Garden Grill Lunch Ends 10/08 & Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner Ends 1/09

[Melanie]

Very disappointed to hear this news about LTT. Our family loves the food and characters there!

[lockedoutlogic]

first...the liberty tree dinner was probably my favorite and one of the few character meals i would go to with any frequency.....

so that is somewhat disheartening.....

but at the same time.....i do think they need to tone back the character meals.....the average meal time for a party has to be significantly higher....allowing for fewer seatings....

the restaurant crunch has gotten pretty bad....i expect economic conditions to take a chunk outta them soon.....

but anything that increases availability is a plus....especially if there is no significant decrease in dining plans peddled....

lots of moving and shaking going on with restaurants these days....which could be good.....


anyone else notice that not a single....zero new attraction is in development right now?

not a one.....for the first time in forever....

just thought i'd throw that in....

i will still miss paul revere goofy....betsey minnie....and chip and dale with the powdered whigs and spectacles.....

those were probably the cutest assemblage of character costumes anywhere

[Gator]

I feel I need to respond to this. Is there a rule that adults can't go to Disney without kids? I don't think taking away character meals is the answer, but I do understand Disney's overall interest in keeping the parks interesting and accessible to persons of all ages.

My wife and I have been there twice without kids and we went to the Character Meals as much as now with the kids. I go to WDW to be a kid again (that's really why I hate all the alcohol over at Epcot-not very kidlike). Taking out character meals is really a dumb budget cut, if that's what it is.

[Goes4FastPass]

I've been to CP, LTT and GG in all adult parties and had a fine time greeting the characters, even if it's a wave as they go by.

bytheway, d'ya think the cost of the meals will decrease when they take the characters away?

[Ian]

Internally it has been justified as addressing Guest complaints that there are too few non-character, table service dining options inside the parks.

I can actually believe that for LTT. I mean there's a big shortage of sit-downs at MK anyway and 50% of them were character meals before.

But why GG? I mean Epcot is loaded to the gills with non-character meal places to eat. I don't get this one at all.

Personally, I think the entire thing is bogus. It's a money saving move. I mean think about it ... the way they always justified the outrageous prices for their character buffets was by comparing them to dinner shows.

Now they're going to have the same prices and no characters?? That's shady if you ask me.

[Figment52]

Wow! People asking for less character interaction is very un-disney like
The LTT character meal will be greatly missed by us. It's been a must do every vacation.

I don't think it's un-disney. Some guests may like the character's just fine, but would rather not have them present for meals. Especially if it's restaurant they'd like to eat in for theme and food, but may have a hard time getting a ressie due to it being a character meal.

DD and I have done a few character meals over the years, but we've found few we'd return to. And now that DD is an adult, the characters seldom linger. For us, the price doesn't justify the quick hello and photo-op, and the food in many of the places has gone downhill. They bank on the characters to bring the money in regardless.

Out of curiosity - might it be a space thing with LTT? Last time DD and I ate there, it seemed rather crowded, and the characters had a hard time moving between tables.

[SurferStitch]

Wow. I'm so sorry to hear about LTT! That's one of our favorite in-park dinners! Thankfully I have a dinner booked for us in October to have one last character meal there.

I doubt we'll be returning after this trip. The food is very good, but it was the character interaction that made everything special.

Oh well, that just eases up my list of must-do dinner places for us.

[Rekenna]

I know somewhere in this thread there was some discussion about there being too many character meals. I disagree, there seems to be quite a few (although obviously not enough) of the princess meals. What about those of us with all boys or girls who aren't gaga about the princess meals. I know we will really miss the LTT not having characters-I think it is very unfortunate. Maybe they will come out with something new, that would be great!

Also, there are about a million and one places to eat at WDW, very few being character meals (for those of you who think there are already too many character meals). Have a great day everyone!

[Seasonscraps]

I can see where the MK could use another non-character sit down meal. They take a little longer and with all the parties they have there now, I am sure they want to increase turn over and accomodate more families in the park. I wonder if they are going to change their menu? It was the family style eating that never really appealed to me.

Taking the characters out of Garden Grill is kind of surprising though. Maybe Disney is cooking something up someplace else in EPCOT?

[Quasimodo]

Personally, I think the entire thing is bogus. It's a money saving move. I mean think about it ... the way they always justified the outrageous prices for their character buffets was by comparing them to dinner shows.

Now they're going to have the same prices and no characters?? That's shady if you ask me.

I agree. This is more about money than guest complaints. I suspect that the real reason for this is that Disney is hoping to seat more guests at these restaurants each day. Eliminating the characters means people will not linger at tables as long. They will not be distracted and will eat their meals faster and leave the restaurant sooner. Meaning Disney can seat more guests each service. Which in turn means more money taken in per service.

