Is Character dining worth it ?

[robl45]

So part rant and I apologize, i am one of those lucky people that rented points and cannot get out of going. Its not that we don't like Disney, but we planned to go this year and next year was going to be Universal which honestly we all like better at this point. Anyway, with the characters not coming to the table for pictures, is it still worth all the extra money? I'm going to assume that Disney isn't dropping prices on these things and 60 dollars per person for me and my barely out of child menu son to go to Chef Mickey's is a little insane to basically see the characters that we could watch from a distance at the park. Not to mention it wastes time to going to these things.

Finally, it appears they cancelled the dining plans which was the only thing that made the character dining somewhat economical. LOL. So wondering other peoples opinions? I do like the new 2 months out booking as 6 months out was completely ridiculous.

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, right now, Chef Mickey's is not currently a character meal, so the price is lower. There's really only Topolino's Terrace or Garden Grill. I personally don't think it's worth it, but if I had to choose between the 2, I'd probably go for Garden Grill.

 

[robl45]

So then no point of Chef mickeys at all, but even say Garden Grill. What are they doing for that?

 

[Marthasor]

This is Garden Grill with the modified character experience:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-garden-grill.3807810/

 

[robl45]

Garden grill I guess is out. My kids eat fries and not much else there. Plus I don't know if I could stomach the prices when the characters are just dancing around like they do at the theme parks. Disney should be reducing prices IMHO. Well at least it makes planning easier. I'm sure I'm still getting suckered into the Cinderella castle if I can even get a reservation again and maybe storybook dining as we never did that before.

 

[westie55]

Garden grill I guess is out. My kids eat fries and not much else there. Plus I don't know if I could stomach the prices when the characters are just dancing around like they do at the theme parks. Disney should be reducing prices IMHO. Well at least it makes planning easier. I'm sure I'm still getting suckered into the Cinderella castle if I can even get a reservation again and maybe storybook dining as we never did that before.

Neither Cinderella's Royal Table nor Storybook Dining are open and no opening date has been announced. Garden Grill and Topolino's are the only modified character meals at this time. I am also on the fence about character dining. We have Garden Grill reserved but I will probably cancel it if we see characters in the parks quite a bit prior to our Epcot day. It is hard for me to justify paying the price for the reduced experience and considering my 3 and 5 year old barely eat, but if that is the only time for them to really see the characters even if from afar, we will do it.

 

[SteveH]

@robl45 just reading between the lines you seem like this is a very unwelcomed trip. Any reason to not stay at the DVC resort and get a rental and go to Universal? Just from my interpretation of your comments it sounds like you really don't care for Disney, so going to the parks and meals is going to be a real change to find it enjoyable. Just a thought.