How much character dining is too much?

[bangzoom6877]

We went on a 5-night trip in July with our DS1 and DS3 at the time, and we did 5 character meals during our trip. Many people told me this was too much but to wait in 90-degree heat in the middle of July with 2 little kids just to meet a couple of characters seemed like a nightmare to us. So what we did was go to character meals with different characters at each (with the exception of Minnie, Goofy and Pluto who were at both Chef Mickey's and LTT). We had one day when we did the Hollywood & Vine character breakfast at DHS AND the character dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Everything worked out well for the kids and for us, and we all enjoyed it. Here's how we did it:

Day 1: Dinner at LTT in MK (Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale)
Day 2: no character meals
Day 3: Breakfast at Hollywood & Vine in DHS (JoJo & Goliath and the Little Einsteins); dinner at 1900 Park Fare in Grand Floridian (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Stepmother and stepisters)
Day 4: no character meals
Day 5: Dinner at Crystal Palace in MK (Winnie the Pooh & Friends)
Day 6 (check-out morning): Breakfast in Chef Mickey's (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald)

So, as you can see we had a good mix of characters so the boys would get to see all their favorites, from their favorite Playhouse Disney shows, and I got to dine with Cinderella . We enjoyed the food at all the character meals but we are okay with standard buffet food. We live in NYC and go to regular restaurants all the time, but we cannot get a character dining experience anywhere else like WDW!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have five character meals booked for our upcoming seven day, six night trip:

Breakfasts at Ohanas & Tusker House
Dinners at Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, & Chef Mickeys

We are all very excited about the chance to meet the characters and get some autographs signed without waiting in long lines at the parks. And like several of the previous posters indicated, it just adds to the magic of the overall experience for us. Our DS and I are both very selective eaters, and both DS and DH are big guys and hearty eaters, so the buffets work out as the best way to go for our family.

The best plan for everyone? Definitely not. The best plan for us? You bet!

 

[Don Disney]

Character meals are a must with us! Our 2 Dd's 3,5 really enjoyed them on our last trip Sept.08'. Our first one was CM for dinner-my litttle Dd(3) was scared of the characters .We then had dinner at CP,and all of a sudden she was marching around,taking pictures and having a blast.(did CP twice).1900 PF was great too-we all got a kick with those characters-it was really neat.We did GG for dinner,and were dissappointed with the food,but the characters were ok . Wer'e bouncing back in Sept 09',and we'll be doing CP (twice for dinner),CM (twice for dinner),and 1900 PF We really enjoy the characters and the buffets-everyone finds something they like,and as I have said before-"They can keep those little plates of food with the drizzle and twigs on it!"