How many character meals?

[abinormal]

If your family enjoys character meals, do you feel like there is a good number? Or, is there a point where it's too many?

My kids will be 2 and 4, it will be our first trip. They've never been around mascots or any big characters like that, so though I'm not anticipating fearful reactions I know it's possible. My daughter will be fine for sure, and my son is ok with new things as long as I'm right there.

I'm looking at Hollywood and Vine (big Doc, Sofia, and Jake fans), Tusker House, and either Akershus or CRT. We'll be there for five full days. My thinking is that this way they get characters without waiting in line plus my son will get his own meal for free.

I just don't want to burn them out or anything.

 

[tina.tina]

We had the dining plan. My philosophy was that if we were going to eat at WDW, we may as well eat with the characters. We ate at Chef Mickey's, Cinderella Castle, Garden Grill, Crystal Palace, Hoop Dee Doo, and we had a Fantasmic! Package at Hollywood and Vine. By the end of the trip, I was tired of the characters because I just wanted to eat in peace. You just never know how your kids are going to react.

DD was 10 when we went to WDW. She is so shy she will barely respond to the teacher in class. She loved the characters and almost tackled Pooh when she ran and hugged him. She had a fight with Pluto at Garden Grill over our misting fans. It was adorable.

DS was 5.5 when we went to WDW. He has NEVER been a shy kid. He strikes up conversations with strangers everywhere we go. The summer before we went to WDW he was talking to a guy on the train at Dollywood and actually tried to climb into the guy's lap to continue their conversation.

We went to Chef Mickey's for dinner on our arrival day and DS wouldn't interact with any character. They were really good about it and Goofy pretended to take a drink of DS's rootbeer. DS thought Goofy drank all of it and moved his rootbeer far away from the characters during the entire trip. He remained timid of the characters our entire trip.

(DH actually drank DS's drink because our waiter completely disappeared for our entire meal (after he watched DH's drink spill). We asked a guy busing tables for a refill and he said we should ask our waiter!!!! We told him the waiter disappeared. Then, he said Oh and disappeared, too. )

PS- Don't spend all of your money on this trip because you WILL want to go back!

 

[Berlioz70]

I'm looking at Hollywood and Vine (big Doc, Sofia, and Jake fans), Tusker House, and either Akershus or CRT.

I think this is a good mix; Disney Jr, VIPS, and Princesses. The only other meal I would recommend is one with Pooh characters, but that depends on your kids' interests. Crystal Palace is Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet - it's the only place you can meet Eeyore and Piglet. 1900 Park Fare breakfast is Pooh, Tigger, Poppins, Alice, and Mad Hatter - it's the only place you can meet the Hatter.

 

[abinormal]

Yeah, they're not into Pooh or Alice just yet.

 

[Gillyrose779]

We were there for 6 full days and had three character meals- Hollywood Vine & Dine, CRT, and Cape May for breakfast (at Beachclub Resort).

For us Vine&Dine was the best- my boys are also 2 and 4 and are totally into Disney Jr. The danced and did the conga line- most interactive yet.

Loved Cape May for the the breakfast and got to see Minnie, Goofy, and Donald- a little crowded and loud though.

CRT was great- just something about eating in the castle. My boys could care less about the princesses but they each got a sword and a wishing star- my 4 year old still wishes for chocolate milk with his star- so cute.

That being said I think we could have easily had one more character meal- I hear good things about Tusker House and Mickey is there- always a plus! Also, I believe you can get reservations an hour before park opening there so you can take pics in the park while it is empty.

My kids aren't a fan of Pooh either but you can also get breakfast res. an hour before MK opens and get pics of the castle before opening too- makes this one tempting. Tip if you do this- as for check right away so you can make it back in time for rope drop.

 

[jimandami]

I think 3 is a good number, and you have a good variety of characters. When we went in Sept 2012 with free dining for 8 nights, I booked several character meals because they are a good use of dining credits. By day 4, DD3 was saying, "Please tell me there are no characters at this meal!" She was just tired of it. We ended up cancelling a couple after that!

 

[henry72]

I think you have a good mix. We usually only go to 2 during a 5-6 day trip. This time it is Tusker House and CRT. Last time it was Garden Grill and Askerhaus (sp?). Our only other sit down meal is Sci Fi.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Over 7 days, we did 1. Loved it, but didn't feel any need for more. And honestly, would probably never do one outside of breakfast again. Making sure to be on time for our lunch, we killed a LOT of time we could have used elsewhere in the park.

