Need Help with Character Dining for a 3 Year old Princess

[kjblovesdisney]

We are bringing our grandaughter for her first visit to WDW in March 08. It will be 9 adults (21-57) and GD. We have never traveled to WDW with someone so young (we took aour kids for the first time when our youngest was in middle school) and I am looking for some advice on character dining for us. Any information on the Princess breakfast would be appreciated or any other dining ideas. We are staying off site this time around (first time ever off site) at Windsor Hills and will be there for the week (Sat-Sat). I am hoping to make reservations within the next couple of weeks. Thanks for any help.

 

[sunlover13]

How exciting! Her first trip. We just took our first trip with DD (4). We stayed for 7 days and did 2 character meals: dinner at CP (Crystal Palace) and lunch at CRT (Cinderella's Royal Table). DD was not even a big fan of Pooh and friends, but is now after CP. She loved the interaction. They came around 3 separate times when we ate there. She loved getting autographs and taking pics with them. The food was very good for a buffet too. CRT was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I probably would not go back b/c it was way overpriced and I didn't care for the food. However, to do it once and for DD to eat in the castle and meet all the princesses, it is a must do. I would try for breakfast though. DOn't do dinner b/c the princesses are not there, just the Fairy Godmother & mice.

This upcoming trip we are going to do the Princess Storybook breakfast at Epcot & Chef Mickey's for breakfast to try something new.

Hope that helps a little..........

 

[MickeyNicki]

We took our 3 year old niece to the Princess Breakfast last Oct. We had the 8:35 ressie, first ones in the park, got a free stroller and crown. First ones seated. THey put us in the back left of the place, across from the kitchen. There is a brown wooden door there and that is where the Princesses come out of, we were the first to see them. Belle was in the lobby in her yellow gown and was super sweet. We saw Aurora first, then Mulan and then Ariel..the little 3 year old went ballistic as Ariel is her favorite. All the Princesses were amazing and spent alot of time giving hugs and talking with my nieces. I think there was one more Princess to come but once we saw Ariel (what a great unexpected suprise) the little one was ready to go. The kids barely ate but DH and I really enjoyed the food and thought the atmosphere was really laid back and comfortable for adults.

We also took them to dinner at Chef Mickeys and they had a great time with all the characters (Goofy scared the little one) but no one, including the kids, liked the food.

A year later my niece talks about her breakfast with Ariel and how she cannot wait to go visit her again.

 

[phyllis1966]

Breakfast at CRT is definitely expensive, but it is really exciting if your little granddaughter likes the princesses. The food at breakfast is tasty and being in the castle is pretty cool, even for grown-ups like DH and me! She was given a wand and a special light-up pin to make a wish on - she really enjoyed herself. I've read that the Princess Storybook Breakfast in Epcot is really great, too - especially if your little princess likes some of the newer rpincesses, like Ariel and Mulan.

Our DD also enjoys Chef Mickey's (breakfast), Cape May Cafe (breakfast with the characters in their bathing suits - cute!), Crystal Palace (we prefer breakfast here, too), 1900 Park Fare (breakfast with Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh) and Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner with the characters in their colonial costumes).

 

[disneymomof1]

We always do character meals/buffets. I find it's easier with young children because of all the choices. We have done CRT breakfast and no one liked the food, and we are breakfast lovers. We have found that we love the Playhouse Disney Character Breakfast at MGM. JOJO, Goliath and June and Leo are there from the Little Einsteins, lots of singing and dancing and we have done this three times and everytime the food is good. This trip we are trying the Epcot Storybook Princess Breakfast. From all the reviews it sounds like it will be a great experience for our little princess !!

 

[vicki845]

My dd enjoyed the food and characters in Epcot at Norway. The princess breakfast or Lunch is very good. We did not like Chef Mickey's. The food was bad. I have never tried Cinderella's breakfast but have had the dinner. It was just okay. I didn't think it was worth it and wouldn't go back. I would definetely go back to Epcot for the breakfast and the lunch. We just got back from WDW on Tuesday. We had lunch with the princesses. We saw Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Aurora and Ariel. My dd also got to spend some time with Belle. Her favorite princess when we first walked in. She was taking pictures and signing autographs for everyone. The food is pretty good too.

 

[DznyDreamz]

Our last trip we celebrated my DD's 6th birthday with breakfast at the Princess Storybook Breakfast (Norway) and CRT for lunch. I would say the PSB is much better for interaction with the characters. I am not sure how the breakfast is at CRT, but at lunch, you greet Cinderella downstairs for photos and upstairs was Snow White, Belle in her blue dress and FG. At PSB you met Belle out front and then had Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora, Mulan had breakfast. I found them more relaxed and with more time to interact directly. Snow White sat at our table and dished out food from our platter, she was very sweet. Mulan remembered her from seeing her earlier that day. CRT seems like a higher ratio of guests to Princesses. It IS cool being in the castle though too. We had a window seat and it was so cool to watch the crowd and Carousel below.

