the real cost of a character meal?

[foxymum]

i have been looking at either a character breakfast or dinner possible for our sons (DS 9) birthday while we are out there, on the saturday.
i have looked at limited menus & hazy prices, we are on a bit of a budget & dont facy spending well over £100 for a meal,i want to book one up but cant seem to get an accurate price for the 5 of us, 3 adults & 2 children 9 & 4

do most include drinks & are they all you can eat? we have considered
Chef Mickey,1900 Park Fare, thE Garden Grill, Ohanas , any really, my friend says you dont really see the characters in the parks so she thinks we should do a character meal, also as its my sons birthday he would love it,

the only thing putting me off a breakfast one is the price of that & then still having to eat out again in the evening!
also is it tru if we have a CM at Park Fare we dont then have to pay for parking if we go on to Magic Kingdom?
sorry for all the questions, i am getting Florida Fever now

 

[T16GEM]

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's in January for DS's 3rd birthday, the cost was approx $160 for 4 adults and 2 children 4 & 3.

 

[foxymum]

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's in January for DS's 3rd birthday, the cost was approx $160 for 4 adults and 2 children 4 & 3.

wow!! was it worth it though?

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi

First of all, in case this is the main reason for you pursuing a character meal, you DO see the characters in the parks. ALL the parks and they have set meet and greet spots for them as well as roaming or randomly appearing characters. You just need to make sure you know where to find them which you can do beforehand, as well as checking at the parks on the day for roaming characters.

About the meals, breakfast is your cheapest option. Of the ones you have listed Ohana and Chef Mickeys cost slightly more. The prices on Allears.net are pretty accurate most of the time and are reported to be right on the mark with guests who have recently returned so I would trust them for now. Yes, they do include a non alcoholic beverage with your meal and if you are eating at a Disney resort restaurant, you will not be charged for parking (except the Swan & Dolphin which are not Disney owned).

When are you going? The only other variable aside from price increases is seasonal surcharging over the holiday season (Easter, summer and Christmas).

As to whether it is worth it, to me it is. It depends how you are assessing the value of the experience though.

 

[foxymum]

Hi

First of all, in case this is the main reason for you pursuing a character meal, you DO see the characters in the parks. ALL the parks and they have set meet and greet spots for them as well as roaming or randomly appearing characters. You just need to make sure you know where to find them which you can do beforehand, as well as checking at the parks on the day for roaming characters.

About the meals, breakfast is your cheapest option. Of the ones you have listed Ohana and Chef Mickeys cost slightly more. The prices on Allears.net are pretty accurate most of the time and are reported to be right on the mark with guests who have recently returned so I would trust them for now. Yes, they do include a non alcoholic beverage with your meal and if you are eating at a Disney resort restaurant, you will not be charged for parking (except the Swan & Dolphin which are not Disney owned).

When are you going? The only other variable aside from price increases is seasonal surcharging over the holiday season (Easter, summer and Christmas).

As to whether it is worth it, to me it is. It depends how you are assessing the value of the experience though.

hiya, thanks for that, we are going in just over 5 weeks woohoo for the 1st 2 weeks in november, our sons birthday is on the first saturday we get there,
i will take another look at the website you mentioned & have another look at the prices,
thats great we do see characters in the parks, we have been to DLRP & saw charcters but it was a bit of a scramble to get autographs & pics taken, we also did Cafe Mickey for the character experience, was ok but expensive as none of the drinks were included, we had dinner which was nice,
will get looking again!

 

[foxymum]

oh & also does the price quoted include tax & tips? i am thinking not so thats more on top?

 

[wayneg]

As Lee has said, you see characters everywhere in the parks so don't do a meal if thats why you are doing it.

We never did a character meal for 16 years and over 20 trips. Last year while on Dining plan was the 1st one, I certainly wouldn't pay for it out of pocket. Breakfast is about $23pp incl tax, I have a big appetite but I can't eat much in the mornings, a bit of toast is enough for me so $23 is crazy for a bit of food. Evening meals about $35pp.
Even paying for a meal you don't get a lot of time with the characters, a quick cuddle & a photo and they move to the next table so again don't pay if its to see the characters IMO.

