Oh my gosh are character meals expensive!!!

[WANLAMP]

I would check into the DDP. This will save alot of money if you plan on doing several character meals.

 

[Ashlotte]

I would do a different meal than CRT. We went last year and it was SO not worth the money! The princesses came for 1/2 a second, smiled for the photo we took and then left. No trying to engage our kids at all. We were really disappointed. Since then DH and I refer to it as Cinderella's Royal Rip Off.

 

[SandrA9810]

i agree with having mom take the girls and dad take the boys. I've talked with several families that have done it before. That way the kids don't have to feel akward around the princesses.

Lunch is usually the best option, cheaper than dinner but still the same food. And most places open up lunch during peak times. Like normally chef mickey's is only breakfast and dinner.

Crystal palace is another good place to eat and it's pooh charcters so they're good for either kid.
But i do hate the look of food and other diners in the background of character meals.
If you start your day at toon town or character connection, it's a quick in and out. Sometimes first thing in the morning, toon town is so quiet that the princesses will play games with the kids in the room, like ring around the rosie. It makes for a very special time.

Sure your fastpasses might be a little later but it shouldn't prevent you from getting one. And go for the characters that come out an hour after park opening. Characters you see right at park opening like in town square can get crazy busy in the first ten mins.
And world showcase can be fairly quiet first thing at 11am... But i'm not sure what time the characters come out.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I just wanted to add that if this is your first visit, unless you already know there's a restaurant in the castle, you'd never know one was there. The entrance is not obvious at all. So unless you've already told her . . . . . . I would book one of the other ones if you've got your heart set on a princess character meal. At her age she'll never know the difference. There is soooo much else to hold her attention at WDW.

The only way I do character meals is on the DDP. My kids have gotten a little old for them anyway.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I wouldn't do Chef Mickey's. We did it in 2008 and it was over crowded and took forever for the characters to get to the table. They barely stayed for pics before going to the next table. The breakfast food wasn't that good either.

If you can swing it, I'd do Akershus in Norway for their Princess Breakfast. I took my DD for a mother/daughter breakfast and it was wonderful. The Princesses were great and the food was decent. Cinderella wasn't there but it's easy to see her in Toontown (or it was back then. LOL).

Then I'd see Mickey/Minnie/Donald/Goofy and Pluto at other places thru the Parks instead of doing another breakfast.

I did love 'Ohana breakfast with Lilo/Stitch/Micky/Pluto in June 2009. We did that one as a late breakfast and just snacked for lunch. It saved us money that way. The character interaction was wonderful and the food was really good.

 

[PixiePlanner]

I just wanted to add that if this is your first visit, unless you already know there's a restaurant in the castle, you'd never know one was there. The entrance is not obvious at all.

This is exactly how and why we did 1900 Park Fare. We didn't even go in the castle, we just walked around it and looked at it. DS & DD were so overwelmed by it all they never even thought to go in!

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

This is exactly why we do the DDP. My kids LOVE character meals and I like the convience of the plan.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Thank goodness for Free Dining ~ last Oct. we enjoyed several character meals -

~Donald's Safari Breakfast
~Crystal Palace *late breakfast/brunch
~Epcot/Norway Princess meal *late breakfast/brunch *this one was great, DS like the food very much.
~Chef Mickey's *late dinner
~1900 Park Fair *late breakfast/brunch ~ Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins ~ it was lovely.

For our brunches we'd get to the park prior to opening (always did this) ride some rides, look around for an hour or 2 then enjoyed the meal.

I'd had but lost CRT but that's OK ~ I probably would've paid OOP for that one instead of using 2 credits, DD got the castle experience ~ BBB and we really had a good time @ Akershus (Norway) *Ariel was so cute, we also visited with Belle, Aurora, Cinderalla & Snow White, right after we left the restaraunt we headed to China, DD had a lovely visit with Mulan. DD also visited with Belle *in her blue/white village dress and Aurora plus **Marie** in France and Pocahontas in AK.

 

[ICF]

We did Liberty Tree Tavern (LTT) the previous 3 times we took the kids. We enjoyed the food, and after a long day in the park it was nice to have a big sit down mean....and with 2 adults / 2 kids I felt like we ate enough and had enough fun to justify $100 or so for the meal.

However, LTT dropped the characters so we probably won't go there this summer. We did Chef Mikey once, but I can't justify the $$ for a breakfast when my 7 yr old daughter eats very little in the morning and you don't seem to get the interaction we always had at LTT. We stay off site and can get a decent breakfast buffet someplace for 1/4 of the cost and get in and out quicker to hit the parks and find the characters there.

 

[TnTWalter]

why not just do Crystal Palace? Pooh Piglet, etc. great breakfast, get in MK before opening...win win...you don't have to do princesses. You have plenty of opportunities to meet characters anyway!

That was the only Character Meal or TS meal we did last trip. Kids were 10,8,6 at the time. First time not on dining plan and first time off site.

We did the castle our first trip when it was still 1TS and it was great. NOT worth 2 TS if you're on the dining plan however. And if I'm paying for a meal, I would just want to do one.

I will say that I love Chef Mickey's though and if you're going when it's crowded, it's great to get the fab 5 out of the way! no lines for siggys. Dinner is better than breakfast. For another good Bfast and being able to meet key characters...O'hana is great at Poly. And gender neutral as well!

Good luck.

