6 Dining Days 5 Character Meals?

[Indee96]

This is our first Disney World Trip and first family vacation. I'm trying to squeeze in as much as possible without being too overwhelming for all of us. We are doing a 7 night Western Caribbean Cruise before we arrive at Disney. We're staying at AoA. It will be myself, my husband and our two daughters ages 9 & 6. Is 6 character meals in 6 days too many? If I was to take some off what would you suggest and what would you add in it's place? TIA

Check in at AOA - Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

Hollywood Studios - Breakfast at Hollywood & Vine

Magic Kingdom - Breakfast at Crystal Palace

Epcot - Dinner at either Akerhus or Garden Grill

Animal Kingdom - Breakfast at Tusker House

Magic Kingdom - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

 

[Faldred]

Totally depends on your family's tastes - if you like character meals, go for it!

For the most part, you're getting few character repeats. The exception is Tusker House and Chef Mickey's, which overlap several of the same characters (Mickey, Donald, Minnie, and Goofy, IIRC). If you don't want to double up that much, I'd personally choose Tusker House over Chef Mickey's, especially if it's pre-rope drop and you can get out to the Safari before the lines build up.

 

[ELSA711]

I agree with PP and I would say go for Akershus vs Garden Grill if doing it for the characters.

 

[Pumbaa_]

TS breakfasts take a lot of time, often prime touring time. figure 60-90 minutes for each meal, add on any travel time required and wait for your table time. Mornings are usually the best time to get the most done. so that goes to what are your touring plans/goals

The nice thing is you can change your mind. After a day or two, if it is too much, cancel! Always an option

For me, it would be too much time, and there is a little redundancy

IMHO

First night at 1900 Park Faire sounds like a great start to your Disney time. I am a sucker for pooh and friend, but I would prob do lunch there instead of bfast.
Epcot - unless princesses are important I like GG, and have had great character interaction too
TH has Mickey and friends. I would limit how many mickey and friends, TH, GG and Chef Mickey's is redundant, character wise (and CM has the worst food reputation of anywhere, YMMV)

 

[imthemamahere]

It's not overwhelming if your family likes character meals/interactions!

If your girls are really into princesses, I'd aim for Akershus over Garden Grill. If they're over the princess phase, then I'd say go for Garden Grill. We found the food there much better than your typical character buffet meal.

If you're looking to narrow it down, or if you simply don't want to see the same Mickey & Co group more than once, I'd definitely stick with Tusker House for breakfast instead of Chef Mickey's. The food is better there - you can eat the typical American breakfast stuff at Tusker House, but you can also try a few African flavors, if you're feeling adventurous. It's a nice blend of typical and unique. The characters are super cute in their safari duds. And we've had excellent character interactions at Tusker House, every time we've gone.

Breakfast at Hollywood & Vine is still the Disney Jr characters, I believe. Will your kids like meeting Jake, Doc, Sofia, and Handy Manny? Or will they feel like they're too "old" for those characters? (My nephew was too cool for school at age 5 and thought that breakfast was for babies... my son at age 7 would still love to see Jake - it's all up to your kids' tastes.)

 

[Indee96]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! So far I'm making the following changes based on your recommendations. What TS would you put in their place? We are getting park hopper if that makes a difference.


Check in at AOA - Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

Hollywood Studios - ??

Magic Kingdom - Breakfast OR Lunch at Crystal Palace

Epcot - Dinner at Garden Grill

Animal Kingdom - Breakfast at Tusker House

Magic Kingdom - ??

 

[_auroraborealis_]

HS is pretty bleak. Consider 50s Prime Time if you want TS in park.

Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's Royal Table is expensive but you eat in the palace. Dinner at Be Our Guest is Table Service, but the QS lunch is worthwhile.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree with@Pumba. I would limit breakfast as that is prime park touring time.
I would do 50's PTC lunch or dinner at DHS. We love it and it is good " comfort food".
Definitely lunch at CP
And I would do either BOG or Liberty Tree Tavern in MK
Have Fun

 

[rascooby]

On our last trip we did a character meal every day. It was a lot of fun. We tried to make any breakfasts before the park opened. We really like the breakfasts because it's a good variety of food that we don't normally eat (we never really go out for breakfast at home). At Hollywood studios we like Sci Fi Drive In. Park Fare was probably our very favorite breakfast. We did it on a day that we weren't going into the parks until afternoon. From your list, we have not done Hollywood & Vine or Garden Grill. I'm trying to get a reservation for Garden Grill for our November trip, but not sure if I can fit it in.

