Character Dining

[PracticallyPerfectMollie]

I have a question about the logistics of Character Dining. Do they continuously rotate people in and out. For instance at 1900 park fare, are people coming in as they arrive or do they do a large group of diners and then clear the room and do it again. Also, do you think its better to get reservations towards the end or the beginging of the dinner hours, or does it even work like that? sorry i am so confused. We always eat counter service or i call day of for an off time at prime time or sci fi so this is stepping way out of my box.:confused:

[onjbj]

People rotate in and out as they arrive/finish their meals just like in any other restaurant. I believe you can make ressies anytime you want, depending on what is available when you call. (5pm, 5:10, 5:15, etc) The time you choose (beginning or end of meal time) depends on you and your preferences. We prefer to eat early and get back to the parks, some people do it the other way around. Either way, character dining is excellent. We've had great food and nice entertainement for the entire family. Hope that helps!

[goofiecrazy]

The last character meal we had was Thanksgiving 2004 and that was at Chef Mickeys and there was 12 of us so we got in a little later.Our time was after 8p.m. and we found we had more time with the characters since it was later and they came over several times to play and take pics.

[MMouse6937]

As the above poster said, it runs just like a regular restaurant, you have a table of 2 or 4 or however many are in your party. When you are done, they clear the table and seat other guests. The characters make rotations around the restaurant to each table so it doesn't matter what time you come in, eventually they will make it back to your section/table. We do Chef Mickeys for breakfast at around 9:00 am and then we do Crystal Palace for dinner around 6:00 pm during our visit. Either way we have found that we get the same amount of character interaction and never feel rushed so that they can use our table for another party. We love the character dining, we try to do at least two on each trip. Have a great time!! :mickey:

[wendy*darling]

Continuous seating as described above.

The characters make continuous rotations to all of the tables in the restaurant. If they stop for a break (and they will), when they come back out, they will resume their rotation with the last table before break, so no one will be missed.
The serves often will warn you when they are getting closer to your table so you can plan your trips to the buffet line accordingly. But you can usually see them approaching.

There is usually one character who remains in the lobby for photos and autographs and does not make the rounds of the tables. Who that is varies by restaurant and sometimes by meal.

We often choose an early seating for breakfast, but have done a seating near then end of the mealtime. Either is fine- even right in the middle is fine.
And we tend to eat dinner on the early side too, but I have heard good reports of late diners have the same quality character interaction as well as hot, fresh food.
We love the character meals- and choose at least one, sometimes 2, per trip. Even when it's just adults. :thumbsup: