floridian’s children’s events on each and every vacation since that very first time. There has only been one exception. It occurred during my Fairy Tale Weddings vow renewal vacation a year and a half ago. Since we had family and friends joining us on that vacation, I didn’t think it was right to pull my daughter away from our guests (she rarely gets to see most of them since they live in other parts of the country). I must admit that my daughter was not too pleased with my decision, especially since a portion of our vacation was spent at the Grand Floridian (that was like pouring salt in her wounds). She made me promise that on our very next vacation, she would attend all three of the events again. Luckily, I was able to keep that promise.

The moral of my story is that some children are never too young, or never too old, to attend the children’s activities at the Grand Floridian. My daughter probably knows all three event spiels by heart, and yet she begs to attend the events anyway. I sometimes wonder if she is really Peter Pan in drag, and that she will never grow up. Oh, to be young at heart.

I’m sure you’ll make the right decision for your children. And if they attend the events, may they have as much fun at them as my daughter has had. I hope this helped.

 

[kbroer]

Janet--Since your daughter has done many of the children's activities repeatedly, I was wondering if you've noticed a decline in the quality of the experience from one year to the next. For example, my children attended the Grand Adventures in Cooking class two years ago and their chef hats were fabric and had Mickey ears on them. In your pictures, it looks like they are just paper hats. Also, in looking at your pirate cruise photos--I see that there is one picture where they have striped bandanas with Mickey ears and in all of the other pics they are more western looking with no Mickey ears. Your thoughts??!!

 

[Janet2k]

Kbroer, I didn’t realize you had posted in this thread. I did see the PM that you had sent to me earlier today and I did respond to it.

I will add my daughter’s answers to your questions here in this post:

Me: Have the events gotten worse over the years?
Daughter: “No.”

Me: Does it matter what hats you’re given at the events?
Daughter: “No.”

Me: Any comments that you’d like for me to share about the events?
Daughter: “They’re fun. It doesn’t get boring. Ever.”

Those are my daughter’s words. Of course, other children may have different opinions, as it should be.

I hope this helped.