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character meetings
- Thread starter alac1980
- Start date
allidog1
Active Member
It all depends on you and your family as to is it worth it, and as Lucky said some characters you can only find in certain locations. If you have the My Disney Experience App on your phone you can see where and when certain characters will be places, if you have certain ones you want to see.
IWantMyMagicBand
Well-Known Member
Last time we went we did Mickeys Café (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto), Donald's Safari Breakfast (same as before but great M&G with Donald before you go in), Princesses at Akershus (Belle greets the guests, then we met Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White & Sleeping Beauty), Cinderellas Royal Table (Cinderella greets then we met Snow White, Belle (in her village outfit), Sleeping Beauty and Ariel, the one at 1900 Park Fare in Grand Floridian (Pooh, Tigger, Mad Hatter, Alice, Mary Poppins). The only one we actually queued up for was Rapunzel, over an hour with no shade, though as my daughter was dressed as Rapunzel with a pascal, it was a great interaction but nothing we wouldn't have got at a table if she was on the rota.
We bumped into Fairy Godmother and Alice. We queued for 10 minutes for Chip n Dale.
My verdict is if you can meet the characters you want in a meal then do the meal as it saves time, and my kids ate better at character meals as there was distraction and they had to be good for the characters.
If there is a character "out in the open" they want to meet they are given the choice of queuing or going on a ride. It's up to them.
Edit: Chef Mickey's. I had Disneyland Paris in my head while writing!
We bumped into Fairy Godmother and Alice. We queued for 10 minutes for Chip n Dale.
My verdict is if you can meet the characters you want in a meal then do the meal as it saves time, and my kids ate better at character meals as there was distraction and they had to be good for the characters.
If there is a character "out in the open" they want to meet they are given the choice of queuing or going on a ride. It's up to them.
Edit: Chef Mickey's. I had Disneyland Paris in my head while writing!
Last edited:
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
A whole lot of depends. Do you want all of your character pictures to have people eating in the background? Or do you want full family pictures? Character meals don't lend themselves well to either scenario. They have no dedicated handlers, so you end up having to ask another guest to take your picture of the whole group, or track down a wait staff with a free hand.
I can't say that we find more or less time in either scenario. Now being 2 young adults with no kids might affect this, but I've had characters in both places do the quick pose, now move on just as likely as we have a full on interaction.
I can't say that we find more or less time in either scenario. Now being 2 young adults with no kids might affect this, but I've had characters in both places do the quick pose, now move on just as likely as we have a full on interaction.
DizneyPryncess
Well-Known Member
This is pretty much my exact feeling also. I love character meals, but the pictures with the characters from them are not usually my favorites. We're always kind of standing between tables, and usually either DH or I will be in the picture with DD while the other one takes it. Some of the backdrops for certain characters in the parks make for better photographs. However not waiting in tons of waits is nice too. We always do a character meal or two, just to guarantee that we meet the main characters that we want to meet. Then if the lines aren't bad in the parks, we'll wait to meet our favorites there too.
MaryJaneP
Well-Known Member
If there is a limited number (i.e. one or two) or specific characters your family HAS to see, then waiting in a long line at a M&G may be the only way to get an uninterrupted picture in a nice scene. Not all characters do M&G, and even fewer appear at character meals. However, I personally dislike what I consider wasting time waiting in a M&G line. I also like the dual purpose of getting food while simultaneously getting some pictures of the kids with Winnie, Tigger, etc. I never really was concerned that our pictures of character meals often had others chowing down in the background. It really is a personal preference for your family. You can best determine which strategy applies where and when you find the opportunity arises.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
As others have noted...it all depends on the character/setting. We have done tons of character meals each trip just b/c I figure you have to eat, so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone. This approach drastically cut down on our time doing M&Gs outside of meals. We still did a few to cover characters we couldn't meet at meals and have done others just to pass the time in a few situations.