Princess Meals: Worth the money?

[Nicole F]

Hey all! We have a 5 yo daughter who loves princesses, and we are considering booking a meal with princesses (either Cinderella's Royal Table or Princess Storybook Dining, we think). But we are doing Disney on a budget. IYO, is a character meal worth the money, or should we just plan on visiting the princesses elsewhere?

 

[angierae]

If you are looking for value, no. Unless your DDs favorite Princess isn't available elsewhere, for the meets alone it isn't really worth it. The food is okay.
However, I will say that eating in the Castle is something I'm glad I did once, and I think it would be even more special to a Princess loving 5 year old.
But not doing it doesn't diminish from the fun of a trip, not at all.

 

[Nicole F]

If you are looking for value, no. Unless your DDs favorite Princess isn't available elsewhere, for the meets alone it isn't really worth it. The food is okay.
However, I will say that eating in the Castle is something I'm glad I did once, and I think it would be even more special to a Princess loving 5 year old.
But not doing it doesn't diminish from the fun of a trip, not at all.

Thanks!

 

[danielocha30]

they are worth it because of the experience as a whole, and IMO 5yrs is a perfect age when they still "belive", it's expensive so in order to save, stick to breakfast, is standard food and is good, while lunch and dinner might have some fancy plates that it might not be "worthy" of the price. You will go for the Princess interaction not for the food keep telling yourself that so your expectations are in place. Have a great Trip!!

 

[misse336]

We did the princess meal in the castle when dd was almost 5 and in meal in Epcot when dd was almost 7. If you are only looking at the monetary value of the experience then no it isn't worth what you get for the amount of money it costs. If you are looking at it from the enjoyment of your dd and the experience then it is definitely worth it. We did both meals for lunch.

My 2 boys and dh didn't come to the princess meals. My boys weren't into the princess meals/meet and greets so they preferred to go on rides instead of going to the lunch both times. That decision wasn't made on a budget consideration, but it certainly helped the budget that they weren't interested. In order to make our trip more budget friendly we brought our own lunch into the parks (besides the princess lunches) and ate breakfast at our condo. We also at cs for dinner, although we did do one character meal for breakfast as a whole family.

 

[Sagginit]

I vote breakfast too. It is hard to make bad scrambled eggs and bacon, plus its nice to have a relaxed morning as I do RD most mornings. As an adult I like character meals as the characters come to the table and there isn't much line waiting or hunting for characters. Its not necessarily value but it can be worth it for the time saved depending on the time of year you go.

For princesses I always give this tip. In Epcot get a character schedule and check out the first time for each princess. I did this once on a fluke, it was our last Epcot morning and we decided to do FP for our favorite rides in the afternoon. I got to the country about 10 minutes before each one was due to come out and was able to see them in 5 minutes or less. They were staggered with each one coming out a little after the other. I saw Snow White, Muluan, Aurora, and Belle in about an hour. Meals work if your little one has her heart set on meeting a certain princess or it is really hot/ peak season and you trying to avoid many lines.

 

[lynzi2004]

I think the castle is worth it at least once! We did it last year when DD is 4. I would shoot for a late breakfast time. Get in some rides right at rope drop and then do the breakfast. We also did the new Bon Voyage breakfast this time. There is nothing fantastic about the location, etc. in my opinion but you do get to meet Flynn Rider and Prince Eric which is unusual unless doing a party. Also it was cheaper than many of the other character meals bc it wasn't a buffet.

 

[mommajo143]

I also vote for "worth it" - to think about dollars & cents, if it helps, consider the cost associated with time standing in line waiting to meet the princesses versus a very personal, far less rushed & air conditioned meeting in the castle... You have to eat anyhow & you get the photo with Cinderella (value added!) - we've increased our "value" by booking on the edge of regular park hours - for example close to closing time on the night of a hollween / christmas party night or before opening on a non-EMH morning.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Hey all! We have a 5 yo daughter who loves princesses, and we are considering booking a meal with princesses (either Cinderella's Royal Table or Princess Storybook Dining, we think). But we are doing Disney on a budget. IYO, is a character meal worth the money, or should we just plan on visiting the princesses elsewhere?

If you are on a budget, meet them elsewhere. Even if you are just 2 adults and 1 child, you will spend a minimum $100+ on any character meal (even breakfast), with dinners over $200 (if you do Cinderella's Castle)...you can do a lot of other things with that money if you are on a budget, including saving it!

 

[MEM]

I can let you know in a few weeks - we three adults booked the Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno on the Boardwalk. Features Rapunzel and Flynn Rider AKA Eugene, Ariel and Prince Eric.

 

[Nicole F]

I vote breakfast too. It is hard to make bad scrambled eggs and bacon, plus its nice to have a relaxed morning as I do RD most mornings. As an adult I like character meals as the characters come to the table and there isn't much line waiting or hunting for characters. Its not necessarily value but it can be worth it for the time saved depending on the time of year you go.

For princesses I always give this tip. In Epcot get a character schedule and check out the first time for each princess. I did this once on a fluke, it was our last Epcot morning and we decided to do FP for our favorite rides in the afternoon. I got to the country about 10 minutes before each one was due to come out and was able to see them in 5 minutes or less. They were staggered with each one coming out a little after the other. I saw Snow White, Muluan, Aurora, and Belle in about an hour. Meals work if your little one has her heart set on meeting a certain princess or it is really hot/ peak season and you trying to avoid many lines.

Thx for the Epcot princess advice! That's awesome!

