Too Young for Character Breakfasts?

[JustLikeHeaven]

Hello everyone. This is my very first post. We are going to WDW in May 2005. At that time, my son will be 26 months old.

I was wondering if any of you could give me an idea as to how your children reacted to the Character Breakfasts when they were still pretty young. I would love to do the CB, but I'm not sure if he'll be spooked by the close interaction. I know that all children respond differently, but I'd like some feedback regarding your experiences.

Also...

Is the food on the buffets pretty well the same for each character breakfast venue?

I was thinking of Chef Mickey's. I love the Contemporary and I think my youngster would get a kick out of the monorail going through.

 

[MelAnderson]

When I took my son to Disney in June, he was 23 months at the time. We did the Cape May Character Breakfast which included Goofy, Minnie and Chip. It did take him a little while to warm up, but on Goofy's second trip he started smiling. Sadly, our photos did not turn out, but I think that he enjoyed himself.

The food is standard buffet items (eggs, waffles, muffins and other assorted pastries, etc.) and it was pretty good. We are going back to Disney in November and I plan to take him to Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace. He'll be 28 months then.

 

[LisaZoe]

When DD, then 23 mo, and I went to DLR last year, we didn't know about the character breakfasts but we did try to see some around the park. DD did OK with the princesses sincs they don't look all that different from "real" people but she was very scared of the full costume characters. She didn't scream or have a fit but clung to me very tightly (I still have bruises from the little fingers pinching ). I think park of the problem was that she really didn't have time to adjust to them before it was our turn to get close - which we didn't since I could tell it wasn't something she wanted at all. I think the character meals would work better because the characters are around a bit longer as they move from table to table so it will hopefully give children more time to these big things.

DD and I are going to WDW and have a few character meals scheduled. I've already started getting DD, who will be almost 3, used to the idea of the size of the characters. I talk about how they are as big as mommy and have also shown her pictures and the WDW vacation video pointing out the characters and that they are bigger than the kids in the picture/video. She seems OK with this idea and is talking about eating with Mickey so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this approach works for her.

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

BTW - DD is also very unsure of strangers so her reaction to Mickey didn't really surprise me.

 

[DVC-LEROY]

We first took our son to WDW at 27 mths - and he was a little shy with some of the characters but not spooked at all. The characters played peek-a-boo and goofed around with my husband - making my son laugh. I would suggest testing the water - if possible - with some local characters first - and go by how your child reacts to them. (we just got back from meeting Scooby Doo at a radio station event) My son is now 6 and still remembers his first visits to Chef Mickey's and the Crystal Palace.

 

[MrsM]

On our last trip to WDW, our DD was 17 months. We weren't quite sure how she'd react to those BIG characters. She loved them! They were very gentle with her when they would come around, patting her head or just putting their hand out for her to touch. She would just hug them and not let go! It was precious.

We did watch the afternoon parade on our first day at MK so they could get an idea of how big the characters really are. I don't know if that helped or not, but they had no problem meeting them in person.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My daughter has loved the characters since she was one. We did Crystal Palace that year because the Pooh characters were the only ones she knew. This year we did both CP and Chef Mickey. My kids loved them both although I personally prefer Crystal Palace.

My son, on the other hand, used to be scared of any face character, i.e. princesses, Peter Pan, Aladdin, etc. Not sure why, he was always fine with the big furry creatures. This was our first year to get pictures with him and a face character!

Have fun! I love character meals because then you don't have to wait in line in the parks!

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Over the span of three trips, i've taken my three little ones at these ages: 8 months, 10 months, 18 months, 24 months, 2.5 years, and 4 years old. They all enjoyed the different meals at all of these ages. The characters are great at reading children and will keep their distance if necessary. They will also watch for hand signals and gestures from parents if they prefer the characters to keep back.

I have always found the character meals to be much more relaxing than standing in line to see the characters. And. I've always been able to enjoy my meal with my little ones being very entertained watching the characters move around the room.

Oh, and one big plus -- under threes are FREE at the character meals. They are free at all buffet, family style and pre-plated meals at WDW.

Chef Mickey's in fun! Enjoy!! And welcome to the boards -- you've come to an awesome place for Disney info!

 

[GailT]

My sons first time he was 23 months. we went to the charater breakfast at I think it was fultons crab house on the big boat DT. all I can remember he clinging to me for dear lfe. someone I know is taking his 2 yr old, the funny thing his friend told him is that may be a mouse to us but it is a F****** big rat to a little kid. I have pictures of my son crying, now that I think of it, of course those characters are over whelming to a kid

 

[turnlisa]

We took my youngest DS when he was 9 months. He absolutely adored all of the characters at all of the meals. We did Hollywood & Vine (which they don't do anymore) and Chip spent some time coloring with him. We did CP and Piglet played patty-cake with him. My oldest DS hated most characters until he was about 2 then things changed. All kids are definitely different.

