Are Character Meals worth it?

[MarciaG]

Hello, I am planning my first trip to WDW, 12/11-12/15. I want my almost-3 year-old and my 12 year old to get lots of hugs (and pictures) with the characters. Are they roaming around the park enough to do this? Or should we plan a Character meal? We would probably just eat light and save the money if we don't go for the Character meal. On the other hand, if it is truly worth it, I would willingly pay. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Marcia

 

[mjmcca]

I like the character meals and my kids love them. WHile you would pay for yourself and the 12 y/o you other child is free since they arent 3 yet. Sometimes it is nice to ahve a meal that is more than just hambergers and hot dogs if you know what i mean.

 

[DisneyBill]

Absolutely worth at least one. Check some of the guidebooks for what is available close to where you're staying, or plan to be at meal time. Food is more than acceptable at most.

 

[kbkids]

You can find lots of characters around the park!! In fact, our very first trip forever ago, I did the character meal at Crystal Palace because my DD loved Pooh and Tigger. We had a great time, but I remember kinda being disappointed because we got way more attention from the same two characters in Animal Kingdom - thought I had wasted my money. I guess I felt like she wasn't guaranteed to see them unless we did the meal. BUT - many many trips later, we still usually plan at least one character meal per trip. Yes, you can see pretty much all the characters in the park if you do some research and figure out where they will be. But the character meals really are fun, and like the previous poster said, at least one good sit down meal is good. We get really sick and hot dogs and hamburgers after a while.

 

[debm]

As far as characters around the parks--I think they are harder and harder to find just randomly. Usually they are at their designated areas at certain times. So if you use the guide and plan your times around them you will see them. But just to be walking thru the park and run into Mickey--not likely. We find the character greeting at Toontown to be great. Characters are there all the time. We love character meals though. We used to do just one per trip---now....we do more. Mostly because we love to see the kids with the characters and it keeps them much more entertained so we can enjoy our meal!

 

[Gaiusrex]

If you're going to just meet the characters, then I'd say no. You'd get just as much time at a meet-and-greet in the parks. The characters meals are usually a fun meal for the kids, and characters are guaranteed to be there.

From what I've seen, if you're really worried about getting you money's worth, you probably won't.

 

[Muffy]

If the cost of a character meal is bad for your budget try the ice cream social. It is located in the Land at Epcot's Garden Grill. Mickey, Minnie and Pluto are there in a revolving dining room. It's usually never crowded and the ice cream is quite good. Although I can't remember the price off hand, it is much less than an entire meal.

 

[natalielongstaff]

another vote for the ice cream social....$7.99 i think,we did this last month. great character interaction with mickey chip and dale and goofy.it was great fun and a yummy ice-cream

 

[sha_lyn]

Yes it is worth it. We try to save money by eating breakfast in the room (cereal bars etc) then have an early character lunch, or at AK a late character breakfast at Donalds.
Do you have boys, girls or 1 or each?

 

[Kaycee]

We think character meals are definitely worth it. Yes, you can meet characters other places in the park, but if the parks are at all busy you'll be waiting in line a while. I try to avoid lines whenever I can. At character meals you can sit down and enjoy your meal while you're waiting for the characters to visit.

And I just haven't found the character interaction to be as good at meet-and-greets. That may just be because I felt like I needed to rush so that the next person could get their chance though - everyone may not feel that way.

 

[TomD]

We did some character lunch and dinners last April. My daughters loved it.
My wife and myself found the dinners to be worth the money. Thekids were entertained and we liked having a sit down meal that included vegetables . We made a few for our upcoming trip...I just hope my Dad enjoys them...lol

 

[momtolittlered]

I asked the same question when I started planning our trip and boy am I happy we did Chef Mickey's breakfast!! It was awesome! I found the charactors in the park were a hit and miss situation and why stand in a long line to see Minnie and Mickey when they will come right to your table- it was awesome. I highly recommend it!

 

[MarciaG]

Well, thanks for the advice everyone! This may be the only trip we get to WDW, so I will make the most of it. I called and was able to get priority seating for Crystal Palace, so Character Dinner, here we come!

 

[GMS]

YES, we love Chef Mickey's for supper. The atmosphere there is so joyfuy and usually much more relaxed than standing in looong lines. We never waste our park time doing that. My older kids are 19,18,17,16 and they are begging to go back this time. It's their favorite meal, along with O'hanas (non-character).When our DD was 4 we ate at Chef Mickey's for supper and then that night she sat straight up in bed and said "Mickey, Minnie, Goofy!" I guess before that we never really realized what an effect the characters have on the little ones...she was dreaming about them!

 

[DissyLove]

I'd would recommend that you find out what charecters your kids want most to see, and then consider booking that charecter meal at that locale. For instance, my kids love Pooh bear, so we booked a meal at the Crystal Palace for Lunch. If they love the princesses, try Cindy's or the Princess Breakfast in Norway. Liberty Tree Tavern if they love Minnie, etc....I think it is worth the splurge once-instead of standing in line to meet charecters, they come to you while you take in a nice meal. Make up for the cost by eating a couple of quick meals in your room. Enjoy!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Just a note for anyone planning to do the Ice Cream Social -

The Land pavillion will be closed in January while we are there, and they aren't doing any PS for Ice Cream Social. I don't know if there will be anything else similar offered while Garden Grille is closed, but we ended up just getting PS for breakfast at AK and dinner at Crystal Palace. I thought the ice cream would have been really fun - too bad it's closed!

 

[princess-rn]

I highly reccommend Character dinners. While there are characters in the park..they usually can't really "wander" around to spend time with the kids. You stand in line..you get your picture taken...you say a quick hello and move on. At the Character dinners they have more time to spend with the kids. I HIGHLY reccommend Chef Mickeys. It was the best character dinner we ever had.

Have a great trip

 

[disneysteve]

I think it is quite easy to meet and greet characters in the park and really not necessary to pay for a character meal if you'd rather not, especially off season.

That said, however, there are some character meals that really do have excellent food and are well worth the price. We always eat at Crystal Palace in MK and would continue to go there with or without characters. Same for 1900 Park Faire at GF. Book lunch at a character meal buffet - cheaper than dinner for the same food.

 

[ILuvWDWorld]

We love the character breakfasts. On our next trip, we're going to eat a light breakfast (i.e. breakfast bars, pop-tarts) in our room before leaving and have already scheduled a late character breakfast buffet which will count for our lunch. (We're trying to stay within our budget-wanted to do a character breakfast and we have to eat lunch, or course.) We scheduled for 11:15. We'll see how it works.

 

[Beca]

I am a "character meal junkie". I HATE standing in line to meet the characters, and I would GLADLY pay to be able to meet as many of them in a calmer setting while I am enjoying a meal, rather than standing in lines to do so at the park. We are going to FIVE character meals this trip, plus the tea party with Aurora ($$$)!!! I know we are crazy...but, this is last trip where we will not have to pay for dd...so, we consider it a bargain!!!

I'm just hoping that she can get her "character fix" while we are eating (at one of the meals, a friend of ours is a character...that's cool!!), so I can get her to do other stuff in the parks...to us, it is SOOO worth it!!!



Beca