 

[tink1970]

From a dollars and cents perspective, probably not. That said, some of my sweetest memories are of my DD when she was little chatting with the princesses (she was quite verbal even when she was small) and asking them funny and cute questions. The photos of her smile are priceless. Not a must do for sure but definitely a glad we did.

 

[elaine amj]

I prefer character meets - no half eaten food in my photos. We have done a bunch of character meals (gone on DDP several times) - they are fun enough, but no one in my family considers them essential. We have also done the Castle. It was a cool thing to do but very very expensive! we only did it because we had free dining. Not rushing to go back.

Then again, our family likes character meets but don't consider them a must do. We always take pics with a couple of our faves each trip but that is it.

In August we are traveling with my 3 yr old niece. She adores Mickey but not particularly Princess mad so my SIL said no point doing Princess meals. We are doing 1-2 Mickey meals but only because they are dining pkgs and we are on free dining and want to see those shows. I am not so concerned with the meeting Mickey part because I definitely plan to meet talking Mickey in MK - super cool meet and fab photos. A character meal won't replace that for me.

 

[stazmatic]

I think eating in Cinderella's Castle is a must-do at least once! If it will break your budget skip it, but if it is doable to spend here and save somewhere else, I would spend the money on breakfast one time. Try to get the earliest reservation possible so you can get in to the park before it's open to the public. That will get you amazing pictures in front of the castle with no one else in the picture. So you can justify it by counting half of the meal as a private photography session. We did it when my girls were 6 and 4. 6 years later they still talk about how cool it was and we've been back to Disney about 15 times since then. It is truly a highlight of a little girls life.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The experience is worth it IMO. I look back on those pictures of DD and it was very much worth it. No regrets here.

 

[crisi]

I'd do it. To me its a time value thing. You get a bunch of characters (princesses, Mickey, whomever) in one spot. The food tends to be pretty dismal, but the character interaction is good.

What you need to do is look at the slate of princesses and ask yourself if its worth the price of the meal to knock them all off in an hour - without lines or running from country to country in Epcot (which is an awesome idea, though).

My daughter is seventeen and we sent her and her friend off to a princess breakfast by themselves this year - her friend was a Disney first timer/

 

[leebee]

Character meals save TIME, and in WDW time=money. You can stand in 5 princess meet-n-greet lines and it'll take about 4 hours (assuming you don't FP them), plus another hour for a meal that you'd have to eat anyhow, OR you can spend 90 mins at Akershus, eat, and meet 5 princesses. Same deal at Crystal Palace, to meet Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger. When kids are in the character-greet age range, I think it's more time-effective to do a few character meals (and pay the money) than it is to spend that time standing in the M&G lines.

 

[cinderella531]

I am a vote against this being worth the money. Here was our experience:

Last year we went with our 5 and 2 year old. We were on a budget as well but decided that for the experience we should do a princess meal. We chose a breakfast (most economical option) at Akershus (Norway in Epcot). We were extremely disappointed. Now, I think our girls enjoyed it, but it is not an experience they raved about. We thought our in park experiences were vastly superior and much more personal. We had saved especially for that meal (which even for just a breakfast was NOT cheap!) and I felt like it was a waste of our money. I completely understand that this is not everyone's experience, but IMHO your interactions at the park will be more than sufficient. Have a wonderful trip!

ETA: We never waited more than 20 mins to meet a princess. And the time spent was worth it. I don't remember if you mentioned how long you'll be enjoying the parks, but if you will be there for several days I think it's worth it to save the money and see everyone in park. If you feel your time is limited, perhaps I'd consider a bit more. Regardless, we felt our girls did not receive much value in terms of personal interaction and we likely won't try again.

 

[elaine amj]

I am a vote against this being worth the money. Here was our experience:

Last year we went with our 5 and 2 year old. We were on a budget as well but decided that for the experience we should do a princess meal. We chose a breakfast (most economical option) at Akershus (Norway in Epcot). We were extremely disappointed. Now, I think our girls enjoyed it, but it is not an experience they raved about. We thought our in park experiences were vastly superior and much more personal. We had saved especially for that meal (which even for just a breakfast was NOT cheap!) and I felt like it was a waste of our money. I completely understand that this is not everyone's experience, but IMHO your interactions at the park will be more than sufficient. Have a wonderful trip!

ETA: We never waited more than 20 mins to meet a princess. And the time spent was worth it. I don't remember if you mentioned how long you'll be enjoying the parks, but if you will be there for several days I think it's worth it to save the money and see everyone in park. If you feel your time is limited, perhaps I'd consider a bit more. Regardless, we felt our girls did not receive much value in terms of personal interaction and we likely won't try again.

I agree - we've done a bunch over the years and they are not really worth it to me. And that's with free DDP.

 

[MKCP5]

Hey all! We have a 5 yo daughter who loves princesses, and we are considering booking a meal with princesses (either Cinderella's Royal Table or Princess Storybook Dining, we think). But we are doing Disney on a budget. IYO, is a character meal worth the money, or should we just plan on visiting the princesses elsewhere?

I took out DD when she was 6. Dad and DS went off exploring frontierland. I think it was one of the most magical things we ever did on a trip. She was the perfect age, it was just the two of us, we went to breakfast in Cinderellas castle, and soaked up every.single.minute. of magic. I have precious photographs and the fairy godmother gave us a handful of confetti that we still have pieces of, and my DD will be 21 this summer! Couldn't recommend it more