Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Because they dont get pampered as much as girls so theres no up-sell of tatt for Disney.
Besides boys will probably wreck the place anyway.
Besides boys will probably wreck the place anyway.
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Why no character meal geared toward boys?
- Thread starter Disneybird
- Start date
sbkline
Well-Known Member
I've never seen a problem with too many character meals being "for girls". IMO, it's sufficient to have plenty of "neutral" locations, which do seem to be the majority. So far, my wife and I have eaten at Garden Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and 1900 Park Fare. Of those, all of them are perfectly fine for boys, with the possible exception of the last one. Even that one is debatable, though. I was thinking of that one as a possibility for our son for our trip next April. I hadn't really thought of it as being "for girls". To me, it's just a different group of characters. If I remember correctly, some of the Alice in Wonderland Characters, and the wicked Stepsisters from Cinderella. I can see where someone might think that place is for girls, but I hadn't really thought of it like that and still don't. Now, the Princess meals at Norway and the Castle, maybe more so. But even so, 2 restaraunts "for girls" and 1 debatable one, out of all those character meals does not establish the OP's premise of having an abundance of "girl" character meals. Hollywood and Vine has Playhouse Disney, which I know my son would love (well, at least right now...who knows what he'll be interested in 8 months from now LOL). I hear the Poly has a character meal with Stitch, which surely can't be said to be "for girls", nor can the breakfast at the Beach Club, nor Donald's Safari Breakfast. So when you think of all the different character meals, you can hardly conclude that there is a large amount geared towards girls. Like I said, unless I am overlooking one or two, I can only think of TWO that I would definitely consider to be for girls, and 1900 Park Fare is kind of iffy. So, plenty of character meals that boys can enjoy.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
I would love to see a Peter Pan meal...something where diners become one of Pan's Lost Boys. The BBB could offer a Lost Boy Package...and they could sell animal costumes, etc. like the Lost Boys wear in the movies. The freebie kids dining at this meal could get would be some kind of sword or like Pan carries. At the end of the meal Hook and Smee could show up and Pan and all the Lost Boys could scare them off.
Or maybe my lack of sleep is making this sound better than it really is. :snore:
Or maybe my lack of sleep is making this sound better than it really is. :snore:
While no character meal at WDW is "for boys" or "for girls", and no one is suggesting they should be, Disney does cater to females much more than boys (Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique, My Pretty Princess Tea Party, the new Fantasyland Exp., etc.). Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace and Donalds breakfast are great examples of non-gender character dining. But would a girl not like a meal with Buzz and Woody or Jack Sparrow just as much as a boy would like Restaurant Akershus?
I have 2 daughters and have hit up all the meals at one time or another, but why not change things around a little? Most of the restaurants have basically the same characters (Mickey, etc., Princesses, etc., or Pooh and friends). What's wrong with something new? Besides, a lot of adults would enjoy this as well as the character meals already there.
I have 2 daughters and have hit up all the meals at one time or another, but why not change things around a little? Most of the restaurants have basically the same characters (Mickey, etc., Princesses, etc., or Pooh and friends). What's wrong with something new? Besides, a lot of adults would enjoy this as well as the character meals already there.
