Disney Character Dining

[Still-in-Shock]

I know that you need to make reservations as far in advance as possible. Does it make sense to pay in advance also? When you are booking your vacation, Disney offers vouchers for character meals to be included in the package. Does this save you money, or is this just a convenience?

[lalasmama]

You don't need to book far in advance. In fact, you can call a week before without a problem and get your chosen time.

[Still-in-Shock]

Thanks!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Disneyland is a different league than Disneyworld. I like it because you can be a lot more spontaneous. Book when you want but the same level of planning and complexity just isn't there. I called like 4 months out for Blue Bayou reservations and I got the impression that that wasn't even close to necessary.

[lalasmama]

I called the morning of DD's birthday, figured there was no way I'd get reservations for Minnie in the Park. They asked me what time I wanted, and made the reservation without any mention of a time not being available. We've made ressies earlier (DH made my Blue Bayou ressies the day the ressie window was openned), but it's not necessary.

[Still-in-Shock]

Thank you all. This is a great weight off my mind, since at 2 years old, I have no idea how DS will react to the characters

[rkold]

We also booked only a week or two out for DL character meals. It was really nice compared to WDW where I try to be on 180 days out or risk missing something I want. (Heck, even then sometimes we don't get what we want.)

The one negative thing I'd say about dinning in DL is I found in the MK/Disneyland proper side of thing the lines were really long for QS. When we were there in 2013, one of our longest lines was to try and buy some beignets and mint julep, the line was so slow moving we actually left.

In terms of character meals, sometimes it's good to start them with a meal where the character are "face" aka the people whose actual faces you see, characters. It's one reason princess meals can be so popular. We ate in Ariel's for brunch in DCA. The foods was pretty decent and the setting was nice. Not all of the princesses were equally good, (Another mother and I felt like Snow White was dialing it in) overall I thought the ones in the parks themselves were better, but it was a nice meal. It certainly helped that DD's favorite princess at the time was the "Greeter" princess, Aurora so we got some nice pictures with her.

My DD loves meeting characters so we tend to always do at least 1 character meal every trip to a Disney park.

[Tenasparkl]

I'd make character meal reservations a few weeks in advance if you want a certain time. I waited until about a week before once for Ariel's Grotto (princesses) and got in for lunch much later than I would've liked, but we still got in.

[Still-in-Shock]

In terms of character meals, sometimes it's good to start them with a meal where the character are "face" aka the people whose actual faces you see, characters. It's one reason princess meals can be so popular. We ate in Ariel's for brunch in DCA. The foods was pretty decent and the setting was nice. Not all of the princesses were equally good, (Another mother and I felt like Snow White was dialing it in) overall I thought the ones in the parks themselves were better, but it was a nice meal. It certainly helped that DD's favorite princess at the time was the "Greeter" princess, Aurora so we got some nice pictures with her.

This makes perfect sense, especially for younger kids. But which face characters are there that aren't princesses? The only one DS knows is is Sofia, and I think the only chance to meet her is as an oversized character and not as a face character.

[rkold]

This makes perfect sense, especially for younger kids. But which face characters are there that aren't princesses? The only one DS knows is is Sofia, and I think the only chance to meet her is as an oversized character and not as a face character.

The only 100% definite meal with face characters are the Princesses, but I've heard the princesses sometimes give extra attention to little boys from other parents elsewhere.

We've also eaten at Goofy's where there were some "furry" characters and Aladdin and Alice. I think Aladdin was there both times we ate at Goofy's. (2012 and 2013)

We also ate at Minnie's in 2012. The food was the worst, but there were more characters at that meal than any other meal I have ever had at Disney. The characters were completely random it felt like. I know the Fairy Godmother was there, I can't remember which other "face" ones.

In DL/DCA I know you could meet the following face characters at scheduled times in the parks: Most princesses, Aladdin, I think Naveem, Peter Pan (who is always lots of fun) Tink (and possibly still a fairy friend who could be the boy fairy, and again Tink is always good!) and in Tomorrowland I think you can still meet THOR and Captain America. We met Thor in 2013, he had a long line (not as long as Anna and Elsa but the longest line we waited in other than the QS line. I did single rider for the cars ride and it was about 20 mins. DD was too short.) but it was totally worth it. He let DD hold his hammer. I don't know if they're still out, but Hiro from Baymax is a face character as well.

Sofia is one of the oversized ones, probably because actual kids are unpredictable so it would be hard for a kid to play her. We met her in DCA, her line was so much shorter than in FL!

My DD has been going to WDW since she was a baby so she is OK with all the characters. The only ones that scare her are some of the villains. Though she ended up doing great with Jafar in Feb.

I think some kids get into it even if they don't know the characters. We waited to meet Max, Goofy's son, even though DD has never watched Goof Troop and I've seen people wait to meet Chip and Dale without knowing who they are either. ~.~

Some kids just love collecting autographs of every character. But if we're talking guaranteed face characters and decent food, I would definitely do Ariel's. I thought the brunch in Goofy's was decent though expensive. Despite there being 10+ characters at Minnie's you could not pay me to go back until the food is upgraded. The food quality was on par with McDonald's for breakfast only 7x more expensive.

Also, assuming your DS is under 3, he'll be free, so you will only be paying for yourself+partner. It's one reason we ate at Minnie's. DD was 2 at the time, so I paid for me and DH but DD was free. Before she turned 3, I did a bunch of character meals in FL just the two of us. It was pretty great to only pay for 1 person.

BTw makes sure you get a 1st visit pin and if you go around someone's birthday or anniversary make sure you have that put in the reservation. At most sit down restaurants Disney will throw in a freebie like a cupcake. (At the nicer restaurants when it is an adult's birthday we've gotten a free glass of champagne. ) DD is already talking about how we need to make sure we eat somewhere to get her free cupcake in Oct.