Pack trip with lots of Character Dining???

[happycows21]

Hello. DH & I are planning 1st trip to WDW in October!!! Very exciting, but a lot to learn!!!! We have 2 DD (8 & 3) & 1 DS(10). Do you think it is best to try to put a lot of character dinings in our 1 week trip or is that too much?????

We are currently looking at doing the Deluxe Dining Package!

Let me know your thoughts!!!

 

[ohiodisneydad2]

Welcome to the boards! We do a couple of Character Meals on our trips, mostly to give the kids a chance to meet the Characters. Since you have to take time to eat, why not combine it with meeting a couple of Princesses since time is so precious while you are in Disney!

I suggest doing some research and check out Allears.net. They have a listing of all the character meals you will find on property and they list the characters who attend different the different meal sessions. That way you can decide where best to spend your money and time to maximize your character meets!

 

[heatherwillmom]

We did several character meals on every trip when our kids were younger. It was a great way for them to get to see the characters without standing in line for so long. We never did more than one a day. We did some breakfasts & some lunches. We let them choose which characters that they wanted to eat with. They loved Cinderella's Royal Table, Cape May Cafe, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, Akersher,& Ohana. My kids are teenagers now & still enjoy an occassional character meal. The food at character meals is always kid friendly too.

 

[baler31]

I agree that 1 or 2 is a gracious plenty on your trip. Also, JMO but the deluxe plan is a LOT of dining and food and time spent dining. I would just make sure that structuring your trip that way is right for your family. If I were to choose based on characters and food I can tolerate I would stick to breakfasts and pick from either Tusker House at AK, Crystal Palace at MK, or Cape May at the BC. We cannot do lunch or dinner character meals as we cannot tolerate the quality of food at the buffets for those. But we are most def. not buffet people so if you are okay with buffets you may feel differently.

We don't do a dining plan but put the funds toward staying club level. We have breakfast every morning and enjoy the evening appetizers and adult beverages. We eat our largest meal of the day at lunch and swim and rest during the afternoon before the evening service on CL and then head back to the parks for more touring and a light snack. Each family will have something that works best for their lifestyle. Also, we find it very difficult to eat much at all during the heat of the summer. Just some things to consider.

 

[mainegal]

Since this is your first trip, I'd be wary of choosing the deluxe dining plan. You will be spending more time eating than enjoying the parks and attractions.

Character meals - Crystal Palace and Tusker House for breakfast.

 

[88golf88]

I have to agree with most of the PP. A few character meals will be plenty for the trip. Since you have 3 little ones, maybe let each of them pick one meal, based off of their favorite characters. I also have to agree that I would choose breakfast. For one, it is a little cheaper, and secondly, the food is much better than the lunch/dinner spread.
We have found Crystal Palace to have the best atmosphere and the characters have always been great!!

We usually try and get the latest breakfast time, therefore it counts for 2 meals!!

 

[hammie59]

Hello, congrats on your 1st trip! Character meals are really fun for the kids (and adults), so I agree doing more than one during your trip is a good idea, especially on the DDP. Not so sure I'd pack my entire trip with them though since most are buffet.
Also, every time I read someone is on the deluxe plan I feel like I'm gonna breakout into hives! (no offense). It's because that's A LOT of time spent waiting and sitting in restaurants, plus the ADRs rule your entire trip. But that's me, some people love it. I only point it out because it's your first trip.

 

[heatherwillmom]

The deluxe dining plans works well if you like to eat 3 meals daily. When our kids were smaller, we did the regular plan & took breakfast items to eat in the room. It's really important that kids eat on their regular schedule. If they usually eat a big breakfast, then a character meal at breakfats is great. It keeps most kids going for a while. We usually do a breakfast on our check0out day as well

 

[lilandvisma]

Wow congrats ! October is a great time for Disney IMO I have to agree with the other posters about the DxDP. Since it will be your first visit there will be SO many things you are going to want to see and do and all of that dining and food will most likely slow you down and not in a good way. We do the regular Dining plan and LOVE it. We do a LOT of character meals for the kids. It's a great way to see the characters without waiting in line. You get to have a good meal AND kill time that way. I hate waiting in line for characters though, not very patient We enjoy Tusker House Breakfast in Animal Kingdom, Akershus in Epcot, Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom...we DISlike 1900 PF for dinner though (BLAH! the food is nasty there). We are doing a lot of character meals for our trip in March again with a few meals for us as well(LeCellier, France, Ohana and Boma). Just depends on what you think will work for you and your family. We don't mind a lot of character dining though, I think I enjoy it as much as the kiddies! GL with planning!

 

[Happy Mom2]

We did a character meal every morning of our trip, and one evening. It gave our children a chance to meet the characters without standing in line. As a mom I loved having the characters come to us while we ate.

