Too many character meals?

[patty57]

I would switch the Tusker House to lunch, if possible.

This seems like a good idea.

 

[Bellex917]

This seems like a good idea.

Another option is to book the latest Tusker House available for breakfast. I'd wake up, feed her something easy in the hotel room, then do the pictures, and then Tusker House. They might get food on themselves before the pics, and if you do a 10:45ish at TH you get the breakfast AND lunch buffet for the price of breakfast.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would switch the Tusker House to lunch, if possible.

The time would definitely be more convenient, but I’m worried there won’t be much for everyone to eat. I looked at the menu and didn’t see much I’d have besides the kids stuff

 

[erinch]

The good news is if you get into the week and it is too much, you can always cancel, up to 2 hours before

 

[TheDailyMoo]

The time would definitely be more convenient, but I’m worried there won’t be much for everyone to eat. I looked at the menu and didn’t see much I’d have besides the kids stuff

If you go this route just know that they serve breakfast for a while even with the last seating before they turn it over to lunch and even then they keep out some breakfast in the corner. The lunch food may be adventurous for some but I can guarantee you it's very delicious. Last breakfast seating at Tusker is a must do for us every trip.

 

[sponica]

We’re doing:

Tusker House
Garden Grill
Topolinos
Cinderellas Royal Table
Ohana

We did Topolinos in August I was able to pick up a reservation right before a trip we did not at Disney and my baby loved the characters it was her first experience with them

That's a fairly reasonable list for us.

I think I did almost the same thing last year, except we did Akershus instead of CRT (we wanted Belle in the yellow dress) and I don't think we did Tusker House.

We do them for the same reason, to avoid waiting in lines for characters and my oldest hates e-tickets so it's not a deal breaker that we miss the short lines for those.

 

[MabelM]

If your kids enjoy them, go for it. We only do 1-2 per trip for numerous reasons. My kids have loved the ones we have eaten at and never ask for more, so it works for us. Every group has a different strategy and you have to do what works for you..

 

[FSU Girl]

If you go this route just know that they serve breakfast for a while even with the last seating before they turn it over to lunch and even then they keep out some breakfast in the corner. The lunch food may be adventurous for some but I can guarantee you it's very delicious. Last breakfast seating at Tusker is a must do for us every trip.

I thought I was an adventurous eater, but I’m thinking I’m not as much lol. I looked up a lunch review and I just don’t think there will be enough for me to eat. I’m thinking I’m going to cut this one it’s just proving a bit difficult to schedule with the capture your moment.

 

[FSU Girl]

That's a fairly reasonable list for us.

I think I did almost the same thing last year, except we did Akershus instead of CRT (we wanted Belle in the yellow dress) and I don't think we did Tusker House.

We do them for the same reason, to avoid waiting in lines for characters and my oldest hates e-tickets so it's not a deal breaker that we miss the short lines for those.

I do love how much easier it is to get pictures with the characters this way. And I noticed they took away the fast pass for characters so that makes it a lot harder for us to do now

 

[Nancyg56]

When my granddaughter was young we booked a lot of character meals. Our trips were typically more than 7 days, so we did not have one scheduled daily, but we always tried to be sure that the character interaction was varied.

I think that planning is key for people. Some folks try to fit too much in a day, and think that the meals will not be time consuming, but they are. Others fit them in whenever there is an opening, so CRT at 8:30 with a little one who normally has dinner before 5 and is in bed by 9 is likely going to be a disaster.

 

[FSU Girl]

When my granddaughter was young we booked a lot of character meals. Our trips were typically more than 7 days, so we did not have one scheduled daily, but we always tried to be sure that the character interaction was varied.

I think that planning is key for people. Some folks try to fit too much in a day, and think that the meals will not be time consuming, but they are. Others fit them in whenever there is an opening, so CRT at 8:30 with a little one who normally has dinner before 5 and is in bed by 9 is likely going to be a disaster.

