Is 5 Character Meals on DDP too many?

[lovesdumbo]

I was at WDW in Jan and can also confirm Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, & Donald at Chef Mickeys. We went for dinner and I wasn't crazy about it.

Also went to Cape May where we found Chip, Dale, Minnie and Goffy dressed in swim/beach wear. LOVED this meal!!!! I enjoy Garden Grill where I have always seen Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale. I do think the food is better at Cape May though.

I have had all 3 meals at CP. All are VERY good! I have always seen Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger.

We tried Tusker House for the first time in Jan also. We saw Donald, Daisy, Mickey & Goofy. Food was very good.

We did OHana in August and saw Lilo, Stitch, Mickey & Pluto. The food was good but not great. Nice and quiet here.

 

[Disney Padawan]

I was at WDW in Jan and can also confirm Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, & Donald at Chef Mickeys. We went for dinner and I wasn't crazy about it.

Also went to Cape May where we found Chip, Dale, Minnie and Goffy dressed in swim/beach wear. LOVED this meal!!!! I enjoy Garden Grill where I have always seen Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale. I do think the food is better at Cape May though.

I have had all 3 meals at CP. All are VERY good! I have always seen Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger.

We tried Tusker House for the first time in Jan also. We saw Donald, Daisy, Mickey & Goofy. Food was very good.

We did OHana in August and saw Lilo, Stitch, Mickey & Pluto. The food was good but not great. Nice and quiet here.

You're awesome!!! Thank you!!!

Now, I just hope I have some time left to switch some ADR's.

 

[WeemanMom]

Five is never too many. When we went in 2005 we did...

Chef Mickey's for dinner (Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Donald)
Crystal Palace for breakfast (Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore)
Norway for breakfast (Auroa at the door, Snow White, Belle (blue dress), Mulan, and Jasmine)
CRT for breakfast (when it was still one dining credit) (Cinderella, Mary Poppins in white dress, Belle in blue dress, Fairy Godmother, Aurora, and Snow White)...and the waiter was pretty nice looking too...don't tell my husband I said that!
Liberty Tree dinner (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale)
1900 Park Fare for breakfast (Mary Poppins met us at the door in her red coat, Pooh, Tigger, Alice, and the Mad Hatter)
Donald Breakfastasaurus for breakfast (but this has been replaced with Tusker House) (Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto) (the waiter was SO entertaining - my kids LOVED him!)

We also did a few NON character meals...Corral Reef, ESPN Club, Olivia's, Lunch with an Astronaut (Kennedy Space Center), and Dine with Shamu (Sea World).

We have found meals to be the best way to interact with the characters. At the time my daughter was just a year and a half...she will be four and a half for this year's trip and even though she did 'OK' with the characters the last time...she is really looking forward to seeing them this time. SO we will be doing lots of character meals again this time.

We are adding to this year's list... Cape May, and Ohana's. We didn't do Garden Grill in 2005...but did the Ice Cream Social there in 2002.

We are also adding NON character meals of Hollywood & Vine dinner, Le Cellier, and the Boatwright.

We are eliminating CRT (I just don't think it's worth two dining credits) and Liberty Tree. We are moving 1900 Park Fare and Norway from breakfast to dinner.

We had such a wonderful time doing as many character meals as we could. I would encourage anyone that wants a more intimate, slower paced opportunity to interact with the characters to do the meals. With one young child (DD 4) and a child with developmental disabilities (DS 13), it's much less hectic this way.

Well, at least that's my two cents.

 

[Disney Padawan]

Everyone's two cents is appreciated.

 

[pooch]

but I think for a childless trip, 5 character meals IS a lot. With the great dining possibilities at WDW, I can't see using 5 of your TS's on visiting with the "gang". JMHO, please don't be mad!

 

[acourtwdw]

We love character meals (That is my Dsis and I both 30 somethings) and feel you can never have too many if that is what you like. As far as getting the most for your DDP dollar, that is up to you on how you want to use it. If you like large breakfasts instead of dinners, then you should do that. IMO.

