Help with planning character meals, please!

[HeidiPA]

During our last trip to Disney, I had decided which day we would go to which park and it was easy to plan our character meal.
For this trip (in January), we want to do two character meals. Because we are purchasing 6-day park-hopper passes and will be in the area for 8 days total, it seems silly to totally plan which day we'll be in which park, just in case of rain or whatever.

My girls were hoping for the Pooh lunch at Crystal Palace and the Princess breakfast in EPCOT. However, I'm wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to schedule character dinners at the resorts, as opposed to the parks.

What if we plan the Pooh lunch at MK, and it rains that day? We have to use a full day of the pass just to go to lunch, correct? That seems like a waste.

Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks!

 

[SafariTigger]

I'm not sure about dinner but one of my favorite character breakfasts is O'hana's at the Polynesian resort. You can take a boat there (which is a relaxing way to start your day) and the resort is beautiful. The food was very good and it is served family style at the table so there are no buffet lines to wait in and most of all my son loves Stitch!

 

[dzorn]

We have enjoyed 1900 Park Fair for dinner and Cape May for Breakfast. I was disappointed at CM.

Denise in MI

 

[dzorn]

You do realize the price difference between a 6 and 8 day ticket is 4 dollars.

Denise in MI

 

[HeidiPA]

Thank you for pointing out the very small difference in ticket prices. I think we'll go with the 8-day tickets~ that seems to make much more sense!

I'd still love to hear character meal suggestions/ thoughts, though!

 

[Wendybird55]

Are you staying onsite? If so, which resport? Making ADRS at hotels as opposed to parks I don't think helps you much. You're still in the situation of having to go somewhere for a meal that may not be convenient due to weather or whatever. Also there are no direct buses from resort to resort so if you're going to the ADR from your room (breakfast) you have to first take a bus to a park and then a bus from the park to the resport.

If you're staying at a monorail hotel then going to one of the character breakfasts or dinners in one of the monorail hotels will be convenient because it's right near your resport.

If you're staying at an EPCOT resort (BC, YC or BW) you can go to Cape May's character breakfast or even an EPCOT character meal as you can easilyu walk to EPCTO from your resport (you can also walk to DHS from the EPCOT resorts - just a long walk). There's alos the boats.

So if you're not sure the parks you plan to be in I would suggest Breakfast character meals that are nearest or easiest to get to from your resort. This way you can get to your meal easily from your resport, and then go wherever you want afterwards.

 

[HeidiPA]

We are actually staying off-site (renting a house with friends).
So we will have to drive to wherever it is we decide to go each day.

 

[Wendybird55]

Staying offsite is a whole other story then...

In this scenerio I am assuming you are driving to the parks and will have a car to get from park to park if you want.

So, please ignore my previous post about resorts. With a car coming from offsite you can go to whichever resport you want for your character breakfast and park in the resort parking area as you will only be there for breakfast. After your meal you can then get in your car and go where ever you want. You just can't keep your car in the resport parking lot all day so you will have to take your car to your next destination.

My biggest recommendation, no matter what would be to have character breakfasts and not lunches or dinners. With a lunch or dinner you will have to worry about making an ADR in the middle of the day or be "stuck" going to the park with the ADR which may be inconvenient depending upon where the day takes you.

With breakfast - it's the start of your day. You go from your hotel to your ADR enjoy your meal and then you are free to do whatever you want...go to whichever park you want or DTD or whatever and then whatever happens during the day won't be affected by the fact you have to make a lunch or dinner character ADR.

There are many great character meals at resports. Personnally I like the one at Cape May.

If I were you I would only make an early breakfast ADR at a park if you want to get in BEFORE rope drop. If you have a breakfast ADR for before park opening you can get into the park before it opens - which is neat. You can do Crystal Palace breakfast at MK. It must be neat walking down an almos empty Main Street (I have a CP Breakfast ADR for my trip). Plus when you finish breakfat you're al;ready in teh park and can hit you favorite rides early.

I know I'm giving you lot sof options, but it really comes down to what works best for your family.

Have fun!

 

[HeidiPA]

No, I LOVE this!
I wanted more feedback than my own personal experience, or what you read in books or on the Disney webiste. I want other's personal experiences, so I totally appreciate all of this!
Thanks,

 

[hoosiergirl7]

We have done Chef Mickey's for both breakfast and dinner and will never return for dinner. I was really disappointed for the almost $30 per adult we spent. For 3 of us to eat including tax and tip it was over $80.

We've also done O'Hana for breakfast and loved it. I will do this again in the future.

We are heading back down to WDW in Oct. We are doing the DDP this time because it will save us $$$. We have the following character meals planned:

LTT the first night we are there. We were planning on spending the afternoon in the MK and after hearing that they will be doing away with the characters I decided we had to do this at least once.

Cape May for breakfast. Never eaten there and I heard it was good. We'll see.