If you did do one I wouldn't know which to advise. Its all down to the service/experience on the night, we didn't enjoy 1900 Park fare at all yet others love it.

Check menus on Allears and here on DIS, look for most upto date.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[wayneg]

Yes, Plus tax and gratuity, they will automatically add 18% grat for a party of 6, they are expensive meals.

 

[higgy66]

You would need to decide what characters you really want to see as not all of them are at the different character meals. Check which ones your DS would really like to see as we found with ours it wasn't the most obvious ones as they turned out to be big fans of Chip and Dale.

We had a meal at Garden Grill in Epcot and it was the best character meal we had. LOTS of interaction and they took their time at each table with most of them coming back 2 - 3 times over the evening and making a reall fuss of the kids. It's the one meal we still talk about now a year later and it's top of our list for visiting when we go back next year. It was also one of my favourite puds!

Not sure on prices as we had the DDP?

 

[zippy99]

The character interaction is very different in WDW in comparison to DLRP.

We were surprised at just how easy it was to see the characters in the parks. Going round Epcot world showcase (great for Princesses) we walked past Belle, Snow White, Jasmine and Mulan - only a few people waiting in a queue for their turn - not like Paris where it seemed to be a free-for-all bundle on the character!

There honestly are plenty of opportunities - let us know which characters are you keen on seeing and perhaps we can share our experiences of seeing them.

 

[foxymum]

thankyou all for the info, our boys too are huge chip n dale fans so in the beggining i was considering garden grill for dinner but made the mistake of reading some bad reviews!
yes it does seem like a lot of money for a meal & that is whats putting us off really! our DS (4) is a huge Mickey fan & Donald Minnie etc, our DS (9) likes the same characters to be honest & apart from the princesses he likes all the characters!
luckily our DD (14) is too old for the princesses (she says!!)

 

[wayneg]

Garden Grill was one of our fave meals last month, no idea why it gets poor reviews but I wasn't paying for it, great on Dining plan.

Pics from it here in my thread post #260 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2524489&page=18

 

[foxymum]

great pics looks like you had a lovely time as we are paying just not sure if a character meal is out of our budget
thankyou,

 

[buzz for boys]

hiya, thanks for that, we are going in just over 5 weeks woohoo for the 1st 2 weeks in november, our sons birthday is on the first saturday we get there,
i will take another look at the website you mentioned & have another look at the prices,
thats great we do see characters in the parks, we have been to DLRP & saw charcters but it was a bit of a scramble to get autographs & pics taken, we also did Cafe Mickey for the character experience, was ok but expensive as none of the drinks were included, we had dinner which was nice,
will get looking again!

Hi,

Firstly id like to say wdw is nothing like dlrp for character greet rugby scrums.
At wdw there is an orderly que and the line moves relativly quickly.

If you are asking the question then Im guessing that for this trip money is tight . Our very first visit we went on a budget and didnt do a single character meal I dont believe that we missed out at all and we had a super time and the boys met all the characters they wanted to meet and more.
Character breakfasts are nice and Mickey waffles are to die for but I really dont think you miss out if you choose not to do one and save your money for the little things that your children will want in the shops !!
Others may disagree with me but we have done wdw on a budget and wdw with no financial worries and we had a blast on both holidays

Also to help save a few pennies think about a quick trip to walmart to buy snacks and bottled water for around the park you are allowed to take them in no problem and will save a fortune off the park prices !!

Hope that helps x
Louise x

 

[Ware Bears]

I love my character meals but if I were on a tight budget not having any certainly wouldn't spoil my holiday.

If I were you I would skip the character meal and use the money you would have spent on it on a Photopass CD. I think maybe your friend is a bit confused because, as others have said, you'll have no problems getting loads of nice photos with the characters in the park.

