I'm new and naive and have a lame question: since my daughter is two, I assume I do not need a park hopper ticket for her, is that correct? I only see tickets for kids three and up. Do I need to bring a copy of her birth certificate or anything? Because while she is small, she will only be one month shy of turning three when we go in October.

The second question is more of a need for reassurance -- I am thinking of doing Goofy's kitchen for dinner. I was set on Ariel's Grotto before I learned it became a princess gathering (my daughter is not into the princess thing). My daughter is shy, so I am trying to keep this trip as low-key as I can for a visit to DLR as to not overwhelm her. My plan was to go to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner the Sunday night we arrive; we arrive late morning, so we will have seen some parts of DL, but not all. Does that sound okay? I would go to Storytellers (we are staying at GC) for a breakfast instead, but my husband really wants to see a mouse at the meal, so I am trying to pick a venue that maximizes those chances.

Thanks so much! kim

I'm new and naive and have a lame question: since my daughter is two, I assume I do not need a park hopper ticket for her, is that correct? I only see tickets for kids three and up. Do I need to bring a copy of her birth certificate or anything? Because while she is small, she will only be one month shy of turning three when we go in October.

The second question is more of a need for reassurance -- I am thinking of doing Goofy's kitchen for dinner. I was set on Ariel's Grotto before I learned it became a princess gathering (my daughter is not into the princess thing). My daughter is shy, so I am trying to keep this trip as low-key as I can for a visit to DLR as to not overwhelm her. My plan was to go to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner the Sunday night we arrive; we arrive late morning, so we will have seen some parts of DL, but not all. Does that sound okay? I would go to Storytellers (we are staying at GC) for a breakfast instead, but my husband really wants to see a mouse at the meal, so I am trying to pick a venue that maximizes those chances.

Thanks so much! kim


Nahh, don't feel naive. And its not a lame question. Yes, all kids under 3 are free. So enjoy these days lol.

And I haven't been to Goofy's kitchen, so I'm not sure what to say to that. But it sounds that it's your best bet for a character dinner. Because that's what it sounds like that you're looking for. Either way though, have a good trip. :)

Re: Goofy's v Storyteller's

Your shy two-year-old will be better served at Storyteller's. The atmosphere is low-key. The characters are a lot less boisterous. Also, the food is better.

Can your husband forego Mickey at a meal? The dining experience will be a lot happier, I really do think.

If Mickey is his priority, you might have a problem since I'm not aware of any of the character meals that Mickey attends except over at Ariels Grotto and that was before the switch to princess status. I'd call Disney Dining to see, but I do know that traditionally he doesn't appear over at Goofys Kitchen.

Re: Goofy's v Storyteller's

Your shy two-year-old will be better served at Storyteller's. The atmosphere is low-key. The characters are a lot less boisterous. Also, the food is better.

Can your husband forego Mickey at a meal? The dining experience will be a lot happier, I really do think.

I agree and if your husband wants mickey just head over to Toon Town for a meet and greet. When my son was two he was shy too and would cry if I tried to get him close to ANY character. He didn't mind them from far away so he usually stayed with me taking pics while dad and his siblings talked to characters.

At Goofy's the characters will come right to your table. At Storyteller's from what I've read - you go to the characters. As far as I know Mickey doesn't show at any of the character breakfasts. We've only done Goofy's and have seen Aladdin, Pochantas, The Genie, Goofy, Pluto, Balao and the Mad Hatter that I can remember off the top of my head. The Mad Hatter is a riot.

Over in Toontown you can go to Mickey's house/studio and you get a private audience with him.

You might want to warn your waiter that your child is shy and might be overwhelmed by the characters. You can go to Goofy's for brunch from 7 - 2 or dinner from 5 - 9.

We are going on Aug 30 and will be trying dinner this time. Have a great time - awesome photo opportunities.

Ok, my opinion may not be popular with your husband but I've taken two 2-year-olds to Disneyland and my third will be two next spring, so take it for what it's worth to you but based on my experience...

I'm sure your husband has good intentions wanting to see a mouse at a meal, but from your shy 2-y/o's perspective, that mouse is a giant unhuman thing with big ears. My 2-year-olds started going to the park at 3-weeks-old and even then, when they were 2, they screamed at the site of giant mice approaching. (And, yes, that continued until they were 3.)

I appreciate that your daughter might not be into princesses, but princesses have faces and talk- they're actually human. So if you're looking for a good character dining experience with your two-year-old, a princess meal might be the very best place to start!

I agree with 3894 that you might consider Storytellers. No, there won't be a mouse, but maybe for the sake of your daughter's needs, Daddy could visit Mickey in Toontown.

Here's my favorite Toontown trick:

When you get into Mickey's studio, you may be among a small group. Let the others in your small group go before you. Hang back. If your daughter is shy, let her see how the other children or adults interact with Mickey. If your daughter is freaked out by Mickey, LEAVE. Give dad the camera. The Cast Members will get a picture of Dad and Mickey on your camera- they're happy to do that and Dad will get to see the Big Cheese.

If your daughter is doing all right, go ahead and let everyone finish visiting Mickey. Then when they've all left, it will just be your family and Mickey. I've never been rushed. Mickey loves little kids and can be very patient, but when it's just you and your family you'll have a very nice visit.

With any 24-36 month old, head characters (characters with big fake heads) are an iffy proposition. It's sometimes best to enter with low expectations so that Mom and Dad's dreams of a picture-perfect-scene straight out of a "Remember the Magic" commercial don't come crashing down.

And then if you go and give her some space and it turns out that she's ok near the characters, great, that's just a bonus.

Again, that's just my experience but I know I'm not alone and it's another perspective to consider.