Granted there are some who will no longer book a reservation at these restaurants due to the lack of characters, but there are literally hundreds of other guests in the parks each day that will gladly take a walk up reservation if it is available. Characters or not.

[BigRedDad]

I am fine with Garden Grill going away. I ate dinner there last April and it was our worst meal experience. The food was decent, the characters were OK, but they cramped 5 people in a table for 2. We even complained and wanted a different table. They said it would be an hour wait.

LTT is disappointing. Too many great memories from there with the characters and the meals.

[conorsmom2000]

I'm very disappointed to hear about LTT. To be honest, the only reason we went there was for the characters - I doubt we'd make an effort to go back with so many other dining choices available to us (not exactly in MK, but elsewhere).

We've never been to GG but it was on our wish list for some day. I'm really surprised by this change as well. There's so little character dining in Epcot as it is.....

[Carol]

I am very bummed about the Liberty Tree.

I wished they did away with the princesses for dinner at the castle instead. I miss 'regular' meals there.

I can honestly say I have not been back to the Garden Grill since they discontinued the character breakfast there. Yep - it bugged me that much!

All the more reason for me to continue to go to Disneyland instead of the World.

[lockedoutlogic]

just as a tie in....

I seldom ever go to jim hill media.....but i saw an article from there referenced on another site....and decided to take a look....

it was "Disney's Season (Winter) of Discontent" and they are basically saying that the always hated call to limit outflows and maximize profits went out all across property.....

and the elimination of the character meals....outsourcing of more food services....and the elimination of pleasure island were all done to squeeze more cash out of a rock....

not an illogical point.....but if true....the couple of recent moves are only the beginning.....and more will come.

Remember: Disney's crystall ball sees far into the future and knows when the well is going to start to dry up......i think they've been tracking trends very closely for awhile.....

I even heard that disney lobbied congressman for the economic stimulus package to be hammered through.....instead of an energy credit that would have been logical.....

who was going to catch more throw away cash in their nets than WDC?


anyway...off topic.....but was interesting to see the attempt to tie in....if lacking a little evidence

[tinklover]

There are plenty of non-character restaurants. It's called Downtown Disney. I can't believe they're taking the characters out of LTT. This is my favorite place to eat at WDW. The character interaction is great. Now I have the choice to overpay to eat with a princess or be beaten up by Tigger. Sounds like a raw deal to me. Just when you think Disney is done doing dumb things, they do this.

Why don't they stop having fireworks so that guest can have a fun-free night.

better yet open the park and TS but have no characters anywhere in the park and no rides or shows running. no background music. and have a true fun free day and night. see how they like that?

[xoHelloKittyox]

This makes me want to cry
thats so upsetting. I mean I'm almost 20 but I always loved the characters at these resturants. They were my favortie.


ba hum bug

[OhToodles!]

I was reading through here and seeing everyone's comments on here about taking the characters out of lunch at GG to accomodate more non-character meals. While I don't think it's necessary for Epcot, but maybe at MK, although I've never eaten at LTT. Anyway, they aren't just taking the characters out of the lunch at GG - they're taking the entire lunch out. So only dinner will be offered now, at least that's how I see it. Seems a shame to get rid of a character meal there especially with how crowded the area has become with Soarin'.

[amorillo]

Our family has done GG at lunch quite a few times. And we always had a great time! I agree... this move just doesn't make sense!


And LTT! Yikes! This was definitely one of our favorites! We have some very fond memories here! Including a dinner with just DH & I! We also had the opportunity of eating here during MNSSHP... We loved that the characters & cast members got all dressed up for halloween! It's sad that we will never be able to share this meal with our youngest! I guess all we have now are the memories and some photos!

[Imagineer1981]

this is the dumbest thing ever...it probably has to do with the rising costs and its cheaper not to pay the character actors.

[lockedoutlogic]

this is the dumbest thing ever...it probably has to do with the rising costs and its cheaper not to pay the character actors.

characters make a pathetic hourly rate.....

everyone assumes they are paid like actors....they are not....

the most difficult part of characters are finding person's of the right height to don the costumes......and the maintenance of the costumes.....

if anyone has ever seen what they charge for an event or a wedding.......you'll agree that characters aren't costing anybody anything....

i think that in the case of liberty tree....it is a move to increase volume and put more fannies in seats....especially with the redonkulous demand for cinderella's and crystal palace....both featuring bad food.....

garden grill obviously wasn't crowded enough at lunch......as as the international programmers that staff the showcase eateries are by far cheaper to disney.....why wouldn't they want you to eat there?

if coral reef didn't have the aquarium...i would think their lunch would be gone also