Best character breakfast? (Not just food!)

[Davis2902]

I have read the boards for several days and I was wondering about a character breakfast. I see several people have stated that Chef Mickey's is not the cleanest environment . So I'm asking which is the best all around character breakfast. Food,service, cleanliness and the best time (early or later)?

 

[katt789]

Crystal Palace (in MK): Best to get a pre-park opening breakfast! You get into the park early, get some great castle pics, head into the restaurant. Winnie the Pooh gang is awesome, the ambiance of the place is pretty awesome, and the food is great, including build your own omelet's and such. Definitely go before the park opens

Cinderella's Royal Table: I *personally* wouldn't say it's worth it for breakfast, but it is awesome to eat in the castle and with princesses. Haven't done breakfast here yet, but don't think the food is worth the price, would do dinner instead.Go before the park opens

Tusker House (ak) Another great food place, you can get different, African inspired dishes versus just the standard American fare, Mickey & the gang come to say hello, and service is usually good. I'd say go before the park is open, or around 10am.

Those are definitely my favorites, and I do highly recommend Crystal Palace!

 

[ktlm]

We really enjoy the Tusker House breakfast at AK. The only thing is that Daisy is there in place of Minnie, so if you have a huge Minnie fan you could have an issue.

 

[middlesista]

Agree with Tusker House also Hollywood and Vine Breakfast was fun. Cinderella Royal Castle was granddaughters all time favorite and the one she talked the most about. She was 3 at the time.

Will not return to Chef Mickey.

 

[Chuckers]

My favorite is Crystal Palace.. The characters are great and so's the food. Plus I love the look of the restaurant.

Another one I would book again is 1900 Park Fair in the GF. It's all the English characters, Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, etc. It was really nice to see a human character - Mary Poppins and Bert.

 

[Tiggr924]

Definitely Crystal Palace! The characters have great interaction and I love the food We typically like to make a reservation around 9:30 or so, we like to have some time in the park before the ADR. But have had issues if the ressie is too late with them not refilling the food.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL RANKINGS, JANUARY 2013:

Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . Tusker House
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's

Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)

Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambience):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Chef Mickey's


NOTE: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House
wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at
each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's
is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible
food quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table,
due to the brief time at tables for charcters and the new menu.

 

[Masonmj84]

For us, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Cape May is sort of a trifecta and we like to eat at all three.

Of these, I'd give a slight edge food-wise to Tusker House (also can hop right on the safari afterward).

Ambiance wise, I'd give the edge to Crystal Palace (plus, if you get a pre-park opening, you get the advantage of walking down an empty main street).

Character interaction wise, Cape May wins. Since it's not in a park, it also has the most relaxed feel of the three (but its also the hardest to get to if you're not staying at an Epcot resort).

Cleanliness wise, I haven't noticed a discernable difference between these three (but we always have one of the earliest ADRs).

Service wise is also too close to call (depends more on your individual server, which obviously varies).

If I was forced to rank these overall I'd probably say, Tusker, Crystal Palace, Cape May. But I'd have a hard time picking just one and you really can't go wrong at any of them IMO.

 

[nursie]

Tusker house, Ohana, and Crystal Palace are our favorites for both food and characters.
We have done Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, Cinderalla's Royal Table, Akerhus too.
We actually like them all for different reasons,
We will not go to CRT or Akerhus due to cost this next trip.
Chef Mickey's was loud, rowdy, lots of fun but my kids kept running up to the buffet which drove me nuts.
Garden Grill was fun because we went around in a circle and got to see part of the boat ride and scenary plus we like the food and it was brought to us, no running up to the buffet.
We will be trying 1900 Park Fare, Cape May, & Hollywood and Vine on the next trip as well as our top 3 and again Chef Mickey's.

I don't think you can really go wrong at any of them but it may just be our family was go with the flow and enjoyed ALL of them. Lots of food and fun. I will say my boys were probably least excited about the Akerhus because of it being just Princesses.
Good luck!

