Character Dining Big Bust For This Family

[TENIA66]

JUST GOT BACK FROM PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE, APRIL 8 THRU 13 AND WE HAD SCHEDULED THREE MEALS: HOOP DE DUE REVIEW, CRYSTAL PALACE BREAKFAST, AND DONALD'S BREAKFASTSOURUS. THE HOOP DE DUE REVIEW WAS NEARLY 180.00 AND I HAVE SEEN SIMILAR SHOWS IN THEME PARKS, WITHOUT MEALS OF COURSE, FOR "FREE". IN FACT I WOULD SAY THAT THE SALOON SHOW IN SILVER DOLLAR CITY WAS BETTER. THE KIDS HAD AN OK TIME BUT I WISH WE HAD NOT DONE IT. DOLLY'S DIXIE STAMPEDE WAS CHEAPER AND THE KIDS ENJOYED IT MORE. I THINK ONE OF THE BIG DISAPPOINTMENTS WAS THE FACT THAT WE WENT TO SEE MICKEY MOUSE AND THERE WAS NO MICKEY OR CHARACTERS AT ALL.

AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE THE BREAKFAST WAS 80.00 FOR A FAMILY OF 5, THREE KIDS, AND THE HUBBY GOT SO IMPATIENT WAITING FOR THE CHARACTERS THAT NO ONE ENJOYED ANYTHING, AND WE LEFT BEFORE THE STAR GOT THERE, POOH. NEVER AGAIN.

WE WOUND UP CANCELLING THE DONALD'S BREAKFAST AND DID BETTER WAITING IN LINE FOR THE CHARACTERS IN MULTIPLE LINES, MULTIPLE PARKS, LONGEST WAIT 20 MINUTES AND WE WERE THERE EASTER WEEK.

FOR MY FAMILY CHARACTER MEALS TAKE UP VALUABLE GO GO GO TIME AND ARE NOT WORTH THE EXPENSE IN TIME OR MONEY.

 

[my4boys+1]

that stinks I'm sorry

 

[DVC Sadie]

Sorry your experience was not what you had hoped and planned. Character meals or any sit down meals really do take up time. A lot of families both need and want a break from both the heat and the crowds so meals are an integral part of their day.

 

[HappyLawyer]

i am sorry you did not enjoy it, some may like it some may not, i know for us, we did MVMCP and we will not ever do that again, just not worth the money to me

 

[Aristomommy]

Unfortunately every family is different. We have never done HDDR, but will give it a try in August. We enjoy character meals on non park days so we can see characters and not miss out on anything in the parks. I hope you had a good time otherwise.

 

[twoprincesses]

JUST GOT BACK FROM PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE, APRIL 8 THRU 13 AND WE HAD SCHEDULED THREE MEALS: HOOP DE DUE REVIEW, CRYSTAL PALACE BREAKFAST, AND DONALD'S BREAKFASTSOURUS. THE HOOP DE DUE REVIEW WAS NEARLY 180.00 AND I HAVE SEEN SIMILAR SHOWS IN THEME PARKS, WITHOUT MEALS OF COURSE, FOR "FREE". IN FACT I WOULD SAY THAT THE SALOON SHOW IN SILVER DOLLAR CITY WAS BETTER. THE KIDS HAD AN OK TIME BUT I WISH WE HAD NOT DONE IT. DOLLY'S DIXIE STAMPEDE WAS CHEAPER AND THE KIDS ENJOYED IT MORE. I THINK ONE OF THE BIG DISAPPOINTMENTS WAS THE FACT THAT WE WENT TO SEE MICKEY MOUSE AND THERE WAS NO MICKEY OR CHARACTERS AT ALL.

AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE THE BREAKFAST WAS 80.00 FOR A FAMILY OF 5, THREE KIDS, AND THE HUBBY GOT SO IMPATIENT WAITING FOR THE CHARACTERS THAT NO ONE ENJOYED ANYTHING, AND WE LEFT BEFORE THE STAR GOT THERE, POOH. NEVER AGAIN.

WE WOUND UP CANCELLING THE DONALD'S BREAKFAST AND DID BETTER WAITING IN LINE FOR THE CHARACTERS IN MULTIPLE LINES, MULTIPLE PARKS, LONGEST WAIT 20 MINUTES AND WE WERE THERE EASTER WEEK.

FOR MY FAMILY CHARACTER MEALS TAKE UP VALUABLE GO GO GO TIME AND ARE NOT WORTH THE EXPENSE IN TIME OR MONEY.

I was just curious as to how old your children are.. ?? I am planning to do HDDR in January. I would hate to spend all that money on a "so-so" dinner show. I at least want the show part really good and the meal okay... or great meal and an okay show...

 

[Vickie46]

that is one thing my husband told me not to do this trip coming up.. make ADR... he said those character meals take up way too much time.. he said we can just see them on our own and eat when we want too... ... we are eating at Chef Mickeys on a non park day but other than that.. we are just going to plan our trip on our own without character meals.... we love them though.. it just takes up time waiting on the characters.. then I don't eat trying to take pics and video..

