what is your opinon on character meals.. are they worth the $?

[jenniferma]

Hi-- I am planning for our second family trip to Disney this nov/dec. My question is-- do you all think the character meals are worth the money?

We have a 3 year old who LOVES, I mean LOVES the characters-- loves to see them, hug them-- you name it. So far we plan on attending Chef Mickey's on Saturday when we arrive and then going to Boma on Sunday and Ohana on Monday night (I know these aren't character meals, but a little more $$ than some) we are trying to decide whether or not to try and get a reservation for LTT on December 2 before the MVMCP or perhaps Crystal Palace? What do you think?-- do you think the character meals are worth the money? (we've never been to one!)

thanks so much for all your thoughts in advance! Jen

 

[Mickey76]

I love the character meals, especially Chef Mickeys. I think it's worth the money, especially if you or someone with you loves the characters. I suggested that my sister do a character meal when she went in May. I have two nephews, 3 and 9 months, and the 3 year-old loves Mickey. I told her to go to Chef Mickey's. My nephew loved it. He wouldn't let Mickey go to the other tables at first because he wanted him all to himself. Then my sister explained that other people wanted to have the same chance to see Mickey as he had. She said she will definitely return to Chef Mickey's in the future, as will I when I go to WDW from now on.


Mickey76

 

[d96j97]

IMHO Chef Mickey's is a MUST if you have little ones. You will see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip & Dale. They come to each table...no chasing them down. They are great photo ops! The food at Chef Mickey's is buffet style and there is soooooo much to choose from. We make this character meal a must each visit.

We have also done breakfast in the castle (Cinderella's Royal Table) and absolutely loved it. It is a bit more formal but the food and atmosphere are wonderful. We have two boys and they loved it but if you have a little girl... she will be in awe when she sees Cinderella and the other characters.

Yea, the money is a bit pricy but worth every cent in my opinion.

Have a great trip and enjoy the fun at these meals!

 

[Missy1961]

Character meals are sooooooooo worth the money!!! It is just wonderful to watch the little ones (and the big ones!) just stare in awe at Mickey, Minnie or whatever character. And I agree, I've been to a few character meals and the Chef Mickey's is the best!

 

[Yensid_MD]

I think Chef Mickeys is definitely worth the money. The carving station food is very good and the mashed potatoes are the best!!! Also I think it is the best interaction with the kids. It is a family tradition at this point as our first meal the night we arrive at WDW.

We did Crystal Palace once, just once. My mother always said if you can't say something nice....

I also don't think you need to make every meal a character meal, this way the one or two you do are more special. You will get to see plenty of characters in the parks.

 

[champdds]

Chef Mickeys was definitely one of the highlights for my kids last time we went..It was our first night in WDW and we have made plans again to go this year...I must say, the food was actually pretty good,but the atmosphere was carnival like and truly magical...


A MUST DO AT WHATEVER COST !!!

David

 

[DisneyMSF]

I also think the character meals are worth it. Your 3 year old will get GREAT character interaction. They really are a lot of fun. Chef Mickey's is our favorite (though we've only gone for breakfast). If your little one really likes the Pooh characters, then also try to do Crystal Palace if you want to add a 2nd character meal.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by jenniferma
Hi-- I am planning for our second family trip to Disney this nov/dec. My question is-- do you all think the character meals are worth the money?

We have a 3 year old who LOVES, I mean LOVES the characters-- loves to see them, hug them-- you name it. So far we plan on attending Chef Mickey's on Saturday when we arrive and then going to Boma on Sunday and Ohana on Monday night (I know these aren't character meals, but a little more $$ than some) we are trying to decide whether or not to try and get a reservation for LTT on December 2 before the MVMCP or perhaps Crystal Palace? What do you think?-- do you think the character meals are worth the money? (we've never been to one!)

thanks so much for all your thoughts in advance! Jen

YES!!! Because we'll be at LTT on DEC 2 at 5:30 and we will oooh and ahhh at how precious your 3 yo is hugging the characters (we don't have any kids of our own but we sure love watching the little ones have fun at WDW!).

Character meals are SO worth it. They give you personal time w/ the characters without the lines often encountered when you see them in the parks. Also every family will get a visit, whereareas in the parks, you could wait in line and find out that the character has to leave right befor eyour turn.

The meals are relatively cheap, often they are buffet style all you can eat and the characters will spend more time with you than the ones in the park do.

