3 Character Meals too many?

[keylime27]

Hi-

We have our first family trip to DW planned for this July. We have all of our ADRs, but I'm second-guessing the number of character meals. There will be five of us myself, DH, DS8, DS2, and my Mom. We are staying 8 days and have three character meals reserved (dinner at Crystal Palace, dinner at Chef Mickey's, and breakfast at Tusker House). I'm worried the adults might go a little crazy having to do 3 character meals. I was thinking of maybe switching Chef Mickey's to Ohana (there are reservations available-I checked). Thought that might still be fun for the kids, but also be more enjoyable for us grown-ups. Thoughts? Also, could anyone explain the kids games/activities at Ohana? Thank you!!

 

[nushiekitty]

I don't think it is too many, we do a character meal everyday but then again we are planning this trip with our kids in mind. My kids (2 and 3) favorite thing is the characters so meals with them are just part of the disney magic.

 

[andee515]

We have 3 kids 9,6 and 4 and we always do 4-7 charachter meals for 5-10 days. We always do at least 1 breakfast in each park to get us in an hour before opening and the 1-3 others. This is great use of time for us, cause we like sit down dining and are big breakfast eaters and it keeps us out of most if not all autograph lines in the park. I think it is a great use of time!

 

[mb_uh]

We did 4 on our last trip and the kids loved them all and we will do more on our next trip.

Now that being said from the reviews I have read Chef Mickeys dinner is not that great and you will see Mickey at Tusker House so Ohana is probably a better bet. It was my then 7 year old's favorite meal and my dd loved it was well. I really like Character Breakfasts because it is hard to mess up breakfast food and the differnce in food quality between a decent buffet and traditional TS meal is not that much. However, dinner is a differnt story- WDW has some wonderful and varied restaurants and buffets tend to be bland and focused on quantity not quality.

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

Nah. It's really not too much. Now having 2 a day might be overkill!

My DH and DD17 pretty much ignore the characters as they come to the tables. It really is quite easy to do. The characters can tell very quickly who is into it and who would rather be left alone.

 

[CathieArms]

Hi-

We have our first family trip to DW planned for this July. We have all of our ADRs, but I'm second-guessing the number of character meals. There will be five of us myself, DH, DS8, DS2, and my Mom. We are staying 8 days and have three character meals reserved (dinner at Crystal Palace, dinner at Chef Mickey's, and breakfast at Tusker House). I'm worried the adults might go a little crazy having to do 3 character meals. I was thinking of maybe switching Chef Mickey's to Ohana (there are reservations available-I checked). Thought that might still be fun for the kids, but also be more enjoyable for us grown-ups. Thoughts? Also, could anyone explain the kids games/activities at Ohana? Thank you!!

I absolutely love the character meals. I'm 40, and I get the most joy out of watching the characters interact with the kids. So, no...you don't have too many scheduled, in my opinion.

 

[Cinderella94]

Not too many for us. Welcome to the DIS!

 

[OhThePain]

My girlfriend and I have done as many as 6 on a trip and we don't have any kids. Therefore, I don't think 3 is too many at all.

As far as 'Ohana goes. We have given it a few tries, each trip worse than the previous. We will not go back there for some time. We don't get it. The side dishes are awful and the meats are overcooked and dry (even with the sauces). We never had decent service, it was always pretty awful. They do have games and such for the kids going on, but the lady that MC's the whole thing is loud and obnoxious and some of the things they do with the kids can be intrusive on your meal. There are many other options that are much better.

 

[chitown_disneylovers]

We usually do a character meal each day we are there! I think it is what makes Disneyworld so different from anywhere else.

So no, I don't think you have too many - maybe you don't have enough?

 

[aripantaloon]

Not too many at all! We've had more than that during a trip before and as an adult, it's not a problem. We love to see our kids' reactions to the characters as it's part of the magic.

We've only been to Ohana once before we were even married and never returned since it just wasn't that good.

