Three Character Meals Too Many?

[katers415]

Hello! First post here...

Background:
We will be spending 5 days at the park + two partial travel days which we will not be going to the park. I was thinking of doing the Chef Mickey's character breakfast on our first morning and hopefully the Cinderella'a Royal Table character meal another day. I sort of feel like two character meals in five days is enough, but my 5 year old loves Sofia the First, so I was debating doing that character meal at Hollywood & Vine too.

Do you think that will be overkill? And if so, which of those three would you cut?

We only plan on spending one day at Hollywood Studios, and it looks like the Disney Junior Live on Stage show doesn't occur every day, so I'm afraid if we are there on an off day, she might miss out on her favorite character if we don't do the meal.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tigger1221]

The Sofia thats in the Disney Junior show is just a puppet BUT you can meet Sofia right outside the show building. We have do the breakfast and its cute but all the characters except Handy Manny are available for regular meet and greets.

 

[Micharlotte]

We tend to do all character meals just because it's part of the fun! I figure we'll have time for regular meals when our daughter is older.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

I would cut out Hollywood and Vine! The last time we were there it was crazy! You are able to meet Sofia and the line is always short.

 

[snowybelle]

Agree with previous poster. Skip Hollywood and Vine and just do the Sofia meet and great. You'll save time and money, and probably find a much better meal elsewhere.

 

[Marissa227]

I wasn't aware that the Disney Jr. Live show wasn't every day. I think it's several times a day, every day. If your trip is after May, make sure you book *breakfast* at H&V if you want to meet Sofia. The lunch characters will be Mickey & friends after May. I can't remember the exact date of the changeover. We did several character meals on our last trip and we loved it. Our teenager's favorite meal was the H&V dinner (it was the holiday one), and my 5-year old son's favorite was eating at the castle (because it's a castle and he got a sword). These are the two meals we're going to repeat on our next trip....

Personally, I would suggest skipping Chef Mickey's (food was not as good), seeing Mickey & friends in their seasonal attire instead at a Hollywood & Vine lunch or dinner, and doing the Meet & Greet at Animation Courtyard for Sofia. Otherwise you're doing to have to do two breakfasts and they're not the best value for character meals! Have a great trip!

 

[Dis703]

I've never heard of the Disney Junior Live show not running every day. Is that new? I don't think 3 character meals in that timeframe is too much and we did enjoy Hollywood and Vine. I'd probably go with that over Chef Mickey's personally if you wanted to do just two character meals. Especially, if your LO really enjoys Sofia.

 

[ibela]

When the kids were younger, we'd always get the dining plan and do a character meal every day so no, not too much. For us, character meals are part of the experience of being at Disney so why not enjoy it?

 

[katers415]

Thanks for all of the advice!

I wasn't aware that the Disney Jr. Live show wasn't every day. I think it's several times a day, every day. If your trip is after May, make sure you book *breakfast* at H&V if you want to meet Sofia. The lunch characters will be Mickey & friends after May. I can't remember the exact date of the changeover. We did several character meals on our last trip and we loved it. Our teenager's favorite meal was the H&V dinner (it was the holiday one), and my 5-year old son's favorite was eating at the castle (because it's a castle and he got a sword). These are the two meals we're going to repeat on our next trip....

Personally, I would suggest skipping Chef Mickey's (food was not as good), seeing Mickey & friends in their seasonal attire instead at a Hollywood & Vine lunch or dinner, and doing the Meet & Greet at Animation Courtyard for Sofia. Otherwise you're doing to have to do two breakfasts and they're not the best value for character meals! Have a great trip!

I just realized that they are no longer doing the Disney Jr. character lunches after I originally posted. This definitely changes things, since we are planning on doing the Halloween party that night, so I was wanting to make sure everyone has a good lunch since we will mostly be snacking for dinner.

I've never done a character meal or a meet and greet. Do they give about the same amount of character interaction?

 

[katers415]

I've never heard of the Disney Junior Live show not running every day. Is that new? I don't think 3 character meals in that timeframe is too much and we did enjoy Hollywood and Vine. I'd probably go with that over Chef Mickey's personally if you wanted to do just two character meals. Especially, if your LO really enjoys Sofia.

I could be wrong about it not running every day. I thought I saw that somewhere.

ETA: I just checked the website and it says, "performances occur most days."

 

[terri33inne]

I would pick H&V for lunch/dinner to meet the Mickey & gang... I prefer their outfits, and the food. Meet Sofia at her meet & greet. When my daughter was younger we did quite a few character meals, and agree with others that is part of the experience.

