Too many character meals?

[Dopey's Girl]

Is there such a thing on one trip? We're going as extended family for Christmas visit, 9 days, 7 in the parks. 7 adults and 5 kids (ages 2-8). Definitely doing at least a couple of character meals, but can it be overdone? We're using MYW dining plan so $ is not the issue. For 3 of the 5 kids this will be their first disney trip. Want to make the most magic possible, but don't want to overkill it. What are your opinions?

 

[dmslush]

We are going for a 6 night trip and are having the following Character meals:

Crystal Palace Dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Donald's Breakfastosaurus

My reasoning for so many character meals is that it is the 'easy' way to meet the main characters. No waiting in line in the hot sun. We can eat and rest while waiting for the characters to come to us.

 

[SB in KY]

I guess everyone is different, but even when mine were little and the characters were a big deal to them the character dining got old pretty fast....first the character dining venues tend to be quite noisy and over stimulating...there are a few exceptions, but not many. It is difficult/impossible to have much conversation in most of those places.
And even though it was really special to watch the kids interact with the characters...somehow after about the umpteenth visit with Chip and/or Dale some of the magic is gone!!

Second, we found that the kids got so involved in the characters that they really didn't eat much if anything....which wasn't a problem if it was just one meal, but if you are doing it every day it becomes an issue.

I don't know how much time all of your extended family gets to spend together on a regular basis, but our opportunities were few and far between, so the opportunity to be together was almost as special as to be with the characters.

I don't want to sound like scrooge McDuck or anything here....some of our favorite video was of character dining...and we still dine with them even though the "baby" is a teenager....but I just think a smaller dose of some things makes it more magical than a steady diet of them.

Personally, for a 1 week trip, 2 or at the most 3 character meals would be max for our family when the kids were younger. There are a lot of other Disney dining experiences that are great fun, but more conducive to real dining for the kids and adults and not quite so over stimulating.

 

[3princesses&amouse]

We just returned from a 12 day stay and did the following character meals.



Storybook princess breakfast
Cinderella's royal table breakfast
1900 park fare dinner
Chef Mickeys dinner
Crystal Palace lunch
My pretty princess tea party

They were all great fun and the kids loved them. The food at the 1900 park fare dinner was excellent.

 

[abk96]

I don't think there's such a thing as too much character interaction at Disney. That's why we're going anyway. This is our 3 kids first trip and we have 4 out of 6 TS meals as character dining.

We're doing:
Crystal Palace
CRT breakfast
1900 Park Fare Dinner
Chef Mickey Dinner

 

[Wendy31]

Our family of 4 has MYW + Dining as well. We leave next Saturday for a 6-night/7-day stay at WDW & have the following character meals scheduled:

Arrival Night - Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner at MK
Epcot Day - Princess Storybook Dinner
1st MK Day - Crystal Palace Lunch
2nd MK Day - CRT Breakfast
Departure Day - Chef Mickey's Breakfast

We're also eating at Trail's End for Breakfast, Hollywood & Vine for FDP, Boma for Dinner, & 'Ohana for Dinner. (Note: We weren't doing the Princess Storybook Dinner since we were doing CRT - but then I heard the rumor that only Cinderella would be at CRT & then I found out that Ariel - my daughter's favorite - was now at PSB, so . . . 1 more character meal! I sure wish they had a really good boy character meal - my son would LOVE to dine w/ Peter Pan & Buzz!)

Our two children are our daughter - 5 years & our son - 3 years (almost 4). We may possibly have too many character meals scheduled . (As my DH likes to tease me - we're going to WDW to eat at restaurants & meet characters.) I was kind of looking at the meals as opportunities to meet the characters w/o having to stand in line - standing in line in the hot sun w/ my impatient little angels is so not fun! And, since we have to eat, we might as well dine w/ the characters while our kids are still young enough to enjoy the "magic & wonder" of the characters. Plus, this is our 1st trip to WDW, &, since I don't know when we'll return . . . I went a little crazy w/ our meal-planning & trying to make this trip the most fun ever, you know!

Anyway, I would say that, for 9 days & w/ your childrens' ages, 4 (& even 5 or 6) character meals would not be too many - just try for variety - so it's not Chip & Dale at every meal. (Why are Chip & Dale at so many character meals?)

 

[fizz13]

Oh you'll be fine doind a few. In january, we did

Chef Mickeys (dinner)
Crystal Palace (lunch)
CRT breakfast
Princess Storybook Breakfast

Each is different in their own way and it really does cut down on meet and greet time. I would suggest choosing meals so you don't have the same characters twice and definately one with Mickey as he always has the longest lines in the parks.

happy dining,
Claire

 

[dani12]

We just went for 7 days/6 nights and did Crystal Palace, CRT, PSB and Chef Mickey's. I didn't think it was too much. My DD5 and DD4 would have loved to have another one!

 

[nluvwithmickey]

(Why are Chip & Dale at so many character meals?)

I know what you mean!!!But DD loves them sooo much!

As for them not eating as much when the characters are around, I tend to agree....First trip, my kids barely touched their food. So make sure you get something into them before you get the bill!

