Character Meal for our first Family Trip?

[WDWfeelslikehome]

DW and I are adopting and our soon to be DS will be almost 3 when we take him on his first ever trip, and our first family trip to WDW. My parents, si, B-I-L, and nephew will also be there. My DM has already decided that she wants a family gathering for a character breakfast either at Cape May or Crystal Palace. I would like to surprise my DS and DW with an additional character meal that is just for the three of us. I am looking for suggestions for my DS's age range, and possibly for children adopted out of country and their first reactions to WDW.
Thanks.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Let me be the first to recommend the Garden Grill at Epcot. It is our 3yr olds favorite at WDW (actually it's all 5 of our favorites). We get more one on one time with the characters (especially Mickey and Pluto), the food is great, the revolving floor is unique and you have a great view of Living with the Land boatride.:thumbsup:

[thejens]

Cape May and Crystal Palace are both great. Honestly, unless your three year old is into certain characters keep your expectations low. My 3 yr old became shy and refused to interact with the characters. Then we saw Alice in Wonderland walking about in Epcot and he fell in love with her. You never know how a little one will react so be flexible. I think Jojo and other Playhouse Disney characters are at the Hollywood and Vine in the Disney Hollywood Studios so that might be good for your little one. Have fun. What a wonderful celebration it will be for you all being together in WDW!

[ElenitaB]

Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family!

I'll second the suggestion for Garden Grill. The characters are wonderful there and it's relatively small and quiet (compared to Chef Mickey's, for example). Also, Mickey is a character known throughout the world, unlike some of the characters at the other meals.

[4myprincesses]

We've never done Garden Grill, but have done most of the others and I must say that my kids have liked the Crystal Palace the best for that age range.

On a side note, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Adoption is such an amazing process. Not the endless paperwork, but inside deep down! Our twins loved their first visit to the WDW, as did their sisters before them. In fact, we are taking them back in January thanks to a Grandma who loves to spoil her grandkids (and takes mommy along for a babysitter!)

[MiaBella]

:mickey:I would go for Crystal Palace :D

I hope you have a wonderful time

[JPL]

I think Jojo and other Playhouse Disney characters are at the Hollywood and Vine in the Disney Hollywood Studios so that might be good for your little one.

:ditto:

You can also introduce him to the characters there on TV first so he is extra excited:mickey:

[irish1967]

First off, CONGRATULATIONS on the addition to your family!

Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with any character meal - they are all done so well at Disney!

But, I wanted to pass on a piece of advice I received before we took our DS to WDW when he was 3 (wow - just had a thought - how the heck did he age to 10 overnight - don't blink!)

The advice was to plan the character meal(s) for the END of your trip. The reason being is that the characters are HUGE (particularly to younger children) and until they have a chance to learn that they are harmless, their first natural reaction is fear.

A few days of watching other children interacting with the characters and having a chance to warm up to them will allow your DS to really enjoy the meal(s) and interact with the characters on a more personal level.

Have a great time!

[Roger Rabbit 89]

My DS,who was 3, and I went to Crystal Palace by ourselves and had a great time.

Another suggestion, my kids loved Liberty Tree. We went for dinner and had great character interaction. The kids had a really good time.

We also liked Donald's Breakosauars.(spl?) I know other people had problems here, but we really liked it.

We did a character meal everyday and we really liked it. Each day was a new thing for the kids to experience.

Congratulations on the addition and have fun planning!!

Michael

[Samtastic]

My parents took my nephew and DB and DSiL down there last year and the only characters he knew was Buzz and Woody, he liked them but was initially scared. They took him to H&V and he was really scared by the characters (which he didn't know). I'd only take your son to places where he knew the characters or perhaps the Princesses (because they are only dressed up, but in the giant scary costumes).


Congrats btw! :congrats:

[#1donaldfan]

:thumbsup:Any character meal would be great......for your more private one I would choose CM....it's a lot of fun and the food is pretty good......:thumbsup:

[EPCOT84]

I'd only take your son to places where he knew the characters or perhaps the Princesses (because they are only dressed up, but in the giant scary costumes).


First of all Congratulations to WDWfeelslikehome.

I :ditto: the above from Samtastic. Try to find out which characters he knows and likes. What seems cute to adult can and will petrify kids at that age. I remember seeing it all too often at a character breakfast or dinner. I felt so sorry for one kid who was shrieking away after one character simply stopped by their table and waved. Luckily the poor kid was smiling and laughing later on.

[GreenBeetle]

Like Roger Rabbit 89, I was going to suggest Liberty Tree Tavern. It's a family favorite of ours. Yummy food and great characters. :D

[EJS-Houston]

DW and I are adopting and our soon to be DS will be almost 3 when we take him on his first ever trip, and our first family trip to WDW. My parents, si, B-I-L, and nephew will also be there. My DM has already decided that she wants a family gathering for a character breakfast either at Cape May or Crystal Palace. I would like to surprise my DS and DW with an additional character meal that is just for the three of us. I am looking for suggestions for my DS's age range, and possibly for children adopted out of country and their first reactions to WDW.
Thanks.

