Disney dining plan questions

[Anonymous]

Hi! Planning our first trip to Disney and wondering about a couple of things. I heard we need to make character dining reservations well ahead of time and most count as our sit down meal for the day. (we are doing the meal plan with sit down meal, quick meal, and snack). We are doing 4 days at the parks. Do most people do a character meal each day? What are the non-character meal options to fill the sit down meal, and do I need to book those way ahead of time? We are traveling with a 4 and 1 year old plus grandma and grandpa. We're planning 2 days at MK, one at Hollywood studios, and one at either animal kingdom or back to MK. Staying at Art of Animation and renting a minivan.

Also, is it better to do breakfast or dinner for character meals? I'm so confused and having a hard time imagining booking these things so far ahead. We are used to loosely planned vacations!

[Anonymous]

We went and did no character meals, and we didn't get a meal plan at all. We wanted to not be tied to a reservation at some other park at a specific time. We might have done one character meal, but just never got around to it and my son didn't seem to care.

If you're going at a busy time of year (we didn't) you do want to get some reservations for dinner ahead of time. The rest of the food we viewed as pick-up meals -- went into any self-serve or the hotel buffet when we felt like it. If it's not too busy, get the Disney App -- in the early afternoon each day we would use the app to find who had an open table at what time and make a reservation for that evening. Epcot has good restaurants, and we had a surprisingly good meal at the Tavern in the MK. We also went to Downtown Disney one night (need reservations there too)

And if you're renting a minivan, you always have the option to eat off Disney if you can't get a reservation that night.

[Anonymous]

No, you won't do a character meal each day. They're expensive and crazy. You'll do one, maybe two.

The dining plan really isn't worth it. Too limited and if your kids don't eat a lot you're not getting your money's worth. It's possible to do two meals a day at Disney.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest only booking one character meal. I think that most of them use two table service credits, so are expensive even if you are on the dining plan. Also, your kids may or may not be 'into it'. The first time we went to Disney, my kids liked the character meal, but it wasn't a highlight of the trip for them. When they were a couple of years older, they actually liked it more.

If your 4-year-old is a girl, I would recommend Cinderella's Royal Table at MK. I would also suggest booking breakfast rather than dinner, so that you are sure that your 4-year-old is going to have the energy to enjoy it - Disney can be exhausting for everybody. We liked the breakfast character meal at Cape May Cafe as well, but there are plenty to choose from.

Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Most character meals are only 1 table service credit. The one that is 2 credits is Cinderella's Royal Table (in the castle at MK).

If you don't want to use 2 credits for one meal, but have a huge princess fan, I would recommend https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/akershus-royal-banquet-hall/
as an alternative. Lots of princesses, and I've heard great things.

[Anonymous]

We always do a bunch of character meals. Not everyone likes them, but we like to see characters and I refuse to wait in line for them.

In terms of meal time: breakfast is a better value, but the early morning time at the parks is really your best park time so you have a trade off. We like Lunch or early dinner.

[Anonymous]

If your kids really want to meet certain characters, check and book the meal that has those characters. They have character meals at the hotels (easier to get to early) but you may miss early park hours, which if its a busy time are something to use. The one in Magic Kingdom or other parks is better IMO for breakfast on day where you don't have early morning hours so you are are already through the lines or for lunch/dinner so you have a place to sit down.

The food at the ones in the park is blah with the exception of Cinderella's castle. The hotel ones basically follow the quality of the food in that hotel.

[Anonymous]

I would not bother with meal plan at all.... It is too much food and we definitely saved money without it.

[Anonymous]

The 4 year old will love a character meal and the pictures with Grandparents would be priceless. The 1 year old will not care. Do one at whichever venue you like best. We have 3 and 5 year old girls and did an very early dinner at the Cinderella castle. Make sure to ask Gramma & Grandpa about their needs as well - breakfast or dinner times, rest/nap time?