So, going back to the chatter about the character meals......definitely (and kind of sadly) I think that many of the Disney characters interact with us differently because we don't have a child in our party. I appreciated that this wasn't the case at the Superstar Character Breakfast, because while we don't have any little kids, we do still enjoy the experience. We are "kids at heart", if you will

. I can say I was very disappointed in our interaction with Mickey at Ohana's in December (and Ohana's breakfast has long since been a family favourite, so they have to do A LOT to disappoint me). It was my brother's first Disney experience of any kind, and I'll be honest....I was hoping for a little magic for him. Mickey Mouse, the character I was MOST excited for him to meet, was the worst character interaction we've ever had.....he literally seemed to not want to bother with our table at all. For the $30 a person we paid, I expected better. We still enjoyed ourselves, but the disappointment (and perhaps dissatisfaction?) was significant enough for me that I almost considered emailing Disney's guest relations with my feedback. We, too, have certainly had some spectacular interaction with Disney characters over our 10 trips to Orlando, but the best of them were on our first trip in 2009. Again, maybe because Jake was younger and the characters found that easier?

It's hard to say.
As for the proposed increase to at least some of the character buffets.....let me be the first to say there's no way in heck I'd pay $60 an adult to dine at Chef Mickey's unless there are huge changes to their menu. While I have no problem paying a premium price for a premium experience (especially when it includes a meal), unless there have been major changes to the food quality since we ate there on our first Disney trip, I couldn't rationalize that jump in cost. I'm sure many others, though, will be still content to pay it: especially as the parks get busier and meeting the characters takes up more time in an already packed park day.
It makes me wonder, though, if we shouldn't try to squeeze in Hoop De Doo Revue sooner rather than later. It's always been on our wish list of things to do in Orlando, and now the price is almost comparable to Chef Mickeys. I worry that the cost for that experience, too, will see a hefty increase as other lower priced options are raised in cost to be similarly valued.