Paying OOP - which character meals are worth it?

[BuckeyeFanDan]

We are leaving for WDW in a week, but staying offsite, thus no free dining. This is also our first experience with character dining. I currently have ADR's, but need to cut back on some character meals and am soliciting opinions as to which ones people think are the most worthwhile if paying out of pocket. Complicating matters is the fact that DD4 is only a fan of face characters (especially princesses) and has said she does not want to hug or meet any other characters (even Mickey!). We currently have:

Princess Storybook Dining Breakfast (definitely keeping!)
1900 Park Fare (breakfast and dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast prior to park opening and also a lunch)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast prior to park opening)

We are staying a week and my instinct is, in addition to the Princess breakfast, keeping the 1900 PF breakfast (DD4 likes Alice), and the CP breakfast (in order to get in to MK early). I would keep 1900 PF dinner because of Cinderella, but it is almost twice as expensive as any of the others we are looking at and for the money am not sure it would be worth it. Also, I am not sure if she will like either CP or CM, but if choosing one, I am leaning more toward CP.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[tink519]

We only did one character meal last time since dd was 18 months but it was CP for lunch and it was great. I would highly recommend it for any meal. Characters come around but only get as close as the kids want and then parade around the dining room.

This time we are planning to do 1900 Park Fare for breakfast, dd (now 3) and my sister love Mary Poppins (dd actually said she would rather have breakfast with Poppins than Mickey.) Also doing Storybook breakfast and Donald Safari at AK. And that's it for characters....i haven't had those meals yet so I can't recommend but I think it's what she will enjoy. Hopefully....

[DISNEY1975]

I was not a fan of 1900 park fare. The room is completly enclosed, like a hotel ballroom. The place was completely crowded and the characters at breakfast were Pooh and Tigger (also found at Crystal Palace) Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. Although I knew Alice and the Mad Hatter, my 4 year old didnt. She is more of a 1990 - 2009 Disney fan! I should mention, I did not go for dinner, ao I cant comment on that. I will not plan another breakfast at 1900.

I loved the food at Crystal Palace, but they do not have ny face characters. Your daughter might change her mind once she's there, about hugs etc... I liked the atmosphere and the restaurant was spacious, you didnt feel like you were sitting on another family's lap. Again, I only did this for Breakfast.

Chef Mickeys...another breakfast for us. I liked the food the least here, but the characters were classic Disney. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. It is convenient to get to (in our case, I could have hopped over the railing and fallen into someones lap ..our room was the first floor RIGHT above the dining room)...again no face characters.

I would cancel 2 breakfasts, grab a muffin and some juice one morning and book CRP for a breakfast.

As for booking CP to get in early...your breakfast will be over an hour in order to be seated, meet and greet, get bill etc....You will actually walk out of there after the park has opened!

[Kion10]

I've included my opinion.

Princess Storybook Dining Breakfast (definitely keeping!) [The food was not worth the price. You get as much one on one time when you meet the princesses in Magic Kingdom. This was the worst character meal of our trip (and we had 7)]
1900 Park Fare (breakfast and dinner) [Dinner... food was ew. As far as the character meal went, it was the BEST meal of our trip. DD (5) was celebrating her birthday that day and she got to dance with Prince Charming! Amazing]
Crystal Palace (breakfast prior to park opening and also a lunch) [We had lunch. Great food. Fun experience!]
Chef Mickey's (breakfast prior to park opening) [Definitely worth going. Great food (we had breakfast too) and the characters were awesome!]

[shoppgirl]

We too are paying out of pocket for our meals and it really does hurt sometimes as the character meals can be expensive. Breakfast is the cheapest meal so if budget is a concern and character meals a must, keep those.

However, your DD is not interested in Mickey and friends, so I would cancel the one at Chef Mickeys. The food is typical breakfast food, but you are there for the characters, not the food. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but was thrilled at meeting all the characters at once. 1900 dinner is expensive! But the girls loved Cindy, Prince Charming and the stepsisters are a hoot! The food was OK, nothing extravagant. But once again, I did not pay for the food, but for the experience. I would definitely cancel the CP lunch! You're already there for breakfast to see Pooh and friends. If you can, I would keep the 1900 PF dinner, and cancel the CP lunch and Chef Mickey's breakfast.

Having an ADR before park opening is fantastic. Nothing beats walking up Main street before the crowds to get great photos done with the castle backdrop and barely anybody in the background. I got a great photo of my girls running up to the castle!

[Chevyscool]

Originally Posted by shoppgirl

We too are paying out of pocket for our meals and it really does hurt sometimes as the character meals can be expensive. Breakfast is the cheapest meal so if budget is a concern and character meals a must, keep those.

However, your DD is not interested in Mickey and friends, so I would cancel the one at Chef Mickeys. The food is typical breakfast food, but you are there for the characters, not the food. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but was thrilled at meeting all the characters at once. 1900 dinner is expensive! But the girls loved Cindy, Prince Charming and the stepsisters are a hoot! The food was OK, nothing extravagant. But once again, I did not pay for the food, but for the experience. I would definitely cancel the CP lunch! You're already there for breakfast to see Pooh and friends. If you can, I would keep the 1900 PF dinner, and cancel the CP lunch and Chef Mickey's breakfast.

Having an ADR before park opening is fantastic. Nothing beats walking up Main street before the crowds to get great photos done with the castle backdrop and barely anybody in the background. I got a great photo of my girls running up to the castle!

Totally agree (with just about everything you said)!

I would cancel CM and CP lunch. Keep the others...getting an early pre-park opening ADR is the BEST for all the above reasons and also to get that RARE magical feel of the park, so definitely keep those! We've done just about every character meal on property and I have to say, my little ones really enjoyed PSB at Epcot and we have an CRT breakfast ADR for this upcoming trip.

Either way you go, I'm sure everyone in your party will enjoy where you end up eating at...you'll be at Disney!

[Planogirl]

Crystal Palace breakfast - definitely! I would pick another based on character and handy location.