Do you like character meals?

[zarapipe]

Or are they stressful/too long/busy/loud, etc?

[panicked]

We loved them! We did lunch at Crystal Palace, lunch at Akershus , breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, and lunch at Tusker House. All of them were lovely and gave ample time to eat and relax. We never felt like the characters were bothersome.

[dcrunnergirl52]

We love them, and always do 2-3 while we're there. However, we always do the dining plan so I have no idea how much they actually cost...I'm sure if I knew, we might not do as many. But, they're fun, and just so quintessentially Disney.

[zarapipe]

I'm glad you guys like them. I like them too but so many people dislike them I was wondering if it was just me. Last year we did Tusker Lunch, Hollywood and Vine lunch and Royal table breakfast.

This year we are doing:
CP breakfast
Akershus dinner
1900 Park Fare dinner
Tusker breakfast
Ohana breakfast

I would ideally prefer to do lunch and have one big mid-day meal but with dd2 being with us this time and her hopefully taking a nap midday breakfasts and early dinners will work better.

[bunch]

Fun enough but for the price I'd rather have better food. My kids were more excited to randomly happen upon a character. The character meals we did were kind of hectic and overkill. We're not doing any when we pay for food OOP this year.

[ribollita]

Yes. We always do Tusker and H&Vine breakfast and have done all of them in the various parks. We just did Garden Grill breakfast and Akershus lunch a couple weeks ago and may make those a habit.

I agree they are hectic and loud but.. So are my kids, lol. So it's actually more relaxing for us.

[Wines Not Whines]

My kid doesn't care for them, so we don't do them. I'm sure we would do them if he liked them. The only character he ever wants to meet is Mickey, so we just make sure to fit that in.

[miss1180]

We have 2 or 3 for our trip coming up next week. ( tusker house and garden grill, and I think one more)
I like them bc DS is a little ADHD and doesn't like waiting in lines to meet them in the parks ( he's a ride guy!) so it gives him a chance to see them.
For us, it's part of the trip :-)

[nsl]

I'm not a huge fan of them, mostly because I like to be able to pace my meal myself, and I feel like most character meals force me to spend longer in the restaurant (which means less time in the park itself) if I want to meet everyone.

[ilikedonuts]

My kids love them. I find them a bit stressful because getting food for everyone is a bit crazy. DD1 is pretty much self sufficient now though when it comes to getting her out food so it's fine.

We do a ton every trip.

[lala]

Yes, we all enjoy them due to the character interaction. We usually do one breakfast a trip and it's super exciting for the kids and starts the day off so well. I generally find the food pretty meh. Which is part of why we only do one and to make it more special. We aren't multiple character meals/trip people. Some are louder than others m.

[TamiTaylor]

I liked the one we did. I know it is overpriced but don't care. We are our $$ worth at breakfast and didn't eat another meal until dinner.

My only complaint is that the "good" ones are really geared towards boys (exception Tusker House.) My kid doesn't care about Winnie the Pooh or princesses.

[littlemermaid]

We enjoyed them. We've done The Royal Table and Mickey's Backyard BBQ.

[was5]

Aug 20, 2016 11:58:31 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

I'm glad you guys like them. I like them too but so many people dislike them I was wondering if it was just me. Last year we did Tusker Lunch, Hollywood and Vine lunch and Royal table breakfast.

This year we are doing:
CP breakfast
Akershus dinner
1900 Park Fare dinner
Tusker breakfast
Ohana breakfast

I would ideally prefer to do lunch and have one big mid-day meal but with dd2 being with us this time and her hopefully taking a nap midday breakfasts and early dinners will work better.

The Ohana breakfast is great. Since it's served family style it's more relaxed than a buffet, but it's still all you can eat.

[kittycatlove]

We really have enjoyed them.

We've done Tusker house twice at breakfast/lunch time so we got a little bit of both foods.
BOG dinner - though I'm not sure I'd really consider this a character meal, still cool though to meet Beast.
Crystal palace twice, once lunch and once breakfast.
H&V breakfast

I want to try Akershus next time and not sure what else yet.

[momof2]

We did Tusker House for breakfast when my daughter had a Make a Wish trip. Honestly, it was not worth it to me, and I wasn't even paying. :-) We have been a couple of other times and never do character meals.

I am too cheap to pay to see characters like this when I can see them in the park.

[ribollita]

Aug 21, 2016 12:32:23 GMT -5 @starry said:

ribollita did you do pre rope drop Garden Grill? If so did you get on Soarin' early?

Yes and yes.

[alleinesein]

At WDW- not really. The few that I have done down there are just meh.
At DLR- yup. We end up doing at least one character breakfast on every trip to DLR.

