Four Character Meals: Overkill?

[joannalh]

Is four too many? My kids are 3 and 6 and I've booked Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace and Donald's Safari Breakfast. If I cancelled one it would be Donald's, as it and CM feature the same characters, and the timing is that CM is the only thing I've scheduled for our first day. If I cancelled it I'd replace it with Yak and Yeti for lunch.

Thoughts?

 

[Faldred]

Totally subjective. We went for 7 days and had a character meal every day (6 breakfasts and a lunch) -- our kids loved it. Other people think we're crazy.

 

[eelkmj01]

Is four too many? My kids are 3 and 6 and I've booked Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace and Donald's Safari Breakfast. If I cancelled one it would be Donald's, as it and CM feature the same characters, and the timing is that CM is the only thing I've scheduled for our first day. If I cancelled it I'd replace it with Yak and Yeti for lunch.

Thoughts?

With our DS5 and DD16 months, we have 7 Character Meals booked. We have CRT, Akershus, CM x2, Garden Grill, Hollywood and Vine, and Cape May Cafe. My feeling is if your kiddos will get pleasure and excitement from the Character Meals, you can not over do it!

 

[Pixiedust34]

I have 2 opposite thoughts on this.

1. Your kids are young only once so if you want to do a lot of character meals, go for it! Keep in mind that character meals do take a lot of time so that's less time park touring.

2. Buffets are a lot of work with little kids. You're always getting up and down to get something for someone, and you have to be ready to grab your camera frequently for the photo opps during the meal. When our kids were younger, we tried to keep character buffets to 1-2 per trip for a bit of our own relaxation or scheduled meals at 'Ohana and Garden Grill where they will bring the food to your table. 1-2 character meals alone covers a good bit of characters.

 

[joannalh]

Gah! So. Indecisive.

 

[clairemolly]

In 2006 we did 3 in 4 days. In 2008 we did 6 in 8 days. This year we are also planning 6 in 8 days, maybe 7. We don't do more than 1 per day though.

For our kids, they it is weird to go to a TS meal and there NOT be characters!

Not all of the ones we go to are buffets, but most are. I like not having to stand in line to see some of the characters because we already saw them...like Cinderella!

 

[T-rox]

Is four too many? My kids are 3 and 6 and I've booked Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace and Donald's Safari Breakfast. If I cancelled one it would be Donald's, as it and CM feature the same characters, and the timing is that CM is the only thing I've scheduled for our first day. If I cancelled it I'd replace it with Yak and Yeti for lunch.

Thoughts?

no way is it too many!n1) youve booked all diff characters. you will see fab 5 at CM, princesses ( including hard to find mulan) at akershus, pooh peeps at cp fab 5 again in safari gear at donalds. you have just preplanned your way around long character lines. eveyone in your party will get to snack between photos and visits. great job mom

 

[joannalh]

Yes, absolutely, I'm hoping to avoid standing in any character greeting lines and just meet them at the meals. The only probable exception is Buzz and Woody; my son is a huge fan. If only there was a Toy Story character meal.

 

[joannalh]

Okay, thanks everyone! I think I'll stick with the original Plan then.

 

[mobiana]

I don't think it's overkill. We did all four of these (plus one or two more) last year, and enjoyed all of them for different reasons. Our daughters are 11 and 4. Personally, I'd add The Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare, which is hosted by Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, and Anastasia and Drisella, and take off the Chef Mickey one. This was our favorite; CM's food was just bleh. We also really loved Akershus. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Faldred]

Yes, absolutely, I'm hoping to avoid standing in any character greeting lines and just meet them at the meals. The only probable exception is Buzz and Woody; my son is a huge fan. If only there was a Toy Story character meal.

Yeah, you'd think they'd wise up on that score.

As to "losing time" in the parks, you're quite right about gaining it back via not having to do so many meet-and-greets in the parks, plus if you book a lot of pre-open breakfasts, you'll make rope drop (or not long after) anyway.

 

[HunnyJar]

We are huge fans of character meals. We generally have at least 4/5 per trip, sometimes more. Not only is it a great way of seeing the characters without having to stand in a line, it's just a fun way to have a meal. Plus we aren't going to cut into our ride times with the meals as opposed to waiting in lines. We generally do prefer the character meals that serve the meals family style, but love the buffets too. The family style meals just happen to be a little more relaxing for us.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[tami82]

No its not too much especially if it is your first time at Disney. We did a bunch last year (two princess meals and chef mickey) so im so glad we dont have to do the princess meals again this year making room for some other places i would really like to try.

 

[DW2010]

I think it depends on your length of stay and if you're ok with character meals . I'm almost positive we're only taking DD to one, CRT. We're also only going for 3 nights.

 

[palavra]

We did three character meals in a week with our 7 year old daughter. It is a great way to get character autographs without waiting in line. Curiously, two of our best meals, foodwise were at character meals as well. (Tusker House and Akerhus)

 

[llaxton]

I just counted I have 12 planned for our trip in October

A Buffet with Character at The Crystal Palace x2
Chef Mickey
Fairytale Dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table x2
Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Chip ‘N’ Dale’s Harvest Feast at The Garden Grill
Ohana’s Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch
Playhouse Disney’s Play ‘n Dine at Hollywood & Vine
Donald’s Safari Breakfast at Tusker House Restaurant
Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare

I figure our little girl has to eat it might as well be with someone she loves!

 

[Chelley00]

Only 4???



During our 11 day trip, DD and I went to:

Chef Mickeys
Garden Grill
1900 Park Fare
Crystal Palace
Cinderella's Royal Table
Akershus

We love character meals, as it gives us time to sit and eat and we get to see characters without waiting in line

 

[joannalh]

Clearly I'm new.

We're going for 7 days by the way, and our other meals are 'Ohana (dinner, no characters), Trail's End, Whispering Canyon (we're staying at WL) and Artist Point (that makes 8; we're on the dining plan but going to pay out pocket for Artist Point).

Thanks all!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Is four too many? My kids are 3 and 6 and I've booked Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace and Donald's Safari Breakfast. If I cancelled one it would be Donald's, as it and CM feature the same characters, and the timing is that CM is the only thing I've scheduled for our first day. If I cancelled it I'd replace it with Yak and Yeti for lunch.

Thoughts?

Not at all, in fact we booked the same exact character meals for our September trip. For our December trip we had a total of 6 character meals. We love going to character meals (and my girls are 8 and 6) because it is a great way to see the characters without having to wait in a long line and then having to rush because there are others behind us. As for Donald's I wouldn't cancel that because they have good food, great character interaction, and the atmosphere of the restaurant is just wonderful. Good luck.

 

[kmccartney]

Absolutely not too many at all. We are going in August and I have Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Akershus Princess dinner, and also 50's Prime Time, Whispering Canyon Cafe (we are staying at WL), and Tutto Italia. We couldnt score Le Cellier... but we could easily have booked more character meals.