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.