[ilikedonuts]

Aug 20, 2016 19:04:26 GMT -5 minniemouse said:

We love them. I'm sure when the girls are older we won't spend so much time and $ on them, but it's fun for now.
We have done chef mickeys dinner, CRT breakfast, crystal palace breakfast and dinner, 1900 park fare dinner, Akerhaus dinner. BOG dinner (just the beast, not really a character meal).

I tell my DH every trip that soon our kids won't have any interest in them (wahhhhhhh) so we need to cram them all in now lol



Plus my husband is 6'5 and eats a crapload of food. He more then eats his fair share of an all you can eat buffet. Then again now he's working out almost every day and watching what he eats so I think this upcoming trip will be different in regards to his food consumption.

[Deleted]

I particularly like the ones where they BRING THE FOOD TO YOUR TABLE. Like CRT, Garden Grill and Ohana breakfast. I hate juggling little kids at a Buffet.

[lala]

Aug 23, 2016 9:54:24 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

I particularly like the ones where they BRING THE FOOD TO YOUR TABLE. Like CRT, Garden Grill and Ohana breakfast. I hate juggling little kids at a Buffet.

Akershus does, too, part of why I liked it so much!

[revolution]

I love them. I love the looks on my kids faces when we go to them. They are why we get the Dining plan. Our next trip includes Chef Mickey', CRT, BOG, Tusker House, and Sci Fi - so, yes, we like the character meals.

[ohiopollworker]

Can you guys explain how they go? A play by play?

I am imagining you are all seated, people are called to the buffet at different times, or served by waiters, and while you are doing that and eating the characters slowly work their way around to all the tables. Is that about right? So you have to sit there for a while to see all the characters, but if your kids are over it, you can leave whenever you finish eating?

How long does the meal typically take if you wait for all the characters?

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2016 12:27:01 GMT -5 ohiopollworker said:

Can you guys explain how they go? A play by play?

I am imagining you are all seated, people are called to the buffet at different times, or served by waiters, and while you are doing that and eating the characters slowly work their way around to all the tables. Is that about right? So you have to sit there for a while to see all the characters, but if your kids are over it, you can leave whenever you finish eating?

How long does the meal typically take if you wait for all the characters?

Go up to podium and tell them your name and reservation. 
Take a buzzer and wait to be seated. 
They call your party and bring you in. If it's a buffet they usually explain the sections and specialties of the buffet. 
Your waiter or waitress will take your drink order ( if it's a buffet) and tell you who the characters are and where they are in relation to your table
If it's a buffet you can just go get your food whenever. 
The characters come around with a " handler" and greet your party, do pictures and autographs. Have your autograph books ready and camera/ phone out. 
Some restaurants have a special parade or dance or something for kids. 
If it isn't a buffet the servers will explain the menu. Some place you order others are served " family style". If it is family style it is an All you care to enjoy type meal and you can ask for more of anything. 
You can leave whenever you are done eating and have paid the bill. I usually pay the bill before we eat. 

[somersault72]

We did several on our week long trip in 2014 and while I don't regret them, I don't feel the need to do any of them again, except possibly Ohana. I loved Ohana--the food and the experience. We've done Tusker House lunch, Garden Grill dinner, Hollywood and Vine breakfast (liked this one a lot, too), and Akershus lunch. I was meh about the food at a lot of them, BUT I'm a picky eater. If you have a kid who loves princesses I'd highly recommend Akershus.

[curbsideprophet]

We had an 11:30am 1900 PF this morning. We got there a little late and it was not crowded at all. Last seating is 11:50 I think. We got to see Pooh and Tigger right away. Alice and the Mad Hatter came by shortly after that. We saw all of them before we had a chance to get any food. Mary Poppins took a little longer but she came by before we were done. Pooh and Tigger waved as they passed by a second time. So we did not need to wait on any characters.

[rxbeth]

Do they have the memory maker photographers AR these meals?

[ilikedonuts]

Aug 23, 2016 18:27:34 GMT -5 rxbeth said:

Do they have the memory maker photographers AR these meals?

Entrance of Akerhus has a photo with Belle. Entrance of Cinderella's Royal table has a picture with Cinderella. At Chef Mickey's they take a picture of you with a plate and mickey statute. 1900 Park Fare you get a picture in front of a floral wall. H&V Dinner you get a picture at the entrance with one of the characters. Ohana breakfast usually has a photographer going around with one of the characters.

I feel like there is at least 1 more meal with one of the non-character pictures that they take for you too.

You are on your own though for the characters that come around to the table though.

ETA: Oh yeah and there is a photographer with Beast in the library at Be Our Guest

[curbsideprophet]

Hmm, wish I would have known that about 1900 PF. Not sure if anyone mentioned a picture to us but I know we did not do that.

[ilikedonuts]

Aug 23, 2016 19:15:12 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Hmm, wish I would have known that about 1900 PF. Not sure if anyone mentioned a picture to us but I know we did not do that.

Its that wall right past the doors to get in. They had us pose next to a christmas tree along with the background since it was December.