How many character meals without the dining plan

[GeezeLouise]

I wanted to ask how many character meals people generally get if they are those NOT on the dining plan. They are over 200 for each for my family it seems. But so much fun!

Is four too much? 1900 Park Faire is a must for dinner. That is not negotiable. I want to do Cape May but I think my kids might also really like Ohana's or Garden Grill. (My son is a big chip and dale fan these days.) I'd love to go back to Artist's Point but that seems excessive.

And I do want to got the new space restaurant. That is something both mine would go ape over.

Do people do a lot of these or only on the dining plan. (We aren't staying at Disney, so that's not possible.)

 

[cedricandsophie]

We never get the dining plan. And we are dvc members and we have tables in wonderland card so we do get a 20% discount on most places. We go for two weeks every March and generally do two character meals. I like ohana for breakfast. I have not done cape May for characters but have eaten there. We were at the Snow White dinner at artist point last year, we didn’t like it but you will get lots of differing opinions.

 

[buzznina]

4 is WAY to many for us, not only the cost, but all the park time we would spend sitting in a restaurant. We normally do 1 (if any) TS meals because of how much park time it takes away, so when we do, it will normally be 1 character meal. The only time I suggest the DP is if you are doing a number of character meals, other than that we never found it worth it.

 

[Shelleyfs]

You know what you can afford and where you want to spend you money and time. When the kids were little we did as many as we could. It was all about the memories. Now they are teens, we may do one. My daughter doesn't like character meals. She doesn't like having to plan when to eat, can she go to the bathroom, etc.

 

[kiramay]

Typically, paying oop for 2 adults, 2 Disney adults, and 1 child, we do Chef Mickey’s, Crystal Palace, Biergarten, Sci Fi, and BOG lunch. (So two character meals.)

One trip we had free dining and also did 1900 PF and Tusker House.

This upcoming trip we did buy the DP and we’re doing 4 character meals plus Biergarten, Sci Fi and BOG.

I like having a TS around lunchtime each day to sit, relax, and cool down.

 

[MomOTwins]

We have a family of 5 and for our upcoming trip we are still doing a character meal each day without the DDP. We love characters but do not like the format of the in-park meet and greet (long waits, feeling like you are going through a meet n greet factory instead of having characters walk up to you, awkwardly trying to get photos on my iphone while the photopass guy or gal gets my kids to look at their camera instead). It is just what you want to spend money on I guess. We never get the fireworks parties, don't shop at the Disney stores, and don't do bippity boppety boutique so meals are our only "bonus" expense and for us character meals are worth it every time.

 

[NickC]

I don't think 4 is too much if you are comfortable with the price and that is what you enjoy about WDW. I'm sure we've done 4 in one trip OOP before.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I wanted to ask how many character meals people generally get if they are those NOT on the dining plan. They are over 200 for each for my family it seems. But so much fun!

Is four too much? 1900 Park Faire is a must for dinner. That is not negotiable. I want to do Cape May but I think my kids might also really like Ohana's or Garden Grill. (My son is a big chip and dale fan these days.) I'd love to go back to Artist's Point but that seems excessive.

And I do want to got the new space restaurant. That is something both mine would go ape over.

Do people do a lot of these or only on the dining plan. (We aren't staying at Disney, so that's not possible.)

It depends upon your budget and which character sets you like as well as your aversion to lines for the meet and greets. We usually do 3 or so.

 

[sponica]

We did two on my last trip, if we're there 7 to 10 days next time, we'll probably do more.

A) we have to eat
B) I can either "waste" time in a line to do a meet and greet or "waste" time eating

I don't put a premium on my park time anymore. It ain't going anywhere.

 

[westie55]

It's really about what you are comfortable spending. Character meals are pricey, no question, but with small children we usually do a couple per trip when we are not on the dining plan. This trip we do have the dining plan, so we are doing a character meal every day

I agree that I don't view character meals as wasting time. I don't like to use FP for character meets or wait in line for them, so this is our opportunity to meet the characters without a wait. If you feel like you might have too many character meals booked, perhaps consider doing meals that don't have overlap to avoid redundancy.

 

[jliucci]

I think only you can decide if 4 is too much. Only you know what you can afford and what your family can tolerate. We did 5 (1900, Ohana, Askershus, Chef Mickey,Bon Voyage) in November with our 2.5 yo but we were on the dining plan. 5 worked great for us! She LOVED seeing the Princesses & Mickey, we didn't have to wait in line at the parks and i got some great pictures.

 

[Tessaf]

It’s honestly what you’re comfortable with in terms of the cost. For us, the cost to be able to sit and meet the characters are worth it. We have never done DDP and did 8 character meals on our last trip and probably just as many on the next.
Can they take a little longer time wise? Yes... but I look at is as I can either sit and and enjoying a meal with we wait for the characters to come over (while enjoying a/c) or stand in lines (some outside) to meet these characters.

 

[WIll C]

Over 2 trips, my wife and I did a lot of the character meals. No kids but we like the characters ourselves. Cost is whatever you can tolerate and we had the dining plan and if we didn't use it, we had an AP discount.
1900 was certainly the best dinner we had. Chef Mickey's was not worth the price and the food was mediocre. Crystal Palace was in the middle. Food was decent but 1900 was better. We loved the Pooh characters though.
We did Cape May for breakfast and it is our favorite. We stayed at Boardwalk so it was easier to get to than Garden Grill but if you have some C&D fans, then you might want to do that instead.
Didn't care for Ohana's at breakfast as the place seems too crowded being a big open room. Also don't like the family style delivery. Prefer the buffets. Depending on how busy it is, you may have to wait a long time to see everyone.

 

[sethschroeder]

(We aren't staying at Disney, so that's not possible.)

Have you run the numbers to staying at Disney? Possibly renting points in DVC? Then getting the dining plan?

I only ask because I know people talk about how dining plan becomes a good deal under the dining plan but otherwise is not worth it.

 

[3gr8boys]

Our trip last April was four "Disney Adults." We had 6 park days with at least one TS meal a day (QS grazing other meals), including 3 character meals. We still ended up spending less (tips and all) than the dining plan would have cost- partially because we don't typically order DDP style (entree-dessert-alcoholic beverage) at non AYCTE restaurants. DS12 tended to order kids meals, we like appetizers, did not want specialty beverages and tended to not prefer the pricier entrees. It is a matter of both $math and personal preference. I really enjoy character meals and I know that my kids won't wait in line for characters.

(1900 Park Fare dinner is on my list for next February- never been )

ETA we had food in our resort room for light breakfasts and snacking.

 

[epcotobsessed]

0-1. We have tried all of them other than Storybook Dining and the only ones worth it to us are Garden Grill and Akershus.

 

[NYCgrrl]

No character meals on or off the dining plans since my mini traveling companions have no interest.
When we've several signature meals planned we generally do a dining plan.

 

[illinidp]

al Forno breakfast would be our only possibility

 

[Castlequeen5]

Our family loves character meals. We always do several each trip and we've never been on the dining plan. Our favorites were Crystal Palace and Akershus. But the interaction at 1900 with Cinderella and the stepsisters was a hoot! I think it just depends on your budget and what your priorities are. This summer we are using the dining plan for the first time, so we are trying some new character meals, plus repeating a few of our favorites.

 

[Mainemama]

We usually do two, with or without DDP. We like characters, don’t love them, and I enjoy more peaceful sit down meals. We also aren’t huge buffet eaters. (But we are also doing 1 buffet that isn’t a character meal. Garden Grill breakfast is our favorite— it feels intimate and is served family style!