Too many character meals???

[juliebride]

We have the basic dining plan (7 TS meals). I have 6 character meals booked. Is that too many? This is what we have.....

Chef Mickey's (dinner)
CRT (breakfast)
Princess Storybook (dinner)
1900 Park Fare (dinner)
Ohana (breakfast)
Tusker house (breakfast)

We will have 7 park days (8 days total at WDW). I don't want to over do it but don't want to miss out either! All but 2 are on different days.

 

[Coconuts]

Whether it's too much depends on a lot of things:
--personal taste
--ages of people in your party, kids, adults only, etc
--do you plan on spending time with characters in the parks

We have found, and this is entirely our opinion, that on average 3 character meals for 1 week is perfect. With our kids, more than that is too much stimulation, and time taken, at a meal. Sometimes you just want to eat a meal and be able to go when you want, if you know what I mean. With character meals, you feel like you have to wait to see all the characters, even if you're done your meal. Character meals take a lot of time. You may want to free up more time to spend in the parks, rides, etc. With our 3 meals, my kids really didn't feel the need to stop the characters in the park, because they already got their autograph.

Then again, you will find on these boards that some would dine with the characters at every meal! Everyone's different, so do what you think is best. Good luck.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Oh honey, there's no such thing as too many character meals! I think your ADR's look perfect! All of those restaurants are awesome, you'll have a great time! Each place has an awesome character experience and are different so I think you'll be pleased!

 

[juliebride]

My kids are 5 (DS) and 3 (DD).

 

[mi*vida*loca]

No such thing as too many character meals!

 

[Fatima1922]

My kids are 5 (DS) and 3 (DD).

We went in March and I have a DD2. All our TS were character dining. I was done with character dining by the time we left WDW but, my DD enjoyed it. It kept her occupied, she eat (and she is a picky eater). I was able to get food in her mouth as she waited for the characters.

We did:
Crystal Palace. CRT, Princesses Storybook, Hollywood and Vine, Ohana and Cafe Mickey.

I think with a 5 and 3 year old, you are fine.

 

[pheathers24]

Juliebride we have the same places reserved with one exception, no Ohana's because I substituted LeCellier's for husband's birthday. I was wondering the same thing, but hopefully it will work out great. Have a great trip!

 

[Faldred]

The only way I'd entertain the thought that there could possibly be too many character meals is if the characters start giving you the "oh no, not you again!" look when they stop by.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh honey, there's no such thing as too many character meals! I think your ADR's look perfect! All of those restaurants are awesome, you'll have a great time! Each place has an awesome character experience and are different so I think you'll be pleased!

For some of us, character meals are a HUGE part of the Disney magic. Heck, I can eat at 50's-style restaurants, or Italian, or Chinese, etc. here at home. What I can NOT do locally is:

- get a hug from Mickey Mouse during my dinner
- have my picture taken with Piglet
- or dance with Prince Charming

So book those meals and feel no guilt! And disregard any of the nay-sayers that think its too many......long as you are comfy with the buffet offerings and enjoy interacting with the characters, then you'll have a great time.

BTW, we did 4 of the ones on your list during our January trip, and enjoyed every last one.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

If that's what makes you happy then it'a not to many. We did that when r boys were small and loved it !

 

[Tuliplvr]

I say it's never too many.. the character meals were my kids favorite things!

 

[annette20071]

We scheduled a character meal for each day of our trip (excluding our 2 travel days). We went with family in November and DD had just turned 2. She was all about the characters. She was not very interested in the rides. We did not do any character meals on that trip. Since that is all she really got excited about on the last trip, I decided this time we would purchase the dining plan and make the most of it with a character meal each day. This will be the first time any of us have been to the character meals.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

it's personal preference - Along with some of the previous posters we tend to also live by the motto "no such thing as too many character meals."

Last year in our 7 day trip we did:

Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Ohana (breakfast)
Tusker House (breakfast)
CRT (breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (dinner)
LTT (dinner)

 

[puffkin]

We usually stick to 2-3 character meals a trip (week). You have 3 princess type meals booked, I would suggest cutting out Storybook and trying one of the epcot restaurants. THey are great.....my DS3 does fine there.

 

[bradyloganmom]

Never enough character meals for our family!! I would keep them all. No such thing as too many!!

 

[dato63]

We're in the "never too many" group. It is a nice way to get autographs from your favs without standing in line. It's a nice break to us. Our DDs LOVED character meals - and watching their excitement was priceless for us.

If you like characters or have anyone in your group that wants autographs - why not? You have to eat sometime, might as well enjoy your time.

 

[MJAJmom]

Character meals junkies -- UNITE!!!

Ditto from above about not having too many character meals. My boys, DS4 and DS6 loved them. We schedule one a day, more if the schedule would fit. For our upcoming June trip of 9 days, I have 9 character meals. I'm trying to get CRT if I can.

For us, we love TS meals and don't mind the extra time. We get a short break which helps the kids unwinds. Do what feels right for you and your kids. Have a great trip!

 

[kadesha]

I don't think it's too many. We like to do a character meal every day. We are having 2 meals without characters on our upcoming trip and it makes me kind of sad! lol! The more characters that you meet at meals--the less character lines that you'll have to stand in!

 

[sharadoc]

I think you should do as many as you want.

One note of caution - our family got a little tired of the same characters - Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Minnie. Next time we want more variety. Here's what we think we're going to do:

Cape May Cafe breakfast - Goofy, Minnie, Donald
1900 Park Faire dinner - Cinderella gang
Crystal palace - Pooh and gang
Princess Norway - lots of princesses

We don't want to do Chef Mickey's or Tusker House because they're duplicates, and 1900 Park Faire has Pooh & Tigger for breakfast, so they're duplicates too. If they put the characters back at Liberty Tree Tavern, then we may skip Cape May Breakfast, although we love that meal and the characters are secondary at this point.

I wish they would go back to the old ways of rotating other characters. 10 years ago you never saw Minnie or Donald. Now they're everywhere!!!!

 

[sharadoc]

Character meals junkies -- UNITE!!!

Ditto from above about not having too many character meals. My boys, DS4 and DS6 loved them. We schedule one a day, more if the schedule would fit. For our upcoming June trip of 9 days, I have 9 character meals. I'm trying to get CRT if I can.

For us, we love TS meals and don't mind the extra time. We get a short break which helps the kids unwinds. Do what feels right for you and your kids. Have a great trip!

Cool - are you going to every different location, or are you doubling up, like CMs for both breakfast AND dinner?

Character meals are the best thing for photos, autographs, really giving kids the direct character experience. You can talk to them! Pose with them!Become their best friend! Standing in a line at a theme park is much more of an assembly line experience and much less personal feeling.