What to do ???

[Terry B]

Getting down to decision time concerning character meals on our upcoming trip, we have two 8 year old girls, we went in 2000 and passed on the character meals and here is the reason, the kids got all kinds of autographs plus many hugs/pictures from the various characters without doing the meals, so this plus the high cost of the meals is the reason we passed. Are we missing out on something ? If we are please explain. Thanks for any help..........

 

[BCV23]

No I don't think you're missing out on anything you can't get without paying the costs of a character meal. As you said you can get character interaction for free in the parks. At a character meal they do come to your table so you don't have to stand around and wait but the trade off is a relatively expensive meal for the quality of the food.

 

[Connears]

When DS was younger (he is 12 now), we did the breakfasts for the character interactions(I love them also). they all come to you and you don't have to fight off or jossle around for the attention. We also enjoyed at least one good breakfast out (usually 2) and it made a difference where we had the meal. Now we love 1900PF for superior food and fun characters (DS is 12 and did not refuse when Belle asked him for a picture with her on New year sday this year!) and Donalds' in AK for a late breakfast 10:30am and then we usually skip lunch. I still love them!
Connears

 

[Rafikifan]

I think it is a matter of personal preference, how important seeing a certain character is to your children, and if it is a busy time when you are going. You mentioned that you ran into lots of characters and got time with them in the parks. That is GREAT! It isn't always the case though if the parks are busy. I've seen and stood in long lines so my kids could see a character. When our kids were younger (say 2, 4, and 7) we went to more character meals than we do now. Now we try to balance some counter service, some nice sit downs, and at least one character meal, usually a buffet because although the price may seem steep there is always going to be some things on the buffet that we will all enjoy. I know there will be grunts when I say this because there are people here who have had bad experiences but we love Chef Mickey's for dinner, have been 4 times and maybe have just been lucky but have never had a complaint. $23.99 sounds high but I can't go to any WDW sit down restaurant (a la carte) and have soup, salad, all I can eat boiled shrimp, all I can eat prime rib, sides, desserts of various types, and drinks for that price. We don't do breakfast buffets simply because none of us are big breakfast eaters so the cost isn't worth what we would eat at breakfast. Every family is different so if character meals aren't for you don't worry about not doing one.