Plus we made early morning ADRs on non extra magic hour days so we got in the parks before they opened. We loved being in the parks with only a handful of people, and got some incredible pictures that we wouldn't have otherwise. While the kids were finishing up eating, I'd run get fast passes then return to the restaurant.

It made for a wonderful start to each day. We will definitely be doing it again on our next trip.

After reading some other posts, I wanted to add... It was also our first trip, and we did the deluxe dining plan. We had ADRs for breakfast and dinner each day, then just had quick service for lunch, if we ate lunch. Sometimes we just grabbed a snack. My kids are used to three sit down meals a day, and I wanted to keep them on their same schedule - naps included. We loved the deluxe dining plan, and will get it again the next time we do.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Absolutely do as many character meals as you want to. It is such a great way to see the characters without having to stand in long lines for them . Like another PP said, since you are sitting and eating anyways, mind as well have the characters come around to you and visit. Then you will have a lot more time for the rides and enjoying the parks. Every visit that we make we always do at least 5 character meals in our weeks stay. Also, the DxDP is great because you can make the character meals for your kids for breakfast, but then for dinner, have a signature restaurant or some other type of restaurant for you and your DH....a little something for everyone. Enjoy and have an awesome first trip.

 

[traceym]

On our first trip with the kids we picked 3 character meals. We did Akershus breakfast for the princesses, AK Tusker House breakfast for Mickey, Donald, Daisy, etc. and we did Crystal Palace dinner for Pooh and Friends. It was a great way to get in characters that pleased all 3 of our kids.

We are going on the deluxe dining plan this trip for the first time. Our kids are breakfast eaters and dinner eaters so we have booked reservations for those. We plan on eating cs when we are ready for lunch instead of having a set time.
Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Berlioz70]

A lot of the meals offer the same type of characters... so with just four meals you will meet most of the characters offered.

I didn't see this before, here are the current characters at Dining:

MAGIC KINGDOM
THE CRYSTAL PALACE (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet

CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE: ONCE UPON A TIME BREAKFAST (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
A combination of at least four of the following princesses (*regular*): *Ariel, *Aurora, *Belle, *Cinderella, Jasmine, Mary Poppins, *Snow White

EPCOT
AKERSHUS ROYAL BANQUET HALL: PRINCESS STORYBOOK DINING (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
A combination of at least four of the following princesses (*regular*): Alice, *Ariel, *Aurora, *Belle, *Cinderella, Jasmine, Mary Poppins, *Snow White

GARDEN GRILL (dinner)
Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Chip, and Dale

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
HOLLYWOOD & VINE (breakfast, lunch)
Agent Oso, Handy Manny, June, and Leo

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM
TUSKER HOUSE: DONALD'S SAFARI BREAKFAST (breakfast)
Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse, Goofy

DISNEY RESORTS
CAPE MAY CAFE Disney's Beach Club Resort (breakfast)
Donald Duck, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse

CHEF MICKEY'S Disney's Contemporary Resort (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Goofy

'OHANA Disney's Polynesian Resort (breakfast)
Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch

1900 PARK FARE: SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC BREAKFAST Disney's Grand Floridan (breakfast)
Mary Poppins, Alice, Made Hatter, Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger

1900 PARK FARE: CINDERELLA'S HAPPILY EVER AFTER DINNER Disney's Grand Floridan (dinner)
Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella

 

[kennedyandkailey]

We LOVE deluxe dining!!! My children (DD8 and DS6) do best when we take the time to sit down and relax at 3 meals everyday! Keeps the melt downs at bay and everyone is happily fed.

As far as character meals go, yes.... with the age of your children I recommend doing several of them! We leave in a week for our next trip and we have a character meal every single day, along with two 1 credit non character or 1 2 credit show/meal. Our favorite character meals are Tusker House, Ohana, CRT, Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare Bfast, Akershus, and Crystal Palace. Hollywood & Vine is just ok, but we do it anyway for JoJo and Handy. I also hear a lot of great comments about Cape May breakfast!!

If your children are accustomed to sitting down to three solid meals a day, I do recommend deluxe. If you are more of a snacking or grab and go family then it may be a tad much.... it all depends on your habits as a family. Personally, we LOOOOOVE deluxe!!

 

[Rotti955]

I agree with a lot of the posters... Deluxe dining is a lot of eating. We did the deluxe dining on a recent trip. We loved having the option to eat at any of the Disney restaurants, we did a ton of character dining, and had some really great meals.

Our days were based upon our meals and we did feel like we were eating every 2-3 hours. That being said... if you want to do Cinderella's castle, Any of the dinner shows, and eat multiple meals each day it is a great plan to be on.

Our favorite character meals were Tusker House at AK, Akershus in Epcot (good breakfast and princesses!!), and of course Cinderella for our princess.