 

[foxymum]

ah thanks Louise, its more that we have no clue what this trip will cost so dont want to shell out loads in one go on a character meal & then have to scrimp on other things, we should have about £2k To spend but thats everything, we also have an empty CC, to use if we must.(rather not though)

we will definatley be buying snacks & drinks etc to take to the parks & also eating at the condo sometimes, so that will save a bit.thanks again.

Ware Bears : what is a photo pass cd?

 

[2Tiggies]

ah thanks Louise, its more that we have no clue what this trip will cost so dont want to shell out loads in one go on a character meal & then have to scrimp on other things, we should have about £2k To spend but thats everything, we also have an empty CC, to use if we must.(rather not though)

we will definatley be buying snacks & drinks etc to take to the parks & also eating at the condo sometimes, so that will save a bit.thanks again.

Ware Bears : what is a photo pass cd?

I suspect with 5 weeks to go that you are going to struggle to get a reservation. Your best bet at this stage is likely to be trying when you get there, or chancing it for a walk-up. With this in mind, maybe you want to see how you go with characters without the meals for the first few days and then assess the situation and decide whether you feel you still want do do the meal. TBH, reading through the whole thread I get the feeling that you are thinking of a character meal primarily to meet characters. If this is truly the case and budget is on a stretch already, I think you could safely miss the meal without it taking anything away from your trip.

Chip & Dale are out at Epcot (Future Worl) quite a lot. Character Spot is a designated meet and greet area with orderly queuing and a selection of 4-5 characters which include Mickey, Minnie , Goofy, Donald and Pluto.

At AK: Camp Mickey Minnie has greeting trails where you can meet the Fab Five as well, although the they are not all there at the same time so you will have a selection of whoever is there at that given moment.

Magic Kingdom also has random characters around the parks and they are quite easy to find. I wouldn't go without something on a trip just to pay for a character meal to see the characters you will fnd around the parks anyway.

 

[wayneg]

Photopass: around the parks are photographers they take pics of you and your family which they put on a photopass card for you. When you get home you enter the code from the card here http://www.disneyphotopass.com/default.aspx you can then view all the pics they have taken. If you prepay before you go yout get a discount ($99 instead of $149 + tax + postage) this is fully refundable if you don't like what you see. I think they still do the discounted offer someone will confirm if you are interested.

This site explains it all, best places to get pics etc.
www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass

To give you an idea of what they do look in my folder from last August 1st 11 pics were mine but then the next 21 are photopass pics. If you are trying to do it on a budget then you can ask the photographers to take the pics with your own camera but using Photopass you get some nice shots with extras.
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y236/wayneg1/August 09/?start=all

 

[dixonsontour]

Hi,

Like everyone has said don't worry about meeting characters in the parks. There are set places to see them like in toontown at MK but also around the parks. You line up to meet them not the DLRP scrum.

If you want a meal I think you may struggle to book one at such short notice. Reservations open 6 months out. You can easily see what is available on the wdw website.

If they are chip and dale fans an option would be the campfire sing a long at ft wilderness. I think it starts at 7pm in November - details and pics are on buildabettermousetrip.com. Best of all you don't need to book and it is free! We did it in December and enjoyed it - way they had it set up was you met and got an autograph from chip or dale. You can buy marshmallows to toast or take your own.

 

[team harris]

Don't base your experiences of Paris with choices you make in Florida, we have always found it a bit of a "bun fight" meeting characters in the park in Paris - the chaperones do not do the same job as the ones in Florida. There is no crowd control and being "British" we are not use to pushing forward or shoving our children forward.

We celebrated our DS 7th birthday a few years back with a character breakfast and then tea at CRT. The breakfast was free (part of our package deal at that time).

**TIP** We bought DS a MM watch, wrapped it up and gave it to our waitress to give to Mickey, so that he got a special gift from "The Mouse." He was so supprised and it wasn't for years that he learned the truth! It certainly made his birthday extra special.

Would I pay the price now? - last few trips have included free DDP so have always done a couple of character meals, but would not necessarily pay for them as are over priced, however and I am going to contradict myself here, if I knew that the day was going to be extra special for the whole family and would be a lifetime memory I would if money allowed pay for the character meal.