 

[kniquy]

I am not sure if you are doing the dining plan or not. If you are doing a lot of charater meals it sometimes makes sense to do the 1TS, 1QS plan. I would actually limit the breakfast meals and choose more lunch or dinner. You will likely welcome the break later in the day to sit and relax at the restaurant. If your girls are like my kids sometimes breakfast is their lightest meal. Just something to consider. As long as you have spaced it out for one per day it really isnt too much.

 

[Chelley00]

We do one sit down meal a day and most often it's a character meals. However we usually do dinners since it's a nice time to take a break and the kids are ready to sit at that point. We only do breakfast on our off day or the day we leave

 

[Indee96]

We do have the Disney Dining Plan. And I think with the following meals my kids will be happy meeting these characters. Does this look better? I have a few weeks before I'm able to book reservations but I'm trying to get so much done now to take a little of the stress off. Do you plan your quick serve meals too? Or should we just stop and eat when we're hungry?


Check in at AOA - Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

Hollywood Studios - Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe

Magic Kingdom - Dinner at Crystal Palace

Epcot - Dinner at Garden Grill

Animal Kingdom - Breakfast at Tusker House

Magic Kingdom - Dinner at Be Our Guest

 

[DrunkJam]

We love a sit down breakfast (just to throw that in there) But we don't commando the parks.
I think Tusker is the only place with Daisy? (and it is my favourite breakfast so far)
That last plan looks awesome to me.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

I love character meals, so I don't think it's too much.

I would do Mama Melrose at DHS. Very yummy!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

No, it's not too much. My family love M&Gs, so we do lots of meals. Also, I know some look down on the food quality of the buffets, we find our pickier eaters eat more at buffets, where they have lots of choices, and everyone is satisfied. We have much better dining experiences at buffets than full-service meals.
I saw that you're thinking of cutting Hollywood & Vine. That's probably fine, given your DDs ages, but jut in case, I'd like to note that if they would still like to see the Disney Junior characters, this is probably the last trip where they will want that. I know my 6yo can't wait to meet Jake and Doc along with his toddler sister.

 

[Jgeauxmo]

Your last plan looks great! Don't do chef mickeys it really is as bad as its reputation!

 

[DISNEY1975]

I think its too little You can only dine with Disney characters at Disney! All other meals, you can find something comparable at home. I always take advantage and book a character meal for every breakfast. Cuts down on wiating time at the meet and greets in the parks. I also throw in Cinderellas Royal Table and possibly another character dinner if I can. You cant replace a great memory with a great steak. Your kids will remember this forever. They wont remember the chicken tenders.

 

[DrunkJam]

I think its too little You can only dine with Disney characters at Disney! All other meals, you can find something comparable at home. I always take advantage and book a character meal for every breakfast. Cuts down on wiating time at the meet and greets in the parks. I also throw in Cinderellas Royal Table and possibly another character dinner if I can. You cant replace a great memory with a great steak. Your kids will remember this forever. They wont remember the chicken tenders.

That is definitely true. I was looking for ideas for our dining choices for our holiday, and I was talking to DS about it, and he said, that the best thing about Disney, even better than the rides is having the characters come around while you are eating. You can do rides anywhere he says, but, you only eat with the characters at Disney. I was shocked, I would never have picked that as the *best* thing, but, it really is what stuck for him. I added more character meals!

 

[msb578]

I think its too little You can only dine with Disney characters at Disney! All other meals, you can find something comparable at home. I always take advantage and book a character meal for every breakfast. Cuts down on wiating time at the meet and greets in the parks. I also throw in Cinderellas Royal Table and possibly another character dinner if I can. You cant replace a great memory with a great steak. Your kids will remember this forever. They wont remember the chicken tenders.

Definitely agree with your philosophy

There are some exceptions for me... I can't find a buffet anywhere that I love as much as Boma. Sometimes I think I'd be ok making a day trip (from Syracuse, NY) just to go there.

 

[kniquy]

I think changing to more evening meals is a good idea and it will give you more value out of your dining plan. If you have trouble getting exactly a dinner time (5-6pm) reservation think outside the box when making your reservations. Sometimes an earlier dinner is nice (4pm) or a little later if you have already had a late lunch.

Do you plan your quick serve meals too? Or should we just stop and eat when we're hungry?

We only "plan" QS meals kind of based on where our fast passes/ride choices take us -- This maybe overkill, but print out maps of each park. i think easy WDW has some good maps. You will want to fill in where your ADR are and what time. You want to plan some sort of flow for your fast passes and ADR. You can estimate where you might be in the park towards lunch time and select a QS place near there. The last thing you want to be doing is having to run across the park to make your ADR. I found a whole spreadsheet where you can fill it all in from morning until night or you can use the map version. I found it so very helpful to make the most of our time at the parks. here is the link to where i found the spreadsheet: http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/disney-vacation-planning-spreadsheet.html