We also agree with the variety factor, the more characters you meet during meal times, the less times you spend in lines. Since we already met quite a few caracters before, we will probably stand in line for the ones we have never met before. Although we may have to make an exception for Chip nDale!

We finished our PS's a couple of days ago and we decided to go half-half and to try character meals we have never been to before.

1900 Pfare dinner with Cinderella ( no need to book CRT Bfast)
Crt dinner
Chef Mickey's dinner
Fantasmic DP
O'hana's dinner
CP breakfast
Concourse steakhouse.
Spoodles

 

[mommykds]

I agree with the above posters..the more character meals you do, the less standing on lines to meet them you will do.

We are going in Oct for 10 days with our kids (9,6,4) & we have planned...

Chef Mickey's dinner
Crystal Palace breakfast
Princess Story breakfast at Norway
Liberty Tree Tavern

I am trying to think where we could fit one more in (either CRT or Cindy at 1900 PF)

We are also trying Beaches & Cream,WCC, Boatwright's & Boma for the first time.

If your kids will love meeting the characters, then go for it! Have fun.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I love character meals because then the kids don't feel pressured to chase after the characters in the parks for autographs. Also most character meals have different characters. This trip we'll be at WDW for 12 days. THese are the character meals I have PS's for:

1. Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
2. CHef Mickeys
3. CRT (breakfast)
4. CP (breakfast and dinner)
5. 1900 Park Fare (breakfast and dinner)
6. Princess Storybook Lunch

Then we have some "fun" meals planned: Ohana, Whispering Canyon Care, Sci-Fi and Prime Time Care.

Some nice meals: Boma Dinner, Hollywood Brown Derby (FDP) and Kona Care for breakfast.

 

[sarahandhannahsmom]

I agree. We love the character dining experiences. We are not that picky and don't crave great food all that often, so the buffets are fine.

On our 8 day stay we are doing:


Chef Mickey's (Dinner)
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Donald's Breakfast
CRT
Crystal Palace (Dinner)
Liberty Tree Tavern (Dinner)
1900 Park Fare (Dinner)

We are also going to Rainforest Cafe and Hollywood and Vine for the fantasmic package.

I don't think you can have too many, if you're going for the kids.

 

[sk!mom]

Since you are doing daily table service anyway and you have several children in your group, I don't think you could possibly have too many character meals.

Our first trip we only did two- CM and CRT. We loved the experience so much that we now always do those two and a couple of others every trip. We just came back from a five day trip and we did three Character breakfasts- CRT, CM, and Ohana. We had CP scheduled but an airline problem forced us to cancel that one.

 

[debbiedoo]

We are doing three character dinings on our 11 day trip. We spread them out. The kids tend to not eat as well at the character dinings. We have planned:

Chef Mickey's--BR
Liberty tree tavern--dinner
Cape May cafe--Br

non--character and fund for the kids:

Ohana's
Whispering Canyon Cafe
San Angel Inn
Alfredo's

and a couple of more--we also plan on making a trip to beaches and cream

I would mix it up!!

 

[newholidayx2]

DS13 & I are planning:
Chef Mickey's brkfst
Crystal Palace brkfst
Donald's brkfst
Cape May brkfst
when we're at WDW 2 wks in August

 

[chop456]

Last summer my DD7 and I did quite a few meals. I thought it was going to be the one and only time we went. Little did I know I would become addicted...

Chef Mickey's Dinner
Chef Mickey's Breakfast
Ice Cream Social - Garden Grille
Cindy's Breakfast
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Alice's Tea Party
Crystal Palace Lunch

 

[tink2]

Here's my take on my family's experience- we have small children- were 3 and 5 last trip this past Dec. and we have been 4 times since 1999- so many trips with small children. We LOVE character meals. #1- if the kids are really small, it is a great way to get them oriented with the characters. DD at 2 1/2 was terrified of the characters and I don't think she would have warmed up the whole week without the character meals. The characters really were sweet to her and stood their distance when needed- don't have time for this at a meet n greet- if you're scared- you're out of luck. By the second character meal that year, she was in their laps. #2- what an easy way to eat a good meal, sit down for a break, and see the characters without the lines- you have to eat anyway, why not do a character meal. We usually try to have one character meal a day and make it our 'big' meal of the day, snacking through the rest. #3- you're kids are only young once. One day they may think they're too 'cool' for character meals- mine will just have to go anyway though!!! But, when they're little, character meals are soooo much fun and so magical- your kids big eyes and excitement will make it all worth it! We kinda have fun too! In Dec.- we did 5 park days and had 5 character meals (plus H&V Fantasmic dinner package!). We ate at Crystal Palace twice (we love that place!), CRT (which my DD thinks is a must and Cinderella will always 'invite' us!- hope we keep getting lucky!), Chef Mickey's, LTT, and PSB. I say go for it!!! Have a great trip and enjoy the character meals while the kids are little!!!

 

[Dopey's Girl]

Thanks for all the input everybody. I had pretty much planned to do 4-5 character meals for the week. I just didn't want to burn out the adults on the trip, but...I feel better about it now. I think 4-5 will give the kids a good experience and leave some meals not so character oriented for the adults that haven't been before either.