:)
Adrienne

I'm sure your husband has good intentions wanting to see a mouse at a meal, but from your shy 2-y/o's perspective, that mouse is a giant unhuman thing with big ears. My 2-year-olds started going to the park at 3-weeks-old and even then, when they were 2, they screamed at the site of giant mice approaching. (And, yes, that continued until they were 3.)

Adrienne

Hmm....your kids need to get together with my son...he loves the characters and has since I can remember taking him to the meals. We usually get characters coming back to our table because they are amused that this little one and a half year old loves the interaction.. I've heard this can change as they get a little older, but I doubt it.

Another friend of ours has two children (five and three, I believe) who also love the characters, were never afraid of them. I've seen these two kids climb under a booth table that they were sitting at just to get out of the booth so they can go to the characters.

Having taken several different toddlers to the parks I think we all have to agree that each childs personality will define how their visit goes, the OP has stated her daughter is shy, that would tell ME that she needs to accomodate her little one by limiting direct interactions.

For those of you blessed with kids who for whatever reason do well with the rubber heads Lucky YOU, I have been to the parks with one toddler that we went into Mickey warning the CM's hey we have a 1 year old so we understand we're probably going to get the screaming shot but it's his first visit and we'll take what we get, what we got was a great smile shot.....then later that day what we got was a 1 year old screaming in terror at Goofy....it just depends on the moment. I was blessed to take the Krock kids to the park just this past March and we got a LOT of pics with characters, for those who got to see them you might have noticed a distinct effort to keep the youngest Krock a bit distracted...Cman does not care for the characters much yet, but Sman and Matthew are at the fun "let's get autographs" stage...so I'm sure that Colin will grow into that around 2007 :fez: but I have to say that in reading the original post AdrienneK's advice seems the most solid I've seen for that particular family based on the information we have available.

Every child is different, no offense intended.

whatever it is all kids are diferent.I say fantasyland and anything is calm and not scary

Your daughter might surprise you, but I agree with starting slow for her sake, and being flexible based on her reactions.

When my oldest nephew was almost 3, I visited them when they lived in Orlando. We went to WDW a couple of days and Sea World another. He was a shy, fairly sensitive, kid. We just stayed away from characters at WDW (fairly easy to do at the time). When we got to Sea World they had a Shamu character up front, and he went RUNNING up to this character to give it a hug, and we got a great picture of him with Shamu. Now, Shamu wasn't all that tall (Daddy is taller) and was fuzzy at the bottom, but my sister-in-law and I were both shocked that he didn't freak out at a character.

Hmm....your kids need to get together with my son...he loves the characters and has since I can remember taking him to the meals. We usually get characters coming back to our table because they are amused that this little one and a half year old loves the interaction.. I've heard this can change as they get a little older, but I doubt it.

Another friend of ours has two children (five and three, I believe) who also love the characters, were never afraid of them. I've seen these two kids climb under a booth table that they were sitting at just to get out of the booth so they can go to the characters.

LOL...Adrienne's kids have gone to the park with my kids, and those reactions are not necessarily restricted to a family!!

My boy/girl twins are different as can be. As 2-3 year olds, my daughter had no problem with characters, and my son would dive under the table at the mere thought one might come anywhere near. Now, don't even *think* about getting between him and Stitch, should he be around!

Their younger sister, the Future President of Disneyland, has been featured in one of Adrienne's columns about characters, and she has NEVER had a problem with characters!

At the ripe old age of 8 and 9, my kids don't especially care about characters any more. They won't stand in line to see them, and it's a 'oh, here they are again' kind of thing at character meals. I had to coerce them to get photos taken with characters on DCL this summer!

Do I miss lugging around autograph books? Nope! I'm glad we had those days, but it's OK they're done now.

Thanks everyone. I think we will skip Goofy's Kitchen and either go with the princesses or Storytellers. When we passed some of the Disney princess dresses at Costco today, her mouth dropped open in amazement, so she may like Ariel's Grotto better than I thought!

We will take your advice, Adrienne, with Mickey at Toontown. Letting her watch other kids respond will be helpful for her. We plan on taking everything at her pace, even if it means we spend our days at the pool instead.

In the meantime, we are preparing her for the fact that characters are large, even bigger than mommy and daddy, and that there will be a lot of people, etc. She is so excited now; hopefully she will be that way at the park too.

Thanks again!

Regarding the question of whether or not you need to bring her birth certificate, I'd say you probably won't need it. We took our son the day before he turned three, and they didn't even ask how old he was. And he's a fairly good size kid for his age. I could see them maybe asking you how old she is, but I highly doubt they'd ask for proof. Unless you're trying to get a 10 year old in as under three, then it'd be more of a possibility.

I made the mistake of forcing my son to see Mickey when he had just turned two. It was not a Kodak moment. We did manage to get a picture, but every time I see it now it makes me feel bad.

Have a great trip!!

I have never known anyone to have to prove age. I think they take your word. We have 2 boys, never been asked about their age. In fact I notice the main gate employees seem surprised when he would hand them his AP.
I have only been Ariel's to eat, we are doing Goofy's this fall. We really enjoyed everything about Ariel's.

We visited DL last year over my son's 3rd b-day. The day before, we did not get him a ticket, but he was prominantly displaying his b-day buttom from the GCH on his b-day, so decided to be honest and bought him a 1 day park hopper. I felt more comfortable doing that, even if I was out the $$.

We also had his b-day dinner that night at Goofy's Kitchen, a restaurant we visit every single trip! DS is one of those kids that has always done well with characters (with the exception of Santa right after he turned 2), and since Goofy is one of his favorites, it was a no-brainer for us.

I do agree with Adrienne about the "face" characters, though. They are far less threatening, and your daughter will one day cherrish the pictures of her with the Princesses!