Cape May has great character interaction. Chip, Dale, Goofy and Minnie. They spent a lot of time with each table and we didn't feel rushed.
Tusker House is the only character meal that has Daisy Duck! My Dsis favorite! But felt rushed.
Chef Mickey's is a lot of fun and the one place my dad requested for our Sept. trip.
Crystal Palace is my favorite. I LOVE POOH! The food is great and the interaction is good. The service was not so great when we were there last month.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

One can never plan too many Character meals!! It is just as much fun for adults as little ones....

 

[Disney Padawan]

but I think for a childless trip, 5 character meals IS a lot. With the great dining possibilities at WDW, I can't see using 5 of your TS's on visiting with the "gang". JMHO, please don't be mad!

There's nothing to be mad about. I appreciate every post.

This is a trip in which I've been saving for a couple of years now. I'll be going for 13 nights and wanted to try many different experiences. (I've only been 3 times to WDW and have never eaten in a sit down restaurant there.) My DGF has never been at all.

I'm mainly doing the character meals for her, I've been trying to plan everything just right. I felt guilty at first because I figured a child deserves my spot more than me, but our fellow DIS'ers helped me through that.

I probably would not have so many character meals reserved if I was staying for less time but I figured, since I'm on the DDP and I have ADR's planned for almost each day, then why not throw some in there.

I just hope I don't get tired of Mickey by the end of this trip.

 

[dzorn]

5 is not to many but I would switch some to dinners. If you are doing most of your TS for breakfast the plan may cost more than you would pay OOP.

I personally did not care for CM dinner, but loved LTT. CP has been great every time I've been. Next trip we will try GG and the one in Norway so that we have tried them all. Ohana's and CP every trip.

Denise in MI

 

[Disney Padawan]

5 is not to many but I would switch some to dinners. If you are doing most of your TS for breakfast the plan may cost more than you would pay OOP.

I personally did not care for CM dinner, but loved LTT. CP has been great every time I've been. Next trip we will try GG and the one in Norway so that we have tried them all. Ohana's and CP every trip.

Denise in MI

WOW!!! Thanks for posting! I thought my thread died a long time ago.

Just an update for those who read post #1. I did switch to CMC for the second morning I'm doing Epcot and cancelled GG. (Many have told me that Chip & Dale are at CMC, so here's hoping. )

I also have an ADR Dinner at Kona Cafe that I moved to 9:30pm so I can see the EWP from the beach at the Poly. Does that give me enough time to make my ADR walking from the beach to the restaurant?

Well, thanks to anyone who posts.

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

HI! I'm gathering this is an adults only trip? Then , strangly enough, no I don't think 5 is too many. In my experience when we have done several character meals with our young kids, they start to lose their magic after the first couple. Just my .02 for anyone with kids who is on the fence about the issue.

I know you've already made your decisions, and I think they are great by the way! And what a lucky DGF you have, to have a DBF who is so considerate and takes the time to research this throughly! You will have a wonderful magical time, I'm sure of it!

 

[Disney Padawan]

HI! I'm gathering this is an adults only trip? Then , strangly enough, no I don't think 5 is too many. In my experience when we have done several character meals with our young kids, they start to lose their magic after the first couple. Just my .02 for anyone with kids who is on the fence about the issue.

I know you've already made your decisions, and I think they are great by the way! And what a lucky DGF you have, to have a DBF who is so considerate and takes the time to research this throughly! You will have a wonderful magical time, I'm sure of it!

Yes, it's just the two of us and thank you for the nice compliment.

It's nice to hear things like that every now and then.

 

[wildirishrose]

I thinks its awesome you are doing that, I think half of the CMs I book are for me. We are having a girls weekend at wdw in Nov and all we are booking are CM as my friends are too embaressed to wait in line at the park to see the characters so the CMs are perfect

 

[Disney Padawan]

I thinks its awesome you are doing that, I think half of the CMs I book are for me. We are having a girls weekend at wdw in Nov and all we are booking are CM as my friends are too embaressed to wait in line at the park to see the characters so the CMs are perfect

Thanks. I've never had a villian compliment me before.

I guess I believe in the old saying: "A happy wife is a happy life."

In this case it's girlfriend, but you know what I mean.