Character meal overload?

[pixie08]

Last December we took our then 13 month old to Disney for the first time. Very quickly we realized that character meals were a great option (as were buffets or all you can eat). Being my son is under 3 he eats free at buffets and he just loved the characters. It kept him occupied even just looking around at the kids and characters go around. This helped give mama and daddy a break to eat. He loved them all we did Tusker, Garden Grill, Minnie's Holiday Dine & 1900 Parke Fare.

We have a short June trip booked and have Crystal Palace lunch, Tusker House dinner and Ohana Breakfast booked (staying at Poly).

So now my real problem. We have a trip booked in October with my mom, brother and my brother's girlfriend (in their late twenties). ADR's are coming up soon so I am planning. I have all of these character meals planned and I am scared it might be too many with our group. To balance it out we are going to also do Cali Grill, Boma, EPCOT WS restaurant (undecided), F&W booths & Narcoosse's but still it might be too much. We will be there 8 nights. What I was thinking:

Breakfasts:
Akershus or CRT
Chef Mickeys's

Dinner:
Garden Grill
Minnie's Holiday Dine
Tusker House
Crystal Palace on MNSSHP fingers crossed (non negotiable because LO will be Pooh for Halloween)

What do you all think? Are there any you would swap or leave out? Would you go crazy if you were a young couple? Everyone in the group tells me they don't care, they want to make it a family trip with my son but I still acknowledge that they are spending a lot of money and it is their vacation too.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think you need to talk to your family about their interests. It sounds like it works nicely with your toddler, but for the adults in the group they may not be willing to trade that much dining time for flurries.

Do you have to dine together in lockstep every day? If I were childless in my 20s, I might want to do 1 or 2 of these, but all of them? Probably not.

 

[DISNEY1975]

You will be at Disney. IMO, there are not enough character meals! Your friends/family can go to steakhouses, Italian restaurants and fine dining establishments when they are home! The ONLY place you can eat with princesses and Pooh is at Disney Its about making memories! You cant replace memories with a filet mignon!!

















And we did it all over again last year (she is now 12)

 

[pixie08]

I think you need to talk to your family about their interests. It sounds like it works nicely with your toddler, but for the adults in the group they may not be willing to trade that much dining time for flurries.

Do you have to dine together in lockstep every day? If I were childless in my 20s, I might want to do 1 or 2 of these, but all of them? Probably not.

Yeah I suggested that so they may skip one maybe Garden Grill and do another in EPCOT. They say they don't care but I think it's because DB's girlfriend has never been to Disney she is just not sure.

 

[pixie08]

You will be at Disney. IMO, there are not enough character meals! Your friends/family can go to steakhouses, Italian restaurants and fine dining establishments when they are home! The ONLY place you can eat with princesses and Pooh is at Disney Its about making memories! You cant replace memories with a filet mignon!!

That's how I feel too! Love your pics. So awesome thanks!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Honestly, my concern would be holding up the needs of the 2 year old above all others on the trip. It's good to split up sometimes.

 

[rdominy]

We are going 9 nights in December and plan on ing 9 character meals.

Breakfast
1900 PF
Tusker House
Crystal Palace
Ohana
Garden Grill
Hollywood & Vine

Super
1900 PF
Minnie H&V
BOG (not technically but listed because of Beast)

Plus Paying OOP for TRex

 

[Candycane83]

I'd say go for it and make the ADRs. I feel you have a good mix. In case they go and decide a couple is enough for them, maybe your brother and his gf can skip and find their own way for one or two meals? I'm sure they would be fine with that. (they could have some alone time too and there's plenty of good QS at EPCOT)

My DH and I were childless and in our 20s when we went 3 years ago and did 4 or 5 character meals including CRT! We're going with our 2 year old this December and I have Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine, Garden Grill and BOG in mind right now then maybe adding more.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We did a lot of buffets with characters last September and what we found was that we did not have character overload, but we did have food overload. With those all-you-can-eats, it is easy to overstuff and feel uncomfortable.

We decided that next time we have FD we are going with fewer buffets.

The only other concern I might have is this:
Are they prepared to spend that much money? Those character meal bills are a bit shocking, and when you add tip, they can be downright horrifying (especially for someone not used to Disney prices).

I know some people who would not blink at the bills, but I know others who would feel ill paying that much so many times.

Just makes sure they know the reality of the cost if they are going to be paying for it.

 

[Duckiedee]

It would not be too many for me. Especially for a first-time adult. Everyone is a kid again when they go to Disney for the first time.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

For someone like me who loves character meals I don't think it's a lot, but you have to evaluate your group. Maybe either cut one or two of them out, or split up for a couple of character meals.
All those character meals do sound like so much fun though!

 

[pixie08]

So money wise we are doing the ddp just for ease of use with our party and we will pay oop for a signature and everyone is aware. My brother has been to Disney dozens of times as we have been going since we were little toddlers ourselves but his girlfriend is a newbie. I guess if it gets overwhelming she can duck out but she is pretty cool and knows my families level of Disney fantics so I think she may be prepared for more then I give her credit lol.

The food overload is real! It can get very overwhelming but dh and I have learned to moderate ourselves and not go overboard every meal so I am not too concerned with that. My brother loves buffets because he just likes to eat. I guess I will go with my plans, and put in a night or two for them to do their thing. My son is in bed by 8pm most nights so with the exception of mnsshp night they will have their evenings after dinner free for parks and dtd at their leisure without us and the baby. Thanks for the help!

