Is it worth the expense for character meal?

[crisi]

At Disney, time is money. You want to get the most done in a day in the most enjoyable way possible.

A character meal trades money for time and enjoyment. They do take a while, but you get a meal off your feet (relatively, most are buffets - for really off your feet find one that served plated or family style). And the time you spend eating (you'd need to eat anyway) is a fair trade for the amount of time you'd spend waiting in line in Toontown.

They aren't expensive compared to other buffets I've been to. Ever do a Mother's Day brunch at a hotel? Just as expensive, and no Mickey Mouse.

 

[Kaa]

We always do at least one character meal per trip. My son (10) doesn't like to visit the characters in the park anymore, but he doesn't mind a character meal.

 

[disneysteve]

I'm just wondering if it is really worth the expense for a character meal?

Character meals are fun and certainly worth doing for the experience.

Personally, we eat lunch at Crystal Palace every trip. We couldn't care less if Pooh and friends came or not. We eat there because we love the food and the atmosphere. The characters are just a bonus.

Keep in mind that lunch is cheaper than dinner for the same meal, so if cost is a concern (isn't it always) than do lunch. We are not big breakfast eaters plus we like to get an early start in the parks so we don't eat out for breakfast - we eat in our room.

 

[extremesoccermom]

Yes I feel it is too expensive but we always do at least one per trip. My DS is now 15 and definitely eats enough now to make it worth it. I usually plan those days to skip lunch so they will be good and hungry for dinner or a late breakfast. We have 3 planned for this trip but 2 of the breakfasts we will use are left over vouchers from Hotwire before they expire. My favorite so far has to be the Liberty Tree Tavern at MK and a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

 

[frannn]

My DD2 loves the characters, so we went to a few character meals on each of our last two trips with her. She is a pretty big eater as well, so we would have had to purchase a meal or side wherever we went to eat. She was free at the character buffets. This year, we will probably have to pay, so we will lessen the number of character meals we go to. The way I look at it is, you would have to pay for a meal anyway, so the difference in price is really not all that bad to see the characters and not have to waste valuable park time waiting on line for pictures and autographs. I do agree that the price for Chef Mickey's dinner is steep. Maybe you could do a late lunch or breakfast instead, as others recommended. I used to be thrilled with the breakfast vouchers, because we could use them at CRT. Now it doesn't seem as they will be available anymore. Let's cross our fingers, as it was a few dollars savings.

 

[Apheinrich]

We did 4 or 5 last year on our 1st trip with kids. I'll admit that we did enjoy some more than others. I took a poll of the kids and the just can't miss top three they chose were #1Donalds Breakfastosaurus In AK this one was awsome!! not only were the characters great but the food was the best that we had at any! #2 was the Ice Cream social @ Epcot it was the cheapest thing that we did there and lasted the longest. the characters were great the first time around but after they had seen everyone they came back to us in groups and hung out for 15-20 mins!! it was incredible, we've got group pics of all of us with every char. that was there! #3. was the crystal palace @ MK the food there was pretty good but the kids ate great. And there was ALOT of interation with Pooh and the gang. Songs games and even a conga line party around the rest. every so often. You know its pretty good when two 8 & 9 year olds want to go to "the Pooh Place" again....lol

 

[poohj80]

You know its pretty good when two 8 & 9 year olds want to go to "the Pooh Place" again....lol

Hey, this much older than 8 or 9 year old kid still likes going back to the Pooh Place too!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We did 7 character meals on our last trip, and we loved it! There were a couple we didn't enjoy as much as the others, but they can't all be perfect. I didn't think it was a waste of money at any of them.

DH even enjoyed them apparently, there are three that he's asked if we can do on our trip this fall, and we aren't taking the kids, just me and him!

Steph

 

[debbiedoo]

I vote yes.

I would do a late breakfast or early lunch/dinner. Those buffets have a ton of food. After we eat at one, that does it exept for a ice cream snack later in the day

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Yes! For us is certainly is. I don't even think too much about the food, it's more for a fun experience for the kids with the characters. My kids are young enough to be excited by them still and they get soooooo much more time and interaction than standing in a line for 30 seconds with a character in the park. I've got great pictures from character meals.

Yes, they are expensive. I guess I just consider it part of the WDW vacation experience and we do at least two every trip. Chef Mickey's is not my favorite buffet in terms of the food but it's a lot of fun with the characters and the twirling napkin song etc.

