How many character meals is too many?

[esquire]

We're still planning a trip way, way in the future (2013). But it's still fun to make an ideal list of ADR's I'd like to make. As a background, it will be all of our first (and maybe only) trip, so we'd like to do everything we can. My children will be 7 (girl) and 4 (boy) at the time of the trip. We'll have the regular dining plan, I think, and we'll be there 7 nights, for 6 park days (2 MK, 2 Epcot, 1 HS, and 1 AK).

So these are the meals I'd reserve now, if I was planning:

- 1900 Park Fare dinner (arrival day)
- Crystal Palace (breakfast or lunch)
- Akershus (breakfast)
- Tusker House (breakfast)
- Chef Mickey's breakfast (departure day)

I'm unsure on the other 2 ADR's, but I'm looking at Garden Grill in Epcot for dinner and then maybe something in Hollywood Studios that is not a character meal, like 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi.

But with this scenario, is it too many characters? Will it feel repetitive? Any suggestions or thoughts for my kids ages would be helpful.

(I also realize that things may change by the time we go, but it's still fun to plan and dream now!)

 

[carrie1626]

For me 2 Character meals would be best, one for breakfast and one for dinner and preferable with different characters. I like GF breakfast with the Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland along with Pooh and Tigger. Also, Ohana's has Mickey, Minnie and friends! The Garden Grill for dinner has a nice charcter meal also! They have Mickey, Minnie and friends , also.



Hopefully, by the time you go WDW will have a Toy Story Character meal and bring back the Villians. or Pirates

 

[momtoejanda]

On our last trip my DD was 7 and I have twin boys that were 4. We did all the character meals except the Garden Grove at the Swan (not on the dining plan).

some people will say not to do more than one because they are time consuming but my kids think that is part of the fun.

I decided that on our next trip in Oct we were not going to do all the character meals so I asked them for one choice each but they kept going and going so it looks like a 3rd year in a row to do every character meal available!!!

Bottom line if you want to go, it is not too many!

 

[momtoejanda]

Hopefully, by the time you go WDW will have a Toy Story Character meal and bring back the Villians. or Pirates

Please Please Please!!!!

 

[smiths02]

We did 4 in one week...that was plenty, but not too much
We did see Mickey and Goofy twice
We also did T-Rex, ohana, sci fi...which were big hits for my 3 year old son

Since you have a boy and girl...
I would recommend a Mickey breakfast-Cape May, Tusker House, Ohana, Chef Mickey
A Pooh meal (1900 Park Fare breakfast or Crystal Palace any meal)
A princess meal (based on who you DD wants to see)
And then some fun places like t-rex, rainforest cafe, sci fi, ohana, wcc, or even one of the shows


We ate at Playhouse Disney breakfast, and while the food was fine, the characters may be a little young for your kids.

 

[clc053103]

For an 8 day trip, we think 1 is plenty- we aren't big on buffets to beginw ith! But until last year, DS was terrified of characters- so character meals would have been a horrendous experience. FInd out if your kids enjoy characters before booking 5 days worth of expensive character meals.

 

[laurainsem]

Since it is your first trip, I would limit it to two meals with one towards the beginning of the trip and one at the end. Your children may find the character meals overwhelming, especially with all the stimulation at the parks during the day. Meals can sometimes be a good way to regroup and relax a bit before heading back out to the craziness of the parks.

Maybe choose one meal for each child, based upon their interests (ie: princess meal for daughter).

If your kids love the character meals, then you can pack them in on the next trip knowing for sure they love them!

 

[JessicaFaye508]

We did 4 within a 6 day span. It wasn't overwhelming at all We actually enjoyed them a lot and were super happy we got to experience all of them!

 

[smiths02]

For an 8 day trip, we think 1 is plenty- we aren't big on buffets to beginw ith! But until last year, DS was terrified of characters- so character meals would have been a horrendous experience. FInd out if your kids enjoy characters before booking 5 days worth of expensive character meals.

Great Advice about testing your kids with characters first. There were a lot of crying terrified kids in Chef Mickey when we went.

 

[MarbleBob]

Hi Esquire,

I noticed that all of your character meals are buffets. You know your own kids best, but our experiences with multiple trips to Disney (we've eaten at all of these character meals on several different trips) is that doing buffets with this age of kids is a good amount of work for mom and dad. You'll need to go with them to the buffet each and every time they want something. We usually do one or two buffets on our trips, but I really enjoy being served at other meals for a break.

