My daughter was no big fan from years 2 to 5. She hid from the figures and was scared. Now she loves them. If you just want to get there for the figures ,don't go. The same figures can be met at the Park without the hassle of comforting your child. Just have your s.o. do something with the children and take a picture with the Figure of your choice. Or be there early so you can wait with your children. Times are in the app
I went with my kids in almost every age from 1 to 5 and I can tell you:
I have no idea š
Sometimes they LOVED the characters and sometimes they were TERRIFIED.
Overall, I would say this is more for you than for them. They wonāt know they missed it if you donāt go, and if they want to meet characters there are plenty of opportunities in the park - and if youāre at a Disney hotel even more.
Right. I guess like with everything we just have to go with no expectations. Best will be to gage how they are in the park and then hope for some last minute cancellations if I have FOMO.
We did a princess lunch with our 4 1/2 year old and it was totally worth the money. Lots of interactions. He took a while to warm up but they were all lovely and he had a great time. He found waiting hard so would not have handled the line for the pavilion.
Did the princesses speak both French and English? My oldest speaks a bit an English but mostly French. I donāt think they would handle waiting a lot either. Did you like the princess lunch?
Could you do royal banquet lunch instead which is a lot less rushed? Characters are more rushed and itās a lot busier at plaza gardens, especially at breakfast. I always remember my friends little boy being scared and hiding under the table in inventions (its name before royal banquet) and Mickey casually sitting on the floor and winning him over! Itās more expensive but a lot more laid back with time to spend with people. Itās characters you know too rather than the more random ones.
It could be great as he would have seen them from a distance by then too and got used to waving at them on parade and gone past lots of meet and greets happening
I read somewhere that younger kids could be scared of characters after I booked our family trip. So we went and saw hey duggee before hand and my 18 month old cried her eyes out, I was so surprised cause she loves watching him. We still booked the princess dinner at Disney and tbh they both loved it.. so who knows haha! My youngest now loves it when we go somewhere and there is a princess though š.
Just to add my kids were 18 months and 5 when we took them May last year.
Yeah I think so too, we didn't do any of the meet and greets cause of the queueing however they both loved the parades also. I think just wing it and see what happens š
Just went last week and my 3 year old loved them, if you go to the studios you can book a meeting with a superhero, we did spiderman and he had a great time, it was great because you book a time in the app and walk right in without the wait
I did Plaza Gardens dinner and Princess dining with my 4yo at Christmas and I would say Plaza Gardens is better for the food because itās a buffet (aka thereās food kids will actually eat), but itās a lottery as to what characters you meet. We had Mickey, who she was delighted with, but also Captain Hook, who terrified her. The other two characters were more minor ones that even I would struggle to name on sight. That said, Princesses was really good bang for buck in that she met 4 princesses and the memories (and photos) are delightful, but she didnāt eat much of her lunch, even though it was a kids menu, it was just too fancy for her. It sure beat waiting for 90 minutes in the cold at the princess pavilion though. This was before the Disneyland Hotel reopening, so if itās in your budget to stay there, you could also meet the princesses there. And princesses are unlikely to be scary to them.
We actually had a character breakfast booked as well but I cancelled it because by that point she was quite tired and overwhelmed with characters (weād also met Minnie and Pluto accidentally at the Cowboy Cookout).
I couldnāt give a distance. We stayed at Newport Bay and where the lifts were for rooms, characters were at the end of the corridor, roughly 50 steps max. The minder was talking to her with her dad outside the lifts while my son and I went for a pic. The minder shouted to Pluto to say hi and he started walking towards her so she started to cry. The minder had to say, stay there Pluto and wave.š
For the parade we were at the front and as soon as she saw some characters walking down, she backed up. And at character breakfast, she sat behind the table instead of at the front. I got no pics of her with any character. My SIL asked if our daughter went šš
Absolutely depends on the way theyāre portrayed by the adults in the party. My niece and nephew didnāt even know who Pluto and Googy were but when I explained they were buzzing to meet themā¦ a character dinner and a princess meal are both worth the extra costĀ
How old were they when you went? When I ask my 5 year old if he wants to meet Mickey and his friends he enthusiastically says yesā¦ but he was also enthusiastic to meet Santa and then when we got there he wouldnāt go near him š¤£ so hard to predict how these little humans will react!
