Character breakfasts worth the time and money?

[bcarson]

I have several questions about these. I am going first week of My with my 3 and 5 year old. We are going on a limited budget. We plan to get the 3 day hopper passes. My question is are these meals really worth it? Do you see the same characters in the park? I just don't want to spend a lot of money i feel will be wasted. I don't even know at this point if my dk's will like the costume characters. Is it worth taking time out we could have spent in the park? Also where do you find out about all the different ones and how to make the reservations?Tia Beth

 

[CheapMom]

You're kids are the perfect age for it. The characters vary but they are the same as in the parks. You really get more special attention at the meals. If your 5 year old is a girl than Cinderella's Royal Breakfast Table is great, I don't think you would regret it.
You could wait to make ressies until you get down there and see how your kids like the characters, if they are totally enchanted by them you could probably get reservations f or the end of the week. Some of the more popular breakfasts might need more notice though.

 

[westjones]

Our first 'character meal' was the Ice Cream Social at Epcot. It was a good choice for us because we didn't want to give up precious time in the morning for a character breakfast (we wanted to go to the Early Entry for Disney Resort guest, you can get a lot of rides in during that time).

Also we were on a tight budget, and this is the least expensive 'character meal' (although not really a meal, it is an ice cream sundae). I wanted to give my daughters a surprise on this trip and so we chose this option.

One nice thing is that it is in the middle of the day and we were ready for a 'break' and to sit down. The restaurant revolves and that was really cool! And the characters came to each table so we got some great pictures.

Here is what I copied from http://www.mousesavers.com

Least Expensive Character "Meal" at Walt Disney World

Well, okay, it's not really a meal. It's even better, as far as I'm concerned -- ice cream! Every afternoon at 3:00 (and in high season, also at 3:15) there is an "Ice Cream Social" at the revolving Garden Grill restaurant in The Land at Epcot. The price is $6.99 plus tax and tip per person (same price for kids). You get to enjoy a massive and delicious ice cream sundae while Mickey and friends visit the tables and interact with the guests. A great way to get out of the heat and relax in the mid-afternoon. Priority Seating through (407) WDW-DINE is highly recommended. (By the way, if you inquire in advance, a diabetic/sugar-free version is available.)

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If you really want to do a character breakfast, the one at Cinderella's castle is very nice (we did this on the next trip).

Good Luck in your decision!

DJ

 

[crisi]

Only you know the value of your dollar and time. One thing to keep in mind is that waiting in line for characters in the parks can be very time consuming - if you go to Mickey's tent to see Mickey and Minnie and Goofy, you will spend an hour in there. If you book a character breakfast, you will spend the same hour, get your food during that time, and not have to stand in line.

We like to do the first breakfast on a non EE morning - we can usually get to the park by opening - if we pick a nearby resort or a breakfast location in the park.

But they aren't cheap - on a tight budget the ice cream social may be your best bet.

You can find a listing of them at www.allearsnet.com

 

[ZuZugal]

At your kids' ages I would suggest the Crystal Palace with Pooh and the gang. We did this several times when my kids were young and the food offerings for both adults and children were great.
Chef Mickey's is okay, but my kids loved the Palace and Pooh hands down.
If you go for the latest breakfast PS it is almost like having lunch. If you get to the park early you will be ready for a break by then.

 

[powellrj]

we did several character meals on our last trip just to save time from standing in line to see the characters and it was well worth it. We did Chef Mickey on our last day did some shoppping and were able to save a day on our park hopper, but really felt like we had a full Disney day. I would also recommend the Ice Cream social. Not many people are there do you get a lot of character time and the price is right!!

 

[FatCow]

If it's up to me, I don't think the over-bloated price of CB is worth the money. Furthermore, any breakfast last longer than 10 minutes is just not worth my time.

For my daughter, however, it's a totally different story.

I seldom 'spoil' my daughter. In fact, I'm very strict. However, since this is going to be my 1st vacation with my daughter, I'll pamper her for the entire week.

 

[poohtown]

i'm not sure what the lines to see Characters are in May, but this past January the lines weren't that bad. I gave my kids the choice of a character meal or using the money to buy stuff. They chose pins, pins, and more pins. We saw alot of characters. I know alot of people swear by the character meals but it didn't seem like a big deal to me.

 

[ceecee]

We have seen a lot of characters as well. The first year we went DD got 47 autographs (some repeats) and we hardly stood in line at all. We did the AK character breakfast and got 5 there. We did CRT and the Princess Storybook as well. And of course Chef Mickey's....You get more interaction in my opinion with the character meals. Chef Mickey's was a lot of fun, but since we don't stay at the Contempory, the transportation getting back was not great, we had to switch buses two times. The ice cream social at Epcot may be the thing to do if you want to save $ and still do a character meal.. I wouldn't think May would be really crowded yet. We always go in Sept and the most we have waited was 25 minutes for a character of Toontown. That was Cinderella and Prince Charming, they spent a lot of time chatting with DD there as well.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We loved CRT! Treated us like royalty and made our kids grin all day

 

[veruka]

This is how we feel about the character breakfasts....