 

[pixie08]

We are going 9 nights in December and plan on ing 9 character meals.

Breakfast
1900 PF
Tusker House
Crystal Palace
Ohana
Garden Grill
Hollywood & Vine

Super
1900 PF
Minnie H&V
BOG (not technically but listed because of Beast)

Plus Paying OOP for TRex

Minnie's Holiday dine is adorable with the Christmas costumes! The pics were great. That's what made me want to add in the fall themed one even though I was planning on skipping HS this trip! Have fun!

 

[Jgeauxmo]

I personally would skip chef Mickey for breakfast and do Tusker house for breakfast instead. I don't think you have too many at all! I just think chef Mickey is too hectic.

 

[LovesTimone]

Last December we took our then 13 month old to Disney for the first time. Very quickly we realized that character meals were a great option (as were buffets or all you can eat). Being my son is under 3 he eats free at buffets and he just loved the characters. It kept him occupied even just looking around at the kids and characters go around. This helped give mama and daddy a break to eat. He loved them all we did Tusker, Garden Grill, Minnie's Holiday Dine & 1900 Parke Fare.

We have a short June trip booked and have Crystal Palace lunch, Tusker House dinner and Ohana Breakfast booked (staying at Poly).

So now my real problem. We have a trip booked in October with my mom, brother and my brother's girlfriend (in their late twenties). ADR's are coming up soon so I am planning. I have all of these character meals planned and I am scared it might be too many with our group. To balance it out we are going to also do Cali Grill, Boma, EPCOT WS restaurant (undecided), F&W booths & Narcoosse's but still it might be too much. We will be there 8 nights. What I was thinking:

Breakfasts:
Akershus or CRT
Chef Mickeys's

Dinner:
Garden Grill
Minnie's Holiday Dine
Tusker House
Crystal Palace on MNSSHP fingers crossed (non negotiable because LO will be Pooh for Halloween)

What do you all think? Are there any you would swap or leave out? Would you go crazy if you were a young couple? Everyone in the group tells me they don't care, they want to make it a family trip with my son but I still acknowledge that they are spending a lot of money and it is their vacation too.

I would just book what you have a don't worry about it, you only have 6 booked so basically 1 a day so that's really not a big deal in my book. You might want to plan 2 breakfast, 2 lunch and 2 dinner, that way you break it all up.

I would go for Akershus for Breakfast, the food and interaction with the princess is much better here in my opinion.

Maybe your brother and his girlfriend are seeing what its like with a little one???? I ask this as when DH and I took our DD's one year they were still in early elementary school to WDW we had some friends ( they were living together and no kiddos) that wanted to tag along for a couple of days, they had a blast with our DD's. The next thing you know they got married, and started a family, Yep a Disney Family... So I was just putting it out there...

If they want to go off on their own or have a meal alone, I would ask them so you can plan according for ADR's. No sense taking up a table for 6 if everyone isn't going to be there.

 

[SLamott1973]

We love Character meals and tend to have about one a day during our trip. They are each so different between the characters, locations and food. Although we have ate at most of them, the experience always seems to be different every time. My family consists of DS 20 and 10, me and my husband. I don't think anyone is ever too old for them. Fun is fun!
I agree that part of going to Disney is the character meals, you can eat at a normal restaurant at home, or off site. Your family will enjoy seeing your little one interact with the characters and they have the option of not joining you if they want to do something else. I have had two trips with extended family and they didn't always join us for every meal. They had things they wanted to do separately from us and that was ok with both groups.

 

[AshleeH]

We usually do 6 out of 7 character meals. They're only young for a little while.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We avg about 12-13 TS meals per trip, and half of those are typically character meals. So...avg 6-7 character meals per trip. Our kids are getting a little bit older and have moved past the Disney Jr. phase and aren't nearly as princess obsessed, so we're starting to scale back a bit on them. Still, we will still probably hit up 2 or 3 next big trip since I think they are a lot of fun.

 

[pixie08]

Wow thanks everyone for the feedback and advice. I see many of us are like minded so it makes me feel better about booking my ressies!

 

[Lisa F]

I don't think it's too many either. When I took my then 6 year old son in 2014 I ended up adding another character meal to the mix after booking 2 in advance... booked tusker house lunch and Ohana breakfast and ended up adding late crystal palace lunch.

this time I have 5 planned... TH dinner, Ohana breakfast, CP breakfast, garden grill breakfast and H&V minnie's seasonal dine with fantasmic package. I'd have a princess one too if my son would tolerate it but he'd be 8 and requested we skip princesses. It is SO much fun with kids, seeing them interact with the characters. I don't think that your brother's gf will be overwhelmed. It's not like the characters are in your face the entire meal - most of the time it is just a normal meal and then the characters come say hi for a few minutes and move on. even great interaction is a matter of minutes out of your meal. If i dropped one it would be chef mickeys... the reports of the chaos over there make it seem like hell on earth to me, but maybe they are overstated (plus my kid has sensory issues and would be zoned out if it's that noisy).

But it is very considerate of you to think about her feelings. I would encourage her and your brother to schedule a couple of adult meals alone but that is separate from the character meal issue imo. Honestly I think she has a much greater chance of "my boyfriend's family" overload than character overload (regardless of how you feel about her and how wonderful you are... it's just hard always being "on" with someone else's family... hope that makes sense!)