If you had to get rid of one...

[wheredreamsbegin]

I am attempting to pare down my list of ADRs. (even though it's killing me ) We currently have three character meals with similar characters scheduled for consecutive days. I should mention that we are a party of five: myself, DH, DD5, DD3, DD18 months. We enjoy character meals and prefer to meet the characters while dining as opposed to waiting in line. Please help me decide which reservation to cancel.

Chef Mickey's (dinner on Sunday, March 15th)
We made this reservation because we thought it would be a great way to kick-off our vacation. Because of the timing of our flight, this meal would be our first activity of the trip.

Tusker House (breakfast on Monday, March 16th)
We made this reservation because we will be spending the AM of the 16th at AK. We have also heard that Daisy is at this restaurant and we really want to meet her.

Cape May Cafe (breakfast on Tuesday, March 17th)
We were initially booked at the BCV and were looking forward to this reservation. I have heard nothing but good things about this character meal. I would like to see the Beach Club sometime during this trip.

 

[Perditamarie]

Wellllllll.......Since CM is a great way to start and you want to visit the BC, I would get rid of Tusker House. We have had good luck seeing Daisy at the sorcerors hat at DHS. Plus, it is great to do the Safari ride first thing at AK to see the animals at their most active.

Ask the CMs at the parks you are visiting if there is a schedule of characters for the day....I thought I read on here that the CMs either have a list or can find out what characters are out and about.

 

[dawnbu40]

I too would say to eliminate the Tusker House breakfast. We were there in Dec and weren't that impressed. We saw Daisy at Camp Minnie Mickey in AK and we've seen her at MK too. Have fun!

 

[vicb]

I have done breakfast at CM and Cape May, by far we enjoyed Cape May the most. We liked the more laid back atmosphere at Cape May. CM was soooo busy, and noisy. We thought the food was better at Cape May also. But that is just my opinion, lots love CM. I'm sorry I don't know anything about Tusker House.

When my children were young (they are now both teens) they LOVED Crystal Palace with the Pooh characters. It is very pretty in there and it was a nice experience. They also liked Garden Grill and had very good character interaction there.

Good luck.

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

Ask the CMs at the parks you are visiting if there is a schedule of characters for the day....I thought I read on here that the CMs either have a list or can find out what characters are out and about.

This is good to know. It's enouraging to hear that Daisy can be seen without dining at Tusker House. I guess we haven't been lucky enough/persistent enough during past visits. I appreciate the tip about checking with CMs.

When my children were young (they are now both teens) they LOVED Crystal Palace with the Pooh characters. It is very pretty in there and it was a nice experience. They also liked Garden Grill and had very good character interaction there.

Good luck.

We actually do have reservations at Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare. I would love to hear opinions on those two restaurants as well. I may end up getting rid of one of them. We are scheduled to do both in one day. I didn't realize that there were Pooh characters at 1900 Park Fare. We like those characters a lot, but I don't want to over-do it.

 

[vicb]

This is good to know. It's enouraging to hear that Daisy can be seen without dining at Tusker House. I guess we haven't been lucky enough/persistent enough during past visits. I appreciate the tip about checking with CMs.



We actually do have reservations at Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare. I would love to hear opinions on those two restaurants as well. I may end up getting rid of one of them. We are scheduled to do both in one day. I didn't realize that there were Pooh characters at 1900 Park Fare. We like those characters a lot, but I don't want to over-do it.

I hope I didn't steer you in the wrong direction about 1900 PF, I have no idea what characters are there, I just meant the Pooh characters at CP.

You do have a lot of character meals planned but with the age of your kids I can see the advantages to doing so.

Also it is true that CM's at parks will help you find a character. One trip my DS HAD to meet Max (Goofy's son), he was sooo hard to find. But a very helpful CM at Disney Studios made a call on his walkie-talkie and told us where Max would be and what time that afternoon. When we got to the location there he was and DS said "Max I've been trying to meet you for so long" and Max totally pantamined "me too". It was great. This CM was by the schedule board in DS.

 

[3boymthr]

Hi, Don't know if this will help or not. We are staying at YC in May and I was debating the whole do I don't I between CM and Cape May so I posted a poll. Here is the thread with the responses. Cape May won by a landslide.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2047291

 

[onelilspark]

My concern with CM would be if your flight is delayed you would miss it

So my suggestion would be to keep all three, go to CM if you get in, then cancel Tusker House for the next morning. Just because then you have a breather day inbetween character meals!

