Help me with character dining - updated...

[Bridge203618]

Character dining is complicated for us.

Here is why:

My DD is 3 and allergic to milk which makes breakfast really hard. She can't have pancakes or waffles or a lot of the pastries. At home she does dry cereal and possibly toast. She does love fruit and would eat almost any bread I would think. She likes Ham and bacon.

She also can't have things like pizza or mac n cheese and won't touch a hamburger or pasta sauce

My DSD is 14 and now considered an adult but her tastes are so NOT adult and not fancy. She does chicken, hamburgers, cheese pizza, pasta and tacos. Doesn't really do steak, hates ham. Might do prime rib or something not sure. So a lot of the things with sauces, etc she wouldn't be interested in. Doesn't really do fish unless it is fried (same with shrimp)

I don't want to pay an arm and a leg.

My thought was maybe a dinner and a breakfast. Would like lunch but there didn't seem to many options for that.

So my questions:

What do you suggest for us? My DSD LOVES little einsteins but I hear there food isn't so good and would the breakfast be an option for her?

Are there any resorts that do lunch? I thought of doing a lunch our last day since we aren't going to a park, but I couldn't really find anything. Might have to settle for breakfast

What characters are the best for a 3 year old - and who has the best interaction and who just really isn't good.

I was thinking of chef mickey for dinner (i think it was tues/sat that was appealing to me) and the beach something or other for breakfast. It really seemed to have the most options for DD for breakfast

But then I thought those are very similar characters. Maybe I should do crystal palace for lunch or dinner.

I would love to take her to princess or something but the 2 that were offered - PAlace is too expensive (castle) and the other one the food didn't interest me.

Is there some great food I am just overlooking?

What cold cereals or served for breakfast?

Any other feedback????

 

[badblackpug]

Your daughter will be fine at any of the breakfast buffets. All have dry ceral bacon, sausage, fruit. As for the older step daughter all buffets have a children's area where they where they have pizza, nuggets, and mac and cheese. Chef mickey's is a lot of fun and has basic buffet food. The character interaction is good. Our favorite breakfast is Tusker House. It has the same characters as CM's but they are in safari outfits. Crystal Palace food is better and they have Pooh and friends. The Playhouse Disney breakfast was fine, standard breakfast fare and my 2 year old likes the characters and the fact that they sing the "hot dog" song!

I would stick to the buffets to accommodate the needs of both.

 

[momof1princess]

let me see....i am also allergic to milk, and when we ate at ohana a few years ago, the chef came out to speak with me about it and actually made me scrambled eggs without milk. this can happen at any restaurant in wdw-just note the allergy on your dining reservations. crystal palace is a great lunch, and has pooh characters. their citrus marinated flank steak is GREAT (we ask the chef for it well-done, they cut it and toss it back on the fire) and they have mashed potatoes, green beans, all kinds of fruit and fruit salads, whole fruit, cookies, pie, chicken tenders, etc. my DH and DD are very picky eaters, and we all go away stuffed. we also enjoyed the breakfast at tusker house (mickey, goofy, donald and daisy) very much. the princess lunch at akershus in epcot was very good-they made me a special meal, as i couldn't eat what they were serving (i've had gastric bypass surgery). if the princess meals don't appeal, you might consider taking your DD to the bibbidi bobbidi boutique-my DD12 loved it. she didn't dress up, of course, but enjoyed all the fuss fancy hair, nails, etc. we have also done whispering canyon cafe at the wilderness lodge (the skillet has something for everyone), biergarten (DH LOVES the pork schnitzel) and liberty tree tavern (wouldn't pay the outrageous price now that there are no characters).
for CS meals, we've done pecos bill's (bbq sandwich-yum!), american adventure (great burgers), pinocchio village haus (great pizza and chicken tenders), toy story pizza planet (great pizza), backlot express (great burgers), studio catering company (bbq sandwich again!) and the pop food court has really yummy food. they also sell fruit, which i LOVE and eat with every meal. HTH somehow!

 

[Bridge203618]

Thanks for the replies so far! Love that Disney sells fruit BTW. They really do seem to do their part even if it is pricey!

I think we would like to do a breakfast and a lunch or dinner.

I guess we are probably looking at a breakfast at a resort and dinner/lunch at a park. It just seems like such a hassel to leave and come back.

Probably will do a breakfast our last day since we aren't doing a park. Probably late breakfast so the girls can sleep in.

