No more characters at Liberty Tree Tavern??

[WDW1974]

Dude...I am the original character meal hater...from way back!

I bet I hated them before you did!:ROFLOL:

Seriously, remember when there was only ONE character meal on property? Breakfast on the Empress Lilly. Those were the good days.

Absolutely. The characters have been chased out, now it's time to bring back a normal menu.

Seriously, I've been making this point in several threads.
One restaurant per park is enough for character meals. MK already had Crystal Palace, so there was no need to contaminate Liberty Tree and especially Royal Table. It's bad enough MK doesn't have something on the level of Blue Bayou, now we have to dash for Tony's to avoid character meals and set menus? Horrible.

I won't eat at Tony's. You never know if it's going to be just OK or godawful. For me, it's lunch at LTT, dinner at Plaza or I am not having a full serve meal at MK.

They are like a plague that has spread all over WDW.

Some of my favorite places ... from Good Turn/Garden Grill to King Stefan's to Crystal Palace were tooned and now I don't dine at them.

But these places are incredibly popular because Disney has conditioned guests that meals with foamheads are part of the magic ... not for me!

 

[surfsupdon]

My wish is to rid Crystal Palace of characters. That was a great place to eat before characters. We always started with a light breakfast there while my mom got a cup of coffee. It was beautiful inside.

Haven't been since its gone to the characters. Boo!!

 

[NewfieFan]

Wow, not a lot of love for the character meals around here, is there!?! I like them (please don't hate me)! I have two young children and I think they're great. My kids get to see characters without waiting in a long queue, they're entertained while they're eating (and I enjoy it too), and most of the food has been great!

I ate at LTT for the first time this past trip and everybody loved it (nan, pop, brother, kids, hubby, etc.)! The food was good and the character interaction was fun! It was the last meal of our trip and it was a great one to end it on...!

Maybe Disney needs to balance the dining a bit better... have some nice restaurants without characters while still keeping some of the better character meals at other places!

 

[goofyfan13]

That figures. They only serve one of the best breakfast's at WDW ...

More Walmarting ... magical.

I agree, I loved getting breakfast at Boatwrights....I don't understand the logic behind not serving breakfast anymore. First POFQ loses it's sit down several years back, now Boatwrights won't serve breakfast...?

Bad form Disney....Bad form....

I don't really care about the LTT thing though, they need a sit-down in MK that is character free IMHO.

 

[disnyfan89]

I think in a perfect world Disney would decide to bring back the Classic Disney characters to LTT for dinner while keeping lunch as is. Then at Crystal Palace they should have Pooh and Friends for Breakfast and lunch but not dinner. That way everyone wins.

It really makes me sad to see so many people hate on the characters at Liberty Tree! It is one of the few locations on property where the characters have the ability to slow down and actually spend quality time with guest and also enjoy working there. It's one of the few locations where characters are not encouraged to "Love and Shove." Unlike other dinning locations such as Tusker house and Crystal Prison.. erm, Palace. I agree with the majority that there is to much character dinning at the Magic Kingdom but out of all the restaurants to lose their characters it shouldn't have been LTT.

Also, if you like LTT so much but hate the characters why not just have a late lunch/early dinner. That way this is a win-win instead of a win-lose.

 

[kcw]

meals with foamheads

I'm all about everyone having an opinion and voicing it here- but there's a point where it's just rude and unnecessary. (And as a sidenote, I'd venture a guess that you don't have small children, and haven't seen their faces light up when they get to meet those "foamheads" ?) But I digress.

It's one of the few locations where characters are not encouraged to "Love and Shove." Unlike other dinning locations such as Tusker house and Crystal Prison.. erm, Palace.

Nailed it. But you forgot Restarantausorus.... (sp??) which was the biggest love n shove of em all! Whenever people wanted to do character dining, I ALWAYS referred them to LTT, because it was quality time and interaction.


Just out of curiosity (and for those who can articulate opinions without being rude), what is it that makes people hate character dining? I guess the way I see it, if you want to eat somewhere, but not see characters, it's your prerogative. When a character approaches your table, you politely wave and smile and then go back to eating your food, conversing, etc... and the character gets the hint and moves on. I guess the biggest issue that I can see is that prices of the food most likely went up once these restaurants were converted to character dining- I'm not sure though? Not looking for an argument, just really wondering what the reasoning was

 

[drew81]

Nailed it. But you forgot Restarantausorus.... (sp??) which was the biggest love n shove of em all! Whenever people wanted to do character dining, I ALWAYS referred them to LTT, because it was quality time and interaction.

