First time Disney - are character meals worth it?or just do meet and greet

KSB818

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
Hi,
I'm traveling to DW and staying at the French Quarter with my daughter(5), mother, brother and sister-in-law. My daughter LOVES Princesses (particularly Elena) so, I'm having a hard time deciding whether to do a character meal with them. OR use a fast pass to meet the Princesses at the Castle. She loves other Disney characters too but, she's a Princess aty heart. I feel like we should do a character meal - maybe Tusker House?? But wasn't sure if Akershus might be a better choice for her(and saves a fast pass) OR maybe another place I haven't obnoxiously researched about and came here for just wanted honest, human feedback, haha.
Thanks for any help, feedback etc.
 
It's worth doing one a trip, maybe more depending on long you are there. Akershus is a good choice if she's into princesses. She'll get to see several princesses plus the photo op with Belle (if that's still done). You have to eat and the food there is good too. You'll stand in line for the princesses elsewhere. So why not knock them out at the same time and save the line standing for some other. I haven't done real math but my guess is to see 4-5 princesses and eat saves time vs eating then standing in line elsewhere for the same princesses.
 
Personally, I find character meals completely worth it. I budget for at least one each trip. Having the characters come up to each table is so nice for the kids (and adults!). They usually make their way around twice. Plus, instead of waiting in a line, you get to eat a nice meal together. And it's a guaranteed way to see certain characters.
 
We really enjoyed breakfast at Akershus (can't comment on the food at the other two meals) and my girls loved meeting the princesses there. There was even a little parade that they thought was great. When we were there, it was Belle in her yellow dress (greeting), Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, and Mulan. I believe Snow White is a regular there, but we had Mulan on our day.

We have also done dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table, and while the castle experience was nice we felt rushed and that the food was mediocre. The princesses we met there were Cinderella (greeting), Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine and Aurora.

I'm pretty sure the only place to meet Elena is at Princess Fairytale Hall in MK (with Cinderella currently), and I would recommend using a FP for that unless you can plan to go at a non-peak time, like at park open or near the end of the night.
 


When our kids were younger, they loved character meals. As others have said, it is SO nice to have them come to your table and not have to fight the masses at the meet and greets. Its easy to get autographs (depending where you go) and photos withe the characters.
I would pick the one that has the characters that your child is most excited about. They will remember it for years.
 
Great question!

We were first timers who just got back a few weeks ago. We had Cinderella's Royal Table and Chef Mickey's booked. CRT was fantastic. Worth the money IMO (food wasn't the greatest but it was the princesses we were there to see and we saw 5 which is totally worth not having to stand in line for them!) By the end of the week we had already met every character who was going to be at Chef Mickey's so we cancelled that reservation. To us - the hoopla around Disney Dining is just "meh". We would rather had spent most of our food budget buying groceries and packing lunches, we only ate at Disney when we absolutely had to. We saw a TON of characters and didn't feel like we missed out. CRT was the only one we felt was really worth it.
 
If your daughter loves princesses, I think Cinderella’s Royal table in the castle is an absolute must. We went two times with my daughters...they both got to go when they turned 5 or 6 and CRT was the highlight. The castle is really cool and so is he overall experience.
 


The meal option frees up ur time ( not standing around seeing separate princesses). I’d suggest that, free up FO’s and enjoy a meal while getting that one on one attention.
Enjoy!
 
We also did one character meal a trip when the kids were little. For us, it was (and is) all about the Fab 5, so it was Garden Grill every time! Liked the food and the characters were always fun when they got to our table.

We also did the Ohana breakfast once, because, well, Mickey in a hawaiian shirt . . .

So I'd say go ahead and book one, but I can't help with the princess angle!
 
Another option is Tratoria al Forno outside Epcot. You get Rapunzel, Flyn Ryder, Ariel and Prince Eric. There is also 1900 Park Fare where you meet Cinderella, Prince Charming and the hilarious step sisters. I think it is always fun to do one character meal.
 
Granted it has been ten years since my last trip but we did Chef Mickey's, the one at GF with the step sisters and CP breakfast for early entry. the one at GF was by far the best. My DS got to dance with one of the step-sisters and she was a hoot. The others I could really do without out. Breakfast was good at CP and worth it if you are a breakfast person.
 
We loved the princess character meals when my girls were little! My favorite was Cinderella’s Royal Table because the food is served to you and you don’t have to worry about missing a princess when you are up getting something from the buffet. Plus, it’s INSIDE THE CASTLE (!) and I think every little kid wants to see inside of the castle. :)
 
I think character meals are totally worth it ... provided you are looking for that experience and especially if you want to meet the characters anyway. Our last trip was February 2014....next month we are heading back and have three character meals planned - GG PPO, CP, TH. So excited!!
 
