Does ANYBODY ELSE avoid the Character Meals?

[butterfly8]

My family must be in the minority, but we really don't like the food at the Character Meals. We tried several when we first started going to Disney but always felt like they were just expensive versions of Golden Corral or Western Sizzlin buffets. And the characters were never all that interesting to my kids, oh they'd smile for the obligatory picture whenever a character would make its way to our table but really, the characters have a lot of tables to get to so the interaction only occupies a few minutes of the entire meal.

After a while we found out that we would rather take our chances on bumping into the characters somewhere in the parks but have a REALLY GREAT MEAL at one of the uniquely themed and flavored Epcot or Resort restaurants. We just find those meals to be much more memorable, and tastier!

We actually feel sorry for our friends who plan whole trips of nothing but character meal buffets because, to us, they are missing out on all the really good food and interesting themed restaurants that Disney has to offer!

I mean no slam to anyone, so please don't misconstrue this if it's poorly worded, I just hear so much about Character Meals on these boards and shake my head in wonder.... anybody else feel like us? Anybody at all?

 

[MouseMomx2]

We have never planned entire trips of character dining, but we do enjoy the occasional character meal. Some of our favorites are Chef Mickey's, Tusker House breakfast, and 1900 Park Fare. I have never found the food to be sub-par and we've always had great character interaction. Do they offer the best food at WDW, no...but they are a lot of fun and a unique experience that we all love.

But...if you don't enjoy character dining then that's what works for you. That's the wonderful thing about WDW...lots of options for everyone!

 

[Chip's My Hero]

We do the character meals just for the characters. Although...this next trip will be childless and the DH and I have come to a very sincere agreement that we will NOT be doing any character meals this time around. LOL

No the food isn't as good at a buffet, and you are paying for the characters. For some people it's totally worth it. In fact we ate at 1900 this last trip because the DH and DS had heard that Bert was going to be there... Yes we are sad sad people. LOL

 

[FloraFauna]

We have never planned entire trips of character dining, but we do enjoy the occasional character meal. Some of our favorites are Chef Mickey's, Tusker House breakfast, and 1900 Park Fare. I have never found the food to be sub-par and we've always had great character interaction. Do they offer the best food at WDW, no...but they are a lot of fun and a unique experience that we all love.

I totally agree with this. Our kids are getting older, so we haven't been to a character meal in a few years. I have to say, though, the 1900 Park Fare one has me intrigued. We are definitely going to try that one on our next trip.

 

[Mrsjvb]

the cost vice what I will actually eat makes it not worth our while. I don't do buffets as a general rule that cost more that what I would pay for an A La Carte meal.

and at least with a dinner I can bag the leftovers....

the food just isn't that good for the price and the character interaction is not worth the expense to me.

 

[Withacy]

I never really looked for character meals when I was with adults. Some meals I enjoy (like the Garden Grill) just happened to have them. But with kids, it keeps me from having to stand in line for them to meet the characters (and fullfills their character quota).

I haven't noticed that the food was less desirable than anywhere else. Breakfast seems a pretty limited meal just about everywhere - character or not. And I have no objection to buffets. Actually, I rather enjoy some of them. The one at 1900 Park Faire is very nice. As is Boma (though not a character meal).

If I'm not with kids, I tend to avoid the character meals because I'm not really thrilled about eating with SO MANY children. Not that I have anything against children, in the general way of things...

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't go to character meals. Disney knows that guests are there for the characters and the food is secondary. They also know their audience and serve the food most likely to appeal to American families with young children. In my opinion the food at character meals is not good enough for me to go there, and I don't have any interest in the character interaction. Of course, I do not have children, and a good many of my friends don't have children.

 

[minniecarousel]

No character meals

and

no buffets.

Even when our kids were young, we never did either.

