Is a Character Meal a MUST???

[kdspark]

We will be taking our 8yr old girl and 4 yr old boy for 4 days in May/June.
We are thinkng that a character meal is a waste. Is it really worth it? Hubby has been to WDW several times in his life, the kids and I have never been.
We are staying off resort. But will be driving back and forth, and are going to get a 4day park hopper.
If you think it is a must,Which one?
TIA
Donna

 

[jtlover]

Our favourite is Crystal Palace as we like the food and it is nice as you are still in the park. That is with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore.

Another of our favourites is at Animal Kingdom with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse for breakfast.

We are going to both the above in February - but then again our daughter is 13 so will eat as well as get photos with the characters.

Personally I think it is something that you have to do once - you just need to decide whether it would be best for breakfast, lunch or dinner to have a character meal.

That said - it is not like you are not going to see characters around the parks!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

I definately think a character meal is a must. It allows you and your family those one on one moments with the characters plus you get some really great food! To me, it's a win win situation. Of course your trip won't be ruined by not having one, but it will be enhanced by it. There are several charcter meals that you can choose from. It really depends on whether you want breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Breakfast and lunch are cheaper than the dinner meals. Our favorite character meals are 1900 Park Fare and Ohana. At Ohana you will get your traditional characters- Minnie, Mickey, Pluto- plus Lilo and Stitch. At 1900 Park Fare you will meet Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter, Alice, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger or Eyeore. 1900 Park Fare has both a great character dinner and character breakfast with a different selection of charcters. At dinner you will usually meet the charcters from Cinderella. Cyrstal Palce is also great if you like the Pooh characters. Chef Mickey's is a lot of fun whether you go for breakfast or dinner. There are so many choices for charcter meals at Disney it would be hard to not find one you and your family will like.

 

[Hannathy]

My family does not think they are a must. They take a lot of time out of your schedule and you are not there very long as it is. The characters work the room only stopping at your table for a few minutes then leave. We found it easier to just do our schedule at the parks and when we came upon a character they were really interested wait in line and take their picture then. My kids decided they would rather ride more and see more at the parks and with the money saved from an expensive meal (that they really didn't eat) maybe get a nicer souvenir or treat in the park. We only did one meal and have not done one on the next three trips.

 

[LAWalz23]

For your kids ages, I would do at least one. Especially if they have a favorite character. It can take a great deal of time waiting in line to get autographs and take pictures. For us they are worth the money because my sister's kids love them and still get a kick after 6 trips. When my niece said "Mommy, it's Ariel" at the Princess dinner it would have been a good deal at twice the price. And if you go in May the parks close early so you can get a 7:00pm dinner if your kids are ok eating that late or get an extra early breakfast and be there when the park opens.

 

[JennInTN]

Maybe not a must for our family, but it's a nice experience. And we do try to book at least one each visit.

Are your children interested in meeting the characters? If so, then try one. Will they be into autographs and photos? If so, it's a good time to grab a bunch at once.

We had a blast at 1900 PF for breakfast and we were able to spend a little time at the GF on a rainy morning. It was a great meal. Not to mention I have the cutest pic of Ds5 with the Mad Hatter.

 

[cobbler]

We love character meals! They are definatly worth it. You don't have to stand in line to see the favorite characters. Sometimes they go on break just as you find out where they are and have to wait for them to come back, or miss them entirely. You get to eat a meal (which you are going to sit down and do anyway). And you get to have some great character interaction. Some stay or interact just as long as they would in line but some stay quite a while, esp if the restaurant isn't very busy

I think you need to do at least one. We find we do several because we like them so much

 

[teacher31]

We love character meals. We've gone to CP and CM. If you don't want to 'waste' your time on one, how about the night you arrive, or for breakfast the day you are leaving? Of course it would have to be at a resort, but there are many nice ones. I've heard good things about the Beach Club's Cape May for breakfast. Enjoy!

 

[hmp2z]

My brother & SIL just got back, and took my niece to the dinner at 1900 Park Fare. She loved meeting Cindy, dancing & singing with the Fairy Godmother, and she apparently fell in love with Prince Charming. It sounded to me like one of those priceless moments, but I guess it depends on how much your children like the characters. My niece is a HUGE Cinderella fan.
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[Judique]

We will be taking our 8yr old girl and 4 yr old boy for 4 days in May/June.
We are thinkng that a character meal is a waste. Is it really worth it? Hubby has been to WDW several times in his life, the kids and I have never been.
We are staying off resort. But will be driving back and forth, and are going to get a 4day park hopper.
If you think it is a must,Which one?
TIA
Donna

First visit for 3 of you, at least do one!
Since you aren't staying on property, it may be a good idea to do Crystal Palace for lunch. That way you would have a nice sit down break in the middle of the day. Or, you could start your day with breakfast at Chef Mickey's or at Ohana at the Poly, before going to MK. Your kids are a great age for it, and you'll get some great pictures. We did a lot of them when the kids were younger and enjoyed all of them.