 

[bellazachmom]

At Park Fare you will meet with Cinderella, her prince and the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Probably one of our favorite meals thanks to the antics of the step family!! Also my daughter LOVED that the prince asked her to dance! With 3 DDs, this meal will probably be a highlight of your trip. In my opinion, DO NOT cancel this one!!

CP is another favorite of ours because I am a huge Pooh fan and we like to book an ADR that gets us in to MK before opening. Love that strool down an empty MainStreet not to mention the wonderful family pictures in front of the castle with no one else in them. The breakfast food at CP is wonderful and when we eat there we usually end up skipping luch! So I think that your plan to do a big breakfast and then a big dinner that day at Park Fare is a good one.

I agree with most of the PP that say to eliminate Tusker House if you really feel the need to eliminate one. Having a character dinner followed by a character breakfast the next morning might be a bit much ... but again, only if you really feel the need to eliminate one.

CM is the easiest way to see the "Big 5" and a GREAT way to start the trip. I love that it takes the pressure off finding Mickey the minute we walk in to MK since we have seen him at dinner the night we arrive. Another advantage is that the Contemporary is on the monorail so we usually finish dinner and then hop on the monorail for a loop around the lagoon and a view of the castle.

Cape May breakfast is our all time favorite. When we stay at our BCV we tend to eat there any morning that we are headed to Epcot or MGM. It is on our "not to be missed" list.


Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[MickeyNicki]

CM dinner, we went once and the food was horrible.

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

So my suggestion would be to keep all three, go to CM if you get in, then cancel Tusker House for the next morning. Just because then you have a breather day inbetween character meals!

The idea of a "breather day" is a good one.

At Park Fare you will meet with Cinderella, her prince and the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Probably one of our favorite meals thanks to the antics of the step family!! Also my daughter LOVED that the prince asked her to dance! With 3 DDs, this meal will probably be a highlight of your trip. In my opinion, DO NOT cancel this one!!

I agree with most of the PP that say to eliminate Tusker House if you really feel the need to eliminate one. Having a character dinner followed by a character breakfast the next morning might be a bit much ... but again, only if you really feel the need to eliminate one.

Hope you have a magical trip!

Thank you for all of the information and opinions in your post. I just wanted to clarify that we are doing 1900 Park Fare for breakfast...not dinner. Does that change your opinion at all?

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Going by what you said I would say Tusker House.

 

[KimK2006]

Chef Mickey's (dinner on Sunday, March 15th)
We made this reservation because we thought it would be a great way to kick-off our vacation. Because of the timing of our flight, this meal would be our first activity of the trip.

That is usually how we start off our trip. When I thought about not doing CM's in November, my DD13 flipped out. I guess you are never too old! I have never eaten at the others, but do know how much we all enjoy CM's.

 

[KristiMc]

I would skip Tusker House since you will have just had a character meal the night before.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'd drop CMC, because it will be most difficult to get to. Plus, we really enjoyed TH last October.

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

I'd drop CMC, because it will be most difficult to get to. Plus, we really enjoyed TH last October.

I'm beginning to realize that CMC will be more difficult to get to. When we initially made the reservation, we were staying at BCV. Since that is no longer the case, it's going to be more difficult.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

We did all these three this past vacation and I would definitely drop dinner at CM's - it was DREADFUL!!!

Tusker house breakfast was easily our best character meal (and we did several!!) - CMC was good but not great - but please don't miss TH!!!

 

[flipflop]

We stayed at BC and ate breakfast at the CMC. While I thought the character interaction was good, I thought the food was just "eh." I'm also not a big fan of CM for dinner. I would stick with TH and then do whichever other is easiest to get to or works with your park day.

 

[summermac]

Interesting thread!

I think the breakfast characters at 1900 PF are different than the dinner ones. I believe it's oh..let me check.

The Supercalifragilistic Breakfast is hosted by Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and friends.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?Restaurant.ID=28

There was a post a while back about how awesome the dinner at 1900 PF was b/c of the stepsisters so I'd book a dinner over a breakfast.