Ok~ how much are YOU willing to pay to eat with the characters??

[Carrieberry]

Seeing all of these posts about the price increases on the character breakfasts have got me wondering. How much would you be willing to pay (adult price) before saying "No more character breakafasts!" I say "breakfast" because you almost always are guaranteed to eat less food. So what's your magic number??

I, personally, would never pay over $18 for a breakfast or $26 for a lunch or dinner with the characters. I am only willing to go this high because we don't go often and I firmly believe these meals are special, but there has to be a limit!

 

[daannzzz]

we don't do breakfast very often ( always eat in the room) but I don't think I would pay more than $15. I don't enjoy breakfast foods as much as lunch and dinner so it is mostly the character encounter I would be paying for. I would go up to $25 for lunch or dinner depending on the food and atmosphere.

 

[zulaya]

These price increases have got me thinking about not doing character meals, or at the very least not doing as many. $15 is still a large amount of money for a breakfast. $20 - that gets me a very nice meal here at home. Perhaps the character meals were becoming too popular and this is Disney's way of controlling supply and demand.

I think it's going to get them a lot more complaints and turn people off from eating in the parks, personally.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Not a cent until I have grandchildren.

 

[travelitis]

We prefer character lunch, but the price increases aren't having a big impact on our plans. While we don't like the increases, a couple of bucks per person isn't enough to get us to cancel a meal that is so exciting for our 3 kids, especially given the overall price of the trip. We're already spending so much, what's another $7 extra to eat at Garden Grill?

There are still enough guests willing to pay these ridiculous prices (myself included) to keep from being on a character hunt the rest of the trip. It's an investment in our sanity and quality of life, too. Disney will charge as much as they can and still fill the seats.

 

[Mom of 5]

I don't think I'd be willing to pay anymore than we paid in January for either character breakfasts or dinners. I think it was $16.99 and $21.99, respectively. It really adds up fast with a family of seven .

 

[crisi]

I agree with travelitis.

We have paid $20-$25 a head here for a buffet breakfast. Mother's Day, Easter Brunch....this is what they run - without characters.

Although I don't think Disney is charging whatever they can (or they'd be charging a lot more for Cindy's). I've really noticed my grocery bill increase this past year - I would imagine Disney has also seen inflation in the amount they pay for food and we are seeing those higher prices passed along.

 

[eeyore0062]

Since we only usually do one character meal per trip, we don't do breakfast very often, and it is a special thing... I would pay up to $20 for breakfast and $30 for dinner for adults. I have more of a problem with the increase in the kids prices, because they tend to be so excited, they don't eat much anyway.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I find it "interesting" that these price increases come at the same time they are taking the Character caravan away(and bringing back ee)! So now if you want to spend time with a character(besides in the parks), you will pay the higher price .

 

[DMRick]

and bringing back ee

Where have I been? They are bringing back early entry, and charging for it?

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Um, no! They ARE bringing back ee Oct 1. Character caravan is ending Sept 30th. SO, you pay a higher fee for character breakfasts starting around this date. Therefore my conclusion !

 

[Carrieberry]

I totally agree. I didn't know about the bringing back of EE, ahem excuse me, "Magic Hour", until I saw your reply BibbidiBobbidiBoo, but I would be willing to bet the raise in cost of the character meals is the direct result of the reinstating of the program. You are absolutely right, if you don't want to wait in line for hours to see the characters in the parks, then you have no other option then handing over your precious money for a character meal. Therefore, the loss of charcater caravans leaves us little choice but to shell out the money for the meals, which I will surely still do. Glad to have the Magic Hour again though!

 

[Magic2000]

I think I'll pay the $20 for breakfast at CRT, but I don't know that I'd go much higher. Since the price increase, it will only be my DD and me - the other 2 kids and hubby will be riding rides (they aren't really interested in the breakfast anyway).
It makes my daughter so happy to see her princesses!

 

[Luv2Roam]

No little kids here -- just big kids DH & I.
We aren't big enough breakfast eaters to ever pay much. We have eaten at LTT and Garden Grill. But sans characters is better anyway for us. I wouldn't pay more to have them there. If they are there fine. If not, that's good too.
With kids in tow, it would be a whole different story.
So I gess the price increase on characters meals is kinda of a luxury tax.
Like the AP increase just recently, don't the prices normally increase every January? So did they raise the $ in January and now too? And will they have their usual price increase in January too?

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Ok~ how much are YOU willing to pay to eat with the characters??

We will not change any of our plans for this trip, which includes 4 character meals & the Ice Cream Social. I'm pretty sure that our next trip will not have as many character meals.

 

[eeyore0062]

You know, what I find so funny is that when we had the Character Caravan, no one liked it, went to it, etc. Well folks, Disney listened to you... you got EE back, now called Magical Mornings, and now the complaints start about only being able to see the characters at the parks and at the meals. BTW, the character meals haven't risen in price for a few years,,, yes, it does coincide with bringing back "magical mornings" and getting rid of CC, but it is also the beginning of the new fiscal year for Disney, so it doesn't seem very weird that this is the time they choose to make their changes.

Careful what you wish for!!!!

 

[dvc guy]

Breakfast is not worth it. A VERY large wast of time that could be spent in the parks. The dinners are a better value , but not cheap. A least by the end of the day the kids will sit and eat a little.

 

[polyfan]

No matter what is done- not everyone will be pleased. some like the characters at the hotels, others could careless. Character meals have gone up in price over the past several years. I save receipts, (although not very organized)from each year, and looking back have found a steady increase. Ex. Donalds's breakfast- 2000- 14.95, 2002- 15.95, Chef Mickeys- 1999- 19.95, 2002- 21.99. I found a Chef Mickey's from 1997 and the price was 18.95.

 

[Planogirl]

Unfortunately our son isn't interested in the characters any more so we'll only be dining in restaurants where we enjoy the food or ambience characters or not. That does include breakfast at the Crystal Palace so I guess that we'll just have to pay the higher prices. We probably won't bother with the other character restaurants though.

 

[bethie]

I am willing to pay for at least one breakfast/dinner per trip! I wouldn't dream of going to Disney without at least one meal with my Disney buddies.