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

[ItsNotMuchofaTail]

When my DD was little, character meals were the only way for her to see characters pretty much. We always went in the summer, and she couldn’t tolerate the heat of waiting in line. We did it for Ariel in her grotto and by the time we got there, she was crying. Not magical, lol. Even though she is 15, we have 2 scheduled in our upcoming trip - chef mickeys and crystal palace.

One of my favorite character meal experiences was at 1900 PF with the stepsisters. One of them noticed my DDs dress (our only ever custom - a cotton sundress that looked like the dress the mice made for Cinderella) and called her sister over and they slightly harassed my DD, completely in character. Unfortunately, my DD was a little afraid, but everyone around us really enjoyed it, and I felt vindicated for spending so much money on a dress, lol. My DD has sensory issues and the standard princess dresses were always too itchy for her. Gosh I loved that dress. Still have it somewhere.

 

[DWillowBay]

The reason we find character meals totally 'worth it' is because within your meal time, you've seen 4-6 characters and DON'T need to stand in long lines to see those characters in the parks. For me, the long character meet and greet lines eat up time I want to be doing other things. So, for us, character meals are definitely worth it....even more so in very hot weather, so that I'm not wilting in the hot sun/ humidity.

 

[JerseyJanice]

OP, JMHO, but you have to do at least one character meal with a 5 year-old. It’s a must-do experience with a little one.

If princesses are her thing, I recommend 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Cinderella and Prince Charming waltz and little girls love seeing that.

My adult nephews each have two little girls and had mixed experiences at Trattoria Del Forno and Akershus. They hated the food at Akershus.

CRT is difficult to get. 1900 Park Fare is not so tough to book, and the food is decent.

 

[crazylady]

I'm not a huge character meal person. I don't like having other peeps in my pictures and dirty plates and cups in the background. And Im not a huge buffet fan which most of them are. But, they are a good use of time and it is nice to have the characters come to you so I would probably do a couple in your case. I would do a princess one first because it sounds like that is more important to you than the other characters. You can always cancel the second one if it ends up being not your thing. When my kids were little, we went to the parks every other day and I liked to schedule a charactec meal on one of our off days.