character meals- are they worth it?

[allisch]

We are traveling with our two daughters, ages 2 and 7. Are character meals really with it? What would the cost be for a family of 4 to eat and do you feel the food is worth the cost? This is our third time going to Disney with the kiddos, but our first actually making dining reservations. We are staying off site, if that makes any difference.

 

[melissafox18]

It's your choice on the definition of worth. Character meals are know super well known dor their cuisine. You are more paying for the experience.

 

[Pooh2]

We enjoyed Ohana breakfast and Garden Grill because the meal is brought family style to your table so you do not have to worry about missing characters while up at the buffet. Characters meals are a nice way to get photos and interaction with the characters instead of waiting in a long line in the park. I would say give one a try and see if it's worth it to your family!

 

[mum2four]

We find the food to be decent at character meals, but nothing special. However, it's worth the cost to us because we save a LOT of time not waiting to meet as many characters in the parks.

On our last trip, our girls were 6 and 3 and they absolutely loved the character meals. We met Mickey and friends, Pooh and friends and five princesses - 14 characters total over the course of three meals. That cut down on a lot of character lines we didn't have to wait on in the park!

We are a family of six, so I understand your concern about the cost, but we will probably continue to do character meals until my kids are no longer interested in meeting them.

 

[Mousemommy1]

When our girls were younger, we booked a lot of character meals. They are great for the experience, but the food has ranged from BLAH to decent. We have done most of them now, so don't do as many. Now we typically do one per trip. They are fun. I'll give them that.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

The cost varies depending on the location, season and meal time. Being worth it or not depends on what you are looking for. They definitely don't have the best food on property but we have enjoyed some good food at character meals. If your children really want to meet a certain character, a character meal can save you time because you won't have to wait in line to meet them later.

Our favorite character meal is breakfast at Cape May Cafe (no characters at dinner). Garden Grill and Crystal Palace are others that we enjoy. I have heard great things about Tusker House but have never personally been there. Chef Mickey's is one of the most expensive but has some of the worst food and atmosphere, in my opinion.

 

[tazadd0420]

Since 2 girls I would recommend akerhaus. 4 princesses, just not Cinderella. Buffet, but this is the one meal I actually like. Works if early morning people. This would also set you up for getting to frozen line early if set time right.

Also recommend garden grill. Food is decent. Have kids meal. Both family style. Also good character interaction.
Agree with other posts. Paying for the experience, not necessarily the food.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

The 2 year old would be free. I think it's worth it. We prefer breakfasts/brunch because they tend to be cheaper and some are definitely better than others for us. Our favorites are Garden Grill and Tusker House... followed by Cape May, Ohana's and Chef Mickey's is our least favorite I would say. The princess one at Askershus is nice but pricey out of pocket in my opinion.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

In the past we have only eaten at chef mickeys and crystal palace (my son is a huge fan of tigger, so crystal palace is a must for us!). You should not be charged for your 2 year old, she can share someone's plate if at a buffet. As for other cost when we ate at chef mickeys for me my son and my hubby it was around $110 and that was 2 years ago (that included gratuities) and crystal palace was around $70. So you are basically paying for the experience bc honestly the food is not really worth $70-$100. This time around we have the deluxe dining plan so we have booked all the character dining lol. Good luck in your decision about a character meal. If I had to choose between chef mickeys and crystal palace I would definitely choose crystal palace

 

[jgive]

My toddler has always loved the character meals (from 15 months to 2 years). I think it depends on if your kids like the characters. We have done Chef Mickey, Garden Grill, and Play & Dine. He loved them all. I'm glad we haven't had to pay for his meal yet because he always too excited to eat. Lol

 

[wdw4rfam]

We think so, we do one everyday. For us, it is one less line you have to wait in, they come to you. Another is its a break from the heat and craziness of the park where you can just take a break.

 

[allisch]

My toddler has always loved the character meals (from 15 months to 2 years). I think it depends on if your kids like the characters. We have done Chef Mickey, Garden Grill, and Play & Dine. He loved them all. I'm glad we haven't had to pay for his meal yet because he always too excited to eat. Lol

Do they not charge for meals for kids under the age of 3?

 

[Tagstime]

We have done a bunch,Garden Grill we thought was always the best. The Characters always seem less rushed there per table and they seem to make a few rounds .. There are many time's we have had and seen Chip and Dale and Mickey just want to sit and hang out a few minutes..Not rushed like CP and some other places. The food is always good there also as said already Family style so its all brought to you. Fun place overall even with moving room for different views during dinner.

