Character Dining...

[Marker]

I wonder is anyone else feels that Character Dining could possibly take away from the Character Spotting experience.

Here's what I mean....
When my kids were young, and we'd be at WDW, it was really cool to spot a character. The characters weren't "everywhere", we never did character meals (frankly don't know if they even existed then). So when you did spot one, it was something really special.

In contrast to today, the characters are everywhere. As we all know there is an abundance of Character Meet and Greets around the parks. And then there are the character meals with a whold hurd of characters just there for the taking. Sure, these meals provide access to MANY, MANY characters, they are for sure, they are abundand. It's like instand gratification en masse.

In my mind, it makes randomly spotting an occasional character somewhere in the park a lot less "special". Sure with the "old way", you don't see as many, and there's no guarantee of which characters you'll see, if any. But that moment of spotting one was a real moment to remember. Kind of like the difference of seeing a tiger in a zoo, or seeing a tiger in the wild. Seeing one in the wild is a lot more exciting, than seeing the captured and caged one.

Just wondering.

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

Well I definitely agree with your point on special because they are not everywhere. However, I have two children and they could not be happier to see characters all day long even if it is the same one. Just remeber meet and greets are another line of people not in line to ride something so I believe alot of it has to do with crowd redistribution. Plus I believe Disney is very good about character placement (i.e. Captain Hook and Mr. Smee next to Pirates). They are not from that movie but I think it spurs interest in a different movie with pirates in them. Plus, it makes us parents spend more money on souvenirs we normally wouldn't because it creates more interest for each character.

[RoosMomKanga]

I feel your pain...I too miss the 1971 days when I spotted Mickey:mickey::joy:...and even 1992 when my DD came across them...but by 1999 when my 1st DS went, it was miserable...he'd spot a character, we'd circle around with others waiting our turn and then the bad manners would begin...(I'm not usually one to complain, but) people running up, ditching, pushing. My 2nd DS 1st trip in 2002 I was happy to plan more character dining (hey, my DS didn't know that Cinderella was scheduled to be there when we checked in for lunch at the Castle- he thought he just happened upon her...no magic lost!) and to wait in line at character greetings (my kids just wanted to see them and get a hug!). I think it's just part of the :crowd:crowded "World" now, but I feel your pain!:sad:

[Madame Leona]

I like the character meals. I would much rather do that then spend time in line to see the characters. My boys are very young (the oldest is going to be two next week) and it's a lot easier to eat and see a character than to just stand in line. I do prefer the random spotting that went on in my childhood to the charater meet and greets but there's nothing that can be done about that.

[Itchy]

Two years ago when I took my 10 yr old granddaughter to DW she went nuts everytime she saw any of the charactors. It did not make a difference whether they were a the Charactor dinner or at the parks. Seeing the look on her face was worth the wait in any line.:mickey:

[Hayden's Dad]

To a degree possibly, but the characters at the meals are usually the characters that seem to be everywhere ie..Mickey Mouse, Chip & Dale, Goofy, the Princesses. Where the character spotting still comes into effect is with charcters like Peter Pan and Wendy, who are not regulars and they may pop out at you as you are walking through Adventureland (I saw them literally playing in the gift shop after Pirates of The Carribean they were not greeting signing or anything. People would just walk past and not even notice them then they jsut skipped out hand in hand that was cool) , or Woody and Jessie coming up at Libery Square.

I think it has a lot to do with you priorities. Like with myself and my fellow "character anglers" on the board it is our goal to find as many characters as possible, so with a little planning and learning what to pay attention to you can meet quite a few, but you are probably going to have to be in line for them.

I see both sides yes it has taken away from it some, but it just make those few unexpected sighting now even more special.:mickey:

[kathiep]

I agree that some of the magic is lost with the ease of which the characters are available. I remember it being the most exciting thing to spot a character when I was a child.

Now that I'm a parent, I do love the ease of meeting characters. I'm thankful that I don't have to stand in long lines or possibly just miss a character and have to deal with my kids reactions!