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my niece for her birthday when she was four, almost 5. We did Chef Mickey's for dinner, Crystal Palace for dinner, Garden Grill for dinner, Akershaus for breakfast, and 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and dinner. We were there for 7 days. I thought one meal a day was perfect. The only line we waited in for characters was to see Ariel in her grotto as she wasn't at the princess breakfast.

 

[dprincessmom]

First trip, I would do 2 or 3. If they like them you can add more on your next trip. We are going on again next year. Returning to our old favorite O'hana for breakfast, Tusker House for breakfast, Chef Mickey's and Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner.

 

[1000HappyWishes]

I think it depends on how long you're staying. A Disney trip for me isn't a Disney trip without a Crystal Palace breakfast and a Chef Mickey's dinner.

 

[Sunnyday3]

I would agree that you have a good number. Our last visit was saturated with character meals (at least one a day, sometimes two). It was way too much. I was tired of hurrying up to sit and wait. The kids were cranky. You can surely get the character fix with the number you've got. Too many, and you risk burn-out.

We used the deluxe dining plan, and felt that we had to go to those character meals to get the best benefit. Next time, we only may do one or two.

Have fun!

 

[GWhitten98]

Over all we are a big fan of the character meals, but if we didn't have the dining plan we wouldn't do near as many. We had free dining so took full advantage of it.

We have 6 TS of those 5 were character buffets. Breakfast at CP, Princess at Epcot(forget the name) and 1900 park fare, lunch at Hollywood and Vine and Dinner at Chef Mickey. We did Boma for dinner one night as well(not a huge fan). The breakfast were definately are favorites as we are morning people so I got reservations prior to park opening for those in the park and did the last one the moring we checked out. I would probably do H&V again now that the characters have changed (kids weren't overly enthused with OSO, June or Manny) and probably won't do Chef Mickey again at least not for dinner.

Next trip we are hoping to do BOG and Ohana as well as try out something adult oriented at Epcot. We will probably do the princess breakfast at Epcot again over the CRT.

 

[scoutie]

We just did one last year when we went. My ds was a little too old for them, and my youngest ds was too little. My dd was at the perfect age for Cinderella's Royal Table. This May, we will do two (Akershaus and Chef Mickey's).

 

[texaslady22]

We are going in May and we're doing a LOT of character meals.

Garden Grill Dinner
Ohana breakfast
Tusker House breakfast
1900 Park Fare dinner
Hollywood & Vine
Askershus Breakfast

 

[kimbo0569]

Like everyone else, I think 2-3 is a good number. On our first trip with any kids, our oldest was then 2 1/2, we did Crystal Palace for breakfast (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and piglet) and Garden Grill in Epcot (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale). She loved them and we all had a great time. Next time we went, she was 6 1/2 and my youngest daughter was 3. We did the same two and added the 1900 Park Fare for dinner with Cinderella and friends. My oldest loved it, younger not so much because she didn't like the face characters or princesses for that matter. She did great with Crystal Palace and Garden Grill.

This past October, they were older (11 and 8) and we only did one character meal - 1900 Park Fare breakfast which was Alice and the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins and Tigger and Pooh. They loved that one.

 

[abinormal]

Thanks for the advice. I may throw in a CP reservation too, because my husband is kind of obsessed with breakfast buffets, and I'd like to get pictures before opening.

You guys are great!

 

[SEA333]

We did one - Akershus - and that was more than enough for us. It was lovely, don't get me wrong, but seriously....after the 4th princess, I really just wanted to eat in peace LOL I could not imagine Crystal Palace or Chef Mickeys.

I will have to say though, that if anyone has a 13 year old boy, the princess dinner should be on your list of things to do!! LOL Watching the princesses flirt with DS13 was hilarious and he was old enough to appreciate the attention (DS7 wanted NOTHING to do with them at all!). DS13 (who is a tall, solid defensive lineman for his football team and looks more like a 15-16 year old) responded to Cinderella's question of "Does this big strong prince protect his family?" with "Yes, I do....and I can protect you too. What are you doing at midnight?" LOL She thought that was so funny that she nearly broke character! She sputtered for a few seconds then said "Well, *I* will be back at the castle, and you should be too so your mother does not have to worry about you!" LOL It was sooo cute.

 

[momofmaz]

We did 3 our first trip and my 2 year old loved every minute of it. We plan to do 4 our next trip.

 

[mom2maggie]

We do lots - I think we have a character breakfast scheduled for every day (DxDP). My kids eat best at breakfast, and we love getting big chunks of character meeting out of the way.