We also really liked Play and Dine at Hollywood & Vine in HS for the breakfast buffet. We got an early reservation, two years in a row the restaurant was empty and our kids had full access to the characters for pictures, dancing, parades !!!

 

[mountdew1]

I think you are asking two questions.
1) How many character meals are too many
2) Should we do the Deluxe Dining Plan

Well, you need to look at what you really get from the character meals. Will your family mind eating a buffet each time? Also, with about half the character meals not in the parks, that will take a fair amount of time from your day. Will your kids enjoy seeing the characters each time? I imagine the girls will love to see the princesses, but not sure if you son will be that thrilled. Personally, 2 or 3 character meals in a trip should be sufficient. Yes, it is a guaranteed way to see the characters, but not all are quality interactions. Sometime you will get more time with, and thus, more unique interactions at the regular meeting locations.

Is the DDP worth it for your family? Is is a unique situation for each, and I think you really need to look at the menus for the locations you want to eat at and do the price comparisons. For the two younger ones, it's not a bad deal. For the 10 yo, and possibly for you and DH, it may be a waste of money. Will the 10yo really eat enough to justify the $72 per day? If you do two buffets a day, perhaps, but if he is happier eating from the kids meal, then you may be wasting a lot of money on him. And as mentioned before, do you really want to spend 4-5 hours a day eating meals? It is your first trip, you may want to spend that time in the parks. Yes you can do counter service meals, but then you aren't getting the most for your money.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We did several character meals on every trip when our kids were younger. It was a great way for them to get to see the characters without standing in line for so long. We never did more than one a day. We did some breakfasts & some lunches. We let them choose which characters that they wanted to eat with. They loved Cinderella's Royal Table, Cape May Cafe, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, Akersher,& Ohana. My kids are teenagers now & still enjoy an occassional character meal. The food at character meals is always kid friendly too.

First, it's your vacation, you know your fmaily best, but my take is:

Keep it to just a few. There are a number of reasons to limit them.

The first is food quality. The other TS palces at WDW offer better food quality.

The second is that while character meals can be fun, they are not quiet or relaxing. All day long you are stimulated at WDW. Character meals are mostly very loud, very busy.

The food at ALL Disney restarants offer some kid-friendly choices.
If your kids don't see anythign on the menu they like; most Disney restaurants will prepare an adult sized portion of a kid offering if you ask. They will charge you for an adult portion, but they will give you one of the simpler choices. Sometimes too, if the kids want see somethign like chcken onthe menu, but don't like the sauce it comes with, then they can make the item wouthout the sauce. All Disney buffets offer kids' choices.

Beyond that, I would say that even without characters, most Disney TS chocies offer some kind of fun aspect. If you've done all the character meals, it will be fun to see a place like the 50's PrimeTIme cafe in HS (provided you get a fun server). Instead of characters, the servers joke around with guests in other ways. Another place the servers joke around is WCC in WL. BOth have better food than Chef Mickey's. (However, a word of caution - ALL WDW food has gone a little downhill since 2006. Call it a byproduct of the recession.)

 

[ladeeesquire]

Personally, I loved the character meals. We did one each day CRT, akershus, Tusker House and the Hollywood and vine one. All breakfast except akershus was lunch. My dd 2.5 loved the characters. It was a great way to start the day. Highly suggest it!

We paid oop so I can't speak to that at all.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

It's just DH and Me, and we do the Deluxe dinning. We also do character meals, like most people have said do the breakfast ones. The food is good, the kids are usually rested and not fussing (not only yours but everyone elses also), you can get into the parks before opening, and what a great way to start off the day by having breakfast with your favorite characters. Our last trip we did Tuskar House, Ankershus, Cindy's Castle, Hollywood and Vine, 1900 Park Fare, and Ohauna. We were there for 8 nights with deluxe dinning and loved it. Hope all of these suggestions help. Also if you don't know about http://allears.net/index.html this site has anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Disney and then some. There are complete menus to help you make your mind up. Have a great trip and Welcome to the Dis board.

 

[pigletto]

This is just one opinion but I will share hoping that it helps. We usually do two or three character meals and find that to be plenty. Our kids are 13 and 6.
Our good friends went this year for their first time and had a character meal for almost every single TS credit. They found it to be way too much.
Their kids are 6 and 4. While my friend said it was nice to be able to do once, and meet all the characters that way, she and especially her husband were burnt out on them by the end of the week and have opted for the QS plan this time.
So with that in mind, my advice would be to research the meals that have characters that really interest you and do two or three of them. I like breakfast as that is when the kids (and the parents) are bright and cheery and not exhausted from a long day. Tusker House and Crystal Palace are musts for us. Chef Mickey was disappointing.