Character meals?

[LIPeter]

I'm planning on going to Disney World in October, and was thinking about having meals with characters. Here's the thing, I'm in my 40s, and I'll be going solo. I feel kinda weird about doing it though. I was thinking about going to Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner. Is it really worth it to have the meals with the characters?

 

[cavepig]

Don't feel weird. Lots of singles any age do character meals. Lots of adult only groups of any age without kids do character meals. If you want to eat there then do it. If you don't want to talk to the characters you can always just wave them on.

 

[Shanti]

"Worth it" is always subjective. At CRT, the princesses will cycle through one by one, to say hello and pose for photos (you'd need to take selfies if you wanted this as no 3rd party takes these photos, with the exception of a posed photo with Cinderella prior to your meal, which Photopass photographers will take.) None of this is required. We've been there & said hi, but skipped photos, & you're free to wave a princess on to skip your table. You can tell them you want to skip the photo with Cinderella as well.

Plenty of adults go solo to Disney, so you won't look weird for going to a character restaurant solo. I guarantee that all of the characters see that every day. They seem to enjoy meeting anyone who likes them, so if you are happy to meet the character, then show it. We're all allowed to be kids at Disney. I saw a group of jocks in their 20's once excited to meet the characters at 1900 Park Fare (Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, Tigger, Pooh, etc.) and the characters seemed to genuinely enjoy that, too.

If I were going solo, I would enjoy character meals as they provide a bit of interaction. Also, watching the families around you interact with the characters is enjoyable people-watching during the meal. Besides the characters themselves, Cinderella's Castle is just a special place to dine. It's a castle, after all, with flags and picture windows in the dining room, right in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. Crystal Palace (where you meet Pooh & his buddies) is also a beautiful place to eat. If ambiance at a meal matters to you, I'd recommend them both.

Have fun and report back.

 

[Dug720]

Solo traveler here going in August to wrap up a summer celebrating her 45th birthday, and I have character meals planned every day! Absolutely nothing wrong with character meals as a solo adult (or character meets as a solo adult) - don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!

(IMHO someone who has a problem with it and says so by words and/or actions is telling you far more about themselves than yourself.)

 

[kastoney]

I'll take a different stance and it has nothing to do with being an adult, but for me character meals just aren't worth it. We've done several with my daughter and the outlandish prices, combined with sub-par buffet type food, they just don't make sense to me. We go to restaurants to eat and enjoy our food. I have no trouble paying for a good meal and we frequent a lot of signatures, but the difference with character meals is they just marginally passable from a food perspective. With minimal exceptions you can meet all the characters elsewhere, which is what we do. The only exception we have found is Tusker House breakfast. They have good and unique offerings that I'd be willing to pay for with or without characters

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Yeah...I don't think the food quality at the bulk of the character meals is all that great and I usually opt for breakfast since they tend to do a better job at that...but I would have no qualms about going to a character meal on my own if I thought the experience would enhance my trip.

 

[dachsie]

Two years ago, at age 47, I stood in almost every line to take pics with characters and did character meals and everything. It was a blast and I never was made to feel uncomfortable doing it. Go for it and have a blast!