Some restaurants my kids DD (11) DS (8) DD (3) have really enjoyed that are sit-down are California Grill: the atmosphere, view, fireworks, and kids' desserts are great, and the servers know how to help kids have a good time. Ohanas and Whispering Canyon Cafe are also very entertaining with ukele performer/coconut races and pony races, respectively.

Whatever you choose, you'll have a great time!

 

[HunnyJar]

We love them so we tend to do quite a few during our trips. This year we're going for ten days and we have seven character meals. Our first trip we did I think three and that was good to test the water and see how well we liked them. I will say that we like 'Ohana best for breakfast - really fun to see Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch and for dinner we like Garden Grill the best. It's another meal with Mickey and Pluto and it also has Chip and Dale. If you happen to read about a restaurant that sounds good and has characters that your family would want to see, I would go for it. I think you have a good mix on your list, but that's just my opinion.

 

[TDC Nala]

Depends on how many you and your party would like. One is too many for me. There was a poster awhile back who booked sixteen character meals on a seven-night trip. I would think that would be way too many but they were happy as a clam to have two character meals a day for the whole trip.

 

[Darcy03231]

On a 5 day trip we did: 1900 Park Fare for dinner, 1900 Park Fare for breakfast, Chef Mickey for dinner, Crystal Palace for breakfast and O'Hana for breakfast.

On a 7 day trip we did: 1900 Park Fare for breakfast, 1900 Park Fare for dinner, Crystal Palace for breakfast, Chef Mickey for dinner, Akershaus for breakfast, Garden Grill for dinner, and CRT for dinner.

I find the character meals actually save us time. We see all the characters at our meals and don't have to wait in line for them.

 

[jacksonsmom]

Our first trip back in 2003, we were there 2 weeks and did every single character meal (minus the one at the Swan/Dolphin). It was not too many for us. We loved it.

Our family loves character meals

We are going back in June for 15 days and our character meals will be

Chef Mickey (dinner)
Ohana (breakfast)
Tusker House (breakfast)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Garden Grill (dinner)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (dinner)
Cape May (breakfast)

So 8 character meals! I wanted to add 1900 Park Fare breakfast somewhere but just don't have a spot. We are going to other sit down restaurants and there is only so much we can eat!

So I say don't worry what others think. If you want to dine with the characters, then go for it. For some 1 character meal can be too many, for others (like my family) there is no such thing as "too many character meals"
Enjoy!!!

 

[beckysmith]

Every time I've been there, we've only done one maybe two character meals, but I suppose if it's your first and maybe only trip, you gotta take advantage of all that you can!

 

[Cree629]

As you can already see, you will get lots of differing opinions on this one.

We are going in September with two girls, a 6-year old and a nearly 3-year old. We booked character meals at Tusker House, Chef Mickeys, Akershus, and 1900 Park Fare. Almost did Crystal Palace as well, but ended up not. For us, character meals are a must-do. Our kids LOVE them and get so excited. We don't have to worry about standing in line in the hot sun to see all of the characters-- we know we will see them and have some great interaction at our meals. True, most of them are buffets, and none are particularly known for fantastic food, but they work just fine for us because our little one, especially, does not like to sit and wait a long time at a restaurant. At a buffet, you can go and start getting your food immediately, which is a big help for us with hungry and antsy kids (who may have already been sitting patiently waiting to be seated for up to a half hour or more). Plus, we are on the dining plan (which is not available for kids under 3), so instead of having to order a separate meal for our little one (or have her eat off our plates), she can eat freely from the buffet, too.

Some of our favorite memories (and pictures!) from our past two trips were memories made when our girls got to interact with their favorite characters at character meals.

 

[budafam]

We are going for our first trip in May and have booked the following:
Crystal Palace lunch (the first day we get there)
Sci Fi Diner on the 3rd day
Chef Mickey's breakfast on the 4th day
1900 Park Fare for dinner the night we leave (this will be our last stop)
I did have Coral Reef booked up until yesterday and then I discovered 1900 Park Fare and I thought it would be nice to have a dinner in there somewhere PLUS I figure if we get too caught up with everything that day, we could always skip it as well and just head out early. My kids are 2 & 4 and definitely not scared of characters (we just did the Mall of America where they met SpongeBob and Dora).