Last Feb when we went to the Crystal Palace, Tigger waited at our table with my DBF while I was getting my food or something. He sat there kidding around with DBF and when I got back to the table there was Tigger , waiting for me! I was giddy; you'd have sworn I was a small child!!!

IMO, LTT is one of the best, esp. in Dec. The Crystal Palace is nice too, esp. if you have someone who adores Pooh Friends. Chef Mickeys and 1900 Park Faire are nice too.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I don't think they are worth the money, especially if you're not a big eater, but, if you have little kids, I would do one, which one depends on which characters the kids like.

 

[pandamom]

Definetly worth it!!! We always do Crystal Palace when in the Magic Kingdom -- great place to relax and have a break. We usually plan at least 1 character meal a day during our trips and have always had excellent experiences.

(Hopefully going to crystal palace, Mickey's Backyard BBQ, Chef Mickey's, Cinderella's Table [crossing fingers], Princess Storybook Breakfast and the Land's Ice Cream Social next trip.)

 

[EsmeraldaX]

http://allearsnet.com/din/cb.htm


Check this link out. Lots of info on the various meals. You can get prices here as well.

 

[xyymom]

What do you think?-- do you think the character meals are worth the money?

I sure hope they are or my dh is going to kick my butt, lol.

I have made a couple of PS's for Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys. I'd like to do another one too, but I had to do a lot of convincing already to get him to agree to these two. He's not exactly thrilled with the idea of hanging out with Pooh & the Gang He's just going to have to get over it

 

[JFS]

The character meal at The Garden Grill in The Land Pavilion at Epcot is well worth the money. All you can eat , family style and alot of character contact interaction.

 

[Jen D]

The meals are pretty overpriced it is worth it for the character attention-- I would never have a vacation without doing at least one character meal. We may do two this trip. I'm more of a fan of the breakfasts than the dinners, but that it just me.

We loved the breakfasts at Crystal Palace and the castle.

"Overpriced" is kind of a relative word anyway when it comes to WDW-- it's a given that everything is inflated so you just have to figure out if the experience is worth parting with your money. With dinner at Chef Mickey's, I really didn't care for the food so I felt cranky about the high price. Breakfast at Crystal Palace wasn't particularly cheap either but I loved all the food I ate and walked away very satisfied. Character interaction at both places was great and my daughter was over the moon.

 

[ChuckGA]

I think they are worth it in moderation and you are going for the atmosphere and characters, not the food. I define moderation as 2 to at most 3 times during a 7-day stay. If we were just touring the park and then decided we were hungry, we would not choose a character meal. Our first trip we planned 4 character meals but by the 3rd one we all agreed, ENOUGH, and cancelled the 4th.

Chuck

 

[SalandJeff]

I think they are definitely worth it. If you can do breakfast or lunch, it may be a little less money. We've gone to Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare and enjoyed both. And we have no children!
I am looking at the pictures on my desk of my DH with tigger and me with piglet as I write this!

 

[mickeymousefan]

They are definitely worth it, esp. with kids. Even DH gets excited about lunch at Crystal Placace with the characters. I also think it is one of the best photo opps on the trip and sure does save time because you dont have to search for the characters or wait on line for them in the parks.

 

[madalex]

I like character meals well enough, but I do not think they are worth the money. $20 for really mediocre food is not my idea of money well spent.

I understand that what you are really paying for is the character interaction. However, at the last two character meals we have done (CRT in 2003, PSB in 2004), the princesses all came to our area together and moved through very quickly. Overall, the interaction was nice, but not really that much better than we often get in the parks. For example, in 2004, we saw Aurora at breakfast and then the same Aurora a couple hours later on our way out of Epcot at the International Gateway. We got to spend much more time with her the second time than we did at the breakfast.

All in all, they are fine, but, to me, not worth doing more than once a trip

 

[tkyes]

Try the ice cream social - characters, ice cream and not as much as the buffet!

If there is one character you have to see and don't want to stand in line for, then yes, do a character meal!


tamie

 

[CamColt]

We usually do one per trip. Once we did 2 because we got Cindys for my nieces and wanted to do a not so girly one for DSs. I think 1 is definitely worth it, 2 if you/your kids are really into characters, however I couldnt see myself doing 3 or 4 per trip. I should also add my kids eat very little, so for the amount of food they get, the all you can eat meals are somewhat of a waste for us. Last time we did Chef Mickeys my 3yo ate marshmallows out of the Magix cereal and that was it!