When did character dining become so big at Disney restaurants?

DodgerGirl

Crazy For The Mandalorian
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I never figured out when character dining started becoming a popular fad at Disney restaurants and now it seems to be booming more than ever? Is it because people like to do character dining as a faster way of meeting characters so they don't have to worry about long long lines at the parks to meet characters? Because I can never understand why restaurants like Chef Mickey's or Cinderella's Royal Table and Ohana always get sold out for breakfast and they always seem to be full all the time. Is it because those restaurants are the most popular to eat at or is it because those restaurants are top draws for character fans? The second thing that I can't figure out is why do some restaurants always have one set of characters do character dining and that seems to draw character fans to them? Take for example why does Crystal Palace always have Winnie The Pooh characters at their restaurant and for reasons unknown Winnie The Pooh character dining at Crystal Palace is popular but they should have another character dining experience and retire the Winnie The Pooh character dining and Crystal Palace should replace it with a character breakfast/dinner with Mary Poppins and Alice In Wonderland and The Mad Hatter and that would be a smart idea for Crystal Palace to do. I also noticed that Princess character dining is increasingly becoming very popular and it seems that ever since character dining has returned with meet and greets to Cinderella's Royal Table since being suspended due to the pandemic Cinderella's Royal Table is almost always sold out and I do not see what the big hype is about Cinderella's Royal Table. What I think they should do is add more princesses to the roster of Cinderella's Royal Table like Moana Mulan Tiana Raya and Elena Of Avalor to join Cinderella and also add the princes like Prince Eric Prince Naveen Flynn Rider Aladdin and Prince Phillip because it is shocking that at Cinderella's Royal Table you only see the princesses and not the princes and the princes should be important to Cinderella's Royal Table. What I think Disney Parks should improve on their character dining and this alone is the reason why the character dining is so hot is lowering the prices. Because when you get the general picture most children are picky eaters and most children do not finish a whole meal and the people that do eat a lot at these character dining experiences are teens and adults but I think the children are mostly attracted to the characters and I think they distract the children from eating their food. But I think some Disney restaurants with character dining are alright while some fail. Take for example when 1900 Park Fare reopened with their new character breakfast last year the prices were sky high and were always sold out but when the new character dining debuted at 1900 Park Fare it just wasn't what it was gonna be especially with characters like Aladdin Mirabel Tiana and Cinderella and what they could've done was replace Cinderella with Asha and put Jasmine and Genie with Aladdin because that would've been a interesting choice of characters for 1900 Park Fare to use with their new character dining. But I think we will continue to see character dining still a big fad in the years to come
 
For my family (I have 2 small kids) its 2 things: less pressure to meet characters in parks and easier for me to enjoy a meal because the kids are happy and distracted to see all the characters
 
To answer your question, while character dining was always a thing, the boom struck when the demand grew due to the DDP. The DDP in turn caused the prices to shoot up. The DDP gives character dining value and character dining gives the DDP value.

What I don't get is you go on and on (as the PP said, paragraphs would go a long way) about how character dining is booming and is always crowded and then think that Disney should lower prices? Supply and demand says, if that is the case, they should be charging more than then already do (and when prices have gone up, there hasn't been a downtick in demand). If you want them to lower prices, expect less food options at an even lower quality than most character meals already are, with less characters.
 
When I went to Disney in 1986 there was no character dining, but the characters just walked around and said hi. So sometime between then and 2008 when we went for the next time after that.

If they get longevity out of their cast in these roles, it would be harder for some to rotate, like the princesses who aren’t in costumes that cover them completely.

We did breakfast for many of these because it was the cheapest meal of the three to do typically.
 
When I went to Disney in 1986 there was no character dining...

Character dining dates back to the 70's and by 1984 there were 3 different character dining locations (one at the Contemporary, one at the Polynesian and one at The Village, now Disney Springs). I actually did have to look that up and found a few sites that all confirm that.
 
When my kids were small and wanted to meet specific characters, it was nice to kill two birds with one stone and eat while being guaranteed to see the characters as well. It was one less line to wait in. Princesses are huge with girls in the 4-8 age range. A princess meal that let my daughter meet 4 princesses in 90 minutes? A memorable experience for her and less planning for me.

Now that they are older, there are some character meals we do out of nostalgia and it’s still fun! I remember Chef Mickey’s when I was a kid in the 80’s, so I’m pretty sure character dining has been around for a while.
 
Character dining dates back to the 70's and by 1984 there were 3 different character dining locations (one at the Contemporary, one at the Polynesian and one at The Village, now Disney Springs). I actually did have to look that up and found a few sites that all confirm that.
I don’t remember character dining at The Contemporary in early 90’s. I know Chef Mickey moved there from Disney Springs at some point, but I don’t know when it was. I remember a nightly buffet in the same place, but w/out characters.
 
In the early 1970's, places like the Crystal Palace and dining in the MK castle were significantly cheaper and had no characters. I can't recall a single "character meal" during that period. I believe it was in the 1980's that character dining was created, first at the Character Cafe in the Contemporary, and then later Chef Mickey's at what is now Disney Springs. By the 1990's, Character Cafe became Chef Mickey's, eventually taking over the space used by the Concourse Grill/Concourse Steakhouse. The castle was taken over by Cinderella's Royal Table with its parade of princesses.

