I've been to Disney several times but have never done character dining. We are taking our 4yo DD for the first time in February and plan to do character dining 2-3 times. Right now we are thinking about Minnie & Friends lunch at Hollywood and Vine in DHS, Akershus Banquet Hall lunch, and the Tiana icecream social and boat ride at MK (DD is dead set on this one.)
Anyone who has done these, how long was the entire experience from start to finish (including wait times)? I want to have some idea so I can hopefully plan a FP around meals. And did you feel like between the food and/or character interaction you got your money's worth? TIA!
We love character dining and still do one or two even now without kids. We prefer breakfasts and dinners to avoid interrupting touring and make planning easier. A 7:30 breakfast has us ready for rope drop and allows us to mostly snack until dinner. If it's in the park, the added bonus is getting inside early. CRT and CM are favorites.
I have an upcoming 4 day girl's trip during Food and Wine. No toddlers but we are celebrating a 14 year old's birthday. She hasnt been to Disney since she was 4.
Our plans:
Day 1- no reservations since we fly in at 11 and want to keep the day clear for touring.
Day 2- The birthday-
7:30am Minnie's Beach Bash- a first for us. Chosen because we want to be sure that we get pics with Mickey and Minnie and we've been unable to get an early enough Chef Mickey's. We are considering just keeping it even if a CM becomes available because no one in our group has ever been to Minnie's BB and a couple of us have been to CM's many times.
8:10pm Ohana's- A must for us every trip and the birthday girl is a meat lover.
Day 3-
12:30 Sci-Fi Dine In- our only scheduled lunch. Another must every trip for those in the group who have been multiple times. A lunch will work here because without kids who will want to see the shows at HS, we expect to be finished touring by lunch.
Day 4-
4:05pm BOG- super excited about this one. just scored it yesterday for the perfect day and time.
Character meals we have done multiple times and
loved over the years starting when we had littles-
Chef Mickeys, CRT, Crystal Palace
Character meals we have done and
liked but not repeated over the years starting when we had littles-
1900 Park Fare
Character meals we have done and
disliked over the years starting when we had littles-
Tusker House - we have even given it more than one chance.
We've considered Askerhaus and even booked and cancelled for our upcoming trip. Our hang up is that the menu is unappealing so we end up back at CRT- you just can't beat meeting the princesses in the castle.
When we've gone with littles and wanted several character meals, I always base it on what characters we want to see since I avoid waiting in line for them and pictures plus a decent (not the best) meal is my goal- killing two birds with one stone so to speak,