I think I am leaning toward Cape May Cafe because their menu seemed really large. Am I doing a big disservice to my family by not going to Chef Mickey's?

I thought about going to Hollywood and Vine for Breakfast cuz I think she would really love it but I am just not sure of that.

I am leaning toward Crystal palace for lunch or dinner.

Thoughts??

I didn't want to see Mickey too many times especially since they willprobably be the most accessible through out the parks.

If i don't go to holly wood and vine are those characters anywhere else???

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going to the disABILITIES Forum and look at Post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs. There is a large section in that post dealing with special dietary needs, as well as many related links. You can get directly to the disABILITIES FAQs by following the link in my signature.

This is a very common topic of discussion in the disABILITIES Forum.

 

[Joyful Pixiedust]

If i don't go to holly wood and vine are those characters anywhere else???

Not in terms of character dining, no.

And ditto what the other poster said about listing the milk allergy in your ressie. I also don't eat any dairy and have been thrilled at how great the chefs are about offering solutions. You will even have access to a phone number to call and discuss things ahead of time.

Have a great time!

 

[mjp12831]

our 3 - including our 4yo dd last year had a ball at this event - Chip n Dale, Minnie and Pluto - tons of interaction with the kids and dancing. Lots of fun. It was a bit pricy, but a really great disney experience. Buffet, so lots of food and many varieties.

CRT is way over hyped - it was ok but not worth it - I'd stay away. We heard from these boards that Akershus was much better interaction (and lower cost) so we're trying that one.

These boards also recommend 1900 Park Fare for really good character interaction in the GF - we're trying that one this year too.

We did H&V lunch last year and Little Einsteins were there - if your dd is into them it would be a really good experience. Ours know them but arent "into" them, so it wasnt great. These boards rate the food at H&V as bad - I'd say our experience was so/so - not as good as most of the other places we ate, but not bad.

Enjoy - I love planning and picking restaurants is so much fun.

 

[dzorn]

Thanks for the replies so far! Love that Disney sells fruit BTW. They really do seem to do their part even if it is pricey!

I think we would like to do a breakfast and a lunch or dinner.

I guess we are probably looking at a breakfast at a resort and dinner/lunch at a park. It just seems like such a hassel to leave and come back.

Probably will do a breakfast our last day since we aren't doing a park. Probably late breakfast so the girls can sleep in.

I think I am leaning toward Cape May Cafe because their menu seemed really large. Am I doing a big disservice to my family by not going to Chef Mickey's?

I thought about going to Hollywood and Vine for Breakfast cuz I think she would really love it but I am just not sure of that.

I am leaning toward Crystal palace for lunch or dinner.

Thoughts??

I didn't want to see Mickey too many times especially since they will probably be the most accessible through out the parks.

If i don't go to holly wood and vine are those characters anywhere else???

The few times I have been to Chef Mickey's the food has not been very good. They we not as accomidating to DD allergy as other restaurants. They showed me the buffet and even when I could see cross contamination issues they seemed put out to get something from the back. Cape May breakfast is one of our favorites. We also enjoy Ohana for breakfast.

We have enjoyed CP for several meals but I am not paying the price for a frozen waffle. The other have made them fresh Mickey Waffles for DD. Her allergy is wheat not milk.

Don't forget to contact special diets and mention allergy when making ADR.



Denise in MI

 

[Bridge203618]

Not in terms of character dining, no.

And ditto what the other poster said about listing the milk allergy in your ressie. I also don't eat any dairy and have been thrilled at how great the chefs are about offering solutions. You will even have access to a phone number to call and discuss things ahead of time.

Have a great time!

Can i see little einsteins, etc without DINING with them? Like are they available to meet in the parks?

 

[momof1princess]

Can i see little einsteins, etc without DINING with them? Like are they available to meet in the parks?

as many times as we've been, i've never seen the little einsteins out in the parks. we DID see jojo and goliath at DHS, which thrilled DD to no end. there are various characters at the animation gallery at DHS each afternoon, i think around 5:00pm-5:30pm. when we were there, we saw the "up" characters, sorcerer mickey, mr. and mrs. incredible and frozone.

if i were going to eat at crystal palace, i would choose lunch. the citrus marinated flank steak isn't on the dinner menu, and CP is a nice, cool place to take a mid-day break. there's no rush, the pooh characters are great, and the food is really good. i wish i could say that for H&V, but it was very mediocre, at best.