My DS is a very picky eater. The good thing about the buffets is with the variety he can find something he likes and eat as much of it as he likes.

Have fun.

 

[lllovell]

Something we tried and it was a HUGE hit was a breakfast at Baskervilles at the Grosvernor hotel (its by Downtown Disney - still on property). Pluto and Inspector Goofy (in his Hounds of Baskerville outfit of course) are there and we got to interact with them a TON since it was during the week and not crowded. The price was MUCH lower than a traditional character breakfast - $9.99 for adults or if you wanted, there was a "cold" buffet that was an upper notch cont. breafkast for $6.99 I believe. We had the warm breakfast. One son was free and with the other one, drinks, tip, everything and myself, it was $20. The buffet was great with crepes and other yummy breakfast goodies.

The only trick is no ressies (because they don't need them) and it is only offered 3 days a week. But one quick call and I am sure it would be easy to slip into your schedule. It is an easy walk from the DTD bus stop (it is on the Marketplace end of DTD - right across the street from the bus stop).

Just a thought for those on a budget that want to experience a character meal to see how their children like it

 

[colleen costello]

My family laughs that they lose money on us! The character buffets are the one place where my kids actually EAT something, and we always have a ball. The adults can eat at a leisurely pace and enjoy coffee and dessert, and the kids make a million trips to the buffet, trying things. We ALL love the characters and you can't beat the photo ops. This year my Xmas card was the kids with Donald.

I appreciate that the buffets offer fresh veggies and salads and fruit. Don't we all eat too much junk on vacation? Also, when we have a character meal planned, we make it early so we just have a snack for lunch. Like many have said here, it becomes 2 meals.

Even better... I will have almost $200 reward dollars on my Disney Visa soon... Dinner's on them!

 

[sk!mom]

We love the character meals. They are just part of a Disney vacation for us. We always stay onsite so meals are expensive anyway. I would suggest the Ice cream social as a budget character alternative.

 

[dixipixi]

I would definitely do it if you're little ones still want to. Before you know it, they are teenagers, and no amount of bribery can persuade them to go I'm so glad we went when they were younger. These days my patience is tested at arcades and the like. The sad thing is, now I feel like I would really get my money's worth with 2 teenage boys!

 

[calena]

Hubby told me last night (!) he wants to do a character meal... we are leaving in 15 days! So, we will see what we get! Thanks for all the input and encouragement that it is worthwhile. I am looking forward to it!

 

[Chicago526]

I haven't read the whole thread, so somone else might have meantioned this.

I like to to a pre-open PS at Crystal Palace at MK. The characters are Pooh and Friends. If the park opens at 9, then the earliest PS is 8:05. If you are seated right away, you'll be done in time for the rope drop that opens the park. This means you can head straight for Fantasyland, or any of the mountains and get a whole bunch of rides in with little wait.

For my BF and I, that saved us enough time that it was worth the cost (it doesn't hurt that BF can put a buffet out of business...). It also gave us a chance to take pictures of the castle and main street with very few or no people in them! Then add in the character interaction and I feel it's a good deal all the way around!

Plus, I really like the food at CP!

 

[NMW]

Yes, very worth the money. I really don't think the buffets are overpriced for what you get. The food is good, the characters are great, and my kids (and their parents) always eat a lot of food. In fact we prefer to load up on a character breakfast and then just grab snacks or counter service stuff for lunch. Then we plan a nice sit down dinner. If you fill up on the breakfasts, you wont be starving at lunch time! We love the CM breakfasts!

 

[DisneyWithMyBoyz]

We also try to schedule our ps at Chef Mickey's for around 11:30am. We have a little snack in the room before we leave for the day and then we are hungry by our PS. Then it's a brunch for us!! We just got back last week from The World and we did CM's the day we left. Sis and I are still talking about how yummy that breakfast was! The kids (ages 4, 3 & 2) all LOVED it as well. Great character interaction at that time because there seem to be less people.

So in other words, character meals are TOTALLY worth it in my opinion!

Jenny
SAHM to Nevin & Kyler

 

[DisneyWithMyBoyz]

Oh, I just wanted to add really quick...it seems like I am in the minority here, but were were not impressed with The Crystal Palace at all!! The character interaction was horrible (we even had to complain to the manager because after being there for an hour, we still had not seen Pooh or Tigger!) And the food wasn't all that great. None of our kids ate much either

Jenny & The Boys

 

[jenr812]

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