 

[TheRatPack]

We stick with foods close to what we'd eat at home so we don't upset little tummies on vacation, so we plan our meals around that...not necessarily character meals or anything. We actually don't really care for the character meals, they always seems to come around when you've got a mouth full of food or something LOL

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

We like character meals but in limited amounts. We also have 2 small children (ages 4 and 6). The buffet food is never going to be as good as some of the other menu options at restaurants, but as PPs stated some are quite good. I really enjoy 1900PF, Ohana, and Chef Mickeys. On the same token, there are others that I wouldn't go back to if it were free (Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine and the character breakfast at AK). It's all in your family's choices and what they like.

 

[Colleen27]

We don't avoid them entirely because I've no patience for the in-park meet & greets and my DD8 is very into getting character autographs, but we only do a couple each trip. Not only is the food unimpressive, we like to use meals as mini-breaks and the noise and activity of character dining make those meals less than relaxing.

On our next trip, we're hoping to get CRT for the empty Main Street photo op and to get the Princesses out of the way, and Chef Mickeys for the classics. Those will be our only character meals and CM will be our only buffet in 8 nights at WDW.

 

[mom2val]

I love the character meals. While I agree the food is not the best- although I have eaten far worse in my life- its the experience that we love. I love seeing the characters and the way our dd lights up when she sees them.

 

[mrsbert]

we like to use meals as mini-breaks and the noise and activity of character dining make those meals less than relaxing.

I also like to use the time to relax. I feel stressed out at character meals. Hurry and eat, take pictures, get autographs and repeat.

Since I have two DS's they really aren't into all the characters. The ones they like aren't at the character meals anyway. My favorites are Figment and Big Al....

 

[Silver Queen]

When our son was little we took him to a character breakfast on the Empress Lilly, but after that we didn't bother with any other character meals. There was a CS restaurant in Future World in Epcot that had characters come through. We liked to go there because we could get a light breakfast like a muffin and fruit and still see some characters. for us the quality of the food is more important. If we had a young child now we wouldn't be doing character meals.

 

[maddmike]

When the kids were younger we did a few character meals. Some of the food was ok and some was not. Now we avoid character meals and all buffets.

 

[ilovejsparrow]

We avoid them like the plague. They're loud and crowded. I would rather sit and enjoy my meal, and meet the characters in the parks. Even the activities that go on at 'Ohana annoy me! LOL

 

[buckirj1]

We avoid them like the plague. They're loud and crowded. I would rather sit and enjoy my meal, and meet the characters in the parks. Even the activities that go on at 'Ohana annoy me! LOL

Same here. If it hasn't changed, I really like the food at Akerhaus, but not enough to put up with princesses

 

[mom2aredhead]

We usually do 3 or 4 during a week long trip, but definitely not for the food LOL!

We live in one of the 5 boroughs of NYC, so we have lots of excellent dining options here at home. Lots of ethnic choices, fresh seafood, great steak restaurants, and more Italian restaurants than I care to count. I guess it's about perspective, but we really don't look at WDW as a "dining destination".

What we DON'T have at home is the opportunity to eat with Mickey and the gang, the Playhouse Disney people or any of the other assorted bunch they have at the character meals. So we'll be sure to mix in a few character meals and still have some really nice dinners while we're in WDW.

After spending $850+ just on park tickets for 3 of us to spend a week in the parks, I'm certainly not going to waste time standing in line to meet Minnie Mouse or Goofy in Magic Kingdom. We have to eat anyway, so we kill 2 birds with one stone and meet them while we're eating.

Some people plan their vacation around getting the most expensive item at the most expensive restaurants while on DDP, some plan around character meals, some bring in PB&J's in a cooler bag - to each his own!

 

[wezee]

They would have to drag us kicking and screaming into a character meal.

 

[tami82]

We did the character meals and they were good except for 1900 Park Fare. I didnt like the selection of food and people were fight it wasnt that good. I found more stuff to my liking at Chef Mickey and wouldnt mind going back there. I would never do 1900 Park Fare again, there are much better meals out there.