If you could afford to do a ......

[princessknb]

character meal everyday of your trip would you or would you get burned out?

 

[trappednabox]

we're doing at least 1 a day when we go in july. but we're on an old dreammaker package, and it includes as many as we want to do. I didn't want to do so many, but going with 2 young kids I was out voted. I'm sure I'm gonna hate it! yeah right, I'm a bigger kid then they are!!

 

[Terk-1]

I like to do one or two while I'm there, but to do one every day I think would be a bit much. I've tried the Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree Tavern, 1900, Garden Grill & Chef Mickey's and hands down the best I've found is the Crystal Palace. Chef mickey's is good for breakfast, but thought dinner was awful and a total waste of money. Felt very rushed, found the food just so-so and only had 3 characters visit. I like the Garden Grill and Liberty Tree, but again, thought the food, service and character interaction at the Crystal was the best.

 

[caitycaity]

we usually only do 1 per trip and that is more than enough for me.

 

[mickeyluv]

We are doing 4 on this trip including CRT!!!! I am really excited but like the original poster was wondering if this was too many. I'm actually thinking of canceling one and maybe going to Ohana's one evening for dinner!!

 

[MikeWazowski]

One a trip is more then enough for my family. When you compare what you spend at a character meal you can probably do much better eating some where else each day. At Chef Mickey's and 1900 the food is very good, but you are still paying mainly for the characters.

 

[Terry S]

We actually do do a character breakfast for most mornings of our trips. We usually do, CRT, Crystal Place, Storybook Princess and Donalds Breakfastouras just because they are in parks and we like to go early eat breakfast and then we are already there at park opening and then we also do Cape May Cafe, Ohanas and 1900 Park Fare. We have been doing these for the last 6 trips. Hey you have to eat, you might as well eat with the characters. This way we don't spend any time waiting in line for characters in the park.

 

[magicmouse2]

CH meals are worth every penny IMHO. I just wish I could afford a sig. meal for every other meal.. large family!!!

 

[Kanga1]

Hey you have to eat, you might as well eat with the characters. This way we don't spend any time waiting in line for characters in the park.

I have to agree with Terry. DH and I are taking DD4 for her first trip this May/June. She LOVES characters! I mean, LOVES them! All kinds!! We could spend our entire vacation JUST hugging the characters and she would be on cloud nine! And we don't get board because we love them too, er, I mean we love watching her interact with them!

We'll be there for 10 days. Here's our list: Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, CRT ,Wonderland Tea Party, Liberty Tree Tavern, My Disney Girl Princess Grand Tea Party, Princess Storybook Breakfast, Cinderella's Gala Feast, and Goofy's Beach Club Bash...along with 5 PS's at regular restaurants and Hoop-Dee-Doo!

This is a lot, I know, but we are going for the characters this trip (especially the princesses! ) and are not really concerned about most of the headliner rides...except those in Fantasyland. So, calling all experts...if we are JUST concentrating on characters, and not primarily the rides/attractions, are we going to collapse by day 3?

 

[Alice28]

Once a trip is enough for our family...I personally find them somewhat exhausting, and we have had better interaction with a lot of characters in the parks than at the restaurants. JMHO.

 

[Cookie Princess]

One or two per trip is enough for us, but DS is 9 now so we are really just going for ME! There are a lot of other great non-character meal locations that we like to visit as well.

 

[stahshee]

We do a ch meal for every day!

 

[TXTink]

Also, if you children are into getting the autographs, dinning with the characters saves you time from standing in those lines! Another plus!!

 

[Tamickey]

We have always only done 1 or 2 each trip. We make PS for someplace at least once a day, but the character thing everyday is too much for us. If you have little ones, you are on a constant character watch the whole meal. Parents know, you really don't get to enjoy a relaxing meal until they've all come and gone. You spend the whole time with one hand on your camera!

 

[syzslak]

As long as they weren't all the same buffet, which most seem to be. I could probably do the Nroway B-Fast every day for a while. The others wouldhave tobe varied (like LTT and Cape May).

 

[gopherit]

We have always only done 1 or 2 each trip. We make PS for someplace at least once a day, but the character thing everyday is too much for us. If you have little ones, you are on a constant character watch the whole meal. Parents know, you really don't get to enjoy a relaxing meal until they've all come and gone. You spend the whole time with one hand on your camera!

I think this sums up our philosophy on dining, too!

We love the characters, as do our kids, but man, I never get to eat a hot meal in one sitting at a character place! Maybe we need to just forget our cameras by mistake, or something?!? Last trip we took was 13 days, and during that stay we did Chef M's, Goofy's Beach Bash, and one day we split up -- the gals did Cindy's while the guys did Crystal palace. I had a special mom-and-me lunch with my DD at Crystal Palace for lunch too. During our trip we also dined at Ohana, ESPN, WCC, RFC, B&C, PTC, and some other fun WDW places. Bottom line -- the non-character meals are recalled as the much more RELAXED meals! We weren't poised for the next character, the next autograph, and neither were our kids. My family actually enjoyed Ohana and WCC (which both have fun and occasional activities for the kids) as much or more than any chacter experience, because we adults could sit back and enjoy, and the kids weren't constantly scanning the horizon for the next character! And we had kids aged from 8 mos to 4 yrs to 9 yrs to 40 years, lol! I tend to think everyone ate a lot better, too -- which, if we're going to pay umpteen bucks for a Mickey waffle, we'd like to at least see its ears be nibbled off, you know? Nothing like dropping a ten-spot plus, only for your kid to then say 15 minutes later, "But I'm hungry!" And yes, the price is more about the characters than the food, but like someone else said, you gotta eat, right -- I'd rather not have to eat (and pay) twice, then! As our kids get a bit older, we find it's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they are less overwhelmed and can focus on their hunger better. On the other hand -- they aren't as awe-struck by the furry folks and such, either, so they aren't pushing as hard to go to the character meals. They are into the fun and frolic meals much more. Actually, my 10 yr old thinks dining every day at ESPN, WCC, and B&C would suit him just fine, thank ya very much!

So for us, we strategically plan a character meal "every other day", or even every "other other" day, which seems to be just enough to give us a character boost as needed! That's our formula for success, I guess!