Character meal disappointment - advice for future bookings?

[DisneyKentucky]

I seriously told EVERY CM at DHS that they needed to bring that back for next year. It really was incredible!!!!!

I think it helps that it is unique and not something that happens very often. There is an excitement of something new for the castmembers.

 

[Aurora0427]

I wish they'd do a SW character meal all the time.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have a daughter and she had a blast. The Jawas stole phones and took selfies with people. Greedo acting very narcissistic in a funny and entertaining way. Storm Troopers also were funny and you get a group photo with Boba Fett and Darth Vader. Just perfect. Plus, I like events at breakfast at the Sci-Fi. Very good food for breakfast. So much better than Sci-Fi's normal food.

Oh man. That sounds awesome! I can't get our boys to Disney any more, but I can guarantee they would have really enjoyed that.

I seriously told EVERY CM at DHS that they needed to bring that back for next year. It really was incredible!!!!!

I really just can't do WDW in the heat. Maybe if they do at Star Wars Land they'll consider adding it on a regular basis.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

Yeah, I've actually seen you guys in park I believe as I've seen your etsy store and photos on here. I have to give you a major kudos on your dresses. They are fantastic. I as well hope my assumption is right. The money we all have spent on these meals we should get a great interaction. I have sworn off Crystal Palace after 1 visit. We were completely ignored. It was so crazy it was hard to get attention. We were at the seat they told us gets neglected and people were getting double visits and we had zero interactions. I know it's the seat but if they knew that they should compensate for it.

We've sworn off CP too. We went twice. Our first visit was wonderful but last summer was horrible! Food was bleh and the character interaction beyond terrible (waited over 2 hours to see Winnie and Piglet). After the table next to us hadn't seen a single character after being there 1.5 hrs, they finally begged for just 1 pic with piglet!

 

[jenrose66]

Just had princess dining experience in EPCOT and so sad to say we left disappointed with the princesses and their attitude to their roles. It was hurried and very much - here's the picture, here's the autograph now on to the next table. Snow White in particular almost threw my kids pen at her she was in such a hurry to get away! (sadly not an exaggeration) Belle was our meet and greet and she was lovely which was a saving grace as she's my DD favourite, however, being 6 she is still desperately into all the princesses and was left pretty downhearted by the whole thing to say the least.

I felt it was all too hurried - not purely the CM's fault. They obviously had to get round all the tables in a set time and see all the kids/families before doing the totally worthless parade (in my opinion time that would have been better served giving them longer with the children). Due to this every character was at our table within 5/6 minutes and the kids (also a 3 year old boy) were up and down like a yoyo. It appeared that they had to be away before the food was served? My previous experience of character dining was at Chef Mickey in Paris where the characters were much more staggered and visited throughout the meal. This way the excitement lasted and they spent much longer with each table giving a proper experience for the children. I've also booked the Disney Junior breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and Donald's character lunch at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. However, I'm now having second thoughts if these are going to be similar to the princess experience of today. Has anyone done either of these and if so can you give me advice on how they run?

I'm sorry you had that experience We did the Epcot princess meal for lunch this past February and it was not like your experience. The princesses were more spread out. They didn't stay at the table forever...maybe 90 seconds or so, but for this trip it was only my DD with me. At the table next to us there were 3 little kids and the princesses took longer at that table.

Unfortunately it sounds like they do things differently each meal and that means hit or miss for the guests. That's a lot of money on the line if you hit an off meal!

 

[EllaRoosmummy]

I'm sorry you had that experience We did the Epcot princess meal for lunch this past February and it was not like your experience. The princesses were more spread out. They didn't stay at the table forever...maybe 90 seconds or so, but for this trip it was only my DD with me. At the table next to us there were 3 little kids and the princesses took longer at that table. Unfortunately it sounds like they do things differently each meal and that means hit or miss for the guests. That's a lot of money on the line if you hit an off meal!

That was my feeling - particularly as it was Grandad's special treat to his grand kids. I think it's also not just the CMs fault - it was like they were told to rush through everyone as they didn't appear again until the second sitting. Only one quick walk around each table and parade and they were out of sight before the food was out for all. From reading other posts though I'm hopeful that our other two dining experiences will go much better!

 

[katt789]

Sorry that you had such a crappy experience! We've always had a lovely time over at Akershus.

Character dining quality (character wise) is always going to depend on a variety of things, starting with, if you're on time for your reservation, and how the tables are doing time wise for eating that are already there. They seat the resturants differently, so that one section is sat, then the next, then the next, so they're cleared that way as well, and the characters can get a better handle on the rotation & who they've seen. If you're late, and you get sat in a section that's already been swept through with princesses, you might have to wait til the next rotation to see any of them, or they might all zoom past you right before they're finishing the set.