I definitely don’t want any meltdowns from poorly timed meals. Definitely no dinners after 5 they both go to bed around 7. I’m thinking of doing away with the tusker house because we’d need to go to early and that probably would result in crankiness.

 

[Nancyg56]

I definitely don’t want any meltdowns from poorly timed meals. Definitely no dinners after 5 they both go to bed around 7. I’m thinking of doing away with the tusker house because we’d need to go to early and that probably would result in crankiness.

Oh I was not suggesting you were over scheduling or scheduling poorly. I do agree that you stick with her schedule.

When my DGD was 6 she was more of a night owl. We did an early morning into EPCOT and planned a long day, ending with a meal we thought she might like. The poor kid was exhausted way earlier than we anticipated, so my son on law made the decision to call it a day. We went back to the resort, and I went to guest services to cancel the meal, and book dinner at the resort. Last time we ever made that mistake.

We just got back and this time DGD is 23. We had her, her GF also 23, and my 15 YO DGD. We thought early morning entry would be perfect, but honestly after a late night, or a long day in the hot sun, that is not a good plan either. I think that regrouping if you need to is the best way to have a vacation that is not a nightmare.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[lanejudy]

My only thought about a lot of character meals with a 3-yr-old and a baby is their ability to sit at the table for that long. If they are good for an hour+ at restaurants, no worry.

 

[Minnesota!]

It would have been wayyyyyyyyyy too much for my kids, at any age. 1 - 2 for the week and we were good.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would definitely not do that many at resorts or at times in the parks that weren't strategic. I liked planning them for times I knew we'd want to get inside somewhere, get off our feet, and relax. Late breakfast in the park you're going to be in already is great. Allows you to get some things done and duck out as crowds pick up. Resorts near a park you're spending the day in work great as well. Dinner at GF after a day in the MK. After a day at AK, not so much.

So as long as you schedule properly, it can all just flow. You have to eat one way or another.

 

[FSU Girl]

My only thought about a lot of character meals with a 3-yr-old and a baby is their ability to sit at the table for that long. If they are good for an hour+ at restaurants, no worry.

3 year old loves characters so that keeps her pretty happy despite the longer meal. She’s not a fan with no characters and long meals but she’s very character obsessed. Baby is pretty chill which is nice, hopefully she still will be in a few months lol

 

[FSU Girl]

I would definitely not do that many at resorts or at times in the parks that weren't strategic. I liked planning them for times I knew we'd want to get inside somewhere, get off our feet, and relax. Late breakfast in the park you're going to be in already is great. Allows you to get some things done and duck out as crowds pick up. Resorts near a park you're spending the day in work great as well. Dinner at GF after a day in the MK. After a day at AK, not so much.

So as long as you schedule properly, it can all just flow. You have to eat one way or another.

The ones in resorts are at the resort we are staying at and a non park day so I think we’re ok there. The others aren’t for too early in the morning. We decided to not do Tusker House and do a yak and yeti lunch instead. I told my mom how we have to eat these meals so having characters would make them nice lol

 

[WinterSolider]

I would switch the Tusker House to lunch, if possible.

Tusker House breakfast is a top 5 meal on property for me. I wake up dreaming about those overnight oats.

But I definitely wouldn't sacrifice rope drop for it.

 

[WinterSolider]

OP my biggest issue with the plan is that character breakfast food... kind of sucks. I think 1 table service meal per day is perfect, but I would probably stick with just one character meal for a week and the rest meals with better food.

 

[bakerworld]

The plus about breakfast are young kids are usually well rested and the easiest to keep happy. The first time we took our kids we only bothered with the character meals they knew. Back then the characters would randomly roam thru the parks and most our 4y and 8y didn't know. The 10y we bought an autograph book so she could have a reason to approach, which was a win win because she was tall and busty for 10y so most characters assumed she was an adult.

For a 3y IMO the meals would be your best bet and then you don't have to bother with the character lines in the parks.