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Character dining for older kids?

Walt Disney World: Forget Mickey, where's Vader?

From Joe Brown
Posted May 11, 2010 at 9:56 AM
Has there been any talk of adding some character dining for older kids? We are going back to WDW later this year and my son will be almost 10. He's to the point where he could care less about eating with Mickey, Stitch, Pooh, or the Einsteins. But I can promise he'd go nuts about dining with Darth Vader, Indy Jones, Power Rangers, etc. Seems like there is an opportunity for some cool character dining.


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From Anthony Murphy
Posted May 11, 2010 at 10:21 AM
good question! As coming from a family of all boys, this is a question I asked myself.

One that I liked that was not as childish as the rest was Liberty Tree Tavern dinner which had Mickey and friends but seems more adultish. However I think they might have gotten rid of it. usually though, the character dining outside of breakfast is not as bad as you think.

One of my favorites is dinner with the Tremaines (step family of Cinderella) Because they usually are a little more irreverent than the princesses.

From Phil B.
Posted May 12, 2010 at 6:21 AM
What a great opportunity for Disney to start implementing their newly acquired Marvel license into the parks. Get a New York(the Mecca of all super hero activity) Deli style sit-down restaurant over in the Streets of America section of the park, and have it be a character dining experience featuring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America etc. I'm sure it would be wildly popular amongst the tweens and older comic book geeks alike. Color me there if it materializes.

I also remember reading a few years back that there were plans for Disney to create a restaurant over by the Lucas area of the park that would have 2 large rooms, or main sections. One themed to the Star Wars Universe, and the other section themed to Indiana Jones. Again, color me there if it ever gets built.

Seems to me like Disney squanders some of the potential in their licenses, unless it’s a Pixar property. Although the word is still out on Marvel as it is a fairly new acquisition. Still, the Lucas film properties have been in the parks for decades. Come on Disney, light a fire under your derrières.

From Bob Miller
Posted May 13, 2010 at 6:43 AM
Great question Joe, are you reading this Disney World? My 11 year old grandson Zachary is a Star Wars nut. Where's a better place to meet Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Storm Troopers and other cast members for a photo shoot, than in a themed restaurant right by Star Wars Tour?

From Deidre Dennis
Posted May 13, 2010 at 6:47 PM
What a GREAT idea. My son and niece who we always take with us just turned 13. Last Summer we went to Disney World and I wasn't going to book any character meals because they were 12. But they really wanted to do it. So we did the breakfast at Animal Kingdom with Donald Duck and they loved it. I was surprised.

Still, it would be nice to have something for that tween group. I'm sure that was our last character meal until we get grandkids...

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