We were just there two weeks ago and did the character dinner at EPCOT's Garden Grill and had a great time...and we're talking about 4 adults, no kids here. The food was very good, and we got to hang out with Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey...all of whom stopped by our table several times and "chatted" with us and posed for pictures. I highly recommend it!

[WDWfeelslikehome]

Thanks for all of the replies so far, it is great to find out that there are many other Intercotees that are familiar with adoption.
4myprincesses, yes there is an EE of paperwork, and we can't wait until he comes home. We traveled for our first trip to meet him in October, now we are waiting for our court date and invitation to return. Irish1967, thank you, I hadn't even considered that the waiting until later in the trip may be of benefit. I will be the lucky one to stay home with DS when we return, I plan to watch many Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Episodes with him, now I'll have a real reason to watch. Thanks again for all the help, and I would appreciate any more tips that may be out there, especially for adoptive families and their first WDW trip.

[LoriMistress]

DH and I have eaten at CP twice and we loved their food! In fact, we plan on eating there twice again in 10 more days!!! :cloud9:

[KAT1811]

:congrats: on your upcoming adoption, parenthood is so amazing and gets even better the more you have!!! DH and I are planning to go for #4 next fall, the more the merrier.

As far as character meals are I agree that the "characters" seem to frighten some small children. Our oldest always loved the characters while our middle was afraid of them. We were just in WDW in September and DD#2 was almost 3 at the time (2y, 10mo) and she wasn't crazy about the characters and wouldn't even go near them. Even though you have a DS I would recommend the Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast. They give swords to the boys, take a picture that is included in the price of the meal and all of the characters are prince or princesses and real people which IMHO cuts down on the fear factor. Plus there is something amazing about eating in the castle.

We didn't care for Garden Grill, LOVE the Crystal Palace (DD did love these characters). Have a great time, I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it!!!

[Tink#64]

:congrats: On your expanding family! Sounds like you are going to be a awesome dad!

I thought the idea from "Irish 1967" was fantastic! I think kids always handle things better when they know what to expect!

Three, that's tough, he may do well & he may be scared. It's like going to see Santa, I think my kids cried every year after the age of 1! I'm in most pix just to have the photo! You never know with kids!

We've only done H & V & that was 5 years ago! I'm sorry I can't help there. I'm sure you'll pick one, and it will be a beautiful memory & great phot op no matter how much he interracts with the characters!

I hope you make many magical memories! :tink:

[c&d]

First, congratulations on your adoption.

How long will you have had him before you take the trip? If he's still adjusting to your family, he may have a harder time at DW then again he may not. Just a thought.

We had a wonderful time the first time we took our adopted son down to Disney. We had him a little over a year before we took him down. That was our first trip to go somewhere other than to visit family.

I would recommend the Crystal Palace. I know DS knew all the Pooh characters much better than all the other characters so he was much more relaxed around them. We also did the character breakfast about half way thru our trip.

[Jared]

Like Roger Rabbit 89, I was going to suggest Liberty Tree Tavern. It's a family favorite of ours. Yummy food and great characters. :D
Here's another recommendation for Liberty Tree Tavern. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is a little less crazy than some of the more popular meals offered at Chef Mickey's and 'Ohana.

Garden Grill is another great suggestion for similar reasons.

:tasty:

[jenfriend]

I agree that you need to keep your expectations low/be flex with a 3 yo, but you'll still enjoy seeing the characters. If DS won't take photo with characters, try just sneaking the character behind his chair and take the photo with him unaware.

My family, including my almost 3 yo DD, really enjoyed the Ohanas breakfast at the Poly Resort. It's Mickey, Lilo, Stitch, Pluto in Tropical garb.

We also enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh characters at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom.

Have Fun

[garymacd]

Crystal Palace: no question! Mickey isn't there, but everyone from the Hundred Acre Woods is there. They have a parade the kids can get involved in.

The food is buffet-style, so there should be no problem with anyone not being able to decide on breakfast.

[4myprincesses]

I am not sure how long you will be home before you make the trip. If it is close to getting home make sure to bring comfort items with you everywhere. Not sure if you are doing international adoption or not, but here are some tips that might apply anyways:

Food-wise I am sure all the sit down places will be more than happy to do what is needed if your son is not into all the "new" foods, just ask.
We kept one of the t-shirst the babies had on at the orphanage (we had to trade for these) and didn't wash them. We took them everywhere with us for the first 6 months as anytime they were really upset I would hold them close and let them hang onto this and they would calm down. One of the twins had night terrors pretty bad and it really helped to have this.
Also, we have a specific blanket for each child at home and we took these blankets (unwashed so they would smell like home) with us to help them not feel so insecure in the new environment.

Now, 1 year later I wouldn't really be too concerned about all the above. But on our first trips away from home it was a lifesaver to have done it that way. It's a year today since I spent the day at their orphanage, holding them, getting to know them, asking every question I could about them....now they are running around the house playing, laughing and plotting against the Christmas tree!

:mickey::mickey:

Your gonna have a great trip to Disney. Disney is great, but Disney with kids is Wonderful! Congrats again and I hope your court date comes soon!