Should we do a ton of character meals?

[tanyaandallie]

I'm debating how many character meals to do. We will be going to dw in November with my 3 year old and 18 mos old. Let's just say my 18 mos old is not good for long drawn out meals at restaurants. So, I've really considered having all of our ts meals (while we are on the ddp) be character meals. I feel like the buffet is easier b/c we get the food fast and the things going on with the characters will keep them entertained. DH says we are going for the kids (that's really not 100% true) so we should do as many as we can.

I guess my biggest issue is I know there are restaurants with better food and I feel like we should try some of them. But, if we go to a long dinner, one of us will end up outside with the kids for at least part of the meal.

What are you opinions on character meals? We are going to Chef Mickey's (staying at the CR) and CRT. Should we add more?

 

[jennifer293]

I think 1-3 is good...One reason is there are so many other great places to eat you will be cutting yourself short by only eating at buffets. Another reason is that your 18 month old may be scared to death of those characters and they come around often and having your child in hysterics everytime one comes around you will never get them to eat.

We took DD's at age 4 and 13 months and then again at 5 and 2, and both times the youngest blew up in a crying fit if a character came within 10 feet of her. If they were about 20 feet back she was fine and smiled and pointed but once they got in "HER SPACE" she was DONE!!!


One non-character place to eat is KONA and OMG>>>IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!! DH says on our naxt visit that we will just eat at KONA every night..LOL

 

[crisi]

I HATE buffets with young kids. Balancing your plate and theirs, getting back to the table to discover that its a "grape day" and they've eaten all six grapes you gave them and want more. Getting up to get more, getting back to the table. Having one adult sit with the kids while the other fetches food.

Other people love them and make them work. We did ONE when our kids were little and that was more than enough.

(It does work better when the adults outnumber the kids).

And the food doesn't tend to be very good.

You may be surprised at how well your kids handle TS - mine were so exhausted that they sat much better for TS meals at Disney than they did at home. We didn't do three courses though.

 

[Happy Elf]

We got back yesterday from out trip. We took our 15 month old daughter and did 2 character meals, both buffets. I would fill my plate while my DH sat with DD and then we swithed. DD LOVED the characters. She even gave Pooh a big kiss on the nose!

Janell

 

[twinspluscade]

We did four character meals--one each day. I'm glad we did; you can eat good food anywhere but see Disney characters only at a WDW character meal! My kids (ages 4,4,2) loved all four character meals, but their favorite was the Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine in MGM. We didn't find the buffets with young kids a pain; but my kids aren't picky eaters so they eat pretty much anything we pile on their plates, LOL! It'd be even easier for you since you have 2 adults/2 kids. All in all, I'm glad we did a lot of character meals, and plan on doing several our next trip as well!

Kelly

 

[NotUrsula]

If you haven't been before, be careful. Some children react very badly to characters and will spend the entire meal cowering under the table crying.

We've done the trick of feeding the small guys at counter service before our table service meal. We bring lots of quiet "table" entertainment, including homemade readings of favorite books, to be listened to in Mommy's voice through headphones while you look at the pictures. Of course, a bribe works pretty well to reinforce this -- if you're very well-behaved you get to eat a grown-up dessert. (Grown-up regular food holds very little allure, but those sexy grownup desserts? Whole 'nother story.)

If you time it fairly late, you might be able to get your little one to sleep in the stroller before you eat. (We used to bring jammies and a toothbrushing kit so that kids don't have to be awakened once they go to sleep.) Don't try this at buffets; they tend to be plate-clanking atmospheres.

 

[RRBB]

We took our DS - then 10 months old - to about 3 or 4 character meals last year and didn't have any problem. He loved seeing the characters and did really well sitting at the table. Actually, because he was just starting to eat table food we sat at the table longer than normal. But he was enjoying himself, so that's what counted. Another advantage to character meals, no lines to wait for autographs and/or photos. They come right to your table.

Our DS also did really well at regular TS meals. We just made sure to get his order in quickly and asked that they bring his food out as quickly as possible. As long as he was entertained - either with toys or food - he behaved quite well and we all got to enjoy our meals.

 

[tjmw2727]

I think it depends on how long you will be there and how your kids react to the characters. For us we love to do a few character meals and we try and make sure we don't repeat characters. Its a nice way to avoid waiting in lines for the characters and you have to eat at some point right?

For other meals I found that a later lunch worked well when my dd's were toddlers. It was a nice break in the day that they were usually more than ready for, us too! The lunch menus often offer a great selection at a better price than dinner and many of the restaurants have something going on to entertain the kids. Lunch also seems quicker to me than dinner and especially at Epcot we could always find something good at the CS restaurants.

In case you haven't stumbled on it yet allearsnet.com has all the menus and info on the characters at the meals.

Have Fun
TJ

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

Can you cancel character meals last minute? I know you have to pay for CRT in advance.