Next week we are doing the 1900 Park Faire, LTT,Ohana and CP so I'll have more experience to pick a favorite!!

 

[Hootch]

our daughter's first trip was just after her third birthday. (Technically my wife was five and a half months pregnant with her when we went in 2003.) We did CP dinner CRT lunch with Chef Mickey's breakfast on the day we left. She absolutely loved all three. She got a kick out touching each character's nose. Since we videotaped we have all of the interaction. We tried Prime Time but my daughter had a melt down pretty early into the meal. The CM adjusted and moved us through pretty quickly.

This year we decided to focus solely on the kids and went to the same three character meals listed above and she loved as much as a four year old.

 

[CapeMayMommy]

My 2 and 3 1/2 year old just loved the Crystal Palace and all the Pooh characters. There were a lot of food choices for dinner, and the atmosphere (conservatory) is very nice. The restaurant was very crowded.

However, when asked, my daughter said her favorite thing the WHOLE vacation was the "Pooh-rade" where the children marched around the restaurant with Winnie the Pooh as the leader. Sometimes, kids like the simple stuff.

One thing that soured our experience at Akershus was that one of the princesses was abrupt with us. (Ariel) She must have been having a bad day because she was rushed and said in a pressured tone "I am just going to sign your book and then take a picture". She indicated that she wasn't up for small talk with my three and seven year olds.

Even my 7 yo step daughter said "gee, she was harsh" (and we weren't being rude, mind you) This was at 6pm, busiest dinner time.

Fortunately, Cinderella , Aurora, Belle, Jasmine and the food saved the experience for us. And others have seemed to always have positive princess interaction, so I was disappointed by Ariel.

If your little one loves Playhouse Disney (like my 2 yo) I'd strongly recommend Play and Dine at MGM. It seems that the characters aren't well known and mostly liked by the younger one. The characters gave my children a lot of attention and my kids loved the dancing. And the mickey waffles and potatoes were yummy for breakfast.

 

[simonkodousek]

I would plan a breakfast at the Crystal Palace. The Pooh characters are always popular with younger kids.

 

[ssdeverell]

I have not taken my DD yet (just 6 months old), but on our last two trips - DH and I did the Storybook breakfast in 2005 and then 1900 Park Fare for dinner in 2006. I loved both of them, and have them both on the list for DD's first trip. 1900 Park Fare for dinner was actually my favorite meal that trip. Plus, you meet the Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzie and Perla.

I am also considering CP, although DS and DH did not really like it in 2005. We did the dinner that year.

Oh, we also loved Donald's breakfast in the AK. They are changing it soon, but I am sure it will still be great and Daisy Duck is supposed to be at the new one. That is on my list, too.

I think your GD will love any that you choose.

Have a magical trip!

 

[KevanC]

We've taken my 3 year old daughter to WDW 5x in the past year and a half. I think we've been to nearly every character dining except Cinderella's Royal Table. We've been to... Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree Tavern, The Garden Grill, Princess Storybook Dining, Play & Dine at Hollywood & Vine, Donald's Breakfastasaurus, Chef Mickey, and Cinderalla's Gala Feast (1900 Park Fare). We've found that the best time to get our daughter the most interaction with the characters is to sign up for the first reservations when the restaurant opens. There are few patrons and the characters spend a lot more time at your table. Our best 'princess' experience has been at 1900 Park Fare. Using the early arrival, Cinderella sat on the floor and talked to my daughter for nearly 5 minutes after her third trip to our table. Prince Charming and the other characters also spent a long time visiting at our table. The whole experience was fantastic. In fact, we scheduled the same way at 1900 Park Fare next Friday right before the Not-So-Scary Halloween opening when my daughter will be dressed as a princess herself. Our worst character dining experience was at Breakfastasaurus. We went middle of the breakfast time period. The characters barely paused at the table long enough to snap a picture. Good luck scheduling... Plan early. Cinderella's Royal Table fills up quickly when they open reservations 6 months out. We always schedule 2-4 months out. So, we miss it every time. Check out the forum in other places to get tips for getting a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table.

 

[rcraw45425]

I also highly recommend both the breakfast and dinner at 1900 Park Faire. The food choices are numerous and the character interaction has always been great there.

 

[yaksack]

My DD 2 and DD6 both loved Chef Mickey at the Contemporary and the Crystal Palace in the MK.