Momtoapug
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 6, 2016
hello!
I wish someone had told me to pass on the character dining. All I heard was " you have to do character dining!" From everyone I knew. So we booked several. No big deal- we were able to cancel them all....
You might say, what?! Why would you cancel them?
Just sharing our experience....we decided to book a 1 BR villa at grand Floridian. That's not "budget", right? Well, it kind of is...we economize in other ways.
--We said no to the meal plan. We have a full kitchen in our villa. We went to grocery store and spent $120 on groceries for the week.
--we do only one park a day. It's really not a big deal, we just plan around it
--we but Disney merchandise ahead of time on Amazon and etsy (princess gowns, t shirts, etc.)
This allows us to buy the random hot dog or bubble wand etc. without stressing over it
So why no character dining? Because it is expensive!!! And, at least for us, we really didn't enjoy it. We went to one- at grand Floridian, dinner. It was outrageously priced and the one character we hoped for and were told would be there, didn't show up . Lady tremaine. We had already seen and got (free) one on one time with Cinderella and he Prince during their dance at the grand Floridian lobby...and we also saw Cinderella at her castle....so a third timing seeing her for over $100 was just crazy....
It was also loud, crowded, a long long wait outside of our fast pass reservation time (not fun with a 4 year old) and then another long wait for the characters to make their rounds....maybe other experiences with dining are better but I say save your money for things like the Princess Tea and other one on one experiences.
Just my two cents! We are so glad we don't have to rely on dining anywhere at Disney with or without a meal plan it is outrageously priced! I wish someone had told me . Best wishes as you plan---
I wish someone had told me to pass on the character dining. All I heard was " you have to do character dining!" From everyone I knew. So we booked several. No big deal- we were able to cancel them all....
You might say, what?! Why would you cancel them?
Just sharing our experience....we decided to book a 1 BR villa at grand Floridian. That's not "budget", right? Well, it kind of is...we economize in other ways.
--We said no to the meal plan. We have a full kitchen in our villa. We went to grocery store and spent $120 on groceries for the week.
--we do only one park a day. It's really not a big deal, we just plan around it
--we but Disney merchandise ahead of time on Amazon and etsy (princess gowns, t shirts, etc.)
This allows us to buy the random hot dog or bubble wand etc. without stressing over it
So why no character dining? Because it is expensive!!! And, at least for us, we really didn't enjoy it. We went to one- at grand Floridian, dinner. It was outrageously priced and the one character we hoped for and were told would be there, didn't show up . Lady tremaine. We had already seen and got (free) one on one time with Cinderella and he Prince during their dance at the grand Floridian lobby...and we also saw Cinderella at her castle....so a third timing seeing her for over $100 was just crazy....
It was also loud, crowded, a long long wait outside of our fast pass reservation time (not fun with a 4 year old) and then another long wait for the characters to make their rounds....maybe other experiences with dining are better but I say save your money for things like the Princess Tea and other one on one experiences.
Just my two cents! We are so glad we don't have to rely on dining anywhere at Disney with or without a meal plan it is outrageously priced! I wish someone had told me . Best wishes as you plan---