Is Character Dining Really worth the price if paying out of pocket?

[disneyfav4ever]

I've paid OOP for CP lunch before, that's one I consider worth the cost. There's only a couple of others I'd do OOP, CP breakfast, Tusker House breakfast, and possibly Akershus, though they keep raising the cost. Otherwise it's DDP or I won't eat there.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

Oh that's a shame, I thought there were always at least three in there. I guess we've been really lucky getting 3 or 4 at a time.

 

[eliza61]

Basically you are paying for the experience, not the meal. We generally do character breakfast and if you think about it from a food standpoint, no way is any breakfast worth what they charge at Disney.

I did CRT with my neice one year and it was magically. would I do it again? Nope. but it was worth the expense at the time.

We may do 1 next year when we go.

 

[Vickis3js]

We love character dining. Food is not the greatest in the world but the experiance is worth every penny. My oldest is 10 going on 20 and my youngest is 8 and they still love it. I know CP is my FAV!! When Dh and I go by ourselves in March I either have to book there of 1900 PF breakfast just to eat with Pooh.

As far as price goes well I think its not too bad. Especially since DH and I just went to Atlantic City, we are locals, for dinner the other night and we paid $65 for 2 at a buffet. When we go to our local chinese place with the kids it $67! So considering I am getting Pooh or Mickey or a Princess lunch prices are pretty cheap at WDW!

 

[pocahontasgal87]

i had my first chracter dining at Crystal Palace back in May and oh my yush! its soo worth every penny(that is if u love character interactionxD)

 

[tony67]

For the food, not at all. The food at Chef Mickeys and the Poly breakfast was awful.

For the kids - Yes they will love it, but do only one.

Also in my experience unless you are buying the photos they do not spend as much time at your table.

This may have changed, maybe others can comment on that.

 

[Tiger926]

For the food, not at all. The food at Chef Mickeys and the Poly breakfast was awful.

For the kids - Yes they will love it, but do only one.

Also in my experience unless you are buying the photos they do not spend as much time at your table.

This may have changed, maybe others can comment on that.

Not sure what this has to do with anything? The restaurants that sell photos, set up the photo op before you are seated, and they have nothing to do with the characters. Chef Mickey's, Tusker House, 1900 PF, 'Ohana and CRT are done in front of either wooden or scenic backdrops, or, characters who do not go around to the tables during your meal. There is no way for the character handlers to know who has purchased a photo package as CMs come to your table, during your meal, and try and sell the package. One has nothing to do with the other. Characters are rotated throughout the restaurant on a schedule, that has nothing to do with whether or not guests have purchased additional photo packages or not.

HTH, Tiger

 

[Brian Noble]

I thought the food on its own at Crystal Palace's lunch wasn't a half-bad bargain by Disney standards, even ignoring the characters, and even given the seasonal upcharge we paid in July. Pretty much *any* sit-down place is going to set you back at least $60 for 2A2C, and that's for burgers and salads. For a few bucks more, you can get "real food" at CP.

Others might not be such a good value (I've heard really iffy things about the dinners at Chef Mickey's and 1900 PF), but Crystal Lunch? Not bad, IMO. We only do one or two of these in a given trip, but they are nice little splurges.

 

[Tiger926]

I thought the food on its own at Crystal Palace's lunch wasn't a half-bad bargain by Disney standards, even ignoring the characters, and even given the seasonal upcharge we paid in July. Pretty much *any* sit-down place is going to set you back at least $60 for 2A2C, and that's for burgers and salads. For a few bucks more, you can get "real food" at CP.

Others might not be such a good value (I've heard really iffy things about the dinners at Chef Mickey's and 1900 PF), but Crystal Lunch? Not bad, IMO. We only do one or two of these in a given trip, but they are nice little splurges.

Totally agree! Crystal Palace is a gem, as far as we are concerned. Very fair pricing, for what you get for lunch. Now, dinner that is another story, as there was a $10.00/pp difference between lunch and dinner for us in July due to upcharge. Ouch!

We love Crystal Palace for lunch as well! Tiger

 

[photo_chick]

I think it's worth the money for one, or maybe even 2 (depending on how excited the kids get) special character meals OOP on a trip as long as you also like the food at the places as well. But if I were going to do more than that I'd definitely get the dining plan.

As far as the pictures... we didn't buy any of the pictures and the characters all spent a lot of time at our tables. Especially at 1900 PF and at the Princess Storybook Breakfast. Those were the places that we had the most interaction.

 

[Cherry Limeade]

We have a kind of once in a lifetime trip coming in December. As much as the prices sting, we are biting the bullet and doing what we want to do, including character dining.

We have scrimped and saved and scraped to pay for the trip. I want to really, really enjoy it. Since we won't go back for 5-7 years, and probably won't take my parents again, we're splurging.

If we went yearly we probably wouldn't do all that we're doing, so I had to consider that.

 

[tony67]

Not sure what this has to do with anything? The restaurants that sell photos, set up the photo op before you are seated, and they have nothing to do with the characters. Chef Mickey's, Tusker House, 1900 PF, 'Ohana and CRT are done in front of either wooden or scenic backdrops, or, characters who do not go around to the tables during your meal. There is no way for the character handlers to know who has purchased a photo package as CMs come to your table, during your meal, and try and sell the package. One has nothing to do with the other. Characters are rotated throughout the restaurant on a schedule, that has nothing to do with whether or not guests have purchased additional photo packages or not.

HTH, Tiger

I know that when we ate at Chef Mickey’s several (First year of the DDP) years ago we said no to the photos and since there was no photo set on our table they knew we were not buying the photos.

We specifically heard the handler tell the person we were not buying the photos and they spent very little time with us (it was just one of the characters), so yes it did happen.

It seems like it is different now, that why I asked.

 

[Tiger926]

I know that when we ate at Chef Mickey’s several (First year of the DDP) years ago we said no to the photos and since there was no photo set on our table they knew we were not buying the photos.

We specifically heard the handler tell the person we were not buying the photos and they spent very little time with us (it was just one of the characters), so yes it did happen.

It seems like it is different now, that why I asked.

Sorry this happened, but honestly, I don't think it had anything to do with you not buying the package.

We have eaten at every character meal on property, mutitudes of times, and we have only ever purchased one photo package in all of the hundreds of character meals we have eaten at. And, once they gave it to me, I put it in my bag, so the handler could not know whether or not we purchased or not. Never, have we been ignored. Some characters are just better than others, so I honestly don't think one had anything to do with the other.

I really and truly think it was just a coincidence...Tiger

 

[DaniB]

Islands of Adventure @ Universal Studios, Tiger

Ahh, thanks!

 

[sraiford]

Our trip is Nov 6-12, staying at Windsor Hills, so no dining plan for us! We are planning to use our Visa Rewards card to pay for our dining reservations. I have Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, Sci Fi, and Tusker House booked. We are planning to do TRex in DTD too! Hoping we have enough $ on the card to cover all those ressies!