Yes, the characters would all come to the area for a few minutes then they were gone.

 

[disnyfan89]

Nailed it. But you forgot Restarantausorus.... (sp??) which was the biggest love n shove of em all! Whenever people wanted to do character dining, I ALWAYS referred them to LTT, because it was quality time and interaction.

Yes, the characters would all come to the area for a few minutes then they were gone.

Thats cause they only had like 35min to get through their half and the quicker they did it the quicker they got off set.

 

[joanna71985]

I don't really care about the LTT thing though, they need a sit-down in MK that is character free IMHO.

But there are. Tony's and the Plaza are non-character dinners. And CRT dinner isn't really like a character meal (in my opinion). LTT should have been left alone.

I think in a perfect world Disney would decide to bring back the Classic Disney characters to LTT for dinner while keeping lunch as is. Then at Crystal Palace they should have Pooh and Friends for Breakfast and lunch but not dinner. That way everyone wins.

It really makes me sad to see so many people hate on the characters at Liberty Tree! It is one of the few locations on property where the characters have the ability to slow down and actually spend quality time with guest and also enjoy working there. It's one of the few locations where characters are not encouraged to "Love and Shove." Unlike other dinning locations such as Tusker house and Crystal Prison.. erm, Palace. I agree with the majority that there is to much character dinning at the Magic Kingdom but out of all the restaurants to lose their characters it shouldn't have been LTT.

Also, if you like LTT so much but hate the characters why not just have a late lunch/early dinner. That way this is a win-win instead of a win-lose.

Hear, hear!! LTT was awsome! There was plenty of character interaction. And they were so cute in the colonial outfits.

 

[Lee]

Just out of curiosity (and for those who can articulate opinions without being rude), what is it that makes people hate character dining?

What pushed me over the edge was Royal Table.
Once it was a beautiful spot to go for a quiet meal, with a wonderful view and great ambiance. The food was excellent (I loved the Prime Rib) and wasn't from a set menu ( You didn't have to book months in advance, a table could be secured often on the same day, if not by just walking up.
It was the MK's equivalent of Disneyland's Blue Bayou. A nice, almost upscale, place to dine in the park. I've had a couple anniversary meals there, and still have the souvineer champagne glasses.

Now...it's ruined, if that is not too strong a word. Impossible to get in on short notice. The menu has been trashed in favor of a fixed-price set menu. The guests are there often more for the character interaction, than for a nice, quiet meal.

THAT is what has completely turned me against character meals. That they took over the best restaurant in the MK, it's flagship restaurant. The other places....whatever. I never really ate at LTT or Crystal Palace, so to see them go the way of the character meal didn't hurt nearly as much.

Damn....I miss King Stefan's....

But there are. Tony's and the Plaza are non-character dinners.

And neither are in the same class with King Stefan's/Cindy's.

I wonder what would happen if Disneyland tried to turn Blue Bayou into a character dining spot. I'm guessing there would be bloodshed.....

 

[goofyfan13]

But there are. Tony's and the Plaza are non-character dinners. And CRT dinner isn't really like a character meal (in my opinion). LTT should have been left alone.

Forgot about Tony's, but I'd hardly put the Plaza on the same level as LTT, CRT, or CP. That said, I enjoyed LTT when I was there for a character dinner with relatives, however, unless I was there with children, I probably wouldn't go back. Now, without the characters, I may grab dinner in there once in a while.

 

[disnyfan89]

Forgot about Tony's, but I'd hardly put the Plaza on the same level as LTT, CRT, or CP. That said, I enjoyed LTT when I was there for a character dinner with relatives, however, unless I was there with children, I probably wouldn't go back. Now, without the characters, I may grab dinner in there once in a while.

I wouldn't bother cause in its current form it's a rip off.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I think in a perfect world Disney would decide to bring back the Classic Disney characters to LTT for dinner while keeping lunch as is. Then at Crystal Palace they should have Pooh and Friends for Breakfast and lunch but not dinner. That way everyone wins.