I figure this way, they will meet all these people at meals and not have to stand in line to meet them in the parks. We still have a list of people to meet in the park (including Tinkerbell) so we'll be busy enough.

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

In booking your character meals, consider your children's belief in the magic, especially with the face characters. For my little girls, the princesses, Alice, the fairies-- are REAL--really real. However, 2 trips ago when our oldest was just 4, we had booked 2 princess meals-- one at CRT (at the beginning of our trip) and one at Norway (at the end of our trip). We discovered that our 4year old was observant enough to notice that Jasmine looked different at Norway than she did at the castle. The CM playing Jasmine was different that day, and this caused some confusion for her. Now, and because it's important to us that our daughters hold on to the magic as long as possible, we are very careful not to plan meals or interactions with the face characters more than once each trip. The character overlap may be something to consider when planning this.

 

[Suzanne74]

We're still planning a trip way, way in the future (2013). But it's still fun to make an ideal list of ADR's I'd like to make. As a background, it will be all of our first (and maybe only) trip, so we'd like to do everything we can. My children will be 7 (girl) and 4 (boy) at the time of the trip. We'll have the regular dining plan, I think, and we'll be there 7 nights, for 6 park days (2 MK, 2 Epcot, 1 HS, and 1 AK).

So these are the meals I'd reserve now, if I was planning:

- 1900 Park Fare dinner (arrival day)
- Crystal Palace (breakfast or lunch)
- Akershus (breakfast)
- Tusker House (breakfast)
- Chef Mickey's breakfast (departure day)

I'm unsure on the other 2 ADR's, but I'm looking at Garden Grill in Epcot for dinner and then maybe something in Hollywood Studios that is not a character meal, like 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi.

But with this scenario, is it too many characters? Will it feel repetitive? Any suggestions or thoughts for my kids ages would be helpful.

(I also realize that things may change by the time we go, but it's still fun to plan and dream now!)

I haven't read the rest of the comments, but I would personally switch and do Chef Mickey's dinner on arrival day and do 1900 breakfast on departure day. Chef Mickeys is SOOOO fun for the little kids they day they arrive. Plus it knocks out the 5 most important characters to see and take pictures with which can save TONS of time when you are at the parks.

If you do 1900 for breakfast, I wouldn't do Crystal Palace unless your kids REALLY like more Pooh characters. Pooh and Tigger are at 1900 now.

I do not recommend Prime Time or Sci Fi, especially for your kids ages. Long waits to be seated even with a ressie and both places will go over their heads. I would do the Playhouse Hollywood n Vine breakfast (if your kids like those characters) or just do a counter service at Pizza Planet which is always a big hit for kids who love Toy Story.

I would not do Tusker House because it is almost the same characters as Chef Mickey's. Plus morning time you will want to get on the safari and other things.

Personally I would do:

Askerhus for princesses
Chef Mickeys for main 5 characters
1900 breakfast for Pooh, Tigger, Alice, Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins

I think other places that are fun for kids your ages are:
Ohana's for dinner
Wispering Canyon Cafe

And remember, just because you have a reservation does not mean you will get seated immediately. I have always found with young kids to ALWAY book the first 30 minutes of the restaurant opening if possible. Otherwise you could look at a 30 minute wait and then an 1.5 dining experience. Add time it takes to get to some of the places are you are eating up valuable Disney time. That is the main reason I would avoid so many sit downs with young kids.

 

[vinotinto]

If you have younger children and your children enjoy characters, then I would say, book at least a couple during one week, but no more than once per day.

1st trip (6 nights) - We did two: Akershus dinner and Crystal Palace dinner.

2nd trip (8 nights) - We did 5: Tusker House breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, Akershus breakfast, 1900 PF breakfast, and O'hana breakfast. Probably should have cancelled one of those 5, but could not make up my mind which one. We did all the park breakfasts on the park we were being that day, and we were staying at the Poly, so Ohana and 1900 PF were really easy to get to.

For the next two trips, this is what I have planned:
3rd trip (5 nights) - We have 2 scheduled: CRT lunch and Chef Mickey late breakfast.

4th trip (5 nights) - We have 4 scheduled: Crystal Palace breakfast, H&V breakfast, Cape May breakfast, CRT dinner.