Character Dining or Signature Only - $ no object/kids involved

[HouCuseChickie]

The question: if you were traveling with young children who love meeting characters and there was no real budget limit, would you deny those children character meals and other fun non-signature meals just b/c the food quality, etc. is not on par with signature dining?

Obviously, this is not my philosophy, but I'm still in shock over another person's refusal/reluctance to do anything but signature with their preschool age kids. I'll spare you all of the snobbery and condescension, but I just can't fathom not balancing things with kids of this age so they at least get some fun meals.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Me, personally, it was always where my son wanted to go, and never did signature restaurants when he was little. (Well, they weren't called signature then) First time we went to Crystal Palace years ago, we didnt care for it (DS LOVED it) so we went back the following year and really enjoyed it. Maybe its just me, but when my son was little, it was all about him and reliving my Disney childhood memories when I was his age, now (hes 23) we relive HIS childhood every time we step on Disney property.

 

[Mukta]

Each year I try to take someone different with me to WDW. Whether I take an adut or a child, I try to find restaurants that appeal to everyone. If I plan a trip that takes everyone's preferences into consideration, everyone is happier.
If I was taking young children, I would try to find a compromise. I might do a breakfast at Cape May where I enjoy the food and there are characters

 

[crispy]

We don't do signature with the girls and probably won't until they are much older (they are 4 and 6 now). They are well-behaved, but I think they are too young and I don't want to interfere with other people's dining experiences.

We do try to find a balance when choosing where we eat though. I don't mind doing character meals, but I also want them to experience different food and restaurants, and I want to have quieter meals sometimes. This comjing trip, we have 6 ADRs and I think it's a nice balance. We have three character meals (Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, and Tusker House), two places we haven't tried before (the previously mentioned Garden Grill and Rose & Crown), and two fun, old favorites ('50s Primetime and 'Ohana). I think it's a good mix and everyone gets to do something they want.

 

[englanddg]

No way would I cut out character meals when traveling with a child. Even if I was going with adults, they are fun (though, I wouldn't do quite so many).

That being said, my daughter (now 7) enjoys signature dines, and has been doing them since she was 4. She loves going to Le Cellier (the fancy place with the waterfalls, she calls it, due to the bridge and stream near the entrance), and her favorite restaurant of all of them is Living Seas (The Shark Tank, she calls it). She ASKS for these places now, and now that we've done Jikos, she really wants to go back there, but she doesn't want to step on the dead giraffe rugs though, so she would like me to carry her to the restaurant (I tried to explain that it was not real giraffe skin *shrug*).

 

[zurgandfriend]

Our son really enjoyed the California Grill at an early age, and still does. The view, coupled with watching wishes from the roof. The brown derby with Mickey Mouse pasta in the chicken soup was also one of his favorites. He did get bored in Artist Point and some of the other signatures so on later trips we usually watched the DVD before we made ADRs and to see if there was any interest. My dear wife and I left him at the cubs den once to go to V&A and he loved it and didn't want to leave.

 

[ShookieJones]

Yeah no brainer. I be loving me some food. The quality of the food is super important to me.
But there is something a little more important than that...my kids enjoyment.
When there Mac n' Cheese Chicken Nugget eating rugrats, We were all about the character meals.
They're a lot older now and their tastes have definitely changed so we're rocking a signature or two here and there but guess what?
We still ain't missing a stop at either Garden Grill or Chef Mickey's to see our furry friends.

 

[rufio]

I don't have children, but I would assume that the trip would be more about the child's experience, not the parents. Of course, the parents would want to enjoy themselves as well, but it seems to me that there has to be a balance.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I think that when we have kids we'll probably try to strike a balance. We'll take them to the character meals and family-friendly places, but also take the opportunity to introduce them to fine dining. Disney World strikes me as a friendly place to get kids used to behaving well in nicer restaurants, actually. I'm sure we'll also take advantage of the babysitting and daycare options so that we can enjoy a grown-up experience or two.

That said, I'm really enjoying this childfree time in our lives right now where it's still all about us.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Thanks all- at least I know I'm not going crazy in this. I mean, I know we'd do far less character dining if we didn't have the kids with us and we do like to change it up even when they are part of the mix, so a true signature meal with the girls isn't unheard of either. I was just so shocked...I'd never heard a parent w/5-figure WDW vacay budget unwilling to do any character meal solely on food quality. I figured of all people, she'd grasp that sometimes $ buys you an experience and the food is secondary.

