Too many character meals?

[Erica09M]

Is there a such thing?

This is going to be our first trip to WDW, my kids will be 23 months and 5 years (birthday during trip), and I've scheduled 6 character meals. Only 2 of our ADRs aren't character meals.

Part of me feels like it's overboard, but the other part of me says nahhh it's our first trip!

 

[squirrel]

I don't think so!

Have you tested the kids with other characters (mascots)? I knew my niece would be fine when we went to DL as she would get upset if she couldn't see the safety bear at our weekly community Party in the Park. She just wanted to stay there and hang out with him the whole time.

If your children are fine with characters then it's not too much.

 

[catrax]

From my experience, there is nothing better than a character meal! I would try to do some different ones, though, rather than the same ones over and over otherwise the kids might start getting bored. You never can do Cinderella's lunch too many times, though! Have fun!

 

[Erica09M]

I don't think so!

Have you tested the kids with other characters (mascots)? I knew my niece would be fine when we went to DL as she would get upset if she couldn't see the safety bear at our weekly community Party in the Park. She just wanted to stay there and hang out with him the whole time.

If your children are fine with characters then it's not too much.

Our older DD is fine with them, the younger one doesn't have much experience... but she really feeds off of her sister's vibes, so I think she'll be ok. We still have to get through Santa and the Easter bunny before our trip to WDW... so we'll see! Often times those are much scarier than the Disney characters, so if she can handle those... she'll do fine LOL

From my experience, there is nothing better than a character meal! I would try to do some different ones, though, rather than the same ones over and over otherwise the kids might start getting bored. You never can do Cinderella's lunch too many times, though! Have fun!

The only one we're repeating is Chef Mickey... we're starting our trip of with dinner and ending our trip with breakfast. Of course there are 2 princess meals (1900 & Akershus)... but those will be Heaven for the girls!

 

[squirrel]

Sounds like fun!

 

[scard192]

5 of our 6 TS meals were character meals during our recent trip. It was my 3 yr old grand daughters first trip to Disney and she was thrilled. Half way through the trip she starting asking every morning about her character meal that day. It was also a big time saver as she got most of her character (especially the princesses) autographs at the meals and we didn't wait in line for them at the parks.

 

[jpeka65844]

In my opinion, I would always do character meals if they weren't mostly buffets. It's not the characters I get sick of, it's the buffet food.

I have a boy, so meals like Cinderella, Akershus, (i.e. the NON-buffet meals) are out of the question.

 

[acourtwdw]

The only thing I would caution about character meals is that they tend to be long. It may take a while for all the characters to get to your table. We were in Norway in Sept and it took almost 45 minutes before we even saw 1 princess. Other than that - have fun!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Too many character meals??? not in our book. For our upcoming trip we are doing 6 of them and want to add one more for the morning that we leave (haven't had good luck with that thus far). We are only repeating 2 character meals, the rest are ones that we have never been to. My DH and I love to do them because they are the best way to see our favorite characters without having to stand in the long lines with people waiting for us to get done. At least with the character meals, the characters interact with the kids more on a one to one basis without not feeling rushed.

 

[dalstitch45]

I do not believe in such a thing. I have always loved the character meals. I still book them each and every trip, and there have been many trips. Go and have fun. Plus, you will have so many memories on print with your kids. They probably won't remember it, but it will be priceless for you.

 

[SRICE100]

I think with the age of your kids, this is a great plan. You won't have to hunt down characters in the park, and have relaxing anf fun meal for them.

 

[2Tiggies]

I totally agree. Go for it! This is your first trip. If you changed any of them, you would regret it. Especially with a 5 year old. Great opportunity to meet characters without the lines Also buffets are great if you have picky eaters as they have a sense of control over what they are eating by getting to choose items off the buffet.

 

[rubato]

I have 5 scheduled, and my son is 10. He's even doing 1900 Park Fare (whether he likes it or not). Yes, the food is redundant and buffet food, but who cares? Which is more important at Disney, food or characters?

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We are going in Jan we have at least one character meal each day, sometimes 2 We have deluxe dining and prefer sit down meals so we're taking full advantage.

 

[flevy]

I currently have 5 character meals scheduled. I'm not fond of buffet food, but I am fond of my kids getting to see what they are selecting and feeding them on their own timeschedule--ie, not waiting for waiter service. I also don't want to have to wait in line to see the characters. So the way I look at it, I getting sustenance and the opportunity to save time in the parks.

 

[golden6911]

Honestly, character meals are so great for that age for both the kids and the parents, most have buffets or options for kids to eat and yummy food for the parents. Plus, you get to avoid the character lines which is a huge plus! I say schedule as many as you want and enjoy!

 

[skw444]

I agree you can never have too many character meals. Our last trip we had 5 character meals planned. Our girls loved it and we enjoyed being able to sit down and enjoy ourselves for a little longer.

 

[diamondpixienc]

As a prev post said. You can never have too many character meals. In fact I plan to utilize them to cut down on waiting to see characters i.e. the princesses I mean if we have just seen Ariel & Belle at breakfast I think we will more than likely by pass going to the grotto.

 

[lemondog]

Nope...we love character meals! Our next trip we're doing...

CP breakfast
CP dinner
CM breakfast
CRT breakfast
Ohana breakfast
Tusker House breakfast
1900 PF breakfast

We always do the first seating of the day for breakfast and have never had trouble making rope drop. We love character meals and feel like they add so much to our vacation!

 

[Planogirl]

I see nothing wrong with eating at them for every meal if that's what you want. I agree however that they do take a lot of time and in our case, DS would be squirming to get to the rides way too often so we always did just one or two. Also, don't expect great food but it should be OK.