Character meal - am I crazy to skip it w/ my 2 yr son?

[pmanko]

I was going to schedule a character meal - probably breakfast works best for us - for our upcoming December WDW trip. But, for breakfast for my husband, self and 2 year old it would be $50 (priced at Crystal palace - $19 adult and $11 for 2 year old?)
Wondering if at 2 1/2 he would even really enjoy it that much vs. grabbing a bite to eat at the villa and spending more time running around the parks and riding rides, seeing characters on his "own" time... he is very active so sitting at meals isn't one of the easiest things with him...
suggestions? Skip this time and plan on going next time (he probaby be 4) ??

 

[princeydisness]

I'm guessing he wouldn't know the difference...my dd was a little over 3, and doesn't remember much except when she sees the pictures. Now we are going again and she's celebrating her 7th bday there - we got Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast for her and her almost 5 year old sister, so I fully expect them to enjoy it now! (they better, for the money it cost, lol!)

 

[cogero]

your son should be free for the meal. My almost 2 year old loves Crystal palace and playing with pooh and tigger. Only you would know if your child would like it.

Some kids don't like the charachters though. Good Luck with what you decide.

 

[devonsmommy]

My personal opinion is you are totally fine with skipping it! I just took dd3 almost 4 for the first time a few weeks ago. We did 3 character meals and it was CHAOS! I feel like I hardly ate anything at the ones that were buffets. There will be plenty of opportunities in the parks to see characters. And if you are going again when he's 4, he'll remember it even more then!

Have fun!

 

[LWatson]

My kids both loved the Character meals. They were both tired (as we did it at lunch), but they couldnt get enough of the characters. They were 3yrs old and 14m old when we went.

 

[Chip's My Hero]

I would probably skip it this time. Disney has so many options to meet characters that you don't need to go to a character meal.

 

[Hannathy]

Heck no you aren't crazy! I actually think you are quite sane. There is no way I would pay that much money for something a child will not even remember, doesn't know exists and will have a totally wonderful time without doing it. Being in the parks, the rides, the lights, the activity, the characters he sees (remember he doesn't know you are to get autographs or even have your photo taken so from a distance is fine) the parades will all be more than enought to thrill the daylights out of him.

You could always take the money an put it away for the next trip, I think that would be more beneficial to him than a meal.

 

[Redbudlover]

I say very definitely do it with him. Like they said he is too young to be charged anyway. I took my dgd when she was 19 months and it was just fun for the adults. But I took her last year and it may have been one of the highlights of her trip. She loved Pooh and Piglet and Tigger. I have two character meals scheduled for our trip next week now she is 3 1/2. In my opinion I spend a lot of money taking her to WDW. I don't want to waste a whole big part of that money standing in line to see a character for a short moment when I can see a number of them at a meal I am going to eat anyway. Granted the food may be $10 more but I see parents spending hours in line to get a quick picture of their kids with the characters. Total waste of time and money in my decidedly opinionated opinion.LOL.

 

[kohlby]

I'd skip it but my kids aren't really into the characters. We see enough of them around the parks and never have waited more than a few minutes.

 

[baybemama]

I think it just depends on whether you and your child is into characters. DS2 LOVES them and has been talking non-stop about eating breakfast with Pooh. Of course, we also talk about it to hype it up but we wouldn't miss it!

 

[3mickeys&me]

Like the other poster said if your child is 2 that child would be free. If the child is afraid of charactors then would so skip it. If not it is a fun time. We took my 3 yr old niece 2 yrs ago and she is still talking about it. Depends on the child. IMO

We try to go every trip started when they were 2 & 4, they are 13 and 11 now and they Request still that we do a charactor breakfast!

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Eh... I have a 2y/o DD, and well, if it weren't for Free Dining, I wouldn't be doing character meals either. We've done them before at 14 and 22 months, and we'll keep doing it as long as we're not paying out of pocket. But, I still think he'll get the WDW experience without the b-fast.

 

[yekcoh_99]

I say very definitely do it with him. Like they said he is too young to be charged anyway. I took my dgd when she was 19 months and it was just fun for the adults. But I took her last year and it may have been one of the highlights of her trip. She loved Pooh and Piglet and Tigger. I have two character meals scheduled for our trip next week now she is 3 1/2. In my opinion I spend a lot of money taking her to WDW. I don't want to waste a whole big part of that money standing in line to see a character for a short moment when I can see a number of them at a meal I am going to eat anyway. Granted the food may be $10 more but I see parents spending hours in line to get a quick picture of their kids with the characters. Total waste of time and money in my decidedly opinionated opinion.LOL.

I agree. We just returned Saturday. My son is 3 1/2 and my daughter turned 2 while we were there. Characters are HUGE for them so they got a lot out of the meals and had a blast. We did Crystal Palace lunch w/Pooh and Chef Mickey's breakfast. Both were wonderful. I do agree that it depends on the child. If yours are afraid, then perhaps you shouldn't do it. Although the more exposure they have and see the other kids enjoying the characters, the sooner they may come around to liking them as well. Good luck!

 

[pmanko]

thanks for all the advise & opinions - still undecided.... i thought i had read before > 3 was free -so that helps a bit...
not that price is a huge factor -i guess only if he doesn't enjoy it and we pay that much it might bum me out...
i don't think he'll be scared of characters ...
but, not sure he'll want to sit for a long time waiting to meet them...

any estimates on how long a breakfast should take for a 8:30/9 am ressie?

also -are character meals better inside parks or out?? originally,i was looking at the mickey's meal at the contempary but, i heard good things about crystal palace...

 

[devonsmommy]

also -are character meals better inside parks or out?? originally,i was looking at the mickey's meal at the contempary but, i heard good things about crystal palace...

Are there any characters he's particularly interested in? There are different ones at each place.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Is it just meals he has a problem sitting/waiting for, or waiting in general? I noticed you said you wanted him to see characters on his "own" time. Typically, this will not be the case. Most characters, especially the big names, will have lines (that are often cut off for character breaks) that he will have to stand in line to see.

I'm a huge fan of character meals because you are guaranteed to see your character(s), you are in a climate controlled environment, no hunger/thirst meltdowns and there's a restroom nearby.

DS has been to WDW at 2, 3 and soon to be 4 (we'll be there in a few days!), and he looooves character meals. It's also a great way to get him to slow down and eat. He loves to go, go, go at the parks. Here, we tell him that Mickey loves (insert veggie here), and he eats 'em up!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

The food is similar to Shoney's, so if the characters aren't an issue, I'd say bag it.

 

[figment3258]

Crystal palace is our favorite place to eat breakfast. the food is great and the characters are great. I have taken my girls since they were a baby. They are free up to three, If you skip it at Animal kingdom there is a character meet and greet with all the pooh characters and we have had some great times there. once there was no line in December and Tigger my daughter was 15 months ran up to him and he sat like a rocking chair and rocked her for a long time it was wonderful. You will be able to find the characters but you may have to wait and you don't always get a lot of time with them. I would say at least try one character meal.

 

[waltskids]

I say go for it! Our DS (age 2.5) loves character meals and this last trip we went to 3 of them (Chef Mickey's for breakfast, Crystal Palace for lunch and Hollywood and Vine for lunch). He had a great time interacting with the characters. He has been visiting Disney since he was an infant so he is very used to them, I know some kids can be afraid. If you don't think your son will be afraid, then go ahead and give one a try. We find it's better than waiting in lines at the parks and DS is still free and he eats a ton! We never do the Dining Plan, but it's still worth the money for us to see him with the characters. Even DD laughed when she met Pooh!