I like that I can be sure to schedule a meal with whatever characters are my kids favorites at the moment. That way, at least one meeting is guaranteed and if we don't happen to meet anyone after that, it will be OK.

We all still have a special memory of bumping into Pooh & friends 2 years ago in the toy store in England. Somehow the unexpected encounter late at night made if very magical.

[merlinmagic4]

I like the character meals. I would much rather do that then spend time in line to see the characters. My boys are very young (the oldest is going to be two next week) and it's a lot easier to eat and see a character than to just stand in line. I do prefer the random spotting that went on in my childhood to the charater meet and greets but there's nothing that can be done about that.

:ditto: I stand in line as little as possible so I love that I can book a meal and have characters at the same time. I do love the surprise of spontaneously seeing a character as well. So, I guess I'm on both sides of the fence as usual!

Oh, and I was one of those poor, deprived children who never went to Disney World so I can't look back and see how things have changed. It's always been this way for us!

[irish1967]

My boys are older (10 and 8) and the magic of the characters has gone away somewhat.

Other than a certain pirate Captain (not Hook LOL!) neither of my boys is willing to stand in line to greet a character. There are mountains to conquer, an Aerosmith concert to attend, an elevator drop to survive... those things take higher priority now.

However, at a character meal, they both get just as excited about the characters as their younger cousins do. Since they are both big hearted children, they probably act more excited than they usually are for the benefit of the younger children but it is still fun to watch.

For us, the character meals definitely add to the magic rather than take away from it!

[Marilyn Michetti]

I'm an "old" lady, and I like watching the characters interact with children at breakfast. I DO wish, however, that they had a section where we could enjoy the show without having Pooh and Eyore come to our table.

It's also fun to see the look on kids faces when they're waiting to see Mickey - those days are over for us, and it's O.K. Those lines are rough.:mickey:

[Jared]

I understand and agree with your general point, Marker, but I don't think character dining is the culprit. When your kids were young, spotting characters in the parks literally was a random occurrence. Now, the characters never just walk around. The only way to see them is either at restaurants or at scheduled meeting points.

It's time to eliminate the mapped character greeting spots and bring back happenstance photo opportunities. I think that alone would make meeting characters more exciting. Character dining is a good way to avoid the lines and crowds in the parks.

[baby minnie's mommy]

I do miss having random sightings, and seeing characters just walking around. On the other hand, when we take DD(age 2) to Disney she knows for sure she'll be able to hug Mickey and Minnie, and several other of her dear friends. Those are her most special moments - for her, hugging and/or talking to her Disney friends is more important than rides or shows. :cloud9: So I'm very grateful for the "meets", although the glee of being surprised by a character is wonderful, too.

[wdwfan47]

I wonder is anyone else feels that Character Dining could possibly take away from the Character Spotting experience.

Here's what I mean....
When my kids were young, and we'd be at WDW, it was really cool to spot a character. The characters weren't "everywhere", we never did character meals (frankly don't know if they even existed then). So when you did spot one, it was something really special.

In contrast to today, the characters are everywhere. As we all know there is an abundance of Character Meet and Greets around the parks. And then there are the character meals with a whold hurd of characters just there for the taking. Sure, these meals provide access to MANY, MANY characters, they are for sure, they are abundand. It's like instand gratification en masse.

In my mind, it makes randomly spotting an occasional character somewhere in the park a lot less "special". Sure with the "old way", you don't see as many, and there's no guarantee of which characters you'll see, if any. But that moment of spotting one was a real moment to remember. Kind of like the difference of seeing a tiger in a zoo, or seeing a tiger in the wild. Seeing one in the wild is a lot more exciting, than seeing the captured and caged one.

Just wondering.


Well.. You are the first person I've heard say that LOL... But, more characters in the park and restaurants was the number one request from surveyed guests.. I guess the more the merrier for the little one, and some big ones too...:)

[katzctkpt]

I like the character meals. I would much rather do that then spend time in line to see the characters. My boys are very young (the oldest is going to be two next week) and it's a lot easier to eat and see a character than to just stand in line. I do prefer the random spotting that went on in my childhood to the charater meet and greets but there's nothing that can be done about that.

