Dine With Elmo and Friends Review
When I was looking through the different meal options [1] available at Busch Gardens I was impressed with the ways to save- there is a deal that gives you lunch and dinner in the park for $24 [1]!
But buried under the souvenir glasses and yummy ribs was a gem that caught my eye- Dine With Elmo and Friends [2].
My niece and nephew are 2 and 4- Elmo and Friends are practically celebrities in their house. I was so excited to be able to give them a gift that hopefully they would remember forever.
When we arrived at Castle O’Sullivan in Ireland we walked into a bright and festive room. The nice lady at the podium gave us our table number and my nephew quickly found it in the bright color sign on the table. As we were getting settled (silverware, napkins and water were already at the table) out came Abby Cadabby [3]
Once pictures were taken (by the professional park photographer) with Abby Cadabby [4] we went to the buffet in the back to get our food. I was pleasantly surprised to find chicken nuggets, hand-carved seasoned pork loin, hot dogs, pork BBQ sliders, Guinness infused chili, rotini with garlic olive oil sauce, BBQ chicken, corn medley with red peppers, baked potato bar, homemade macaroni & cheese, mozzarella sticks with marinara, tossed salad, sliced fruit, dinner rolls, Coca-Cola fountain drinks and assorted desserts.
I heard the waitstaff discussing meal options for people with allergies as well, so they can make accommodations for those with food allergies.
They also got special “Dine With Elmo & Friends [2]” cups to take home! I was thrilled I wasn’t just going to be eating kids food- they have some great stuff for the grown ups too.
My nephew eating and watching the show!
As soon as we got settled down with our food the lights on the stage came up and they announced the arrival of the people from Sesame Street- Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Abby Cadabby and Zoe came out on stage to sing and dance!
After the first song Elmo and Big Bird stayed out so you could go up on stage and sit with them. Again the professional photographer from Busch Gardens took pictures and we finished up our meals. They then came around and quoted us a very high price for the pictures. We felt obligated to pay it just so we had some good pictures.
As soon as they were finished, much to our surprise, all the characters came back out ready to have their picture taken whenever, wherever and by whomever they would like. Since my nephew is kind of shy he had not really warmed up to them yet but now with a full stomach he was a bit braver and we got LOTS of pictures! So save your money and just bring a good camera unless the photographer captures some truly magic moment.
My nephew with Bert and Ernie!
Hanging out with Elmo!
My niece dancing with everyone!
I was so impressed how they gave the kids and the characters the run of the room without things getting out of control. We got multiple pictures with every character and they were so patient and friendly with the kids. They did a Congo line and performed several other songs.
This picture below, however, was my favorite moment. Big Bird is 6’4″ and my niece is about 24″ tall. She LOVES Big Bird. And there just happened to be this beautiful slow song playing about the joys of childhood. I watched her for probably a good minute interact with this giant bird and then looked over to make sure my mom (her grandma) was watching. She had tears in her eyes.
Looking up at one of her favorite “people.”
I can not possibly recommend this to you enough if you have little ones. Since we aren’t quite ready for the family trip to Disney this was a great chance to see how they might react being surrounded by characters!
So click HERE [2] to check it out- this might be a perfect gift for someone in your life or a great day out with the family [2]!
I am a Thrill Seeker Blogger with Busch Gardens who gave me the tickets for this review. The opinions, pictures and story in this Dine With Elmo and Friends Review are all 100% mine.