sbkline
Well-Known Member
As far as Disney seemingly catering more to girls, that may be, but perhaps that's just a reflection of our culture. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but just observing the reality that, in our culture, females tend to get "catered to" more in some respects. Such as the custom of throwing a bridal shower for the bride, or a baby shower, with the custom being that it is women only (sure, that seems to be changing a little in recent years, but I'm talking about historically speaking). Having a boy and a girl, my wife and I seem to notice that it's much easier finding cute girl clothes than boy clothes. When I was in high school, our particular high school had a custom of having a big event towards the end of the year, called "May Fete" where all the underclassman girls would put on performances for the Senior Girls, in order to honor the Senior Girls. The Senior Girls would wear formal dresses and the whole 9 yards. I never got worked up about that stuff, but my brother used to cry "discrimination" about all those examples I just listed. LOL I remember him noticing a church bulletin where they were announcing a bridal shower, and he got in a tizz because they don't have "groomal showers"! :ROFLOL:
I give all those examples to illustrate what seems to me to be a custom not just for Disney, but for our culture at large, that it seems to be easier or more natural to "cater" (for lack of a better word) to the female segment of the population. Perhaps it's just easier to identify clearly feminine things with which to appeal to the females, but it's a little harder to find something that can be considered exclusively "masculine". I remember reading or seeing on TV about Disney and the Princesses and how Disney was in a little bit of a predicament in that they had the Princesses for the girls, but not really any clearly "boy" type characters to appeal to the boys the way the Princesses were for the girls. But then, with the popularity of the "Pirates of the Carribbean" franchise, that became the de facto "boy thing" for WDW. Perhaps that difficulty in finding a niche for boys is partly behind the lack of "boy character" dining experiences. But like I said, now that POTC has kind of become the de facto boy appeal, maybe they will find a way to make a character restaraunt with that motif...perhaps using Peter Pan and Captain Hook, like someone else suggested. :shrug:
I give all those examples to illustrate what seems to me to be a custom not just for Disney, but for our culture at large, that it seems to be easier or more natural to "cater" (for lack of a better word) to the female segment of the population. Perhaps it's just easier to identify clearly feminine things with which to appeal to the females, but it's a little harder to find something that can be considered exclusively "masculine". I remember reading or seeing on TV about Disney and the Princesses and how Disney was in a little bit of a predicament in that they had the Princesses for the girls, but not really any clearly "boy" type characters to appeal to the boys the way the Princesses were for the girls. But then, with the popularity of the "Pirates of the Carribbean" franchise, that became the de facto "boy thing" for WDW. Perhaps that difficulty in finding a niche for boys is partly behind the lack of "boy character" dining experiences. But like I said, now that POTC has kind of become the de facto boy appeal, maybe they will find a way to make a character restaraunt with that motif...perhaps using Peter Pan and Captain Hook, like someone else suggested. :shrug:
A male friend of ours was getting married to a fairly well-off girl, and made the comment to us that everything they received as a gift was something she wanted. He said he wished someone would just buy them a drill. Well, that's what we did. :lol:
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
That sounds like something I'd do also! :lol: :wave:
UberPlannerMom
Well-Known Member
Perhaps it is all in how you look at it. I was really surprised when my son asked me to make a reservation at the restaurant with "all the pretty girls around" for our upcoming trip. I was not even going to offer it to him, he just saw the picture. I am pretty sure he is looking to collect kisses from all the princesses. He loved having a big lip print on the side of his face when we ran in to Belle in Epcot last time. Anyway, like I said, it is all in how you look at it!
Flower'sChild
Well-Known Member
Now of course me being a single 33 years old male I just love the character meals with Princesses 
:sohappy: I would be happy with even more character meals with Princesses
Anyways I understand what you mean. It does seem like some boys would not have as many choices of characters meals that they would like as some girls would. I say some because some boys do like character meals with Princesses and some girls would like a character meals with Pirates.
I believe you can still find Goofy at the character meals at Cape May and Chef Mickey's and I think Donald's Safari. Also if you go over to the Swan hotel by Epcot there is a restaurant called the Garden Grove and you can find Goofy there sometimes (I can't remember the days ect. that he is there).
:sohappy: I would be happy with even more character meals with Princesses Anyways I understand what you mean. It does seem like some boys would not have as many choices of characters meals that they would like as some girls would. I say some because some boys do like character meals with Princesses and some girls would like a character meals with Pirates.
I believe you can still find Goofy at the character meals at Cape May and Chef Mickey's and I think Donald's Safari. Also if you go over to the Swan hotel by Epcot there is a restaurant called the Garden Grove and you can find Goofy there sometimes (I can't remember the days ect. that he is there).
Flower'sChild
Well-Known Member
Yes a lot of it is how you look at it. When I was a little boy I liked a lot of the Princess movies like Sleeping Beauty.
