What makes a good character meal experience?

[Burghdiva]

Hi All! We are going to Disney for the first time in October and I have convinced my husband to take our then 16 month old daughter to a character meal. I have spoke to many people that told me that we absolutely HAVE to do a character meal. What I want to know is what makes the character meals so special? I understand that you get to meet the characters but you can do that in the park too. We are going to do Chef Mickey's since my husband said that our daughter would get more out of seeing Mickey and Minnie than seeing anyone else. She is currently 10 months old and absolutely LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and she recognizes Mickey Mouse when we go to the store and on my mom's watch...LOL

 

[Gabe1]

For me it has to be good food. I did them only for my kids when small to get photo's and autographs so I didn't have to stand in line for them in the parks. I years ago liked Chef Mickey dinner, but the food selection has been dumbed down since then.

Kids grown, we eat where there is better food now.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We do character meals because it helps us maximize park time. i.e. if my girls have breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 7am ... and dinner at CRT at 6:30pm ... there's no reason to disrupt our park touring for M&Gs, which means more time for rides/attractions/shows/etc. Plus, we have to stop and eat anyways, so why not kill 2 birds with one stone during that eating downtime? Sure, TS dinner takes longer than QS dinner, but we also enjoy the greater relaxation (at least for us) that a TS meal offers (even a loud character one).

I think Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace are probably the best ones for a child under 2.

 

[Burghdiva]

Thanks so much for all the info! Do the characters come to ALL the tables?? I was hoping to get a pic of my daughter with Mickey and Minnie and hopefully autographs too.

 

[RandomPrincess]

All the characters will rotate to each table at least once.

 

[olinecoach61]

The character meals are great bc you can do it outside of the regular park hours especially for breakfast. That way you don't lose touring time. Another advantage is that it will give you a nice air conditioned break which you may want. The characters do go around the room in order so if you just miss someone, wait a little bit and they come back around. Last summer we met mickey and Minnie twice at chef mickeys bc we were there so long.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Thanks so much for all the info! Do the characters come to ALL the tables?? I was hoping to get a pic of my daughter with Mickey and Minnie and hopefully autographs too.

You should have all of the characters make it to your table, individually, at some point during the course of your meal...at least once. I've heard some people come back saying "we didn't get to see them all" or "we had to wait forever to see them all," but we've done around 20 character meals and have never had this problem. We also did autographs on our girls' first trip- no problem for "most" of the characters. Should be no problem whatsoever at Chef Mickey's.

While my kids often are a bit distracted and it's hard to get them to eat a full meal at a character meal, I find they are less frustrated and antsy over the whole production when we do meals vs. meet and greets. I'll never forget walking into MK with them for the first time (my younger one had literally just turned 2)...immediately getting on the line for Pinnochio and having him take a break just as we got to the front. The girls got upset and I found myself trying to explain that he's now a real boy and has to use the potty like everyone else. It was tense, but they bought it. What's funny, with the exception of a few less common characters, my girls didn't once ask for M&Gs with all of the character meals we do.

Either way, sounds like it will be a magical time I was in tears when we took them to Chef Mickey's the first time... just could not believe they were finally meeting Mickey!

 

[Burghdiva]

Yeah, I'm fairly certain that I'll be crying when she meets Mickey! I'm so incredibly excited! I think I'm more excited about going to Disney than I am celebrating her first birthday! LOL!

 

[Burghdiva]

Are there autograph books that I can buy or do you just use a plain notebook?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Are there autograph books that I can buy or do you just use a plain notebook?

They sell autograph books there, but there are some super cute ones on Etsy and ebay. I made our girls' ones for our first trip...nicer than the park ones, but not as elaborate as the Etsy/ebay custom ones. I took monogrammed journals in cute colors/patterns and then used stickers to create character specific signing pages (plus it had A LOT more pages).

Still, if we were to go this route again...I might buy someone else's cute creations...like these...

...and this is just a small sample.

 

[luv]

Character meals can be short, but sometimes it can take a long time to see them all. Word to the wise there.

Having a kid who isn't scared to death of the characters helps, too. So give that cute baby a talking to! Tell her she had better not be scared if she knows what's good for her! (Kidding. Some little ones get scared of characters and Santa. What can you do? )

Otherwise, just enjoy it. It's cute.