 

[melglnh2o]

We did CRT for breakfast on our last trip with our 3 year old daughter. It was expensive for breakfast and the food was nothing special, but seeing the smile and excitement on my daughter's face was more than worth it!! Plus we had an early ressie so we were in MK before it opened and got some great pics in front of the castle without any people in the picture.

 

[supergoofy]

Been forever since we have been to the World so I cannot comment specifics on there but have done Land numerous times and like posted we find it saves a lot of time in line elsewhere for autographs. I have 2 daughters and a son so princesses are a must.

We are not a breakfast family so I skip those and go for lunch. I like the lunch time better as we find morning is prime time touring. By lunch we need a break and if it is a hot day its all that much better.


With Disney the concept of worth is hard to define. We either spend money to do a buffet or we spend time in lines. For me it is worth it to do the buffets. I have yet to have a bad character meal at Disney but at the same time I have yet to have a meal that was exceptional.


We are going to the World in August and I asked my kids what they wanted to eat

I got ADR's for Crystal Palace for my oldest DD, Akerhaus for my youngest DD and my son wanted O Hana but since it is breakfast and out of a park it was hard to fit so I showed him Tusker House and he said that was just as good. This will be a 5 full days in park, 1 day water park and 1/2 day on day we fly home trip. I feel meeting all the Princesses minus the ones at Storytale Hall, all the Pooh characters and Donald, Daisy and Mickey and Goofy will certainly help our time out.

 

[mickeynut1]

We are traveling with our two daughters, ages 2 and 7. Are character meals really with it? What would the cost be for a family of 4 to eat and do you feel the food is worth the cost? This is our third time going to Disney with the kiddos, but our first actually making dining reservations. We are staying off site, if that makes any difference.

I think the character meals are worth it. We love them and still do a couple each trip, even though our boys are now young adults. I think they are fun at any age as they add a different experience to each trip and while some of the character meals aren't the best food wise, some of the character interaction can't be beat, IMO.

 

[dismom22]

We did CRT for breakfast on our last trip with our 3 year old daughter. It was expensive for breakfast and the food was nothing special, but seeing the smile and excitement on my daughter's face was more than worth it!! Plus we had an early ressie so we were in MK before it opened and got some great pics in front of the castle without any people in the picture.

Definitely this!! Food wasn't that great but the experience was worth using 2 credits on the dining plan at CRT. Idk if we would do it if we hadn't gotten the "free dining". We also got there early, before rope drop and got some good pictures. Our daughter was 3.5 when we went in September and we loved the character meals!

H&V's Play & Dine wasn't anything special food wise, nor was the theming great. They actually closed the buffet right after we got our first plate. We paid over $25 a plate and my husband got a bowl of oatmeal and a few other things. We weren't happy. It was between breakfast & lunch...there was hardly anyone there. It was the "old" characters. I would say we wouldn't do it again but now that Doc & Sofia are there we might.

Our favorites were Ohana & Tusker House. At TH, the setting is awesome and we had ADR's at like 10 so we ended up getting some breakfast & lunch. Food was great. We liked the family style of Ohana and the setting. Loved the Poly! We would do both of those and probably Akershus next time rather than CRT.

 

[melissafox18]

Do they not charge for meals for kids under the age of 3?

Children under 3 are free at buffets and they can have their own plate.

 

[Dad2PrincessesPirate]

We did 3 Character meals for the kids first trip last month (DD9, DD6, DS2).
Akershus breakfast-Good. Tables too close together, felt rushed since we were one of the last tables to be seated before the princesses came out. At least the server set a large plate of food to start off (eggs, potato casserole, bacon and sausage).
Tusker House lunch-Excellent. Buffet was fantastic. Plenty of variety with beef and pork carving station. The characters came by a couple of times and stayed at each table as long as u wanted them.
Cinderella Royal Table-So so. The princesses and atmosphere were great. A little annoyed that I could not order food for my DS (2 1/2). Guess I missed that when I made the reservation. 2 under can "plate share." Dont know about other kids, but my two year old wouldn't be happy when everyone else got a plate of food placed in front of him/her.

Yes, it looks like I'm nick picking. Overall, it was great for the kids and that's all that matters.

 

[Julie1374]

My kids, 4 and 7, love it, and this way we don't have to wait in the parks.
Most of the time the food has been really good with a few exceptions but it's all a matter of taste and opinion.
If your not on a dining plan we have done a 2pm seating and it was lunch dinner combined and just had a snack later.