We've had multiple experiences where we are sat, and the characters all come around right away, which we personally like, they all come through in a matter of 10-15 minutes, we chat, take pictures, and then are done, and can focus on eating & getting out of there!

Character dining is tricky because a set works differently than a meet & greet in the park, you HAVE to see all the tables you need to in that set amount of time, and in the right order, I know there are a lot of employees that aren't big fans of it, and sometimes that shows through, sadly. And as pp's have said, sometimes a princess will get caught up at a table for longer than she's supposed to, and have to rush through the rest

 

[whitney37354]

Tusker House--they were evenly spaced throughout the meal

H&V: It took a long time for the characters to all come around, but the restaurant is basically cut in half. It was the same way at Crystal Palace.

We did all character meals except Cape May. We never had bad character interaction. We were the first to meet Stitch after the parade there & he almost passed us by, but DH waved to him & he came back to us as the first table.
Our best character interactions were at CRT & Garden Grill. At Garden Grill each character came back twice. We were in a booth so it was like we were the only people in the restaurant. At CRT Belle & Ariel got down on DD's eye level and they had long talks.

 

[TJA]

After reading this thread and comparing to our own experiences, I really do think each character interaction varies from day to day, even hour to hour, depending on a lot of factors. Such as how busy is the restaurant? Did all the guests arrive on time and seated in order for the character rotation to happen smoothly? Is the character just beginning a "shift" or at the tail end? Honestly, OP, if you would've gone to Akersus the very next day, you might've had a totally opposite experience.

We've been to every character meal in Disney, several times each, and I can't think of one where we left feeling disappointed. I'd pick another one and give it a try. 1900 Park Fare and Cape May both seem to go at a slower pace than one such as Chef Mickeys which is very busy and a hard-to-get ADR. We normally do have great character interaction at Chef Mickeys but it can be fast-paced.

 

[goofy4tink]

We were at Akershus about a month ago. It was my 20 y/o dd and me. Dd is a huge Ariel fan, and this is the only place you can see Ariel with legs. So, we try to get there. Well. No Ariel this time. We were told by our server that Ariel called in sick that morning...and a lot of guests weren't too happy! One would think there would be other 'friends' of Ariel available. But...November we got Mary Poppins instead! And we were at a table right at the entry area for the buffet..so lots of people coming and going. We did have good interaction with the characters...they had no problem stopping and doing their thing without a child there. Yes, the parade takes the princesses away from tables. Bit the faces of those little girls were priceless! Their parents were teary....I was even a bit teary!
When you stop and actually watch what happens at the other tables, it's not hard to see why they get rushed. I've seen tables where each child has to have a solo photo with the princess...then the kids together, then dad has to get his photo....and mom doesn't want to be left out. Oops, have to do the whole smiley together and of course little Johnny is fidgeting, so it takes 4 shots to get one they like. Aaaaand then.....they have to get each of the 4 autograph books signed! Multiply that by 50 and yep, those poor princesses are out straight! Yes, everyone is entitled to time with the princesses, they paid the cost. But, it seems that once they have a princess there, they don't much care about anyone else.
As adults, we try not to take up a lot of time. We don't do autographs. We sometimes do a photo. We do enjoy a quick dialogue with the characters though. We have met mostly terrific characters, but there have been one or two that didn't seem to be a great fit. They weren't 'bad', just not great. I've never met a rude one though. Thank heaven. I think I would be forced to say something to someone about that.

 

[juliebug1997]

I really just can't do WDW in the heat. Maybe if they do at Star Wars Land they'll consider adding it on a regular basis.

Living in Texas makes Florida a little easier to handle. DH and I usually go in July, when the afternoon thunderstorms are usually just that afternoon (our experience) and not most of the day.

We missed out on SWW this past May (my fault) so we're making plans to go next May just before reconstruction. Even my ILs are talking about coming.

 

[soniam]

Really enjoyed 1900 Park Fare and Ohana, both breakfast, two years ago. We went to 1900 PF specifically for Mary Poppins, because that my son's favorite Disney character, after WallE. They also have Pooh and Tigger. I think we met every character at both. Kind of felt the Mad Hatter was going to drive off the other characters, because he hung out a little too long. My son did the Mad Hatter Tea Party earlier in the week, and both Alice and the Mad Hatter remembered him and his name. He was thrilled. Going to 1900 PF again this year. I hope it's still good. The POG juice at both is great too.

 

[mummabear]

This is exactly what we found at DCA's Ariels Grotto (CRT blew it out of the water).
We did HW&V and it was great, we saw most characters a couple of times.