Is it Advisable to use all TS meals as Character Meals?

[we6clarks]

We found one our last trip when we did Character Meals that we spent less time at the parks in line waiting to see characters because the kids had eaten a meal with them. We had more time to ride the rides.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

My DS8 and DS11 want nothing to do with characters. I drag them to Chef Mickey's each trip, but otherwise we enjoy our meals at Teppanyaki, Le Cellier, Concourse Steakhouse more.

From a dining plan perspective, you get more value eating at non-buffets. From a fun perspective, character buffets are fun and fast and there is no waiting for food to be ordered and served....all plusses for family dining.

 

[Dina]

We only do meals that have entertainment (even if it's not cost effective when we're on the dining plan). I have antsy boys, and when they're entertained, we're a happy family. We'll do 5 or 6 character meals (and you know what, I'll do alot of breakfasts, because they love breakfast food-- at lunch and dinner, I can't get them to eat very much--especially when they've been eating ice cream and popcorn all day. So, if I take them to breakfast then I know they've gotten a good meal in them and I'm happy). Along with character meals, we also love 'Ohana, Whispering Canyon Cafe, The Coral Reef and Rainforest Cafe. When you have little kids, you can't worry about cost effectiveness (at least in our situation, we have a son with an autism spectrum disorder-- so I'm all about making him happy)-- you have to go with what will please them the most!! When they're older, I'll try LeCellier and Chefs De France.

 

[ducklite]

We found when we booked more than a character meal every two or three days it was too much--the kids got burnied out on them. Also the food at them is generally subpar.

Rather than looking at prices and trying to squeeze every dollar possible out of the meals, I'd look at where the food looks good and not worry about how much it's saving you.

Anne

 

[jann1033]

it would drive me nuts. sometimes i need a break from hubbub and just want a quiet meal to relax. plus our kids never ate anything at any character meals due to excitement when they were small so they very well may have starved if we ate every ts at one
they were more fun with the kids as teens than little kids as at least they ate and chip and dale( who we decided they must have hormones similar to young men evidently) always had fun chasing the girls around the room.

 

[DCDisney]

My kids are 6 and 8 and we do about half and half. We found out very suprisedly on our previous trip with my kids when they were 4 and 6 that my 6 year old son was totally totally not into the characters. We did character meals but he didn't enjoy them very much. My daughter however loved the characters. As adults we found that the character meals were a bit stressful with one kid over excited and one who didn't want the characters to talk to him. There is also teh issue of having to stop eating each time a character comes by so you end up eating cold food to some extent. We still enjoyed the meals just in comparison to regular meals we realized they were stressful. For our next trip in January we have a pretty even mix. We are doing Cinderella and O'Hana breakfasts and Chef Mickey Dinner. We are doing Le Cellier, Whispering Canyon, Mama Melrose, and somewhere in DD for our other dinners. Very kid oriented but still a few things we as adults preferred.

Yvonne

 

[aubriee]

I think it depends on what your family would enjoy the most. Don't worry about getting the most 'value' out of the dining plan. This past January I planned four character meals for a 7 day trip for my GD. We made three of them. In May I went solo and didn't do a character meal until the last day of my 10 day trip (just had to see Eeyore). In Sept we did three in eight days. In Dec I'm taking my 73 y/o mom for her first ever trip to WDW and she has said that the only thing she really wants to do is see the Christmas decorations and get picutres with the characters. Consequently, we have nine character meals planned for a ten day trip. I'm taking my 9 y/o GD back two weeks later and have four character meals planned for a seven day trip. Again forget about getting monetary value from the dining plan and do what your family would enjoy.

 

[NC State]

I agree with you honeymo78, my husband and I visited the last week in September and we had one character meal per day and loved it! We didn't feel out of place at all; with the "free" meal plan we just enjoyed it that much more. We're kids at heart too!

Stephanie

 

[nluvwithmickey]

I think that dining with characters is something so unique to WDW, you cannot go to WDW without at least going to one of them....kids or not.

I do agree that kids tend to eat less (me too actually!) because of the characters coming to your table and not missing one of them. I am pretty stressed out actually! I can't relax until they've all been to our table and I have my pictures and autographs.

On the other hand, it is nice to be able to all sit together and being able to enjoy a meal without having to get up and fill a plate.

A happy medium would be half and half....I love all disney restaurants!

 

[daisyduck123]

We have character dinners booked in January for each night of our 7 night stay except 1 night when we have booked the Fantasmic Dinner Package. If that had a character meal we would have booked it.

We just figure that DD11 & DS7 would love those meals the most. They are soo excited, esp. DD11.

 

[mom2kazkids]

8 nights and 5 character meals for us. We will be going at the end of April, beginning of May and I just tweaked our dining plan to add another character meal. Here is our plans
Thursday: WCC--dinner
Friday: 50's Prime Time--lunch (will pay for on own)
Saturday: 1900 Park Fare--breakfast
Sunday: Chef Mickey's--Dinner (this was changed from Concourse Steakhouse
Monday: Princess Breakfast in Norway
Tuesday: LeCellier--dinner
Wednesday: CRT-breakfast
Thursday: LTT-dinner

We are going with our 5 year old daughter (hense the princess meals) and our 6 year old son.

Barb