Can you explain the character/theme meals please?

[acornell2]

We are going in December with DD who is 6 and DS who will be 2. I already know DD wants to eat at Cinderella's castle. I read somewhere that they have breakfast and lunch there. Also, I am thinking about the meal with Stitch. But to be honest, I know NOTHING about these things. What do they do, is it worth the money, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, what do they do/what are the differences with each place? I have heard the Ohana one has Stitch...is that it? Is the Chef Mickey one that fabulous that everyone wants to get it? Why? Can ANYONE take the time to explain the different places/meals to me? (Sorry, I know that is asking a LOT!!!)

I also would like to know about reservations. We are staying offsite, and I know when our 180 days is to book. Can I make reservations for the whole trip then, or is that ONLY if you are staying onsite? Will I have to call daily to try & get in? Will it be OK, or impossible to even get reservations for the first week in December?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!!!

Stacey

 

[buckylarue]

Here's a link to an overview of the character meal experience and the different ones that are available. As to your other question, if you are staying offsite, you cannot book more than 180 days out. Early December is not that busy a time, so you should be able to get the places you want.

 

[Leah and Emily's mom]

I thought if you stayed at a Disney resort you could book 180 days out but if not you had to wait until the 90 mark. I could be wrong.


We have eaten at all 3 places you mentioned.

Castle has breakfast and lunch. The food is very good and the children get to visit with the Princesses. Cindy is here and whoever her friends are for the day.
We loved the food and our children loved meeting the Princesses.

O'hana- Lilo and Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. Breakfast is served family style, Eggs, meats, breakfast potatoes and danishes. Hard to find a bad meal at Disney.
Characters have a parade with the chilldren, Stitch does some funny stunts.
A lot more interaction with the characters. Characters often circle around more than once. Beautiful setting and easy to get an ADR.

Chef Mickey is of course Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Pluto and Goofey. Food is served buffet style. Mickey waffles ( a plus for those traveling with children ).
Lots of interaction here as well.

Our girls love this place and have booked it for our Sept 06 trip.

Our goal is to try all the character meals once.

 

[beattyfamily]

Anyone can call at 180 days but only onsite guests can book all their ADRs at 180 days, up to 10 days worth.

 

[kcashner]

Character/theme meals are those which focus on a set of characters or a particular idea or theme rather than just on the food. For example, 50s Prime Time Cafe and Whispering Cove Cafe are considered "theme" restaurants.

You can then choose which characters or themes you want.

In our recent experience, the food at the regular restaurants (where you order off a menu) was significantly better than the buffets. However, it was also more expensive. All Disney restaurants are kid friendly, but the character/theme are particularly kid oriented.

If you go to the WDW web site you can view a list of all character meals--then decide which characters/meals you want. Then work your way thru the list based on themes, locations, or whatever matters to you.

Yes, you can make reservations at 180 days. However, people get too caught up in this. We made all our reservations about 45 days out. We changed several of them after we arrived on property--I travel with a teen who does not always want the same thing this week that she planned last month. We had no problem making changes. I would ask that if you need to change any reservations, be sure that you cancel the old ones. That way someone else can use them. One Major exception--any meal at the castle needs to be booked at 180 days or you probably won't get in.

 

[crisi]

Here is what happens at a character meal.

Your family gets seated. The characters will rotate through the restaurant (like Brides are supposed to do at a wedding), stopping at each table for photos and autographs.

There are three types of serving style - some meals are a buffet, some are served family style (a skillet is brought to the table) and some are plated.

(Ohana is Stitch, Mickey, Lilo, Goofy? and Chip and Dale?)

Whatever time of year you go, princess meals book fast. Call right at 180 days for the first day of your trip and every day thereafter. You can cancel an earlier meal if you get the day you want in the trip.

In my opinion:

1) The food is lousy. I've never been to a character meal where the food is GOOD.

2) There can be a lot of disappointment in character interaction. Generally speaking, characters will spend enough time at your table to sign your autograph books and take a few pictures. Only "face" characters speak (i.e. the characters wearing big heads - like Mickey and Minnie - are silent at pantomine - the characters where you can see the performers face - like Snow White - will talk.) If your expectation is for a short interaction, you will be fine. If you expect Belle to take the time you listen to your daughter's hopes and dreams for twenty minutes, nope - think wedding reception. With some meals, one character will be out in the lobby for photos with a line and won't work the room.

3. They can be time consuming - once we are seated, we generally spend a full hour at a character meal.

We do think they are worth it - and a lot of people do. Last trip my daughter and I did a princess meal and the whole experience was priceless. But I think that you do need to have reasonable expectations for the meal. They are expensive, however, and on a budget they'd be one of the first things I'd cut.

 

[Bearvet]

We have always enjoyed the character meals and felt that the interaction was good. It's nice to have the characters come to your table, pose for pictures, sign autographs and most times they'll play around a bit. I'd much rather see the characters this way rather than standing in line in the park trying to see them. I'd save that for the characters that don't appear at any meals.

We usually save our character meals for non-park days so we can take our time and not feel we're using up valuable park time!

 

[Terry S]

We go to a character breakfast every other morning of our trip normally. Probably about 6 each trip and have been to all of them. I figure you have to eat breakfast anyway, might as well eat well the characters come to your table. Its much nicer than waiting in line for them.

Crisi did a real good job of explaining the breakfasts, I just want to add a few things of my own. I wouldn't go as far as lousy in regards to the food. I would just say the food is "okay". Some are better than others, Cape May Cafe and 1900 Park Fare are some of our favorites as far as food goes. Both are buffets. We normally try and book an early breakfast in the park that we plan on going to for that day. We book the breakfast about an hour before the park opens. There is a seperate entry line for those who have breakfasts reservations which is really nice. This way when the park opens you will be just about done eating and already in the park. The last thing I want to mention is a pet peeve of mine. The characters do come to every table. Don't let you kids just go up to the characters where ever they are and tug on them to get an autograph and picuture as this interrupts them and they never get to the tables. The characters do sometimes make mistakes and miss a table so if one doesn't come to you in it seems like forever, just tell your server and she will have their character handler bring them over.