How do you fit in your character meals without missing too much park time?

[Lovemy3babes]

Do you prefer to go during breakfast, lunch or dinner? Any specific reasoning? I want to book O'hana for breakfast but am worried about getting into Epcot too late and then having to wait in longer lines for the rides. We usually do park openings so we can ride more and grab FPs. Any thoughts? We love character meals but just don't want to lose too much park time if that makes any sense.

 

[Tam1067]

We have done lots of character meals for dinner. But 'Ohana starts breakfast at 7:30, so if you were there at 7:30, you should be able to be done by 8:20 or 8:30, and then you could get to Epcot at or near opening.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Well, that doesn't sound too bad then. It will be our only character breakfast so this would be the only "really" early day for us. Thank you!

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

And with young kids who want to see the characters, sometimes the character meals are much quicker than standing in line at the parks, plus you are guaranteed to see them at your meal.

We stood in line for over 30 minutes to see Aladdin and Jasmine when the line was cut off a few people in front of us. It was a bummer and a total waste of valuable park time.

 

[CharacterFan]

I prefer either 8am or 9:30am because i can finsh before opens or I can get in and grab a fastpass for my favorite ride after breakfast.

 

[crisi]

We do Ohana early, but we do first seating on a non-early entry morning at the MK - and we just make it to the MK. Why not book Ohana for a MK day - or if you want your character meal on your Epcot day, book Cape May?

 

[Cinderella94]

We do Ohana early, but we do first seating on a non-early entry morning at the MK - and we just make it to the MK. Why not book Ohana for a MK day - or if you want your character meal on your Epcot day, book Cape May?

Ooh- that's a good idea.

 

[goofy4tink]

I like to book a late breakfast, in the park, on a day they have EMH morning. I grab something light, like a bagel, in my room. Then, head to the park for 8:00, do stuff until 10:30ish, and have a late breakfast..then, it can count as lunch as well. I do this at Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's when at the MK.
At AK, I get as early an ADR at Donald's as I can. I like to book one for about 8:00 on a regular park day, or one at 10:30ish on an EMH morning.

 

[DoleWhipMom]

We did first seating at Crystal Palace (Pooh, Tigger, etc...) the day after Early Park Hours at MK. We got to go into the park before opening, had Main Street to ourselves, and were able to get out in plenty of time to enjoy almost no waits at all the rides. It was fantastic. So, I guess booking first seating some place the day after early hours might be a good idea too.

 

[GatorLady]

We do most of our character meals for dinner. It works better with our touring schedule and is a better value if you are doing the dining plan.

When we do a character breakfast, we like to do a late seating so it is like a brunch and then do CS for dinner. This year we have an 11:20 ADR for breakfast at CM.

I always figure on about an hour and a half for character meals. Last time we went to 'Ohana we had just missed the characters. It was a LONG wait until they made it all the way back around.

 

[teachallday]

We love character meals but just don't want to lose too much park time if that makes any sense.

Well, personally I view Character Meals as park time, if that makes any sense. On my trip I have scheduled a lot of Character meals in hopes of convincing the little princess that we do not need to stand in lines to meet characters.

So, take time away from rides to stand in line to meet one character, or eat a meal (which the kids need to do anyways) and meet several characters. Since meeting the characters is very much Park Time, the Character Meals would be Park Time too.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

We do Ohana early, but we do first seating on a non-early entry morning at the MK - and we just make it to the MK. Why not book Ohana for a MK day - or if you want your character meal on your Epcot day, book Cape May?

That sounds like a pretty good idea. I do have one of those MK days in our rough draft schedule. Do you just bus it to MK or do you take the monorail?

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I am of the mindset too that we do character meals to avoid the long lines in parks. We all get to eat and the kiddos are satisfied to see their favorite characters.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We prefer the earliest breakfast time we can get, usually the place is not that busy, the food is fresh and you get in the parks before the mad rush of people

 

[dancin Disney style]

Here's what we have done.

We book an ADR for around 10:30-11am at a restaurant that is near a park having morning EMH. Go to the park for rope drop and have a fun morning then go to your ADR. After a few hours in the park you will be ready for a break. Then after breakfast you can either return to the park, park hop or go back to the resort for a swim and to relax then go back to a park later.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

Well, personally I view Character Meals as park time, if that makes any sense. On my trip I have scheduled a lot of Character meals in hopes of convincing the little princess that we do not need to stand in lines to meet characters.

So, take time away from rides to stand in line to meet one character, or eat a meal (which the kids need to do anyways) and meet several characters. Since meeting the characters is very much Park Time, the Character Meals would be Park Time too.

Just my thoughts.

I agree 110%. For us character meals are a part of the overall disney experience. We do at least one a day, and with smaller kids it give a nice break and better character interaction than standing in lines for a picture and autograph. Besides you have to eat at some point anyhow.

 

[micheleq]

Here's what we have done.

We book an ADR for around 10:30-11am at a restaurant that is near a park having morning EMH. Go to the park for rope drop and have a fun morning then go to your ADR. After a few hours in the park you will be ready for a break. Then after breakfast you can either return to the park, park hop or go back to the resort for a swim and to relax then go back to a park later.

I second this! We did Chef Mickey's breakfast late (10:50am) on a day where MK had EMH. We had Fantasyland all to ourselves and then had a great brunch. I wouldn't do this every day or for every character meal, but it worked well for us.

 

[Tisha_PA]

We did Ohana's for breakfast last month. I booked an ADR at 7:30 (first seating) and we were done by 8:15. We walked over to the TTC and grabbed the monorail to Epcot. We made it in plenty of time for RD.

 

[evanthep]

We do character meals early before the part opens, so we eat and then are done right as the park opens. Also, we do them on our travel days. Last trip we ate dinner at Chef Mickeys the day we arrived and the day we left we ate at Ohanas. This keeps the travel days fun too.

 

[MJAJmom]

I think it's important to minimize travel times between parks and dining. I would schedule Ohana when you go to MK, so that it's an easy monorail ride between the 2.

We love character meals, especially breakfast, since we are early risers. I schedule a character meal at 8am inside the park before rope drop at 9am. For our Oct trip, we did 8am H&V before DHS, Tusker House before AK, and CP before MK rope drop. On early EMH days, we've done a lunch character meal at 11:45 and just eat bfast in the room. Some places only serve dinner, like Garden Grill, so you don't have much of a choice there.

My boys adore eating with characters and feel it's vital to the Disney experience. We can see tons of characters this way and have lots of fun without standing in lines. Have fun planning!!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

We do CP for breakfast before the park opens so that we are inside during rope drop.
This trip we are doing Chef Mickey on our first evening and we are having dinner at Boam on an evening when we know will be a short park day. We just kind of work them around our schedule if possible.
My favorite is doing CP before opening since you can take some great pictures and already be inside the park!