The only reason I ever went to any of these character meals was for the little ones to get autographs without having to wait 30+ minutes in line for each one. At Chef Mickey's, the kiddos bagged autographs for about 6 characters. Cinderella's royal table added 6 more. 'Ohana breakfast about 4 more. Crystal Palace another 4. Autograph book full, and didn't have to wait in line at all.
 
Is it because people like to do character dining as a faster way of meeting characters so they don't have to worry about long long lines at the parks to meet characters?

Yes. Time is money at WDW. Most of the character meals are also buffets. A family can sit down, start eating, and get their interactions/photos as the characters make rounds. Plus the food variety helps that everyone finds something they like, even a family with different picky eaters. Price is cost of convenience. It gets alot done in a short amount of time, leaving more time to enjoy the parks.
 
I don’t remember character dining at The Contemporary in early 90’s. I know Chef Mickey moved there from Disney Springs at some point, but I don’t know when it was. I remember a nightly buffet in the same place, but w/out characters.

I know there was definitely character dining in 1988 at the Contemporary. I know we had breakfast there that included at least Robin Hood and Prince John. There is photo evidence of this laying somewhere in my parents house.

This article is basically consistent with other information I have found: https://www.mustlovetravel.com/hist... dining has been at,not required at that time.
 
I know there was definitely character dining in 1988 at the Contemporary. I know we had breakfast there that included at least Robin Hood and Prince John. There is photo evidence of this laying somewhere in my parents house.

This article is basically consistent with other information I have found: https://www.mustlovetravel.com/history-character-dining-walt-disney-world/#:~:text=Character dining has been at,not required at that time.
I must’ve visited the years in between when some those restaurants changed. The Terrace Cafe wasn’t there at that time, it was Concourse Steakhouse and something like Contemporary Cafe or something. We had switched over to staying at the YC right around the time Chef Mickey came in. I wasn’t implying that there was never character dining at CR prior to Chef Mickey’s just that during my trips in the early to mid 90’s, don’t remember it.
 
Absolutely! It saves time in the park because you don't need to wait in line for pictures or autographs. It's also a no-brainer if you have free dining, because it's a great value on the dining plan for the 1 credit character meals.
 
At Disneyland you can meet characters still walking around, it is AMAZING. But at WDW for some reason Guests got a little silly with characters and now they never free roam.
This makes it harder to just "meet" a character. So character meals are great for that.
Sadly they are insane expensive now and we can't afford them. We used to do at least one a day for our 2 week vacations. Now I can't even afford do to a single one.
 
I must’ve visited the years in between when some those restaurants changed. The Terrace Cafe wasn’t there at that time, it was Concourse Steakhouse and something like Contemporary Cafe or something.
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Here is a page from an old guide to the CR. Unfortunately, it is not dated. Thought I could find some more info as I stayed at the CR at least yearly from 1982 through the mid-1990's
 

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Here is a page from an old guide to the CR. Unfortunately, it is not dated. Thought I could find some more info as I stayed at the CR at least yearly from 1982 through the mid-1990's
Aww, memories. That’s cool. I wish it had a date. I definitely remember some of those places—concourse steakhouse, etc. I think we usually ate QS breakfast on the first floor in the cafeteria-style place—I forget what it was called. We always had the dinner buffet on the 4th floor. I think I remember that each night had a slightly different theme—Italian, Asian, American food.

Oops, I see it was right in your picture—fiesta food & fun center. 😀
 
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I can't believe that for princess dining Cinderella's Royal Table is still a top draw for Princess character dining but ever since Akershus in Epcot started their Princess buffet it seems that more people prefer Cinderella's Royal Table over Akershus because people see more princesses including Tiana and Anna and Elsa there. But one thing that would generate a big character dining boom and become popular if Disney were to develop it would be a Star Wars character dining experience in Galaxy's Edge where guests could have a character breakfast with Star Wars characters such as Luke Skywalker Boba Fett Darth Vader The Mandalorian and Han Solo and people would go crazy over it and it would sell out in my eyes. But I remember reading when people used to reserve a character dining reservation they could also request a character to make an appearance for a meet and greet a photo and an autograph with the kids during the meal "though it was sometimes not guaranteed that the character people requested would make an appearence at the character breakfast or dinner" And that would make the character meal more pricey. Can people still do this today?
 
I think Akershus being in Norway helps skew people towards CRT for Princess character dining. Imagine if it was French food instead it would be super popular like BOG used to be. Plus dining in the castle is a big draw too.

LTT used to be character dining with Mickey and friends in colonial outfits. Don’t know when they stopped it.
 
R
View attachment 930061

Here is a page from an old guide to the CR. Unfortunately, it is not dated. Thought I could find some more info as I stayed at the CR at least yearly from 1982 through the mid-1990's
So fun! I must be remembering
View attachment 930061

Here is a page from an old guide to the CR. Unfortunately, it is not dated. Thought I could find some more info as I stayed at the CR at least yearly from 1982 through the

View attachment 930061

Here is a page from an old guide to the CR. Unfortunately, it is not dated. Thought I could find some more info as I stayed at the CR at least yearly from 1982 through the mid-1990's
So fun! I must not be remembering Chef Mickeys exactly, but the Contemporary Cafe. We didn’t go yearly, but every few years from 1980 into the 90’s and stayed at the Contemporary. In 95 I remember staying at Beach Club and doing what must have been the Cape May character breakfast.
 
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