How long do character meals take?

[4Rfamily]

We have the dining plan and scheduled mostly character meals for our table service meals. I've seen info that made me think I should plan for 60-75 minutes for some of these experiences but then I've also seen that meals are rushed so wondering if it could be less. We have a 6 and 1 year old so I'm hoping we aren't spending 75 minutes or more at every restaurant. I also booked a couple fast passes after meals.

What are your thoughts for time needed for these restaurants?-

Tusker House-lunch
Hollywood & Vine Breakfast
Chef Mickey brunch
Akershus-breakfast
Be our Guest lunch

 

[Amelia :)]

They say to allow 90 minutes if you want to meet all the characters. We were about 75 minutes at Tusker House. Can't comment on the others. Be our Guest is quick service with no characters so shouldn't take too long if you pre-order.

 

[ItsLayne]

I can't speak for the restaurants you listed - though I will be having lunch at Tusker House in June.

The only character meal I've been to thus far is the Crystal Palace, and if I remember right, one of the characters came around about every 20 minutes or so, and the server said that if you stayed for about 90 minutes, you'd probably get to meet all of them. If you don't care to meet all the characters, then you can probably get in and out of one of those buffet-style meals rather quickly - it all depends on how much your family wants to eat. Under an hour and meeting two characters is feasible, if you want to rush yourself

They say to allow 90 minutes if you want to meet all the characters. We were about 75 minutes at Tusker House. Can't comment on the others. Be our Guest is quick service with no characters so shouldn't take too long if you pre-order.

While we're on the subject, how do you go about preordering your meal? The last time I did BOG lunch it was before reservations. This time I have a reservation for the lunch, but is the preordering somewhere in the app? does it appear the day of?

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Generally 60-90 minutes

We were able to do Tusker House PPO breakfast in 45 minutes. The fur-characters don't take as long as the face-characters, IME. We usually see the fur-characters circle twice in the time that it takes face-characters to go around once.

 

[Missyrose]

The 60-75 minute estimations are for once you've been seated. Don't forget, you likely will wait an additional 15-30 minutes after you check in to be seated

 

[maxiesmom]

I wouldn't bother doing the meals if you are going to be pushing to get out of there. They are all pretty costly, why spend the money to rush thru them?

 

[4Rfamily]

The 60-75 minute estimations are for once you've been seated. Don't forget, you likely will wait an additional 15-30 minutes after you check in to be seated

Thanks. I didn't realize that. I don't want to rush. Just want to have realistic expectations for planning the rest of our time around. I planned for 75 minutes and most days we plan to break after our meal but I may need to recheck our fastpass time for after Tusker House.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Thanks. I didn't realize that. I don't want to rush. Just want to have realistic expectations for planning the rest of our time around. I planned for 75 minutes and most days we plan to break after our meal but I may need to recheck our fastpass time for after Tusker House.

Remember you have a whole hour to use the fp

 

[Hopefully]

75 - 90 minutes if you want to see all the characters. BOG lunch has no characters so you can be done quickly.

 

[westie55]

My recent experiences at Crystal Palace and Garden Grill were both surprisingly quick in regards to seeing all the characters. While longer is possible, I think an hour should be quite doable.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Really helpful question, OP. I'm doing planning myself and was wondering what a realistic timeframe would be to plan around. I hate having to wait to sit though

 

[Amelia :)]

I'm not sure if it was just luck, but I found PPO character meals to be the quickest. If you're the first in you seem to get the characters on their first round of the restaurant. If you come later, you can kind of catch them out of sequence or taking breaks etc. I'm sure this isn't a general rule, but it was my experience.

 

[ilovevacation]

We did tusker house late morning/ early lunch today. We were seated in 5 minutes and got to see all of the characters and ate on under an hour

 

[Nancyg56]

I wouldn't bother doing the meals if you are going to be pushing to get out of there. They are all pretty costly, why spend the money to rush thru them?

Give yourself 90 minutes. If you cannot allow for that I would make a change.

Thanks. I didn't realize that. I don't want to rush. Just want to have realistic expectations for planning the rest of our time around. I planned for 75 minutes and most days we plan to break after our meal but I may need to recheck our fastpass time for after Tusker House.

The reason most of us caution about rushing is to make sure that folks have a realistic expectation. WE read so many posts that have people trying to get into a character meal, eat and get out in time for something else, and we knwo they will be setting themselves up for failure.

Allow 90 minutes. I always figure at least 75 minutes after I am seated and figure that if we are out sooner that works, but we dont rush. Be aware that after check in the waits vary depending on where you are and how the day is going for that restaurant.

 

[MissionMouse]

Character meals are really about meeting the characters. If you are wanting to see all of the characters there is no exact time it takes as it depends how fast you are seated to the time of your ADR. The next item is where the characters are in the rotation of covering the dining floor. There are also times where specific characters disappear for a short period of time as one person takes a break and another comes out on the floor as note they also need a CM escort when the character is wearing a custom that covers their head (i.e., Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, etc.). Overall, 60 minutes would be on the fast side and is not what we normally encountered and 90 minutes would be on the high side.

 

[uccats97]

While we're on the subject, how do you go about preordering your meal? The last time I did BOG lunch it was before reservations. This time I have a reservation for the lunch, but is the preordering somewhere in the app? does it appear the day of?

You can order from a link under your BOG reservation in My Disney Experience via the app or regular website. The link appears 30 days in advance and your order can be placed anytime from 30 days to 5 minutes prior to your reservation.

 

[parkgoer]

I always allow 90 mins for a character meal. As others have said, there are no characters for BOG lunch. The Beast is at dinner only.

 

[GillianP1301]

I would say that 90% of the time, we are done character meals in 60 - 75 minutes. When I'm doing my touring plan, I usually slot 90 minutes to allow for some buffer.

ETA: If you do find yourself pressed for time, then ask for your bill after you have ordered your drinks and settle that early. Inevitably, the one time you are in a hurry at the end of your meal is the time your server will be nowhere to be seen for 5 - 10 minutes.

 

[IrishNYC]

I always allow for 90 minutes, just in case it takes time to be seated, and to make sure we see everyone. I don't want to pay the price of a character meal and rush out and not see all the characters. With our then 5 y/o we've done CRT, Akershus, and Chef Mickey, and I think only CM took more than an hour, but we were taking our time because we had nothing planned after. For our upcoming trip I have anywhere from 90-120 minutes planned for most TS, with less being a pleasant surprise, and it gives us time to linger somewhere else and shop, or just take it all in.