No More Character Dining

[4tinkerbe]

I know this may sound a little Scrooge-ish but I make a point to stay away from all of the character meals. I've went to Crystal Palace and Garden Grille and the food was really good but I didn't get to enjoy it that much because I had to stop every five minutes to get up, take some pictures, fake smile, hug, sit back down, and do it all over again five minutes later. Eventually, we tried Garden Grille again because it was so good and we just kept telling the characters that we forgot our camera everytime one came around and they would usually do a few hand gestures and leave . But it still got on our nerves because every now and then they would still want a hug . So now we completely avoid all the chacter meals .

IS IT JUST ME???

 

[JimmyV]

Depends entirely on you and your kids' wants and needs. If you want and need a fine dining experience, character meals ain't it. Not even close. If you want an uninterrupted meal where you can converse, stay away from character meals.

But if you or your kids love characters, and you simply have to have that iconic shot of little Johnny with Mickey, or Suzie with Cinderella, then you have to bite the bullet and do character meals, or else prepare to spend countless hours hunting down characters in the parks and standing in uncomfortable lines in the sun waiting for your 10 second meet and greet. With the demolition of Toon Town, you no longer have the "sure fire" way to get to multiple characters at once in a comfortable and somewhat enjoyable atmosphere, unless you do a character meal.

When my daughter was 3, Garden Grill, Ohana and Crystal Palace got me just about all the characters she (or I) needed without ever having to wait in a mundane park line. Now that she is 13, she could care less about characters and as a result, we avoid the buffets and enjoy a better class of dining, which is her (and my) priority when we travel.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I agree with Jimmy. It depends on your family needs. Im sure your not alone in this. I guess I can see that happening if too many character meals are scheduled in one trip. Call me a kid, but I still love character meals. They're fun!! Im not even close to being sick of it.

Having said that, if I ever decide to take an adult-only trip to Disney, my choice in restaurants would be very different of course. I'd probably do all the signatures, and maybe just one (or two) character meal in there for fun.

 

[TDC Nala]

I stay away from them. (No kids involved). I used to go to a few, but the food is no longer worth the price and the characters don't make up for the food.

 

[minnie mum]

Its a case of different strokes for different folks. Some people love the characters and some don't. And I'm talking adults here, not just the ones with kids in tow.

DH and I have been going to WDW for many years since the kids left home, but we still generally have at least one character meal each trip. Maybe we're just into our second childhood.

 

[becauseisaid]

I'm afraid I don't understand. What did you think was going to happen when you made reservations for a Character Meal?

 

[goofyintoronto]

I stay away from them. (No kids involved). I used to go to a few, but the food is no longer worth the price and the characters don't make up for the food.

>>>Completely understand. But if your on the dining plan, the price wouldnt be an issue. And when booking a character meal, your booking an 'experience' ...not just a meal. When making ressies, if your not interested in the characters, and only the food, whats the point in going in the first place?? Why not book something like Cali Grill or Via Napoli etc. Which brings me to my next comment below....

I'm afraid I don't understand. What did you think was going to happen when you made reservations for a Character Meal?

>>Good question! Lol. I would like to understand??

 

[DisneySarah80]

Like I said on another thread, the only point to a character meal for me, are the characters - the food is a plus, but not why I'm there.
There is plenty of good food / restaurants on property that do not have characters to bother with, so if I were you, I'd just stick with them. Plus, they are usually cheaper, and have better food!

 

[OhThePain]

I'm afraid I don't understand. What did you think was going to happen when you made reservations for a Character Meal?

Character meals are not for everyone, no question about it. But I have to agree with the above post. When you go to a character meal, your paying for the experience of the characters coming around to your table, to spend time, interact, take pictures and not the food (seeing as, IMO, the food at a lot of the character meals is pretty bad). To go to a character meal and then have the characters get on your nerves because you don't want the characters to come to your table, especially since you knew from your previous CP and GG experiences how character meals work, is kind of silly to complain about.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I agree with Jimmy. It depends on your family needs. Im sure your not alone in this. I guess I can see that happening if too many character meals are scheduled in one trip. Call me a kid, but I still love character meals. They're fun!! Im not even close to being sick of it.

Having said that, if I ever decide to take an adult-only trip to Disney, my choice in restaurants would be very different of course. I'd probably do all the signatures, and maybe just one (or two) character meal in there for fun.

I completely agree with all of this. My family loves the character meals, not because of the food (some places the food is just so-so), but for the fact that we don't have to spend our time in a line out in the parks. We would much prefer to spend our time at an attraction or shopping. I don't think I could go on a Disney vacation without doing at least 1 or 2 character meals, it is just part of the Disney vacation experience. And just like the PP, if I were to EVER do a solo trip (DH and both DDs would not let me though ), I too would do a couple character meals as well

 

[MickeyNicki]

We stay away from the character lunch and dinners because the food is awful...does that count?

 

[TDC Nala]

I never do the dining plan - even if I did I would no longer pay a credit for character meal food. It was fine when the food used to be better. And I'm really more interested in the food than the characters. There are so many other places where you can get better food. If you're interested in characters primarily, the focus isn't the food.

If you don't want to meet characters, it's probably not best to do character meals, unless there is a character meal where you love the food. And even then you can ask that the characters avoid your table.

 

[minniebride]

If you don't have kids and you want to avoid the characters at these places, you can let the hostess know and they will be sure that the characters skip your table all together. Impossible to do if you have kids (or you will have some very angry kids on your hands!), but as adults, it's totally doable.

 

[JimmyV]

If you don't have kids and you want to avoid the characters at these places, you can let the hostess know and they will be sure that the characters skip your table all together. Impossible to do if you have kids (or you will have some very angry kids on your hands!), but as adults, it's totally doable.

While I do not in any way question the truth of this, I have to question the wisdom. Why on earth would any adult incur the cost and endure the food at a character buffet without receiving the corresponding benefit of the characters? Does anyone like steam tray chicken that much?

 

[goofyintoronto]

If you don't have kids and you want to avoid the characters at these places, you can let the hostess know and they will be sure that the characters skip your table all together. Impossible to do if you have kids (or you will have some very angry kids on your hands!), but as adults, it's totally doable.

While I do not in any way question the truth of this, I have to question the wisdom. Why on earth would any adult incur the cost and endure the food at a character buffet without receiving the corresponding benefit of the characters? Does anyone like steam tray chicken that much?

so true!

 

[MissKristinaLianne]

My fiance and I are going to WDW in a month... We have ONE character breakfast planned (Chef Mickey's). Call me old, but I couldn't care less for the other characters (i.e princess or stitch etc). I can see the novelty though can wear off rather quickly.

We don't even have children but I would think with kids you might be inclined to do more then one character breakfast/dinner.

 

[fenrir58]

While I do not in any way question the truth of this, I have to question the wisdom. Why on earth would any adult incur the cost and endure the food at a character buffet without receiving the corresponding benefit of the characters? Does anyone like steam tray chicken that much?

Tusker House Passion Fruit Guava punch... yummmm

 

[smiths02]

Tusker House Passion Fruit Guava punch... yummmm

Can't you get that at Boma and Ohana?

 

[skater]

I really love the food at Crystal Palace (love the cold salads ), so I book at least one meal there even though I don't care about the characters. So, I totally understand your point.

 

[wcpamotm]

I really love the food at Crystal Palace (love the cold salads ), so I book at least one meal there even though I don't care about the characters. So, I totally understand your point.

The Crystal Palace is one place I like going to in spite of the characters! Garden Grill might be a not quite close second.

It's a hassle to get into either one though.