 

[Prince-1]

Here are 2 places for lunch or dinner that have really good food and great characters:

Crystal Palace: It's in the MK and they have all the Pooh characters. They all come to your table and spend some
good time with you.
The Garden Grill: It's in Epcot and has Chip and Dale and usually Mickey and friends. The restaurant slowly spins
around (you don't notice it) so the views change.

 

[rob45]

Cinderella's Castle dinner. Prime rib is awesome and the princesses will come and visit your table

 

[bethymouse]

The best place to meet Mickey IMHO is Chef Mickey's! We also liked "Farmer" Mickey @ The Garden Grill, and the food wasn't buffet style, it's served "family style" all you can eat plus it's a "revolving" restaurant around the scenes from Living With the Land boat ride!

 

[mergatroid]

Hi, can anyone help. Was thinking of booking a breakfast at the MK before the park opens as a treat for Mrs M. They have a character breakfast available in the MK pre opening, but I have a question or two. Firstly are they eat all you want buffet breakfasts like you get as a Sizzler or can you only go up once? Also as it's just us two adults we're not that bothered about the characters, we'd maybe get a couple of photos but don't want to feel awkward trying to interact with a character which can't speak for a long time. We don't want to seem rude and ignore them but also would probably feel more comfortable with just a quick photo (if allowed) and a quick hello and handshake rather than a prolonged interaction?

We're not miserable or snobby but really are hoping to go more to see the park before it opens and have some nice food rather than to meet characters. Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

 

[LizC]

Hi, can anyone help. Was thinking of booking a breakfast at the MK before the park opens as a treat for Mrs M. They have a character breakfast available in the MK pre opening, but I have a question or two. Firstly are they eat all you want buffet breakfasts like you get as a Sizzler or can you only go up once? Also as it's just us two adults we're not that bothered about the characters, we'd maybe get a couple of photos but don't want to feel awkward trying to interact with a character which can't speak for a long time. We don't want to seem rude and ignore them but also would probably feel more comfortable with just a quick photo (if allowed) and a quick hello and handshake rather than a prolonged interaction?

We're not miserable or snobby but really are hoping to go more to see the park before it opens and have some nice food rather than to meet characters. Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

I had breakfast at Crystal Palace, in MK, in October. It was an all you can eat, we went up a few times. I was with my children, but I did notice some adults who were not. I would assume this is not an issue at all, everyone is a kid at Disney! Enjoy your trip!

 

[mergatroid]

I had breakfast at Crystal Palace, in MK, in October. It was an all you can eat, we went up a few times. I was with my children, but I did notice some adults who were not. I would assume this is not an issue at all, everyone is a kid at Disney! Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for that, we're going in October this year and I was looking at booking at the Crystal Palace so this is very helpfull.

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

This isn't really character meal, but more autograph related.... I saw this done once and have suggested it to others and it always turns out SO CUTE! Buy a plain white or light colored pillow case and a bunch of colored Sharpie markers. Then have the characters autograph the pillowcase. It because an autograph book that is functional and special and the kiddos can keep close to them.

And to answer your question, Crystal Palace (Pooh) and either Chef Mickey's or Garden Grill are good choices for little ones. But keep in mind, just because your daughter loves Mickey on TV, the characters are much larger than on TV and she could be scared. The characters are used to this though, and they do a very good job of taking their time and not pressuring a scared child. Just go with the flow and you will have a great time.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Thanks for that, we're going in October this year and I was looking at booking at the Crystal Palace so this is very helpfull.

We enjoy Crystal palace, we've always enjoyed the huge buffet selections, (been to both breakfast and dinner times) so it's OK to go up multiple times. Once you go through and try it you'll be back for re-tasting favorite selections. The CM's wait staff are exceptional and attentive to refilling your drinks. When the characters come around, they will quickly wave hi and move on if you dont want to "play" with them. They take your cues to how much they will interact or not with you.

 

[mergatroid]

We enjoy Crystal palace, we've always enjoyed the huge buffet selections, (been to both breakfast and dinner times) so it's OK to go up multiple times. Once you go through and try it you'll be back for re-tasting favorite selections. The CM's wait staff are exceptional and attentive to refilling your drinks. When the characters come around, they will quickly wave hi and move on if you dont want to "play" with them. They take your cues to how much they will interact or not with you.

Crystal Palace it is then, thanks to everyone for the advice.