How many people have never done character dining?

Never done it. In fact, only TS meal I've ever eaten at was Liberty Tree Tavern. We always ate quick service as a kid and I truly didn't know there was a difference until I was older.
But I'm in charge now and since I have kids I am going to live vicariously through them and eat at all the Character meals I want. Just because it's my vacation too. We are going to do them in lieu of character meet and greets. Plus taking an hour out of the day to actually sit down will probably help us all.


My philosophy as well. This is likely why we will do Dining Plan until the kids become "adults" in terms of DDP. Makes the cost a lot easier to stomach.
It was nice to sit and enjoy a meal together a few times during our trip without having to hunt for place to sit.
 
We've done a lot of character dining because DD loves to meet characters. I have hated every one of them except Garden Grill dinners. They are a lot of fun for little kids, but they are ridiculously loud and chaotic, and definitely not a relaxing meal for the adults, and I don't like the pics with messy tables and other people in the background. I finally put my foot down on the last trip and refused to do any character dining, and we will not be doing any on our upcoming trip. We've had some really good interaction with some characters during these, but most interaction has felt rushed and nothing special. The only ones I might consider for the future are BOG dinner and Cinderela's Table, which we have not done and mostly just want to eat in the castle, and Garden Grill because it is not a buffet and not as loud and chaotic as everything else. You should definitely try a few and decide for yourself. If you don't enjoy the 1st couple, you can always cancel the rest of them.
 
We did once, when my kids were about 5 and 2. It was enjoyable in that they enjoyed the characters (breakfast at Hollywood and Vine..), but the price definitely was inflated for what we received.

Haven't done it again.
 
I believe the last time I did a character meal was when I was 6 but I haven't done it again since then so it's been 20+ years. I have a hard time convincing myself to spend that kind of money to see characters I can find in the parks...

But I do recommend it to families with kids. A friend of mine just took her 3 and 6yr old for the first time to Crystal Palace and they had an absolute blast. And were I to ever have children, I have a feeling I'd probably do the same thing.
 
I think character dining is a waste of money for the price they offer plus the characters are there to distract children from eating the food. But I never figured out why some of the restaurants are so pricey for character breakfasts when some restaurants only have like three characters and you end up wasting your money just because your children want to meet certain characters. Another thing I have noticed about character dining is that they have limited options for children and some of the food that they serve is kind of icky. Like how many kids will eat peanut butter and jelly pizza? Probably not many kids but when you look at the ideal picture children are picky eaters and they eat very little for breakfast. If Disney Parks could improve the kids menus at character dining a lot of families would eat there. Like they would have kids servings of spaghetti ravioli and other pastas and they would give kids a Mickey or Minnie Mouse cookie for dessert and have pizza and mini slider sandwiches and corn dogs on the menu as well. But another thing I noticed about character dining that seems to be a problem is that they force you to pay money for a photo with a character while you wait for your table and to me that should be optional and free after your meal. Goofy's Kitchen used to do this a lot with people and they would ask us if we wanted a photo with Pluto or whoever else was there and my family would decline it. I mean what's the point of getting a photo with a character when you're gonna eat with the characters? In closing I shall say to make character dining worth it they should add more characters and lower the prices
 
For us, with the children, it's something we would always do in normal times (at least while they're little). Our last trip was in 2019 when my daughter was two and a half, and she firmly believed that the fur characters as well as the princesses were real. Snow White chose her to hold her hand and lead the Princess Parade at Akershus, all the princesses there and at CRT spent a lot of time chatting with her and hugging her, and it is STILL something she talks about, along with the time Minnie Mouse invited her to her restaurant.

She's four now and still, I THINK, thinks the princesses are real. Her brother is 18 months old and hasn't ever been before; the only princess he's very familiar with is Moana, and he loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but he doesn't have any expectations about characters, so I don't think he'll be disappointed.

We aren't doing any character dining at all on our trip this month (I've discussed it with our very sensible daughter) because the hugs and close contact are absolutely key to the experience for her, so even though Storybook Dining and CRT are available we'll be skipping them. We'll be going to the Royal Hall for a chat and seeing who we can see out and about in the parks.

From her point of view, the lack of autographs is a real shame; she's loved collecting autographs from her favourites since she was her brother's age! Not to worry; we'll be back in 2022, and hopefully rules will relax before we return.

I DID book Tusker House before I realised it's not a buffet and you can't see the characters adequately from some tables. I'll probably be cancelling that booking closer to the time.
 
I predict once things return to normal the prices for Character Dining will be lowered and they will add more characters to the restaurants for character breakfasts. But if you're serious about Character Dining ask your child before you go what characters he/she desires to see and you can confirm a certain character's appearence "though it's not usually guaranteed" before you go to a character breakfast. But the other rule of thumb is if you don't want to spend money on pricey character breakfasts you can always eat breakfast in your room before heading to the parks. But Disney should think of better ways to enjoy character dining so everyone can have fun. Because the one thing people dislike about Character Dining is having to chase down a character just so kids can have an autograph and photo
 



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