1. Yes.
2. You do not need to have the plan to do character meals. The dining plan is only an alternative method of payment (prepayment). It has nothing to do with whether you have access to the restaurants.
3. In order to save money on the dining plan, you would probably need to commit to at least one table service restaurant every day of your trip. If you only want to do two character meals on a longer trip, the dining plan is not what you want. You must compare what you get on the dining plan to where you plan to eat and what your family might spend if you did not have the plan.
Moving this to the dining plan board as that is where the dining plan information is.