How much character dining is too much?

[NiftyJ88]

We're planning our trip for next Thanksgiving and trying to decide if we should do the dining plan. There are 5 character dining experiences that I'm considering. My DD (then 3.5) loves characters and I thought this might provide us with the downtime we need, and would make the DDP worthwhile. However, I'm also concerned that she might become "bored" with them and prefer to be out and about in the park. What are your thoughts?

 

[ga9497]

Personally I think that is too much. Even when our kids were little we did a max of 2. As they got older we cut down to 1 per visit. It was fun to search the parks for the other characters as most of the ones they really wanted to see weren't at the meals

The other reason we didn't do many is that the food at the character meals aren't the best and most are buffets which get old quick. Unless you like buffets

 

[RMulieri]

I say it is an individual choice.That said we did 2 and only because we knew that DD was afraid of the characters(before our trip) and figured trying to find adrs last sec if she was in full panic mode and refused to eat with the characters would not be a good thing.

 

[tinkbyday]

Five seems like alot to me - my DD will be 10 on this upcoming trip and we only have 1 planned (Cape May Bkfst).

When she was younger, I think we did 2 each trip - usually Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner one night (no longer being offered) and Chef Mickey's for breakfast one morning.

An alternative to a character meal is to also go to one of the campfires at night - I believe Chip n Dale attend the FW campfire and you can buy smores and watch a movie (a bit cheaper than dinner too!).

 

[chocolateMinnie]

On our first trip we thought one for a week was plenty. BUT we soon realised that by adding the character meals we adults actually got to sit and eat without the children rushing us to leave AND we could fob them off at the lines for character autographs by saying we are going to see them on whatever day.

We went for 21 days last year of which 14 were at WDW and we did 8 character meals which was just about right for us. We never had to queue to see a Princess in three weeks except Ariel because my DD had seen them all while I had sat down in an air-conditioned restaurant and eaten!!

We have booked 6 character meals for our next trip (of 8 days) hoping that the same will work for us again.

 

[jill062604]

My husband and I love character meals. You can go to dinner back home anytime, but there is something magical about dining with the characters...We look forward to these meals every year!

 

[vpalmer]

We have averaged about 3-5 a week on our past trips and it works great for us!

This upcoming trip we will stay 10 nights and I have 4-5 character meals planned.

 

[traci]

Which 5 are you considering?

 

[IlovemythreeC's]

WE LOVE character meals and we do not feel that this is too much at all

 

[NiftyJ88]

First, let me say that I have never done a character meal myself. I've been to Disney at least a dozen times, and my parents would never take us, so I want to make sure my daughter gets to do some.
We are absolutely doing CRT, probably for breakfast since some other princesses come. I would like to do 1900 Park Fare for dinner, Chef Mickey's for dinner, and if we would do the dining plan, I would probably add Akershus and Crystal Palace.
About how long does each experience take? That could factor into our decision as well.

 

[disneymom0104]

We did 5 in Sept. (Akershus, LTT, Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare and Crystal Palace) For us it was a lot of fun and we loved every one of them! My girls were 6 and 4 at the time.

 

[TDC Nala]

That depends on the diner. For me, one character meal is too much.

For some I know, and some whose posts I've seen a character meal every day is preferred. I have even seen some folks schedule more than one character meal on the same day.

It'll depend for you on how many days there are in your trip. If you're trying to cram all those character meals into a 3 day trip you will have problems with park time. If you're staying a week or more you can fit them in - breakfasts before park opening won't cut into your touring time much if at all.

 

[Coconuts]

When our kids were 5 and 2, we did 4 CM in 5 days. This was a little too much. I think 2-3 would have been ok. If you are there for 7-10 days, then 4-5 would be perfect.

 

[traci]

I think your selections for a 3 year old sound great. When our kids were really little that's all we would do were character meals. It kept the kids entertained long enough for me and dh to eat. Now that they are older we still do a couple of character meals, but get to add some other dining options as well (i.e. we have never considered Le Cellier or Calif. Grill until our upcoming trip - our kids would not have sat through that). It sounds like you have some variety so I see nothing wrong with it. I think your daughter will really enjoy eating at Dinsey World!! She may expect that when she goes home LOL!!

Have fun!

 

[Tricia1972]

It becomes a matter of individual taste, as stated by a previous poster.

We did three character meals in two weeks and thought that was just at our outer limit of how much Disney Buffet Food we could tolerate. We like TS and getting away from the parks, but don't care for much of Disney's buffet food.

We did one character meal in one week and felt that was perfect for our group. (Me, DH, DS 5, DS 2, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt)

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It's all about individual tastes.

For US we can have fine dining where I live on any day of the week. I'm in NJ and very close to Philadelphia so I can get those kinds of restaurants any day. Cali Grill, Jiko, Flying Fish, etc.

While at WDW we immerse ourselves in it to the 10th power with our 9 year old and 3 year old. We have a character meal almost every day. DD is a princess freak and DS has fun with it. We refuse to stand in line for the characters so we kill two birds with one stone and to be honest we like the food. Never had a bad meal but we aren't picky eaters either.

On our upcoming 8 night stay we have:

CRT lunch
CM dinner
Akershus breakfast
Ohana's (dinner so no characters)
Crystal Palace dinner
1900 Park Fare dinner
LeCellier (I want to try this) dinner

If I could I would add Tusker House but we don't want to pay OOP for two meals (we are on the DDP). Plus one meal a day is enough time out of our park time.

Have fun and good luck!!!

 

[mom2two]

It definitely depends on what your idea of "Disney" is. For my family, eating with characters only adds to the magic. For our last trip we did 3 character dining experiences during a 6 day stay. This summer we are planning on 5 character dining experiences during a 7 day stay. That said my husband is a picky eater so buffets work well for him and my two children (DD 6 and DS 9) love being able to pick out their own food.

 

[crisi]

Personal taste again....

Remember that a character meal will very likely take more time than a regular meal and that the food at character meals doesn't tend to be as good as non-buffet table service. These may be worthwhile trades to your family.

(Since most character meals are breakfasts, and since breakfast hours for us are prime park touring times - we aren't willing to make the time sacrifice for characters. And my son was never that much of a character guy plus my husband and I find the food to be barely edible at character meals - so we've done one - one year two when I took my daughter to a Princess meal. But if you don't mind the food, love the characters, and would be spending all your time in lines to get Pooh's autograph anyway, I don't think there is such a thing as too many).

 

[Karlzmom]

....I'm not convinced there is "too much" so long as you know that your meals will likely be rushed and that the food is not the focus. If it keeps you munchkin amused , go for it!

 

[BratDet]

I was at WDW last year and did not do any since I had no appetite due to chemo and didn't want to pay full freight for not eating...

This time- we did the Hoop Dee Doo Revue Christmas night, then Crystal Palace the next morning. We did Cinderella's Royal Table that late afternoon while at MK. Next day was no Disney. The last night we did Chef Mickey. I did cancel 1900 Park Fare for our last day breakfast, but that was because we ended up going to Animal Kingdom and if we waited to go after 11 we would have never gotten on ANY rides.

I also got the character meet & greet at Epcot with Mickey & we got our free photo (Disney Visa perk) and at Animal Kingdom got to do pics with Baloo as they were just setting up.

I would try to pick what you think you might want to do the most & book that at a convenient point during your stay. You can always cancel if you get "charactered out".
Bernadette