Speaking of getting kisses from Princesses. A couple of years ago Cinderella gave me a kiss. I gave Cinderella a Flower as a gift and she I did she gave me a kiss :sohappy:
kangaand2roos
Member
They say a picture is worth a million words. This why Disney needs just one character meal geared more towards the boys:
I'm sure there are some boys that don't mind princess dinners but there are equally as many that feel the same way my son did. I realize there is huge $$$ in the princess line and yes we have subjected my poor son to 1900 Park Fare (above), Akerhaus and Cinderella's Castle for the sake of his sister. Yes he (and she) have enjoyed Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine. But I don't think it's unreasonable to have just one character meal, whether it be pirates, heroes, CARS or Toy Story, geared more to boys. You have 3 girly character meals and all the rest are gender neutral. So it seems only fair for all those little boys that go to Disney, to have a meal geared towards characters boys can identify more with, especially boys with sisters that love princesses:animwink:
I'm sure there are some boys that don't mind princess dinners but there are equally as many that feel the same way my son did. I realize there is huge $$$ in the princess line and yes we have subjected my poor son to 1900 Park Fare (above), Akerhaus and Cinderella's Castle for the sake of his sister. Yes he (and she) have enjoyed Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine. But I don't think it's unreasonable to have just one character meal, whether it be pirates, heroes, CARS or Toy Story, geared more to boys. You have 3 girly character meals and all the rest are gender neutral. So it seems only fair for all those little boys that go to Disney, to have a meal geared towards characters boys can identify more with, especially boys with sisters that love princesses:animwink:
Flower'sChild
Well-Known Member
They say a picture is worth a million words. This why Disney needs just one character meal geared more towards the boys:
I'm sure there are some boys that don't mind princess dinners but there are equally as many that feel the same way my son did. I realize there is huge $$$ in the princess line and yes we have subjected my poor son to 1900 Park Fare (above), Akerhaus and Cinderella's Castle for the sake of his sister. Yes he (and she) have enjoyed Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine. But I don't think it's unreasonable to have just one character meal, whether it be pirates, heroes, CARS or Toy Story, geared more to boys. You have 3 girly character meals and all the rest are gender neutral. So it seems only fair for all those little boys that go to Disney, to have a meal geared towards characters boys can identify more with, especially boys with sisters that love princesses:animwink:
Someone here on this thread talked about a Pirate character meal by the Pirates of the Caribbean. Maybe have Captain Hook, Smee,Jack Sparrow,Barbossa and maybe some other characters there. The Waiters and Waitresses could be dressed at Pirates.
Also a Pinocchio themed character meal sounds like fun. Pinocchio,Geppetto,Gideon, Worthington Foulfellow and Jiminy Cricket could be there. Maybe also at times have some really rare characters there like Lampwick,Stromboli and the Coachman. If they could have the Blue Fairy greet guest in the lobby that would be neat. Now some might think the Blue Fairy would mean this would not seem more like a boys character meal. But I look at it like since all the other characters are male and all the male character come to your table it could seem like a boys character meal. I just think it would be neat to have this be the one place that you can meet the Blue Fairy.
Also maybe a character meal with Princes. This could be a good place to meet some rare characters like Prince Phillip and Eric and the Prince from Snow White. Also maybe have this be the one place that you can see the Prince from Beauty and the Beast when he is not in his Beast form. Also some other rare characters like John Smith and Prince Edward. Some of the other characters could be Aladdin and the Prince from Cinderella.
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
I would hardly consider a quick serve dining option on par with what is now mostly girl oriented dining experiences.
"Step right up get your k-rations from the Toy Story Army Men. Now move along and get out and make room for more guests."
They say a picture is worth a million words. This why Disney needs just one character meal geared more towards the boys:
I'm sure there are some boys that don't mind princess dinners but there are equally as many that feel the same way my son did. I realize there is huge $$$ in the princess line and yes we have subjected my poor son to 1900 Park Fare (above), Akerhaus and Cinderella's Castle for the sake of his sister. Yes he (and she) have enjoyed Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine. But I don't think it's unreasonable to have just one character meal, whether it be pirates, heroes, CARS or Toy Story, geared more to boys. You have 3 girly character meals and all the rest are gender neutral. So it seems only fair for all those little boys that go to Disney, to have a meal geared towards characters boys can identify more with, especially boys with sisters that love princesses:animwink:
:sohappy:
Love the picture by the way.
disneygirl1
Well-Known Member
I am an 8 year old boy and his favorite character breakfast is 'Ohana! Tusker House and Chef Mickey's are great too
I personally have never had a problem either, but I can see where these people are coming from. I think that an Aladdin themed meal in the Morocco area would be ideal with Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar, Abu and the Genie. The Pirates and Toy Story idea is spectacular! And a villains meal would be amazing as well. They could even do a "Heroes" breakfast with characters like Pinocchio, Peter Pan, the Princes, Robin Hood, the Beast, Aladdin, and even rare ones like Quasimodo, Hercules, and Milo (from Atlantis).
materbuddy
Active Member
I think they should redo the characters at hollywood and vine. They should have phineas and ferb, handy manny and mr lopart. They should have el pirata y el perico open all the time and make it a pirate character dining. They could easily include the woody, jesse and bullseye to the diamond horseshoe for a western themed meal.