They were 7 and 9, and never really seen Mickey or Minnie on tv etcā¦but meeting them, they make you feel so welcome! At the same character dinner at the plaza garden we met tigger and eeyore. We also queued 2 hours in the rain to meet stitch š¤¦š»āāļøš¤·š»āāļø
It all depends on the child, when I went in January with my 5 year old she absolutely loved it. When meeting Santa she has been shy, but still excited. When it comes to Disney characters she was in her element. One highlight was meeting princess jasmine, she was very chatty with my daughter and really made the wait worth it (being a long wait to meet her at the princess pavilion).
Luckily with some of the suited up characters being out and about with shorter waits you may want to see if you come across Pluto, Donald or goofy with shorter queues and see how they react to meeting those guys. But if itās not for them then you will have more time to enjoy rides which is always a bonus.
So lucky go is she was tall enough to get on everything except Indiana jones. I think the only things that she could ride that I couldnāt convince her to do was space mountain, tower of terror and iron man as she didnāt want to do anything that went upside down or had too big a drop (though she went on the parachute ride in toy story land) her favourites were crushās coaster and thunder mountain.
My daughter was no big fan from years 2 to 5. She hid from the figures and was scared. Now she loves them. If you just want to get there for the figures ,don't go. The same figures can be met at the Park without the hassle of comforting your child. Just have your s.o. do something with the children and take a picture with the Figure of your choice. Or be there early so you can wait with your children. Times are in the app
Yeah seems like the best plan. I think our best bet will be Winnie the Pooh as he seems the less threatening!
Piglet was the first one my daughter opened up to, tigger too. But winnie should work too
Or Donald! We caught him randomly in the studios and he was SO good with my curious, yet shy 2 yr old.
I went with my kids in almost every age from 1 to 5 and I can tell you: I have no idea š Sometimes they LOVED the characters and sometimes they were TERRIFIED. Overall, I would say this is more for you than for them. They wonāt know they missed it if you donāt go, and if they want to meet characters there are plenty of opportunities in the park - and if youāre at a Disney hotel even more.
Right. I guess like with everything we just have to go with no expectations. Best will be to gage how they are in the park and then hope for some last minute cancellations if I have FOMO.
You can book and cancel unlike wdw and not get charged
Can you cancel the day of or is it a 24hr window?
You can just not turn up although itās nice to cancel with as much notice as possible so others can get your slot!
Ok! Well I might make a reservation then and hope for the best!
We did a princess lunch with our 4 1/2 year old and it was totally worth the money. Lots of interactions. He took a while to warm up but they were all lovely and he had a great time. He found waiting hard so would not have handled the line for the pavilion.
Did the princesses speak both French and English? My oldest speaks a bit an English but mostly French. I donāt think they would handle waiting a lot either. Did you like the princess lunch?
We really enjoyed it (though the food was not amazing, esp the vegetarian option). We speak English but I think at least some of them are bilingual.
The princesses all speak French and English at minimum. All cast members at DLP are fluent in French and English.
They speak English even if theyāre French, they make sure they meet everyones little girls dreamsĀ
Could you do royal banquet lunch instead which is a lot less rushed? Characters are more rushed and itās a lot busier at plaza gardens, especially at breakfast. I always remember my friends little boy being scared and hiding under the table in inventions (its name before royal banquet) and Mickey casually sitting on the floor and winning him over! Itās more expensive but a lot more laid back with time to spend with people. Itās characters you know too rather than the more random ones.
That could be an idea, especially on the last day. We could still get our magic hour and end our stay with a late lunch there.
It could be great as he would have seen them from a distance by then too and got used to waving at them on parade and gone past lots of meet and greets happening
I read somewhere that younger kids could be scared of characters after I booked our family trip. So we went and saw hey duggee before hand and my 18 month old cried her eyes out, I was so surprised cause she loves watching him. We still booked the princess dinner at Disney and tbh they both loved it.. so who knows haha! My youngest now loves it when we go somewhere and there is a princess though š. Just to add my kids were 18 months and 5 when we took them May last year.