It really makes me sad to see so many people hate on the characters at Liberty Tree! It is one of the few locations on property where the characters have the ability to slow down and actually spend quality time with guest and also enjoy working there. It's one of the few locations where characters are not encouraged to "Love and Shove." Unlike other dinning locations such as Tusker house and Crystal Prison.. erm, Palace. I agree with the majority that there is to much character dinning at the Magic Kingdom but out of all the restaurants to lose their characters it shouldn't have been LTT.



Also, if you like LTT so much but hate the characters why not just have a late lunch/early dinner. That way this is a win-win instead of a win-lose.

I agree with you 100 percent! This was by far the best character meal. It was my favorite of all because of the character experience. I hate so bad that they took it away!

 

[danzingcutie12]

As an Entertainment CM it was my favorite dinning location to work...as well as many others CM in Entertainment!!

 

[goofyfan13]

I wouldn't bother cause in its current form it's a rip off.

Guess I'm sticking with dinner at Epcot should I chose to dine in the parks. :lol:

 

[ChimneySweep]

Nothing wrong with character meals, but I have to agree with Lee and those who say that there is not much for those who care about a decent dining experience in the Magic Kingdom. It makes it tough for people like myself who love the MK, enjoying spending the most time there, but who have special dietary needs or are health conscious, or just appreciate a decent meal. I think character dining is wonderful and fun, but as Lee said, it seems to be the only option for the better restaurants of which there are far too few to begin with.

On my last visit about two years ago, I found that the quality of the food in general had gone way down. During my many visits to WDW in the early 90's I was pleasantly surprised at the upswing in the quality of the food compared to the previous decade. Before my most recent visit I was telling a friend, who I was about to bring on their first trip to WDW ever, about how good the food was. Well, during our visit I had to apologize. The food was really poor. We were both very disappointed. Now I'm planning my next trip in 3 weeks and I'm really concerned about meal planning as I'm having to follow a stricter diet of late. I'm making reservations at Crystal Palace, Tony's, Liberty Tree Tavern, and will make the best of it of course, but darn... I sure wish there were more decent table service resturants in MK.

One of my favorite places to eat in MK was the Plaza. It was pretty good and always fresh. Then the last time I ate there two years ago it verged on disgusting. I was so let down. Hopefully I was just there on a really poor time frame or something. I sure hope that my next visit in a couple of weeks will prove to be a better experience with dining in general.

I like the characters, but if you don't have kids or just want a quieter meal, it's a tough one for Magic Kingdom fans.

 

[charatijennings]

The Plaza has always been one of my favorites at the MK since you can see the castle. We were there in December and our normal meals (club sandwich and chicken sandwich) were great, but I do tend to see everything while I'm at the park through rose-colored glasses I'm told. Hope your dining turns out well.

 

[Mouser365]

I can't believe it! I'm very sad. That was something I thought we could always count on.

 

[rdour@techminds]

I ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern on 02/01/2009. I had an ADR, but honestly, I didn't need it. There were many open tables, the place was so quiet you could hear every little detail of their BGM, and the servers seemed to be less cheerful than any visit in the past. Nobody was waiting for a table in the foyer, and I had an entire section to myself and one other table. I was expecting much more for a weekend, and especially since the park was completely jammed. I had a hard time walking around in Tomorrowland due to the massive crowd.

My hope is that this more than any online petition or mailing campaign demonstrates the need for either characters or a new menu. If they add the characters back to the restaurant, they can continue to use the current meal and nobody is going to care much. But, in the state it is in now, the meal needs to change to a selection based list instead of a set menu. The set menu allowed you the chance to just sit back, and take in the fun with the characters. Now, you walk in, and there is a large gap between when you're seated, and when your food arrives. That gap used to be filled by characters stopping by to say hello.

Oh well, I tried didn't I?

Ryan

 

[SoccerMickey]

.

It is one of the few locations on property where the characters have the ability to slow down and actually spend quality time with guest and also enjoy working there. It's one of the few locations where characters are not encouraged to "Love and Shove."

Isn't that the reason why the characters went away? Disney is constantly getting complaints that the average guest who WANT to give them their money can not get a reservation at any table service restaurants, so because the turn around on the tables was so slow at LTT because of the characters, getting rid of them makes it easier to accomodate guests. It's the right move. Charging the same price is not.
I think the same could be said about Crystal Palace and only making Chef Mickey's character dining for all three meals in Walt Disney World would be great, that way characters would not be interfering with anyone's favorite restaurants of the past.