 

[sters]

Well, that's a good question. You might want to try going to someplace like Chuck E Cheese where there are big "characters" to see how they react. Some kids like them, some don't. If you're still not sure, schedule the character meal later in your trip, allowing some time for your child to adjust to characters and, possibly, even time to cancel if you child really, really, really doesn't like them.

I love character meals and have tried a few. This is just a suggestion, but I'd try for a pre-plated one rather than a traditional buffet. It's just so hard trying to handle a very small kid and juggle plates. When my husband went to get the kids' plates, they cried because they missed him and visa vera. The ones I know of that are pre-plated are the Garden Grill in Epcot, both princess breakfasts in the theme parks (CRT and Norway). I'd avoid the Crystal Palace. It's just such a huge place and we had to wait such a long time... at off seasnon no less... that my kids were CRAZED by the time we even sat down.

If you'd still rather eat at a buffet, I'd encourage you to eat outside the theme parks, so that the line isn't long. At Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, they take a family photo before hand, which I wasn't expecting and was tickled pink by (at a reasonable cost, I thought). The best so far, in terms of food selection, quality, character interaction, and time waiting was at the CApe May Cafe... with an easy walk to Epcot afterwards.

 

[sha_lyn]

DD was 2 1/2 on our first trip. We did CM's our first night. Big mistake. The place is so loud and over whelming. I almost cancelled our plans for CP and Donalds because of the horrible experience at CM. However DD loved CP. To this day we say the expression on her face when she met piglet was owrth the price of the entire trip.

 

[swilphil]

We took our 24 month old son to Crystal Palace, and he loved it--hugged Pooh on our way out! We have read lots of Pooh books and watched some videos. We also were able to meet a few characters in the parks here and there a couple days before we did the character meal, and before we even left we watched the Disney Vacation video. I kept telling him the characters were going to be big.

 

[crisi]

My son was 3 1/2 and my daughter 2 1/2 on our first trip.

To my daughter, every character was a big moving teddy bear. She was all hugs and smiles.

My son reached an arrangement - Mom wants me to stand here so she can take my photo, but I'm NOT going to look at you and don't touch me. At least he wasn't a screamer - we've been to a few breakfasts where there have been screamers. We have great pictures of DD giving Minnie a hug while I hold DS and he looks the other direction. BTW, the characters were all great. Once they figured out he was "shy" they gave him a single coax and then left him alone.

At just five we went again. The first day he didn't like the characters at all still. This time he wouldn't even get close enough for photos. At the end of the first day he said "Mom, we need to get one of those books for the characters to write their names." I'm not an autograph mom, but we went out and bought books. With a purpose (getting their autograph), he would walk up to the characters, interact, and pose for a photo.

One piece of advice is to schedule your character meal a few days into the trip. Then make a point of seeking out characters earlier. If your kid is truly frightened, cancel the meal. If they are enthusiastic, have a wonderful time! If they are somewhere in the middle (like my son) you can decide if the meal is worth some very funny photos.

 

[danicaw]

Our DS had a wonderful time at Crystal Palace when he was just 7 months old.

These pics are stills taken from a video...

Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore all took several minutes with us, DS was the only kid at the table. The characters were great not rushing him, he hugged all of them. The video is priceless.

It was fun to watch all the kids march around with the characters towards the end of breakfast. Food was great also.
Maybe make your ressies for the second of third day of the trip and see how your little one does with characters on the first couple of days. If its not going well, you can always cancel your ressies.

 

[my2minnies]

We went last Oct when my dds were 14 months and 2 1/2. Both my dds LOVED the meals. We went to Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree Tavern. I have to say that both those meals were the best part of our vacation. My 2 1/2 year old laughed the entire time and my 14 month old would not let go of Pooh--she just hugged him for what seemed like forever. It was a heartwarming experience and I cant wait to go in sept. We are doing Chef Mickeys and the Princess breakfast in Norway.

Lori

 

[ElizabethB]

From about age 2 to about age 4, my friend's twin boys were absolutely petrified of characters in big furry faces. Didn't matter if they were mice, dinosaurs, ducks, dogs, etc. They would cry and run away every time.

So, I would determine beforehand whether your child is scared of characters in costumes before trying a character meal.

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

We took dd 13mos. to CP at MK last year and she loved it. When Tigger came towards her she hopped up and down in her highchair and pointed at him and then when Pooh came over she gave him a big hug.