 

[Cass]

I think it is a must to do once... maybe not every trip, every time... but once while the kids are young :

If hubby is grumpy about it, you go with the kids and let him do something else... (ie) he can walk around the boardwalk or go to the sports bar and you can go to see chip n' dale at Cape May

The Crystal Palace was really nice (we did breakfast) I hear Liberty Tree is a good famly meal but I have not tried it.

 

[imatoad]

We did Chef Mickey's for the first time this past Oct., it's now a must for us. It get's us in the spirit of Disney so much, we're doing it first night this year. Just an opinion though.

 

[MAGGIED]

For us it's not a matter of should we - it is which one??? DD(16) loves CRT, DS(13) loves Crystal Palace, I love 1900 Park Fare, and DH just wants to golf.

 

[matdamom]

We took our girls last Jan, and DH grumbled a bit about the princesses and a little more about Chef Mickey's - before we did them and mostly about the price. He changed his mind when he saw our daughter's faces when they met the princesses in Norway, and even admitted he enjoyed the food. We also had a great time at CM, even grumpy DH. So, for our next trip he asked which character meals we were going to.

We also stayed off-site, and made our breakfast res. for a later time, so we ended up having more of a brunch.

 

[Soccerpooh]

If you were planning to spend the money on a table service meal anyway, then by all means a Character Breakfast is not a waste! We love Character Meals, especially breakfasts. We get a late seating (after 10:30 am) and then we are full until dinner (kids usually need a snack though around 2). Crystal Palace w/ Pooh characters in MK and Chef Mickey's are our favorites. We like Donald's breakfast at AK too. We are trying Stitch's breakfast at O'hanas in May, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the rumor of a Toy Story Breakfast at MGM starting in April is true (and from the sounds of it-it is a pretty sure thing !) I say go for it!!!!!!

 

[liquid]

We went to lots of character meals and loved them all, but if I only had 4 days and were staying offsite, I would skip them, so we could have more time in the parks.

JMHO!

 

[mommapoppins]

We did several character meals on our last trip, and have several more planned for our trip at Thanksgiving. I think you should definitely do at least one. Our girls love the characters so this is a great time to see them all at once. Especially if you would like to see Princesses, it is worth the money, because the princesses usually have a very long line in the parks. And all of the character meals we had very good food so it's not like you are paying good money for yucky food.

Have a great time!

 

[ratfam]

They are a must for our family and if your schedule and budget permit I would strongly recommend at least one for your family given your kids' ages and that it is your first trip. We keep waiting for our kids to outgrow them but our dd10 still requested Crystal Palace for our upcoming trip. Over the years we have done all three meals at Crystal Palace and have enjoyed them all, it is a great way to take a break if you are spending the whole day in the park. CP has the Pooh characters. See what characters your kids would most enjoy. We have also done Cinderella's breakfast with the princesses, Garden Grill with Mickey, Chip and Dale (several years ago, don't know if characters have changed) and Gulliver's in the Swan or Dolphin with Goofy and Pluto, as well as a character dinner at Disneyland, and have always had fun and never regretted the time or money spent.

 

[crisi]

We will be taking our 8yr old girl and 4 yr old boy for 4 days in May/June.
We are thinkng that a character meal is a waste. Is it really worth it? Hubby has been to WDW several times in his life, the kids and I have never been.
We are staying off resort. But will be driving back and forth, and are going to get a 4day park hopper.
If you think it is a must,Which one?
TIA
Donna

My own view is that nothing at Disney is a must for all people. I know people who have gone and never entered the main parks - too busy golfing.

Since you will be there for such a short time, if you have time on a non-park day (the evening of the day you arrive or the morning of the day you leave) you could try to fit one in then - one of the non-park meals that won't mean using a day of your hopper. Some people really enjoy Chef Mickey's on arrival day. Or Cape May on the day they leave.

(For our family, the Ohana breakfast is a tradition, so yes, its a must for us. But we don't go for the food (which isn't very good), and its expensive. We went when the kids were little for the characters, and now that they are older because breakfast with Mickey is a tradition.)

 

[Queen of 3 princess]

I think it's a must. We just got back from our first trip. I decided to go the the Norway princess breakfast hubby wasn't as thrilled. When he saw the look on our girls faces when they met their favorite princess he changed his mind. It was the highlight of both of our trips. We would gladly have paid twice as much for the experience.