 

[TENIA66]

I was just curious as to how old your children are.. ?? I am planning to do HDDR in January. I would hate to spend all that money on a "so-so" dinner show. I at least want the show part really good and the meal okay... or great meal and an okay show...

my kids are 18 months, 6 and 12. they liked the show, but for 180.00 i expected the experience of a lifetime and MICKEY. The show was good but like i said, as good as a video we could watch at home for 20 bucks or less....

 

[torinsmom]

Of all our character meals, I think I enjoyed Donald's Restaourantosaurus the best. The buffet was great and the characters came around fairly quickly. Actually, all our character meals were good, but we didn't do any shows. IMO, I would never spend that much on a show anywhere.

Marsha

 

[eeyoregon]

Yes, the Donald breakfast buffet at AK is one of the best IMHO. We were swarmed with characters (at least 5 different ones) throughout our meal...at one point I shoooed them away so the kids could remember to eat

Sorry that your experiences were less than what you had expected - thanks for your review and opinions.

 

[MickeyT]

We did a bunch of character meals with our grandson and he loved them all. Sorry yours didn't go as well. We went on the free dining plan last Sept. Kinda took the $$ pressure off. Breakfast at Ohana, Garden Grill Dinner, Princess Lunch at the Castle were all great.

 

[Savsmommy]

Sorry your character meal experience wasn't what you expected. My family loves character meals. We loved Donald's breakfast. We had a great time there. HDDR I would never do, it's just not my type of atmosphere. We love Chef Mickey's and DD loves 1900 Park Fare.

 

[Gbcks]

I am hearing GREAT things about Donald's Breakfast, does anyone have an opinion about Chef Mickey's. We are going to do that in June...any feedback would be helpful...Thanks!

 

[Cass]

FOR MY FAMILY CHARACTER MEALS TAKE UP VALUABLE GO GO GO TIME AND ARE NOT WORTH THE EXPENSE IN TIME OR MONEY.

IMO sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses. Don't your kids get tired of the go go go? I return from holiday - like I had a holiday, not exhausted.

 

[tatooed goofy]

When we went in 2003, we had a great Chef Mickey experience. This last time, I was really disappointed. We were stuck in a corner and the characters did not come by as often. I will not go back there because of it. We like Crystal palace and had a great experience. DD loves the food. We are going for breakfast as we only did the dinner. I hope it continues to go well. We are trying 1900 Park Fare this time. We love the character meals. IT is relaxing and the kids get to see the characters up close on their time. It is different for everyone and every family. Do what works best for you!

 

[apostolic4life]

DW and I always take time for the character meals (oh, and the kids like them too)! I think the real problem here seems to be a misconception about Hoop-D-Doo; the fact it is not a character meal. This is a dinner show much like the Poly's Luau. Characters may be part of the show, but they do not interact with the guests. In our planning and research we have found out which places are actual character meals and which are just shows. We would not miss character dining on our trips and yes they are expensive when you consider the overall life picture. The character meals we go to are always worth the extra money - why, you ask; when I look over and see my three beautiful daughters and wife beaming with happiness I realize money and time are worthless!!

Remember, if you are rushing through things just to get everything in you may miss the most important part of your trip to WDW............... not Mickey...........the smiles and memories that can last a lifetime!

Slow Down, Research, Enjoy the Moment!!!

 

[SquirtsMom]

Gbcks - We love Chef Mickey's. We were there in Dec, 2005 and the characters came by several times, sat with us and had a great time interacting with the kids. It is one of our family favorites.

 

[welovedis]

OP-sorry that you did have the experience you were expecting. As another poster mentioned HDDR is not a character meal at all, nor is it billed as one so I'm unsure why you expected to see characters there. I hope you enjoyed the food and the atmosphere though!

We typically don't do character meals because they are not of upmost importance to us. For our upcoming June/July trip we will be on the dining plan and have no character meals scheduled. We just choose to relax & enjoy our meals in a different kind of atmosphere.

Unfortunately a bad experience can be had no matter where you go, CP being one of those that can either be really great or really bad, depending on the character interaction & the crowds. It sounds as though meeting the characters outside of eating was a better plan for your family. When we did do character meals (when we 1st started visiting WDW), we found that we got much better quailty pics when we just waited in line as the restaurant pics were never "great"-poor lighting, lots of people in the background, that type of thing.

Hope you got some great pics!

 

[snickerboo]

I'm sorry your character meals weren't great experiences. The only one I tried to get was CRT and it was booked, booked, booked-of course. I try to be careful with money or, at least, cost-benefit conscious and the price of a lot of character meals seems a little much. I looked into the Princess breakfast at Akershus and it would cost us almost $100. That's a little much, not matter how good the breakfast. I also looked into the Perfectly Princess Tea and I think $200 is a lot for an afternoon tea. When I think of what else $200 can buy for my dd, I just don't think it's worth it. That's just my opinion. For other people, $200 is totally worth it and that's their business.

 

[princess mom of 4]

On our last trip we did 3 character meals - 1900 park fair, c.palace, and ltt. The meals were "guaranteed" character interaction, and we didn't have to stand in long long lines to see MinnieM, Cinderella, or any Pooh characters. And of course since we were on the "free" dining plan last fall, the prices didn't factor in at all.