Character Dinners really worth the $$$?

[disneynarula]

It has been a long time since we did a character dinner. DSs were scared of the characters but DD loves Mickey and Minnie. We went to Goofy's Kitchen at DLR last summer and it was well worth it. The food was pretty good and the character interaction was great.

We are going to be with my MIL and FIL and I want them to enjoy their meal as well.

We will be on the DDP and I can think of so many more places to have dinner that are world class dining experiences.

Maybe we should just go to the Disney Visa meet and greet? Is the character interaction worth it at the dinners?

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

It just depends...some buffets are better than others. Are you just going to eat one TS meal or are you planning to eat several sit down meals? If its a world class dining experience you want and you have only one TS meal then do not make it a character meal. Try a signature instead.

On the other hand,if you are going to plan several TS meals then yes I would recommend a character meal. We like to have at least one character meal each trip. Our visit before last we ate dinner at Crystal Palace. The character interaction was quite good and the food was pretty good for a buffet . This past trip we ate breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and the character interaction was excellent but the food was just standard buffet breakfast and nothing special. Still we would do it again because it was so much fun....

[disneynarula]

We will be on the dining plan so we will have seven TS meals.

[joonyer]

Just remember, you're spending the extra bucks for a minute or two with the characters, not the food. If interaction with characters is important to you and your family, then it may be worth it. Otherwise, these meals are overpriced for their basic dining value. On the other hand, you can get interaction (photos, autographs, etc.) with the characters in the parks for free by waiting in line a little bit. When our kids were younger, we typically did one character breakfast per trip. They enjoyed it, the food was ok, but the prices have gone up a lot since then.

[DANAM]

I think some places are not worth it just to see characters. And my son is also scared of charters so it was always interesting watching out making sure non ran up on our table. I personally find Hollywood and Vine in DHS, 'Ohana for breakfast and 1900 Park Fare well worth the money. The food is really good and that's what matters most of all.

[RichGuy]

Since you're on the DDP, I think one table service credit for character interaction is a good-enough deal.

Both the breakfasts at the Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey's are enjoyable and varied, it depends on which characters you want and which location. We prefer Crystal Palace.

The only character dinner I've done was over 10 years ago at the Liberty Tree Inn, which we enjoyed at the time, but I'm told it's changed since then.

[TinkerbellT421]

DBF and I do usually one character meal a trip. We enjoy them, but in our experience the character meals aren't as personal. They have to make sure they get to every table so if it's busy the meetings can be very quick and non-personal. A quick picture, maybe an autograph or a high five and then they are off.

With the Disney meet and greet from chase it's VERY personalized. It's just your family in a room with the characters for at least ten minutes. If it's not busy they will let you stay longer. They will interact with you on a basis that is so cool.

If you enjoy the Winnie the pooh characters then I would suggest the character buffet at crystal palace. I think that has been our favorite character interaction for a meal. For princesses Akershus is the best. For Mickey Pluto goofy and chip and Dale I would say garden grill is the best for them.

[Janmac]

The only character dinner we do is 1900 Park Fare, because of the Tremaines. They are a hoot. Whether or not it's worth the price is up to the individual.

We also do a character breakfast - out of pocket - every morning because we like having a lot of food to choose from and because we don't like waiting in line to visit with characters in the parks. When kids in our extended family were very young they would only interact with characters at meals. That was when we could get photos of kids with characters.

As for worth, we live in a rural area with restaurants few and far between and those are the country kind that serve fried stuff smothered in gravy. We rarely eat out. So, as one astute poster noted here on Intercot (apologies: forget who it was), if we pay "high prices" for one week out of 103 weeks (one trip every two years), we're probably not hurting ourselves financially.

We also do the DDP, but use our TS credits for suppers, generally at World Showcase restaurants.

Jan

[minnie-mouse]

If you have kids, it is fun to take them to see characters but the breakfasts are a great option too, much cheaper.

[lighteningqueen]

We just got back and went to these places

Crystals breakfast not so good anymore few offerings

Tusker Breakfast used to be a favorite just ok now and characters just do not linger anymore hardly long enough to sign the book.

We were 1 of about 20 tables crystals on a sat morning jan 21 last week. Not like it used to be in any of the character places

1900 dinner. Horrible food bloody meat the sisters were not very amusing no life to them
stepmother didnt say 4 words signed the book and left. very disappointed

Akershus good platter princess interaction ok not long but mary poppins was there ODD with cindy aurora,snow white very limited jasmine wasnt even anywhere ..

This trip the food was not good the atmosphere was depressing, familys fighting no smiles. I will never go back with crowds this huge and for that fact several years. We know what to expect on the rides shows no changes since we first went in 2007 how do people go so much, the magic is gone..

[whitney37354]

We did every character meal except Beach Club breakfast & that was just because it would have been out of our way & we saw those characters at other meals. The food was nothing outstanding, but O'hana breakfast was better than the rest.

I chose to have two character meals per day almost every day of our trip because I didn't want to stand in the hot sun in lines for hours. We had to take breaks to eat anyway, we were on DlxDP, so why not kill two birds with one stone?

I don't plan to do more character meals unless one comes out with different characters than we saw on our first trip.

[disneymomma2010]

We travel as a very large family (13), including mother in law, and everyone always loves Ohana's breakfast. I think if you want to see Mickey and keep everyone happy Ohana is one of the best. We always try to do 2 or 3 character meals every trip that way my kids feel no need to stand in line for an hour to see the characters because they have already seen them. Like one other poster said "kill two birds with one stone". Chef Mickey's is also another good one. We always try to even it out. We do a few character meals to please the kids and the other meals are the adults pick. Keeps everyone happy. It's definately worth it to us. We adults actually enjoy the character meals too:secret:

[Ricbr]

We always try to do 2 or 3 character meals every trip that way my kids feel no need to stand in line for an hour to see the characters because they have already seen them. Like one other poster said "kill two birds with one stone". Chef Mickey's is also another good one.

I agree with this entirely. You get to see all of the major characters at one time and you dont need to wait in lines taking away from the precious park time that you get. Chef Mickey's let you see Mickey, Donald, Goofey, Pluto and Minnie. If you wanted to see them in a park you can basically say goodbye to at least half of a day.

The food at Chef Mickeys is just ok in my opinion. But as others mentioned it is about the characters. It is also nice to plan a stop here on a day that you would be in the Magic Kingdom. It gives you a nice break from the park and you can either take the Monorail or walk to the resort. It is very convenient.