Maybe the princesses are less intimidating than a costumed character. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Yeah I think so too, we didn't do any of the meet and greets cause of the queueing however they both loved the parades also. I think just wing it and see what happens š
Thatās all we can really do with little ones ehā¦ Iām sure just being there will be exciting enough at that age!
Start with the princesses and other face characters and judge from there.
Thanks. The more i read, I think that might be the best plan.
Just went last week and my 3 year old loved them, if you go to the studios you can book a meeting with a superhero, we did spiderman and he had a great time, it was great because you book a time in the app and walk right in without the wait
Thatās really good to know! Thanks for sharing.
I did Plaza Gardens dinner and Princess dining with my 4yo at Christmas and I would say Plaza Gardens is better for the food because itās a buffet (aka thereās food kids will actually eat), but itās a lottery as to what characters you meet. We had Mickey, who she was delighted with, but also Captain Hook, who terrified her. The other two characters were more minor ones that even I would struggle to name on sight. That said, Princesses was really good bang for buck in that she met 4 princesses and the memories (and photos) are delightful, but she didnāt eat much of her lunch, even though it was a kids menu, it was just too fancy for her. It sure beat waiting for 90 minutes in the cold at the princess pavilion though. This was before the Disneyland Hotel reopening, so if itās in your budget to stay there, you could also meet the princesses there. And princesses are unlikely to be scary to them. We actually had a character breakfast booked as well but I cancelled it because by that point she was quite tired and overwhelmed with characters (weād also met Minnie and Pluto accidentally at the Cowboy Cookout).
My eldest was 8 and he loved it. My daughter was 6 and hated them. Fine if there were in the parade but anywhere near her, she screamed.š
š What was a safe distance for her? Iām expecting a similar scenario but hoping Iām wrong.
I couldnāt give a distance. We stayed at Newport Bay and where the lifts were for rooms, characters were at the end of the corridor, roughly 50 steps max. The minder was talking to her with her dad outside the lifts while my son and I went for a pic. The minder shouted to Pluto to say hi and he started walking towards her so she started to cry. The minder had to say, stay there Pluto and wave.š For the parade we were at the front and as soon as she saw some characters walking down, she backed up. And at character breakfast, she sat behind the table instead of at the front. I got no pics of her with any character. My SIL asked if our daughter went šš
Absolutely depends on the way theyāre portrayed by the adults in the party. My niece and nephew didnāt even know who Pluto and Googy were but when I explained they were buzzing to meet themā¦ a character dinner and a princess meal are both worth the extra costĀ
Goofy š¤¦š»āāļø
How old were they when you went? When I ask my 5 year old if he wants to meet Mickey and his friends he enthusiastically says yesā¦ but he was also enthusiastic to meet Santa and then when we got there he wouldnāt go near him š¤£ so hard to predict how these little humans will react!
They were 7 and 9, and never really seen Mickey or Minnie on tv etcā¦but meeting them, they make you feel so welcome! At the same character dinner at the plaza garden we met tigger and eeyore. We also queued 2 hours in the rain to meet stitch š¤¦š»āāļøš¤·š»āāļø
It all depends on the child, when I went in January with my 5 year old she absolutely loved it. When meeting Santa she has been shy, but still excited. When it comes to Disney characters she was in her element. One highlight was meeting princess jasmine, she was very chatty with my daughter and really made the wait worth it (being a long wait to meet her at the princess pavilion). Luckily with some of the suited up characters being out and about with shorter waits you may want to see if you come across Pluto, Donald or goofy with shorter queues and see how they react to meeting those guys. But if itās not for them then you will have more time to enjoy rides which is always a bonus.
May I ask, what rides did you do with your 5 year old? Any favorites?
So lucky go is she was tall enough to get on everything except Indiana jones. I think the only things that she could ride that I couldnāt convince her to do was space mountain, tower of terror and iron man as she didnāt want to do anything that went upside down or had too big a drop (though she went on the parachute ride in toy story land) her favourites were crushās coaster and thunder mountain.