 

[Shleedogg]

I didn't read all the posts, so I apologize if this has been mentioned. Instead of Cinderella's Royal Table, try Akershus in Norway. You get to see all the princesses and it's much cheaper! The only problem is that Cinderella isn't guaranteed, but is sometimes there. But if you're daughter's favorite is one of the other princesses, Akershus is the way to go!

 

[deerhart]

The ddp is $42/adult $12/child in regular season and $47/adult and $13/child in peak season.

For a family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids) that is $108/day regular $120 peak
for 3 adults 1 kid its $138 reg, $154 peak.

A sit down table service of 2 adult meals, 2 kids meals, regular soft drinks, and 2 desserts will easily run you $100.00 during dinner. Our cheapest sit down dinner totaled $75.00. Our cheapest CS meals was still $40+

Yes there are ways to save on purchasing oop (splitting meals, buying less drinks etc), but for us that really isn't worth it (since we wouldn't be able to split meals as no one would agree and sharing drinks just leads to children screaming at each other ) I also like being able to go to a place and not even glance at the cost of an item . If I had to pay oop, my guilt would check in and I would be ordering something cheaper just for cost instead of the really expensive item I really wanted.

When I added up my daily receipts from last year, we averaged a cost of almost $200.00 in meals each day (1 cs, 1 ts, snacks minus what we paid oop for extras like appetizers or alcohol) for an oop cost of $108.

 

[speedyf]

I did not read through all the posts...but, just wanted to chime in on a possible trick you could try if you are staying for 6 or 7 nights or more.

If you don't want the meal plan for your entire stay, try to split your reservation. Reserve a package with the meal plan for 2, 3, 4 nights and then reserve a room only reservation after that.

We did this on our last stay. We booked a package for 3 nights at Coronado Springs. Since we had the dining plan for those 3 nights, we ate Boma, Ohana, and Chef Mickey's.

We then moved to our DVC resort for 4 nights without the dining plan.

So...for example...if you were going for 7 nights, you could book 3 nights with the dining plan and do all your sit down meals on the first 3 nights. You get the 7 day tickets with the 3 night plan. Then, you book another 4 nights as a room only. Do all your sit down meals the first 3 nights (4 days) and then just stick to counter service meals, off site, or whatever for the last 4 days.

I find the dining plan to be too much food and too much planning to figure out where we are going to be on what day and where we will sit down to eat for an hour +. That's just my opinion, though....since I have a 9 year old and a 1 year old, we just aren't into sitting down to eat every day or night for extended periods of time.

Speed

 

[jodim]

I didn't read all the posts, so I apologize if this has been mentioned. Instead of Cinderella's Royal Table, try Akershus in Norway. You get to see all the princesses and it's much cheaper! The only problem is that Cinderella isn't guaranteed, but is sometimes there. But if you're daughter's favorite is one of the other princesses, Akershus is the way to go!

Ariel and Jasmine our her favorites. Akershus might be a good alternative.

We aren't doing ddp because we are staying offsite.. it is a much better value for my family (there are 7 of us).

Is Akershus inside of Epcot or is it at a resort like some of the other restaurants?

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Ariel and Jasmine our her favorites. Akershus might be a good alternative.

We aren't doing ddp because we are staying offsite.. it is a much better value for my family (there are 7 of us).

Is Akershus inside of Epcot or is it at a resort like some of the other restaurants?

It is in Norway. Park admission to Epcot would be required. There is no princess dining that does not require a park ticket. CRT would require a ticket to Magic Kingdom.

 

[jodim]

It is in Norway. Park admission to Epcot would be required. There is no princess dining that does not require a park ticket. CRT would require a ticket to Magic Kingdom.

I thought that the one at the Grand Floridian (1900's) was in a resort, not in the actual park?

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I thought that the one at the Grand Floridian (1900's) was in a resort, not in the actual park?

You are correct that 1900 Park Fare is in the Grand Floridian. However, the only princess you will see there is Cinderella (and only for dinner). The other characters at that meal are Prince Charming, the stepmother and the stepsisters. I didn't mention it because I thought you wanted to see several princesses in your meal.

 

[jodim]

You are correct that 1900 Park Fare is in the Grand Floridian. However, the only princess you will see there is Cinderella (and only for dinner). The other characters at that meal are Prince Charming, the stepmother and the stepsisters. I didn't mention it because I thought you wanted to see several princesses in your meal.

I am to the point I don't know what I want. lol

I am pretty sure dd will be the most happy with the Akershus, so we will probably go there for lunch the day we're at Epcot (just dd & I). Can't do dinner there because the older kids have all requested Teppan Edo (??) since they love hibachi style food.

I think I'm going to take ds (just he and I) to Chef Mickey's on a off day when we aren't going to be in the parks, since it's in a resort. That way we keep costs down, and the older kids will be more happy with the waterslide at the resort then sitting down with Mickey & friends.

 

[roscoepc1]

We had an awesome character experience at 1900 Park Faire (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, Stepmother and stepsisters)....it was FAR cheaper than Cinderella's Feast, or whatever it's called....

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

We LOVE character meals!! If we planned one every day, I would use the DDP, but we usually end up doing one every other day and eat CS or in the room (we had a kitchen at THV this past trip) the rest of the time. We also occasionally hit a lower priced TS (50s PTC, WCC). If you just want to do one or two, I don't think the DDP really saves money (I don't think it's a great deal in general unless you plan to do only buffets/one-price character meals). In general, I'd say splurge on a couple of character meals and eat low-key the rest of your trip.