 

[LaraK]

We love the charecter meals and usually try to book a breakfast ADR for about an hour prior to official park opening when possible. We always book Crystal Palace and try for Cindy's. We also do Chef Mickey's and have done Donald's Breakfastasoras (sp?).

For dinner we usually gear our meal towards DH and I...we figure the kids will not eat the food anyway (neither are big dinner eaters). We like to eat dinner in Epcot. By the way, DD loved eating in Germany...she danced the whole time the band played and got mad at mommy when I tried to join her. Since this is DH's favorate restaurant, I am sure we will go here again (by the way, also a buffet)

 

[dzneelvr]

For a 3yo and 18mo, I'd suggest adding the Princess meal in EPCOT to give you a great mix of traditional characters (Chef Mickey) and "real" princesses who will not scare anyone. As they get older, you could continue to hit other ones such as Hoop De Doo and Stitch at the Poly. no more than 3 though, I overdid our first year and the kids actually got tired of them! Although now at DS-18 and DD-16, they wanted pix with the characters again this summer--go figure?

 

[jennifer293]

Can you cancel character meals last minute? I know you have to pay for CRT in advance.

If I am not mistaken to cancel any ADR you must give at least 24 hour notice or they have the right to charge 10.oo per person that does not show...I think that is how I read it on allearsnet.com

 

[tjmw2727]

If I am not mistaken to cancel any ADR you must give at least 24 hour notice or they have the right to charge 10.oo per person that does not show...I think that is how I read it on allearsnet.com

Most ADR's can be cancelled any time with no penalty. There are a few exceptions like CRT and Hoop De Doo where the CM will have taken your credit card a s a deposit. The CM will make the terms very clear prior to bookiing so no worries. OTOH if you haven't secured the ADR with a credit card you can cancel at any time. I always cancel mine as soon as I know I won't make it to open the times up for someone else.

TJ

 

[crisi]

The real problem with cancelling is that if you have the dining plan, your fill in options may be really limited. (If you aren't on the dining plan with little ones, you'd just eat chicken fingers).

 

[bnorm27]

We did Chef Mickey dinner, Crystal Palace dinner, Princess Storybook Lunch, and CRT Dinner on our recent trip. My DD's are 2.5 and 4. My 4 year old was fine with all the characters. My 2.5 DD liked all the face characters (princesses), but was a little leary of some of the bigger costumed characters. She did not like Goofy (too big she said). You can get decent food at the buffets too. And your kids can make noise like all the other kids as well. I liked the prime rib at CP, and there was some nice selections at CM for the grown ups too. If the trip is truly about the kids, go to kid friendly places. I have friends leaving tomorrow with their DD 1. They booked Puck's, Cali Grill, Chefs. Do you think their kid is going to enjoy the meal at those places? They say the trip is for the kid too, but they only booked one character meal!

 

[NotUrsula]

They booked Puck's, Cali Grill, Chefs. Do you think their kid is going to enjoy the meal at those places? They say the trip is for the kid too, but they only booked one character meal!

Well, I can tell you that in our family's case, the Jr. set loves Pucks, but hates Chef Mickeys, and for that matter, character meals of any stripe. DS hates characters (or in his words, "deeply despises" them), and while he has a reasonable appreciation of good food, his priority is being either in the parks or in the pools; not wasting time in restaurants. One of the reasons he likes Puck's so much is that the service is prompt. This has always been the case, even when he was a toddler.

Character meals are not the be-all and end-all of every kid's Disney experience, and I think that quite a few of them, if asked, really don't understand why their parents think character meals are all that important, and wouldn't miss them if you didn't do them. (CRT is a special case, I'll grant.)

 

[DestinationDisney]

Um...dumb question but what is "Puck's"?

 

[NotUrsula]

Wolfgang Puck's, in Downtown Disney.

 

[crisi]

They booked Puck's, Cali Grill, Chefs. Do you think their kid is going to enjoy the meal at those places? They say the trip is for the kid too, but they only booked one character meal!

We only book one character meal. Last trip my daughter and I did a second because she is princess age. But in general, one is enough for us. My daughter likes them. My son has a "take it or leave it" attitude towards characters that started when he was three (at three he didn't want them near him - he will now stand close while Mom takes a picture, but doesn't "get" them).

Le Cellier has been at the top of my kids list every year. As toddlers they were enamoured of San Angel Inn and Biergarten. They enjoy Sci Fi. If I ask if they want more character meals, they aren't interested.

 

[alicenwonder99]

Maybe not every meal a character meal, but I'd recommend going for the buffets for every TS meal. The buffets we did this last trip were: LTT (excellent), Biergarten (excellent), and CM (excellent). We did one other restaurant at Epcot that was just a "regular" restaurant and we said we wouldn't do that again. We sat for over 2.5 hours and the kids just hated it. We missed most of the rides because the FP were gone by the time we got out of there. Some people like the leisurely dinners, but when at WDW, we like to eat and go. The buffets give us the chance to eat quickly.

HTH

Mary