We're doing 1900 PF for dinner one night too. DS loves the step-sisters and Lady Tremaine and we know he will love this meal. I've heard it is one of the most entertaining character meals at Disney.

We are not planning our meals based on parks and where we're going to be because we don't know. We do know however that we will take a break in the afternoon to hang out at the resort, relax, etc. We used to be the must do everything/see everything family. However we made the decision that we didn't want to come back from vacation exhausted. Not to mention that we would be regulars at Disney.

If you don't know where you're going to be then I suggest trying character meals outside of the parks. Especially since you're also staying off property. I think your daughters would really love the 1900 PF dinner.

 

[HeidiPA]

Where do you think is the best online resource for more information on the various character meals?
I don't think the actual Disney website does a good job at explaining them.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Character meals we enjoyed on this vacation we just took:

-1900 Park Fare dinner at GF
-LTT dinner at MK (no characters after January I think though)
-Hollywood & Vine breakfast at DHS
-Crystal Palace dinner at MK
-Chef Mickey's breakfast at Contemporary

We loved both the food and character interaction at all of these, and the boys enjoyed them. They boys are 3 and 1. Hollywood & Vine has Playhouse DIsney characters and they get up and dance and the kids can also. Crystal Palace has these little parades with music which kids can be in also. DS3 loved being in both!

 

[mjkacmom]

I like the Pooh lunch at CP. It's so nice to get the major rides done in the morning (we're rope droppers), and know we have a nice, sit down, air conditioned lunchbreak. Plus, I know what parks we're going to as soon as the hours come out, and TGM makes his list.

 

[Wendybird55]

allearsnet.com is a good resource. You can see menus from all the restaurants and cs places in WDW plus I think somewhere there is a chart that tellsyou what characters appear at which meals.

Cape May at BC is for breakfast only. Minnie, Chip & Dale, Goofy & Pluto are there dressed in beach wear. The buffet is very good and every time I was there (last time was 2006) they had Miceky waffles.

Chef Mickeys is very loud and boisterous. I've never been, but have eaten at the restaurant next door and could hear all the comotion. If you want to see Mickey this is the character meal. My SIL went in April for dinner and didn't like the food at all. But others on the board like it. they sing and dance and from what I hear it's alot of fun. Though could be lacking in food quality.

My sister went to LTT for dinner a few years back and really enjoyed it. You have Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale (not sure about Pluto) dressed in early American costumes. The food is family style - turkey, ham, roast beef, stuffing, potatos - very "American" meal. I forget when, but LTT is going to stop being character meals - they have the date on allearsnet.com.

SIL went to CRB and said the food was excellent. My niece really loves the Princesses and she had a great time.

Most of the chracter meals are buffets - for the most park, buffets are OK, but not the "best" in Disney dining, but you are really going for the characters. That's why I prefer the breakfasts as there's not much you can do to scrw up eggs and there's always cereal & fruit and plenty of basic breakfast choices that shoule satisfy your group. Also the proces are less for breakfast.

So alot of the decision comes with what characters you want to see. At all character meals the characters are supposed to come around to each table and spend time with everyone and in all my experiences with character meals I alwasy felt I got to see enough of the characters.

We're taking DS for the first time - he's notinto Princesses so none of the princess character meals for us. I may be going overboard, but since we're on DXDP I have a characer breakfast every morning and LTT dinner for the day we arrive.

We're going to Cape May (1st & last day since it's right by our resort), Hollywood & Vine because DS loves Little Einsteins, Tusker House in AK (heardmany good things about the food as well) & CP in MK. My ADRs for the park meals are around 8:30a so we can get into the parks before they open.

It was a toss up between Chef Mickey (because DS loves Mickey) and CP - I went for CP because I can get into the park early, plus DS also likes Pooh characters and we will see Mickey at Judges tent in Toon Town.

Oh, and I forgot about The Land Grille in EPCOT. This is a revolving restaurant in the Land Pavillion. As you rotate you can see some of the Listen To The Land ride. It's a nice atomoshere and Mickey is one of the characters (they're all dressed in farmer costumes). The only problem with Garden Grille (for me anyway) is that the food has never been good.

 

[jakeman999]

If I want to do the early breakfast at CP but I am staying at an off-site hotel, how do I get into the MK? My understanding is that the transportation from the parking lot to MK doesn't run that early. Thanks.

 

[vcgirl925]

Where do you think is the best online resource for more information on the various character meals?
I don't think the actual Disney website does a good job at explaining them.

You can call (407) WDW-DINE and there is an option for restaurant/character meal information. It gives you a description of each meal. I also like to go to youtube and search for a character meal, often times they are tons of videos so you can see it in action.

We are going in Nov. and have chef mickeys, mickey's backyard bbq, play 'n dine at the hollywood and vine, and the garden grill. I think we'll be canceling boma if we can get adr for 1900 park fare, but the lines were down tonight. I've only ever done breakfast with pooh and friends at CP, it was cute. Buffet and the characters walk around to each table. No real entertainment.