 

[Marissa227]

Thanks for all of the advice!



I just realized that they are no longer doing the Disney Jr. character lunches after I originally posted. This definitely changes things, since we are planning on doing the Halloween party that night, so I was wanting to make sure everyone has a good lunch since we will mostly be snacking for dinner.

I've never done a character meal or a meet and greet. Do they give about the same amount of character interaction?

Hmmm.... when I think back it seems like we got a little more interaction at the Meet & Greets... they definitely weren't rushed. At the restaurants they usually just stop by the table, sign the autograph, smile for a picture, and go on to the next table. Sometimes they would come around a second time but not always. When we met magician Mickey at Magic Kingdom he really took his time kidding around with everyone and Tinkerbell let my son pick up the giant crayon and pretend to color her shoe.

 

[Ambehnke]

I don't think that is too many. We love to do one a day and then we just snack the rest of the day. It's a great way to meet characters without the wait. I feel like the interaction is just as good as meet and greets. I do feel that it's hard to get good pictures at character meals vs. m&gs though. All that said, I'd skip H&V breakfast. We've done it and it was eh. The Minnie meal was great though!

 

[Chrelaine]

We loved breakfast at H&V. They did a lot of singing and dancing. DD was 4 at the time and loved meeting Sofia & Doc. I loved meeting them this way vs waiting in line.
I don't think it's too many character meals, especially because they keep the kids entertained throughout the meal.

 

[IrishNYC]

I don't think it is! Our next trip will be 5 days, and we're doing Bon Voyage breakfast, Akershus breakfast, and Tusker House lunch. I feel like while DD is still young and wants to do these, we might as well do it!

 

[oceanmarina]

QUOTE="Micharlotte, post: 57221792, member: 577618"]We tend to do all character meals just because it's part of the fun! I figure we'll have time for regular meals when our daughter is older.[/QUOTE]

When the kids were younger, we'd always get the dining plan and do a character meal every day so no, not too much. For us, character meals are part of the experience of being at Disney so why not enjoy it?

I agree and feel that 3 is not too many at all. We did Hollywood and Vine and really enjoyed it - there was great character interaction there as well. Cindy's castle is always a must for us every visit so I wouldn't cut that either, and Chef Mickey's has really wonderful characters so personally I would keep all three.

 

[martikus]

At 5 my kid LOVED characters so the more character meals the better.

BUT you said you are doing halloweeen night same day. No way my 5 year old could have done parks day and night. I would vote lazy day at hotel and hit MK at 4pm. We were rope droppers and at hotel by 4pm each day. DS just couldn't go as long as we could pre-kid.

Have fun whatever you choose. Garden grill at Epcot is hands down our favorite character meal. But we of course skipped all princess meals. At that age crystal palace was fun too.

 

[JimmyBean42]

You have to do what works best for you. I think the best thing you did was have varying characters at all the meals you have planned. One trip we did Chef Mickey, Tusker House and Ohana breakfast and by Ohana the kids were like "oh wow, it's Mickey....again" (as I sat appalled, you can never see Mickey too much!). So having different characters at each one is great.

 

[IrishNYC]

Thanks for all of the advice!



I just realized that they are no longer doing the Disney Jr. character lunches after I originally posted. This definitely changes things, since we are planning on doing the Halloween party that night, so I was wanting to make sure everyone has a good lunch since we will mostly be snacking for dinner.

I've never done a character meal or a meet and greet. Do they give about the same amount of character interaction?

I'd do the Bon Voyage breakfast the day of the party, then just chill at the hotel before you go to MK, otherwise that's a long day.

 

[katers415]

At 5 my kid LOVED characters so the more character meals the better.

BUT you said you are doing halloweeen night same day. No way my 5 year old could have done parks day and night. I would vote lazy day at hotel and hit MK at 4pm. We were rope droppers and at hotel by 4pm each day. DS just couldn't go as long as we could pre-kid.

Have fun whatever you choose. Garden grill at Epcot is hands down our favorite character meal. But we of course skipped all princess meals. At that age crystal palace was fun too.

There aren't really too many things that we are wanting to do at Hollywood Studios, so I'm hoping we can get there at opening, spend 3-4 hours including the meal, and then get back to the hotel with enough time to let the kids rest for a few hours before we head to the Halloween party. I'm definitely a little nervous about this though!

After reading everyone's thoughts, I'm leaning towards not doing Chef Mickey's on our first morning, and swapping it out for the Minnie dining at H&V. I think we will have to miss out on the Disney Jr. meal since it will be breakfast only, but it sounds like the meet & greets should be just as good.

Decisions, decisions!