I agree it's a lot nicer to greet at the meals. My kids are also happy just to stand in line unlike me in the heat etc....

[BigRedDad]

There is no way to compare the character sightings now to the 70s and 80s. Back then, the parks were never as packed as they are now. It would be great, but there are too many people and too many things that can go wrong.

[tjstrike]

We love character dining, as stated above,"No lines". I hate standing in line. I'm a fast pass person all the way and getting food in at the same time as meeting the characters is great.

:mickey:

[#1donaldfan]

Yikes !!!!!!!!!!!!! Could you imagine the line in today's crowds if the characters only came out like they did years ago????? No dinners, no designated meet and greets.......what a disaster. On the flip side, though, that line would be horrible, but it would surely help the ride lines.....I love the character dinners.....you can sit in one airconditioned spot, eat some food, and have THEM come to you.......now that's my idea of getting a signature.......

[ljv1975]

This is our first trip and we have many character meals planned. If it were just my DH and I, we probably would have done 1 or maybe 2, but I want it to be special for my daughter. Just imagining the look on her face when she gets to meet the characters that she has seen on TV and in books is enough to make it worthwhile for me. I am glad that Disney offers opportunities for us to know for certain that she will get to meet Mickey and all of the others. Of course, for her I would stand in huge lines too, but I'm glad that isn't our only option!!

Of course since it is our first trip, we don't know any better about how things used to be, so I guess I won't be able to truly compare the "by chance" greetings with the planned ones. :mickey:

[ryca1dreams]

This is our first trip and we have many character meals planned. If it were just my DH and I, we probably would have done 1 or maybe 2, but I want it to be special for my daughter. Just imagining the look on her face when she gets to meet the characters that she has seen on TV and in books is enough to make it worthwhile for me. I am glad that Disney offers opportunities for us to know for certain that she will get to meet Mickey and all of the others. Of course, for her I would stand in huge lines too, but I'm glad that isn't our only option!!

Of course since it is our first trip, we don't know any better about how things used to be, so I guess I won't be able to truly compare the "by chance" greetings with the planned ones. :mickey:

Right, and I think some of us here who have been multiple times forget that. Disney caters to many people and I would say a lot of those people may be first-timers who have small children who want to see the characters. With the larger crowds they have designed many ways to do it.

We've been several times and have an older son, but still like to go to character meals - it's fun. And we also like to look for characters "in the wild". I love seeing the younger kids get excited when they walk in the parks and see Mickey or go to a character breakfast and see Goofy and hug him. Man, that's what it's all about.

[Polynesian Dweller]

[QUOTE=Marilyn Michetti;1528715]I'm an "old" lady, and I like watching the characters interact with children at breakfast. I DO wish, however, that they had a section where we could enjoy the show without having Pooh and Eyore come to our table.
QUOTE]
:exactly:

We used to like the Crystal Palace, Hollywood&Vine, Akershus etc. but are now getting completely pushed aside by the characters. Don't mind them and like watching the interaction with the kids, but at our age we would like to watch and be left alone. That's not an option the way its done now.The characters coming around is a disruption to the meal for us. So our only option is to not go and that means the number of restaurant choices is declining for folks like us.

I think its nice that kids can see the characters so don't have a problem with the greater availability. When I was going as a kid to Disneyland it was always a disappointment when I didn't run into a character and this way no child needs to be disappointed.

[Aggie97]

I used to wish Disney would bring back spontaneous character interaction, as they had when I visited WDW and DL as a child -- until we visited DL-Paris in 2003. There were no designated character greeting spots -- and no queue areas set up when the characters did spontaneously appear. It literally was a mob scene, with kids and adults alike pushing and shoving for autographs and photos, and no one giving anyone else the opportunity to take a one-on-one photo with the characters. It was just terrible. This was during a very slow time at the park, so I cannot imagine what it would be like during a busier time, or at WDW! :mickey: