Just venting....I think we are forcing our kids to do character meals

[3kidz4dis]

We have kids 12, 10 and 8 and our 8 year old is the only one who really wants to go to any character meal....we are going in May and I have 4 or so reserved and I actually am sad thinking about how much they are not into it any more I am just venting, maybe when they get older they will get back into it!

Curious as to when everyone else kids were not into it anymore?

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

We haven't reached that point yet with now DS18, DD17, DD16....

I know -they go through that awkward stage early teens...when they're just "too Cool" for everything....

I talked to my DS18 a few weeks ago...asking him what some of his fav meals were at WDW...Teppan Edo is his #1....BUT

CRT was #2... CRT Dinner... We've done every trip as a tradition. I asked him why...and he remembered how they stayed in character...

Calling him "Prince", etc....

I think It's GREAT that you are going for YOU!

And you might do this already...but You & DH play along...get in the parade...sing out loud...get autographs... and the kiddos can see that you can have fun and be a "Grown Up" that it's not all about being serious ...it's OKAY!

Hugs,
Mary

 

[SaltandLime]

I totally understand what you are talking about. My 9 year old still likes them, but doesn't love them like when she was 4. We have a 6 year old and he hasn't ever really liked being around the characters. We are getting now where we have scaled back the character meals and really choose them based on the food.

My daughter still wanted to have dinner at the GF with Cinderella and Prince Charming and this year I just said no. The food wasn't that great, in my opinion, and I think it is time to change things up a bit. The last three trips we have eaten there.

But we battle the same thing. We actually have reservations for the castle and I keep debating back and forth if I should keep that res or not. I think my kids are just getting too used it, so it isn't that special to them right now.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Mine are 13 & 10 (almost 11) and they actually asked to go to a character meal again this trip. We are eating CP they love Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore.

 

[2Tiggies]

I'm 36 and still haven't outgrown them!

Seriously though, there is no way to tell as each child is so different. I think generally with the girls, who in their teens, it is quite common to be into all the "Oh it's just soooo cute" stuff so they are usually less likely to lose interest completely. but as another poster said, it changes. Just like when you take little kids to the beach and they want to play in the sand. As they get older they want to play volleyball or surf. The interest is still there - it just changes. Enjoy it as much as you can. At least you have a nice line up of character meals for this trip. Hope you have great fun. Oh, and take LOTS of pictures!!!!!

 

[scjo68]

My DD12 would be very disappointed if we didn't do CP and CM at least. She loves them as much as her 5 yr old brother!

 

[trac96]

when we went last april we let my son {16} take a friend {18} who has never been to disney and i book crystal palace for breakfast. my son kept telling me he didn't want to do it but once there they had fun with the characters. i don't think we will be doing any other character meals any time soon but i have pictures and proof that they had a blast.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We have decided to not do the DDP this year and instead are doing the QSDP. My kids were OK with missing every meal but one and needed me to assure them that we were paying OOP for that one. We have done Chef Mickey on every single trip. We go on our departure day and always will. As soon as they knew we were doing that they were OK. (This, BTW includes my "hates everything" right now DD15. It was nice to see her care about it so much.)

 

[winterman]

The 60 year old 'kid' that I'm married to wants no part of character meals. So we do not do them. I'm just happy that he happily goes to WDW with me on a regular basis.

 

[tami82]

We have kids 12, 10 and 8 and our 8 year old is the only one who really wants to go to any character meal....we are going in May and I have 4 or so reserved and I actually am sad thinking about how much they are not into it any more I am just venting, maybe when they get older they will get back into it!

Curious as to when everyone else kids were not into it anymore?

I know it must be sad but then again think about the possibilities now to try new places that you didnt get to fit in before.

 

[Sammie]

Maybe instead of doing 4 which would for my family be way to many and time consuming you could pick 2 that everyone agrees they would like to do.

Even at Disney sometimes more is just more.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I know it must be sad but then again think about the possibilities now to try new places that you didnt get to fit in before.

I think this is true. We have done 4 or 5 character meals for years. This trip being on QSDP we are cutting out lots of things we have done for years. One thing is we have had Chef Mickey for Thanksgiving dinner for every other year when we are there. I thought the kids would be upset that we were cutting it but they came up with a plan that they are really excited about. This year we will be having dinner poolside while watching a movie at ASM. It is so different then anything we have done but they are so excited about it. I will probably miss CM that night more then anyone, but this will be something new and different and they are so excited how can I not be?

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

thanks for the post- I was trying to decide if 3 character breakfasts would be too much for my almost 2 yr old and my 4.5 yr old...... your post helped me see that I should take advantage of their character obsession before they outgrow it!

 

[kstinw19]

We are getting to that point already with our 9 and 8 year old but you know what I did to get them back into it? I had them research all of the character breakfasts (which they love to do) and pick which meals they think will be the most fun for our two littler ones (4 and 2) and we would work them into the trip.

They thought this was the coolest idea and really had a great time "planning" the trip for their little brothers.

Maybe that would make them feel like they are doing it for the 8 year old but they are still "cool".

Since it seems as if all of your character meals are planned, maybe let them plan the order of park touring for one of the character meal days? Then they tend to be more excited to go

 

[xipetotec]

We have kids 12, 10 and 8 and our 8 year old is the only one who really wants to go to any character meal....we are going in May and I have 4 or so reserved and I actually am sad thinking about how much they are not into it any more I am just venting, maybe when they get older they will get back into it!

Curious as to when everyone else kids were not into it anymore?

Well I can tell you that despite the fact that DS11 and DD14 DID enjoy the character meals we did, it was my DS17 who *REQUESTED* we do Chef Mickey's. Besides, if you still have a child into it, at least the others still get a meal out of it. It's not like they are left to wait in line to meet characters while the 8 year old meets them.

 

[blanq]

My 16 y.o. DS has told me "Mom, you know, you are never too old to outgrow the characters". I have to agree with him! That said, our trips just don't focus on the characters like they did when our DS was little. I have to admit, we rarely go to character meals at WDW anymore (mainly because we don't like buffets as much as we do traditional TS and the characters frequent buffets more), but when we do DS still loves to pose for a picture with them. If we see them roaming the parks, we love to point them out and talk about "remeber when". I have a framed picture of DS, when he was 6 and taking his first trip to WDW, with Mickey and Minney at AK, and I look at that photo every day. I love that memory!

 

[HunnyJar]

My son (14) would be really disappointed if we didn't do character meals. He also likes getting character autographs. I asked him if he thought he was getting too old for character meals to be enjoyable and I swear he looked at me like I had two heads.

 

[bitohoney]

DD is 16 and will be 17 next month, right before our next trip. I have 10 character meal ADRs and I asked her if she really wanted character meals. She said she did. She's the one who made sure I got Akershus, and wants Garden Grill, Crystal Palace and Ohana breakfast with Lilo & Stitch. AND...wants to eat in the castle.
I'm happy she still wants character meals at 17! I will never outgrow them either!

 

[SOnotLayuh]

I thought that I was too cool for character meals, but on our honeymoon... at CRT... as soon as the fairy godmother came out... I actually cried! I have no idea where it came from!!!

We're trying CP this time around.

 

[HunnyJar]

I thought that I was too cool for character meals, but on our honeymoon... at CRT... as soon as the fairy godmother came out... I actually cried! I have no idea where it came from!!!

We're trying CP this time around.

Hehe.. Every time I see Mickey for the first time each visit, I swear I get teary eyed. And if I happen to catch the park opening show at the MK, I have to duck my head into my husband's shoulder otherwise people would see me cry a little. The funny thing is that type of thing ONLY happens at WDW. I have no idea why, it just does.