Why my family might take a break from character dining at Disney

[LeahZ]

After our most recent trip, we’re really debating taking a break and considering skipping them the next time we’re on vacation.

Read more here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/why-my-family-might-take-a-break-from-character-dining/

 

[Figmentmommy]

After our most recent trip, we’re really debating taking a break and considering skipping them the next time we’re on vacation.

Read more here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/why-my-family-might-take-a-break-from-character-dining/

Our go to meal for characters is 'Ohana breakfast. We've done the others many times as the kids were younger and agree with a lot of what you said. As we all get older we still want some character interaction but with less of the hectic environment. 'Ohana is so much more relaxing and the food is delicious too. I see it as the one character meal we will continue to enjoy!

 

[BigAlsGal]

Yeah. I debate a lot too. I debated on whether or not to renew my AP. I debated whether or not to take so many trips to Disney.

Guess who still has and AP and goes to Disney more often than a grown woman should.....

Good luck with the debate.

 

[keepswimming76]

I have that debate with each trip. For us it's a major bonus to see so many characters at once, but then it's not the most relaxing meal. I'm quite a sight as I hold two cameras while shoving food into my mouth.

 

[melificent]

Totally agree with the overall opinion here. We did a lot of character meals on our recent trip, and 1900 Park Fare in particular was...not enjoyable, dining-wise. However, my daughter was SO THRILLED that it ended up being totally worth it. But after I got an idea of how things were going to go, I focused on the character stuff first and then once they'd all gone through, moved on to the bulk of the meal. Which isn't to say that we didn't get them (and us) food to eat first, just that we'd get food to eat if we had time or were starving, and worry about the bigger portions / entrees later. It *does* get so hurried and chaotic in the character restaurants that I had to remind myself that we weren't in a hurry (I booked all character meals as our last scheduled activity of the day) and they wouldn't kick us out.

I was sorry to hear you said you had trouble getting the characters to come back. We were at Tusker House and waiting on Daisy, whom my toddler was DESPERATE to meet, when she had a potty emergency that required us to leave and miss her. Afterward I went and found Daisy and spoke to the handler and my daughter got a special meeting when she had a free minute. And Daisy also swung back by before we left, so we were very thankful for that.

 

[NKHarris329]

I'm glad to hear that your meal at Akershus was enjoyable as this is the one character meal we planned for our upcoming trip. With my girls being huge princess fans they would be heartbroken if they missed their one chance to visit with them. I can absolutely see why the meal type (buffet vs served) is critical with adult enjoyment of the experience.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

DH and I really loved character breakfasts and did them all on every trip before the kids. Last trip was our first with DD2 (at the time), and it was great memories with the characters but at the same time it meant i got to scarf down whatever food i could get, keep room for her food on my plate or make a separate trip, or hold two plates, then get back to the table and cut up hers while mine gets cold. then comes a character so i have to wipe off DD, get the camera, now my food is really cold, have an enjoyable moment seeing DD with the character, repeat, pay over $100 and leave. This time we are only doing 1 character breakfast at our resort, the GF. I really wanted to do crystal palace but that is the morning after MNSSHP so i better just cancel it. It is a lot of money, takes a lot of time, it a bit of chaos, and i keep reminding myself that a nice quick service breakfast with mickey waffles, sitting outside with a view of the castle is much better. on my time, less chaos, less money, more pleasant, and we plan to make a priority meeting characters in the park. -FP+'s for a lot of them too.

Ohana breakfast even though served family style it was still all of the description above. It's even more disappointing really because you see your hot food sitting right on your table and you have too much to do to even get time to eat it. Atleast with the other kind where you get up to get your food, you know it is kept hot and fresh and you just hope you get time to go back and get some more.

 

[DaniMoon]

Last trip we did quite a few character meals and have a few planned for the upcoming trip. I don't know, maybe we are oblivious, but have never felt rushed. If characters are coming and one of the kids want more food, Dad usually gets it. We actually prefer this method. We know what they eat, so it's not necessary for everyone to stroll on up to the buffet, especially since my son has a tendency to want to touch everything.

 

[constantstar]

On our last trip, I definitely felt the rush at Crystal Palace and Hollywood & Vine. We had to chase down characters and barely got to eat. We really enjoyed our breakfast at Cape May though - yum! I think that venue is just less chaotic. Did the two crazy meals change my mind about character meals? Apparently not because I've planned 5 for this next trip - with a 2 and 4 year old. Two of the meals (Garden Grill and Akershus) are served family style so hopefully that will help. The other 3 are Cape May, Tusker House, & 1900 Park Fare. I'm considering switching the 1900 for a non-character or non-buffet meal to help minimize the headaches. Thank you for your honest reviews!

 

[msmama]

That's one of the reasons I love Garden Grill. I find it more relaxing, plus the booths (on the bottom level of the restaurant) are super private. We've been startled by a character more than once!!

Sci Fi breakfast at SWW was pretty great, too!! I didn't have to move from my seat in the car and got several awesome pictures!

And while the atmosphere was chaotic at Jedi Mickey's, no doubt, we found the character interaction to be pretty good. Darth Goofy took the time to have paper lightsaber battles with several tables around us (and us). And the chipwoks stayed with us for a little while, too. Could've been that we were there week 1 before the chaos got to them.

