Anyone ever request no characters at meal?

[rpb718]

The character meals should take a cue from the Brazilian steak house / churrascarias - where they roam around with meat on skewers. They have these little standing markers on tables. You select green and they know that they can come to your table. If you select red and that means you don't need them to visit.

 

[Ambear]

This is an interesting question to me. I've been really wanting to eat at the Garden Grill but I've always been scared of characters. Maybe scared isn't the right word now that I'm 26... but they still make me uncomfortable.

However, I finally sucked it up and made the reservation for the restaurant. When chip and dale come by I'm just going to be nice and cry on the inside later... Hopefully the food/experience is worth it.

 

[anniemae]

It's too bad there can't be something you can put on your table, like maybe a rose or something, to signify you do not wish to interact with the characters. I'm sure there are kids who are scared but still want to watch and maybe wave. OP, you should e-mail Disney customer service and explain the situation and see what they say.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

This is an interesting question to me. I've been really wanting to eat at the Garden Grill but I've always been scared of characters. Maybe scared isn't the right word now that I'm 26... but they still make me uncomfortable.

However, I finally sucked it up and made the reservation for the restaurant. When chip and dale come by I'm just going to be nice and cry on the inside later... Hopefully the food/experience is worth it.

Do it for me. Fight your anxiety trust me you can do it. I use to be like that and just had to push through it.

Do it and try and give them hugs and smile for photos! You'll do fine and post here when you've done to tell us what's great time you had.

 

[JanaDee]

The character meals should take a cue from the Brazilian steak house / churrascarias - where they roam around with meat on skewers. They have these little standing markers on tables. You select green and they know that they can come to your table. If you select red and that means you don't need them to visit.

It would stand to reason if you are at a charater meal, that prominently features characters and is the sole reason people book that meal, you are interested in interacting with the characters.

 

[Ambear]

Do it for me. Fight your anxiety trust me you can do it. I use to be like that and just had to push through it.

Do it and try and give them hugs and smile for photos! You'll do fine and post here when you've done to tell us what's great time you had.

Thanks for the encouragement, seriously, it helps haha. I don't know why I've always been so freaked out about characters. I know they're people. My cousin freaking dated Mickey Mouse. But still...

I'm going to definitely try and take pictures, no one will EVER believe I lived through a character meeting! Then again I haven't yet so I shouldn't get ahead of myself hah.

 

[larryz]

Has anyone else preferred to have no characters come to their table and if so, is there a way to discreetly request this?

I discovered the hard way that if you call Meeko the Raccoon a meerkat, he'll generally ignore you...

 

[hiroMYhero]

There's no reason to call Guest Relations or Dining Reservations. Characters are governed by the Entertainment division and their main role is to provide Magical experiences for all Dining guests at the Character Meals.

So, as you are being led to your table, ask the CM which direction the characters rotate. Sit facing the oncoming directional flow so that you can wave them by before they stop at your table. The Attendants and the Captain are there to make sure the rotations keep moving along and that no tables are missed when characters rotate out and then in. They wouldn't be able to always be in position to stop a character from approaching your table, but, you can do that since you are the one choosing no interaction.

 

[verleniahall]

i think if you go - you are taking an opportunity from a family who WANTS to have a character meal. the best option i think is for you to just pick a differdent restaruant

 

[SwimChicSQ]

I have issues with characters still at 27. I'm working towards better but at CP I always shake my head when they get near or stealthily go to get more food when the characters are a table away.

The one not great moment I had I sat with my back to the walkway and Tigger "surprised" me, I may has shrieked a bit more than expected, oops!

 

[bumbershoot]

the sole reason people book that meal

That's just disturbing. You can meet characters for free. One should go to a meal for the food and also for the characters, IMO. And again, Tusker's lunch and dinner food (some people feel breakfast is great but I don't) are so good and so unique, that the place is a food destination.

or stealthily go to get more food when the characters are a table away.

Terrific idea!

OP, just in case a character misses your signals, would it be good to keep a camera with your daughter, and then YOU get up and interact with the character? I've found it simple to be the photographer and therefore keep myself from dealing with the characters. I've always been phobic of them and now I simply do not care even a little bit about them. Only twice has this been thwarted, with an over-eager character insisting on bugging me at a Disneyland character meal* and a Dreamworks character on a RCCL ship insisting I come in for a hug (Po, and for the record he did actually make me smile and giggle). Given how often we've met characters for DH and DS's sakes, that's pretty good.




* I was sitting in the spot easiest for the character to get to. If I had been sitting in the LEAST accessible spot it wouldn't have happened.

 

[Jewel3k]

My five year old's solution is to hide under the table. Seriously though, we talked to the person checking us in and the waiter at Chef Mickey's and CRT because our little guy wants nothing to do with people in costume. I'm not sure who got the message through, non of the characters bothered him at the meal. They did stop at the table though because our older two wanted to meet him.

 

[disneydreamer23]

My mom and I always said that they should either have a small no characters section or an optional flag to place on your table. Characters aren't for everyone; sometimes atmosphere and food are enough to draw someone to a restaurant.

 

[SharonLowe]

i think if you go - you are taking an opportunity from a family who WANTS to have a character meal. the best option i think is for you to just pick a differdent restaruant

I cannot believe the callousness of your response. Tusker House has food the OP wants to eat. They do not want a character interaction. There is not a different restaurant to choose that serves the same thing Tusker House does. Anxiety is an illness and shows up in many different ways and should be treated with as much respect as WDW does with food allergies and handicapped issues. To the OP, I would let the host/hostess know that you prefer not to meet the characters and also tell your server. They should be willing to accommodate you, just as they do food allergies. For those of you who think they should eat elsewhere, just remember that if they don't want to spend time with the characters, it leaves more time for others who do want to spend time with the characters.

OP - Go and enjoy your meal. If all your efforts to avoid the characters don't work, then just wave them off. I hope you have a wonderful meal!

 

[JacknSally]

It would stand to reason if you are at a charater meal, that prominently features characters and is the sole reason people book that meal, you are interested in interacting with the characters.

We're planning to book 2 character breakfasts on our upcoming trip, not because we want to see the characters, because it will be me and my soon-to-be-DH and we could care less about the characters. We want to eat at the breakfast buffets inside the park and character meals are the only options for that.

Not saying there are a ton of people with similar situations, but it does happen!

 

[kiapepito]

I was going to recommend the same... something that indicates for the characters to continue their happy way...

It's too bad there can't be something you can put on your table, like maybe a rose or something, to signify you do not wish to interact with the characters. I'm sure there are kids who are scared but still want to watch and maybe wave. OP, you should e-mail Disney customer service and explain the situation and see what they say.

 

[lustergirl]

I got to go with the book some other meal without characters role.

 

[EmilyS90]

Also I use to have anxiety until I pushed myself to be more social able

I'm sure you mean well with that comment, but for a lot of people, social anxiety can be a pretty big beast to tackle and it's not really about not being sociable enough.

 

[EmilyS90]

I think a wave and just a shake of the head should be ok. And I liked the suggestion of going to the buffet right before they get to your table.

It really would be nice if there was something you could put on your table to signify that you don't want to participate. Isn't there something like that at Whispering Canyon?

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Hence why I said it. I have/has social anxiety and just pushed myself foward and it took everything that I had. You can talk about an issue if you've had it even though it might not agree with whag your currently going through