 

[cornandacobb]

I'm not too too crazy about character meals. We did 3 on our first trip 6 years ago(ages 6 an 2) and that was a bit much. Two years later(ages 8 and 4) we did zero. And two years after that(10 and 6) zero again.
This year (ages 12, 8, 22 months) we have one character meal....and a handful of signature meals(Blue Zoo, Il Mulino, Brown Derby, Jiko).
Our kids have never clamored for character meals, and we have given them a choice. We'll always stop at character spots in the parks though(if lines aren't too long). And we'll spoil them throughout the trip with stuff other than characters.

 

[luvtink]

Character meals are so fun for the kids! I have done many with my daughter and now that she's 18, we still do them, just not as many. Kids are only kids for a very short time and the best place to be a kid is Disney! You are not crazy, I am with you in this. I just don't understand their parent's thinking on this one.

 

[Crush Dude!]

We do both our 9 year old has always loved both and her Fave spot .... Cali Grill

 

[Blueskyze]

Absolutely not! When our son (who just turned 7) is with us, it's all about making the magic happen for him. We did multiple character meals on our last trip, and he absolutely loved every one of them (and we completely enjoyed all of them except one). We have also done an adults-only trip, and that was when we spoiled ourselves and ate at all the places that we wanted to. As he gets older, I'm sure we will find a balance, but for now - bring on the characters!

 

[dreamfinder]

Character Dining may not be haute cuisine, but it is still decent food. And with kids, it's totally worth it. That's not to say I would be opposed to dropping them off at the Neverland club (or whatever it happens to be called at the nearest resort) so Mom and Dad can have a nice meal once during the trip, but WDW is for the kids as much as the adults.

 

[Mkgoulden]

HB & I have no problem taking our kids (DS8, DD7, & DS6) to signature restaurants. They are well behaved & love an assortment of foods (prefer grilled salmon or chicken fingers & asparagus over fries, etc.).

That being said, we balance our trips with them between Signatures & characters....you are at Disney, you gotta be a kid!!! I am usually the bigger kid when the characters come around.

This trip is an adults only trip, and I am pouting because HB and I did not book any character meals....so I will have to be content to wait in the meet & greet lines

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I just think it all came down to food for this person. i.e. the kids are well behaved in the siganture meals and like them well enough, it's just that they are also children who like characters. I could see skipping character meals if your child is fearful or just not interested and I could see saying no signatures if the children haven't had enough dining experience to behave well in a nicer setting, but this all came down to food quality...which still kind of bugged me. I'm not triyng to say Citrico's and CRT are on par from a food perspective, but if you have people in your party who could appreciate both and you have the means to do both- why eliminate the character meal b/c of inferior food? And really, in most cases the food is not going to be inedible swill...in some cases it's even very good.

The good news- I think I'm making some headway.

 

[wiigirl]

No way would I cut out character meals when traveling with a child. Even if I was going with adults, they are fun (though, I wouldn't do quite so many).

That being said, my daughter (now 7) enjoys signature dines, and has been doing them since she was 4. She loves going to Le Cellier (the fancy place with the waterfalls, she calls it, due to the bridge and stream near the entrance), and her favorite restaurant of all of them is Living Seas (The Shark Tank, she calls it). She ASKS for these places now, and now that we've done Jikos, she really wants to go back there, but she doesn't want to step on the dead giraffe rugs though, so she would like me to carry her to the restaurant (I tried to explain that it was not real giraffe skin *shrug*).

I would do anything charector related...my kids love character meal and signatures....Le Cellier and Cali Grill are their favs..

 

[RedBaron]

If money were no object, sure, I would go to a character breakfast every day. I love that. I still remember the old days when my mom and I would go (probably late 80's and 90's and I was in my late teens and early 20's), and when you booked a room at a Disney resort you were given a choice of free gifts for staying and one choice was always a character breakfast which is the choice we always took since we figured it was one meal we did not have to pay for and it was fun. Now that I have my own kids (5 (almost 6) & 8) when it comes to fine dining at diner, my daughter is easy to please with food and loves all kinds of fish and meats, but my son is real problem. He has been a vegetarian since he was old enough to eat solids and I can only force so much food into him (he is the kind of kid that would rather go to bed than eat a spoon full of what ever I made for dinner so it is a real challenge). I probably would not be able to take him unless they would really be able to humor me with fancy PB&J or plain pasta or mac and cheese with a side of what ever fruit and veggie. They are well behaved so I would not be worried about that. Right now I am worried about taking him to any sit down restaurant anywhere in WDW .