 

[ilovebassets]

We won't do more than two character meals per trip with Crystal Palace and Tusker House being the only ones we've done more than once. Also did 1900 Park Fare breakfast, CRT dinner, and 'Ohana breakfast. Greatly enjoyed 'Ohana for NOT being a buffet and would like to go back. CRT just way way too expensive for what it is and will not do that again. Agree that character meals can be fun but also stressful and I'm not sure they're really worth the money.

 

[MulanyBelle]

I agree. So much stress trying to get all the best ressies. I know my kids enjoy them but would never know the difference & I'm hoping they don't mind missing out this time.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

We just got back and did quite a few character meals, but I agree with this - with little kids, family-style is the way to go. The buffets were indeed chaos and worries over missed characters (never did get my pic with my son and Pooh!). When we went to 'Ohana on our second-to-last morning, it was so pleasant - kids had food right away, no one had to get up, characters took time but somehow it was a lot easier to manage. Next trip we'll go without extra adults (this time we had 6 extra adults) and we will definitely be prioritizing meals served family-style!

 

[Stubbzilla]

Now that you can FP+ for some of the characters, it makes character meals not as important for people with kids who are too tiny to handle waiting in line for an hour.

 

[jtopp]

As our kids got older, character meals became more about the food, with character interaction taking a back seat(a little!!!) That being said, food quality at 1900 Park Fair has declined. Chef mickey hasn't substantially changed its menu in 15 years, but still a fun meal. Crystal palace and Garden Grill are still the favorites, with the right combination of face time with the characters (smaller venue, maybe?) and good food. Recently they have indicated they would forgo character meals for other venues.

 

[snoopy5386]

We are DVCers and we rarely do character meals. They are too chaotic, I hate pictures with either our or others food and drinks in the fore/background, I worry about my kids spilling food on themselves while we are eating, I hate the constant interruptions to the meal and they are so expensive!

Last summer we realized that my youngest hadn't been to a character meal since she was a toddler and didn't remember any of them and that my oldest would be a "Disney" adult next time we went so I made reservations for a bunch of character meals that we had never done. We went to two - Ohana breakfast, character interaction was fine, but the food was awful and it cost me $80 for two kid and one adult breakfasts! Insane. We also did 1900 Park Faire dinner which was great and I would do again, but not likely due to oldest DD turning 10. My kids asked me to cancel the rest of the reservations and they didn't want to do any other character meals so I did.

At this point paying $40+ for my 10 year old to eat means no more pay one price meals for us for a long while or maybe just one a trip. We haven't eaten in the castle since my oldest turned 1, we love Ohana and if they do a Star Wars meal, those are the only situations where I'd be willing to do an AYCE meal at Disney.

 

[mrsp1030]

We are DVCers and we rarely do character meals. They are too chaotic, I hate pictures with either our or others food and drinks in the fore/background, I worry about my kids spilling food on themselves while we are eating, I hate the constant interruptions to the meal and they are so expensive!

Last summer we realized that my youngest hadn't been to a character meal since she was a toddler and didn't remember any of them and that my oldest would be a "Disney" adult next time we went so I made reservations for a bunch of character meals that we had never done. We went to two - Ohana breakfast, character interaction was fine, but the food was awful and it cost me $80 for two kid and one adult breakfasts! Insane. We also did 1900 Park Faire dinner which was great and I would do again, but not likely due to oldest DD turning 10. My kids asked me to cancel the rest of the reservations and they didn't want to do any other character meals so I did.

At this point paying $40+ for my 10 year old to eat means no more pay one price meals for us for a long while or maybe just one a trip. We haven't eaten in the castle since my oldest turned 1, we love Ohana and if they do a Star Wars meal, those are the only situations where I'd be willing to do an AYCE meal at Disney.

THis...my oldest DS turns 10 this summer and I can barely get him to eat a full meal here so paying a ridiculous amount for the buffets for him makes no sense. It still drives me crazy that Disney considers a 10 year old an adult especially since the technical age when a person can enter the parks without adult supervision is 14. Something doesn't add up there!

 

[maxiesmom]

THis...my oldest DS turns 10 this summer and I can barely get him to eat a full meal here so paying a ridiculous amount for the buffets for him makes no sense. It still drives me crazy that Disney considers a 10 year old an adult especially since the technical age when a person can enter the parks without adult supervision is 14. Something doesn't add up there!

Most 14 year old boys could eat way more than me. Heck, my nephew could out eat me at 8. There is no age that would make sense to everyone, the line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[mrsp1030]

Agree with that but 10 isn't even a teen and in most restaurants it is at least 12 & under...we just don't do the buffets for this reason as much anymore.

 

[maxiesmom]

Agree with that but 10 isn't even a teen and in most restaurants it is at least 12 & under...we just don't do the buffets for this reason as much anymore.

Age doesn't necessarily equal how much food is consumed. Plus most buffets don't have Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh running around. Much of what you are paying for is the whole ambiance of the restaurant, including the characters. Makes sense to have the age be the same as for the park tickets, and most 10 year olds can do the majority of the rides.

That said, the cost for ages 9 and under is a steal! Maybe focus on being grateful for that instead. And being grateful the don't charge resorts by a per person rate.