Only ONE character meal with FOUR kids?!? Am I mean?

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

This will be our fourth trip...and with the last three combined we've done all the character meals...many twice. I'm starting to feel, "been there done that" about them....and the food. But looking over my ADRs I'm starting to feel a little guilty/sad. I don't think my boys will mind too much...but my daughter will be two. But I figure we'll see the characters at other places...right?! Just venting here I guess....

 

[addiln]

i don't see anything wrong with that. if you are still going to see the characters in the meet and greet areas then you might as well enjoy some of the other dining options. when we go later this year i think we are doing maybe 1 character meal as well and i am not even sure of that one.

 

[disneymayz]

As long as the 1 character meal is geared toward what your daughter would like I think that is ok. We only do 1 and it is Chef Mickey's every year. We like to wait in line to see the character cause you get more time and interaction with them.

 

[PewamoGirl]

Thats fine, Im sure your daughter will have loads of fun anyway. Also at a restaurant you should be happy with the food

 

[SnowWhite33]

What an awful Mom you are....taking your 4 kids to WDW to enjoy a wonderful vacation at the most Magical Place on Earth and a character meal...

j/k

I think if they have already been there done that then maybe they would like to try other stuff

I will only have 1 kid and he is 16 but we still have to do Chef Mickey's as tradition dictates that. We will also be doing CP and Tusker House, but those are both scheduled so that we can get into MK and AK early

Don't feel guilty and look for new stuff for them to experience

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Sooo.....where are the other meals? I am sure they will be plenty of fun and will also be a welcome break from touring.

In all honesty, when my kids were little I found character meals a challenge because the kids didn't eat. They were too busy with the autograph books and all. I'd say one is plenty. It's the interaction you have with your kids while on vacation, not WHERE you're eating that makes the memories.

 

[CathieArms]

This will be our fourth trip...and with the last three combined we've done all the character meals...many twice. I'm starting to feel, "been there done that" about them....and the food. But looking over my ADRs I'm starting to feel a little guilty/sad. I don't think my boys will mind too much...but my daughter will be two. But I figure we'll see the characters at other places...right?! Just venting here I guess....

I think that's entirely up to you and there's nothing wrong with that. For ME, however, I feel like the trip is entirely for the kids so I like to book a fair number of character meals. I don't mind them, though, and I really enjoy watching the kids (15 and 6) interact with the characters.

To each his own.

 

[HeidiLowe]

Not at all, I think you are sensible!! Lol!! We did WAY too many character buffets during our stay. They are stressful and loud and I can't remember what I ate for hardly any of them.

I think the PP was right....do one that your dd will enjoy and call it good!

I couldn't believe how many characters were just around the parks. Have fun!

 

[SmallWorld71]

FWIW - When DS was 2, the character meal was, hands down, his least favorite part of the vacation. He cried when the characters came near our table. Luckily, we had only scheduled one. Also, I have an 8 year old who has been several times; as long as we go to Crystal Palace so she can see Piglet, she is perfectly happy with the non-character meals. Some of her favorites are Teppan Edo, Coral Reef and Biergarten which are all fun in their own right.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

If you're tired of the food at the character meals, then I wouldn't waste my time there. We like going to Crystal Palace and Tusker House for the food (we like buffet breakfasts), and I also like to schedule both of these for 8am so we're done eating by park opening. The characters don't really matter to us as much anymore.

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Thanks for the support everyone!! We are doing CP for breakfast...which we've never done before and cause everyone keeps talking about some stuffed french toast that's supposed to be good?? Wish CM had better food and we'd go there for the classic characters...oh well.

 

[Sunshine1987]

I think that is reasonable. You should do what works for you AND your kids. I have come to the realization that our kids are very blessed to even be able to go to WDW so missing a few character meals is really OK!!! I think there are plenty of opportunities to catch characters elsewhere. We had great luck at the animation studios at DHS (saw a TON of characters including Mary Poppins, Pluto, Stitch, Incredibles, Lotso, and more with little to no wait).

However, I am the one who personally LOVE LOVE LOVES the character meals and I schedule as many as my kids and dh will tolerate! The truth is, my kids and dh could all take em or leave them!!!

And by the way, CP Breakfast is one of my FAVORITE character meals!!! Actually even all my kids really enjoy this one too!!!! Have a wonderful time!!!!

 

[melbiel]

Not at all!!! I think that's totally fine. As someone else mentioned, I feel that our kids are lucky to be going to WDW at all, and I have explained to them that many, many children never get to go. It's definitely a privilege.

The last two times we went, we did the a princesses meal each time, and we also did Chef Mickey one year. This year, we are not doing any character meals. I also feel like "been there done that". And I to be honest, I find the prices to be outrageous.

I too feel a bit bad for my three year old, but her entire trip is focused on seeing Belle, so I am going to make sure we do a meet and greet with Belle. Otherwise, I think my girls are super lucky to be going on a such a great vacation, and they are going to have so much fun. I don't think the fact that they didn't have a character meal will even cross their minds once we're there!

I would say just go with it, have fun, and your kids won't even think about it once they are surrounded by all of the Disney magic. Have fun!

 

[oceanmarina]

One thing to consider is that the character meals are a convienent way to get your pictures with the characters, as opposed to waiting in long lines at the parks. DH & I feel that our kids are small for such a short window of time, we do the character meals whild the kids are crazy about them. We usually do one character meal a day on our trip. We both love seeing how the kids react to them & get great pictures. But I will say my kids also had a ball in Narcoosees which was non-character (ps they were also the most well behaved out of all the meals in narcoosees, so go figure)

 

[sunshineNJ]

NO, you are NOT being mean!!!!! Are you kidding??? For some kids going to WDW is just a dream. I think it's almost more special just doing one character meal. There are characters in the parks and the character meals are VERY expensive!!! You could use that $$ for souveniers. If the character meal is for your daughter pick a princess meal. There are so many great things to do at WDW. Have a great trip!!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I don't think it's mean. We've always done several character meals each trip, until our most recent trip in November. I didn't book any that trip, it just didn't work out. I asked both of our boys what one meal they would want to do, and they both picked Teppan Edo. We did that, it's a favorite for all of us.

DS7 did ask about Crystal Palace the day we were at MK, but DS10 had decided he was too "old" for charcters most of the trip. Next time, we're going to CP because "I" want to!

 

[Keyser]

Not mean at all. There are other opportunities to see characters besides meals, also. As someone else said, don't assume your kids will love the characters. One of my daughters, at 5 years old, was pretty scared of all the costumed characters - the princesses were bearable for her, though. (She was afraid of Chuck E. Cheese, also, so that might give you a good idea ahead of time). Another daughter (about 1 year old) literally screamed in complete terror at the sight of Mickey Mouse coming during our Chef Mickey meal - we had to take her well away before she would calm down!

 

[andee515]

whatever works for you, your family and your pocketbook. My kids are 9, 6 and 4 and I try to get @ 5 in a trip, because I want to minimize waiting in lines in the park for charachters, it works for us. That being said we have to get up really early which is not great. because I want to be ready to go when park opens. And it is relatively expensive.

 

[buffettgirl]

Thanks for the support everyone!! We are doing CP for breakfast...which we've never done before and cause everyone keeps talking about some stuffed french toast that's supposed to be good?? Wish CM had better food and we'd go there for the classic characters...oh well.

That's the one that we've kept and it's the one that my kids still ask for.

when YOU start to feel extorted during a vacation, that's when you know you've started to spoil your kids and that their needs take precedence over everything else (like your pocket book and your sanity).