 

[mjp12831]

Nope, they're all a bit different and fun

 

[greeneggs1082]

I think 3 character meals over the course of 8 days is perfectly fine! Especially if the adults get into the "Disney spirit" and let their inner child come out. The last time we stayed, we had ZERO kids (unless you count the one that I was baking at the time) and we did a character meal. The characters interact with adults just as they do with the children. Just get into it, and it will be so much fun for everyone!

 

[GoingtoDisney]

Personally I think it is fine! We were there for 5.5 days and did 4 character meals! We saw everyone we wanted and didn't have to wait in line to see the characters in the park.

 

[musicluvr40]

I don't think that is too many! We were there for nine days this past October. DD's 7 and 12 loved the character meals. We did the Lilo and Stitch breakfast at O'hana, Crystal Palace breakfast, Tusker House breakfast, and Akershus breakfast. (Yes, my husband loves big breakfasts!) We also did Garden Grill for dinner. Character interaction there was stellar! We have also done Chef Mickey's in the past for both breakfast and dinner (separate trips). We enjoy the different atmosphere of each experience, and the time that they spend with your kids is priceless.

 

[graceesmom]

We probably average 3 or 4 character meals per trip. We've done as many as 6 in a 7 night trip.

 

[luckypup]

We enjoy them. Our 7 nite trip we did breakfast at Chef Mickey, Tusker House, Cape May (twice!) 1900 PF & Crystal palace. Dinners at CRT, 1900PF. We love to start our days that way.

 

[SabresFan]

Yes, 3 character meals per day might be a lot. Oh, wait a minute, you meant 3 character meals for your whole trip. No, that's not too much.

Look at it this way - would you rather spend hours waiting in line to meet characters, or would you rather have them come over to your table so you can save those hours in line for something else?

Last July we were there with me, DW, DD17 and DD14, and we had at least one character meal every day (sometimes two). And that was pretty much true of our two earlier trips as well.

And we have an AWESOME autograph book for each trip, and we have never stood in line waiting for characters.

The way I look at it, lots of amusement parks have rides, but there is only one place in the world where Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Donald Duck, Pooh, Eeyore, and many others too numerous to mention live. And you get to have breakfast or lunch or dinner with them. That's too cool.

 

[disneybliss2]

No way is three character meals too many! You'll love them!

Chef Mickey's vs. Ohana:
My girls love Chef Mickey's, particularly at breakfast. It has a fun, lively atmosphere. Dinner is not our favorite. While the atmosphere at dinner is much the same as breakfast, the food is not. We were not impressed in the least and we're not really picky. My girls even preferred breakfast.

Ohanas is delicious!!!!!!! We loved it. Since the food is served family style, they will offer an alternative kids meal (hot dog, mac-n-cheese, hamburger, chicken) if you're kids happen to be picky like mine (no additional charge). They had a lady singing Hawaiin songs and teaching the kids to do various dances. She gave each of the kids several leis to wear and give to family members. They also had coconut and broom races. There's a large horeshoe shaped area where the kids go around pushing a coconut w/ their broom to see who gets to the end first. My girls loved the atmosphere and had a great time there. We loved, loved, loved the food.

Knowing my family and Chef Mickey's for dinner vs. Ohanas dinner, I would definitely switch to Ohanas. Your kids will have a great time, and you will have a wonderful meal. I think the overall experience will be better for the entire family. Either way, though, you'll have a blast at either.

 

[Quin]

Knowing my family and Chef Mickey's for dinner vs. Ohanas dinner, I would definitely switch to Ohanas. Your kids will have a great time, and you will have a wonderful meal. I think the overall experience will be better for the entire family. Either way, though, you'll have a blast at either.

THIS.

Hard for me to answer because 3 character meals spread out over a week is not too much at all, and CM is great because you get the Fab 5. BUT I think Ohana is wonderful fun and I have always had good food there.

Isn't it nice to know that there are no wrong decisions? It will be magical whichever you choose!

 

[robandkelly13]

Character meals are fun for adults and kids We typically do a character meal 8 of the 10 nights of our typical trips. In fact, it is often the necessity of which reservations everyone "must" have that dictates the length of each trip. You'll enjoy your choices