I personally HATE waiting in line for autographs with the characters. Not saying we never do it, but it's not one of the highlights of WDW for me. By going to the character breakfasts, even though it costs quite a bit of money, I get to relax, don't have to worry about others pushing in line or hurrying my kids (6,7) to get the picture taken, etc.

This way with the breakfasts, sure it costs a pretty penny, but the food is decent, the kids see their heros in a non-hurried atmosphere and mom and dad get to sit and sip a cup of coffee in an airconditioned setting. We can snap several pictures of the kids with the characters, and even take longer videos.

But, like many have said before...everyone is different and only you can decide what's best for you.

 

[Lilly's Dad]

heck, we sure can fill'er up with gourmet grub.......enough to stay full all day! love it

 

[LIFERBABE]

We like the breakfast's also!

The first year we did not do any CB's and we did stand in line for an hour to see Mickey Mouse in his barn.

The characters do come out but we always seemed to walk up right before their break time as they were closing the line. It's $70 for our family of 2 Adults and 2 kids to have a CB, but last trip we did CM's twice. By the end of the trip we were waving Mickey on as we received so much attention.

The food is really good, the interaction is not even comparable to what you receive in the parks (although they do a good job there also) and the kids really enjoy it.

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by LIFERBABE
It's $70 for our family of 2 Adults and 2 kids to have a CB, (although they do a good job there also) and the kids really enjoy it.

We did one at the Grosvernor Resort at Downtown Disney that was considerably less expensive than that. And we were still full at suppertime!

 

[missypie]

We did a character meal on our day of arrival, as it was a "non-park" day. A character meal might be a good idea on your day of arrival or departure if you don't have time for a park the first or last day. It did take quite a while for the characters to come around, so I was glad we weren't on a tight schedule. Also, as many(most) of the meals seem to be all you can eat buffets, consider whether you and spouse can eat enough so that you can skip the next meal. (Hard to do that with kids, I know.) If I eat a huge buffet breakfast, I can have a light snack instead of lunch and be fine until dinner.

Reading these boards, one could get the idea that you HAVE to stay on site to have a good time, HAVE to go to character meals, etc., etc. Please know that thousands and thousands of families stay off site, bring sandwiches into the parks, buy one or no souvineers, and still have a terrific time.

Another idea: Go on a board like allears or wdwig, where they describe the meals and give the prices. Add up how much it would be for your family and then just think about how it would make you feel...if the thought of paying $70 or whatever makes you break out into a cold sweat and think "I could feed my family on that for a week..." the price may well dampen your enjoyment and make it very much not worth it for you.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We planned one at GF about 11:00 on EE day at MK. Grabbed a quick Nutrigrain bar or something when we got up, toured MK til about 10:30. Really filled up at the "brunch" (for us it was), then weren't hungry til at least 7:00. For us, it was a great deal financially.

 

[happygirl]

I think your kids would love the CB

 

[Hawk]

Originally posted by missypie
Reading these boards, one could get the idea that you HAVE to stay on site to have a good time, HAVE to go to character meals, etc., etc. Please know that thousands and thousands of families stay off site, bring sandwiches into the parks, buy one or no souvineers, and still have a terrific time.

I don't think so missypie. What you are reading are posts from people who share their experiences and give advice and anecdotes regarding the community of people who enjoy WDW; those who stay onsite and offsite; those who go to character meals and those who prefer not to.

I, for one, have stayed onsite and offsite and prefer the convenience of accommodations being close by the parks. This is not to say that I will never again stay offsite, but for now with the ages of the children in my family, we prefer onsite. I believe that for those without rental transportation, accommodations within WDW is nearly a must, but it is not impossible to stay offsite without renting a car. Let me say that in the last two visits and our next in three days, we have rented a car and found it to be very convenient which would make getting back and forth from offsite locations much easier.

As for the character meals, many times we have visited Chef Mickeys and Cinderella's Castle. I admit the price is high and the food more adequate than superb. The character interaction is the mainstay. While two of our children are under age 12, we will no doubt continue to go and spend above and beyond the call.

As I have learned from these boards - "different strokes for different folks" and as you see we all don't agree - But we do agree to disagree!

Hawk

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Here's my opinion:
Stand in line for characters if you want an autograph and a picture..... ONLY. It is very rare that they have the time to actually interact with you when they have a huge line and a short amount of time to do the autographs/pictures..... and people get upset when they wait in line and then the character has to leave (for break or whatever)- so the characters are understandably rushing.

If you (or your children) want to interact with characters- then character meals are the way to do it. It just so happens that in our experience we have had more breakfast character meals and we like them (breakfast) better. The exceptions would be Cinderella's dinner at GF & the ice cream social. They will spend more time with you (plus do the autograph/picture thing) and come to YOU... while you SIT (not stand in line in the sun) while you have a meal. It's wonderful.... for us as parents and the kids have a blast. They do not have a "blast" waiting in a line for an hour to have a quick autograph and 10 second discussion while snapping a picture with a character. Nope... they don't.

 

[Pollyann]

We have bee to WDW two times in the last three years and have not met Mickey!!! So for our upcoming trip I have a PS for CM - just so I get to meet Mickey!!!!!

PS - of course not meeting Mickey has been our excuse to go to WDW again....