We love character meals, great way to knock out some meet and greets while you sit and relax and eat. We ate lunch at CRT during my daughters first trip (she was 5 at the time and is a huge princess fan) and had a great experience. Our dessert took longer than expected so our waiter ended up giving us an anytime FP for it, we didn’t even complain just asked how long it would be. So the service was great for us, plus eating in the castle was magical and fun. We’ve done the Ohana character breakfast also and throughly enjoyed it. We haven’t done Tusker house or Akershus so I can’t comment on those specifically.
 
We have 3 girls, 8, 4 and an infant. This will be our third trip taking at least one of them to WDW, so i get you on the princess fever. We have done CRT, BOG, Minnie's Dine buffet thing at Hollywood Studios, Garden Grill, and then additional fun dining like TRex and Rainforest Cafe. We love character meals, because they provide a muuuuuuch more intimate and personal experience with the character, instead of feeling super rushed because there are more people in line, you get a real moment with a character when you can talk to her. We have also waited in line for lots of princesses, of course, and i would say if you can knock a large group out in a meal thats always the way to go. We will see a bunch of princesses this trip at CRT and the fab 5 at Minnie's, so that dramatically cuts down on the number of lines we will have to wait in. However, if you do decide to FP a princess, i would probably not schedule one, i would use a day of FP for that because they almost never run out of those the way they do for headliner attractions. Also, you might have shorter lines seeing princesses in EPCOT, because most people dont go to EPCOT to see those.
 
When DD was little (she's 24 now...) we always did character meals. I figured, we had to eat anyhow, and I'd way rather sit in a/c for 90 minutes, relaxing and meeting 4-6 characters, then stand outside in the heat of summer in those dreadfully slow character lines. I've rarely been in a character line that was under 30 minutes, so as long as we were seeing at least 3 characters while eating, it was worth it for us. Breakfast used to be cheaper than lunch, and lunch cheaper than dinner, although I don't think it's that way anymore. If you do Akershus, either choose breakfast or look at the menu really carefully to make sure there's stuff there you like; we like it, but not everyone does. My suggestions for character meals? Breakfast at Akershus (PRINCESSES!!!), lunch or dinner at Crystal Palace (Pooh and the guys), and lunch or dinner at either Tusker, Garden Grill, or Chef Mickey's. Just be prepared for chaos at CM's, and often the place is kind-of messy and the food not terrific- but you'll get Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip, Dale, and sometimes Pluto (or at least he used to be there). I think we even met Donald and Daisy there once, but that was a long time ago.

I always figure in Disney, time=money. You have to eat anyhow, so if you pay a little more for a character meal, you are saving time standing in lines, have more time to ride attractions and see shows!
 
Our last trip was 2016, my DD was 6. We did 2 character meals - Chef Mickey's for breakfast & CRT for dinner. She still talks about both of them, and she especially loved the attention from Goofy at Chef Mickey's - he was hilarious with our family. We're going back in September, and have scheduled breakfast at Garden Grill. The only characters we lined up for in 2016 were Anna & Elsa. The time was totally worth it because they spent just enough time with the kids - not too long, not too short - and my DD face was priceless when she got to meet them & get their autographs.
 
We think the character meals are totally worth it. We usually do 2 - one with princesses and then one of the meals that has Mickey.

For princesses ... Eating in the castle at CRT is special for us and I think everyone should do it at least once! However .. on our last trip we tried Akershus for the first time and were totally charmed by that princess meal! We are doing it again on our next trip. It’s less expensive and very cute. We love having that as an option for princess meals.

If she wants to meet Elena specifically, she won’t be at any of the meals so I would probably get a FP to ensure she gets to see her.
 
We’ve eaten at crt twice now and loved it both times. The princesses come through quickly and all at once. It doesn’t take nearly as long as other character meals. Ariel was great and was obsessed with my thingy mabobs (pins on my lanyard). We really like the food and the view is great. It’s also nice that they bring the food to you and you never have to get up.

We just tried tusker house for the first time and didn’t like it. We have decided we aren’t buffet people when it comes to Disney. The quality of food typically suffers because they have to make so much. We didn’t even get to meet goofy because it had been an hour and a half so we just left. By that point our niece didn’t care to meet him anymore.
 
I think they are worth it. I don’t like using a fast pass on a meet and greet. That is just my personal opinion though. Getting several characters at one meal saves so much time. Even if she is more of a princess fan, she will love seeing the other characters. It also is a matter of how much you want to spend. If you have the budget to do character meals I would. I would do Cinderella’s royal table because you get to go in the castle and then Tusker house or Mickey’s back yard bbq. Those are favorites of my family. My daughter was 5 on our last trip.
 

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