Character meal - am I crazy to skip it w/ my 2 yr son?

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Is it just meals he has a problem sitting/waiting for, or waiting in general? I noticed you said you wanted him to see characters on his "own" time. Typically, this will not be the case. Most characters, especially the big names, will have lines (that are often cut off for character breaks) that he will have to stand in line to see.

I'm a huge fan of character meals because you are guaranteed to see your character(s), you are in a climate controlled environment, no hunger/thirst meltdowns and there's a restroom nearby.

DS has been to WDW at 2, 3 and soon to be 4 (we'll be there in a few days!), and he looooves character meals. It's also a great way to get him to slow down and eat. He loves to go, go, go at the parks. Here, we tell him that Mickey loves (insert veggie here), and he eats 'em up!

[Indiana Rose Lee]

The food is similar to Shoney's, so if the characters aren't an issue, I'd say bag it.

[figment3258]

Crystal palace is our favorite place to eat breakfast. the food is great and the characters are great. I have taken my girls since they were a baby. They are free up to three, If you skip it at Animal kingdom there is a character meet and greet with all the pooh characters and we have had some great times there. once there was no line in December and Tigger my daughter was 15 months ran up to him and he sat like a rocking chair and rocked her for a long time it was wonderful. You will be able to find the characters but you may have to wait and you don't always get a lot of time with them. I would say at least try one character meal.

[waltskids]

I say go for it! Our DS (age 2.5) loves character meals and this last trip we went to 3 of them (Chef Mickey's for breakfast, Crystal Palace for lunch and Hollywood and Vine for lunch). He had a great time interacting with the characters. He has been visiting Disney since he was an infant so he is very used to them, I know some kids can be afraid. If you don't think your son will be afraid, then go ahead and give one a try. We find it's better than waiting in lines at the parks and DS is still free and he eats a ton! We never do the Dining Plan, but it's still worth the money for us to see him with the characters. Even DD laughed when she met Pooh!