 

[tammiek]

Crystal Palace (in MK): Best to get a pre-park opening breakfast! You get into the park early, get some great castle pics, head into the restaurant. Winnie the Pooh gang is awesome, the ambiance of the place is pretty awesome, and the food is great, including build your own omelet's and such. Definitely go before the park opens

Cinderella's Royal Table: I *personally* wouldn't say it's worth it for breakfast, but it is awesome to eat in the castle and with princesses. Haven't done breakfast here yet, but don't think the food is worth the price, would do dinner instead.Go before the park opens

Tusker House (ak) Another great food place, you can get different, African inspired dishes versus just the standard American fare, Mickey & the gang come to say hello, and service is usually good. I'd say go before the park is open, or around 10am.

Those are definitely my favorites, and I do highly recommend Crystal Palace!

We had character breakfasts at both the grand Floridian and Beach club and would recommend the beach club.. The food choice was much better, and the characters spend more time with you here.. The grand Floridian was grand but we felt rushed through like on a conveyor belt... Far too busy there and not much time with characters.. Either way I would certainly recommend booking ahead.. We travelled in September and booked June its very busy and people that had no reservations were turned away or told to wait minimum of an hour x have fun x

 

[eemaxx]

My family prefers 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. The character to customer ratio is one of the lowest so you're not sitting around waiting for the characters to come to your table. The food is always very good- something for everyone. And, when you're done, hop on the monorail and head to MK!

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

If I am not trying to get in the "biggies" my vote goes to 1900 PF simply because I found it delicious, varied, the strawberry soup was delightful and the Mad Hatter was quite amusing. It was a nice change of pace.

For me to see Mickey I like Cape May. Again I book it first thing in the morning, knock out my photo ops and stroll into Epcot from the backside and walk right up to Soarin'. I haven't done Tusker House.

However if I had little people with me and a buffet was a challenge I'd say Ohana or Garden Grill just because they bring it to you.

And my DH always laughs at me but the napkin dance at Chef Mickey's GROSSES me out. All I can think of are flying food particles and germs.

 

[Sweettears]

If I am not trying to get in the "biggies" my vote goes to 1900 PF simply because I found it delicious, varied, the strawberry soup was delightful and the Mad Hatter was quite amusing. It was a nice change of pace.

For me to see Mickey I like Cape May. Again I book it first thing in the morning, knock out my photo ops and stroll into Epcot from the backside and walk right up to Soarin'. I haven't done Tusker House.

However if I had little people with me and a buffet was a challenge I'd say Ohana or Garden Grill just because they bring it to you.

And my DH always laughs at me but the napkin dance at Chef Mickey's GROSSES me out. All I can think of are flying food particles and germs.

Mickey does not appear at Cape May. Minnie but no Mickey.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Mickey does not appear at Cape May. Minnie but no Mickey.

Whoops..I forgot. They changed that a few years ago! In 2008 he was there, but in 2011 he was not. Thanks for setting that right.

And they are cute in their beachwear!

 

[eangel12]

We had a terrible experience at Tusker House with the characters....they spent NO time at our table, were rushed through, food was just okay. Crystal Palace was amazing...characters played peek-a-boo with my son and pretended to eat his food...it was great and the food was amazing!!

 

[Chuckers]

I travel to Disney alone and my experiences at Crystal Palace have been awesome. The characters ALL interacted with me and took pictures.. and I am a 47 y.o. man

The staff has also been wonderful.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

I would have to say the best breakfast overall was tusker house! I thought the food was great and the characters came around twice! 2nd place for sure is royal table the overall experience was AWESOME, we had lunch and my husband and I were super impressed.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We are big fans of O'hana's character breakfast. We even did this meal on our non-Disney trip at Christmas, because my "boys" (who are all grown up) still love it.

We love that the food is served family-style, delivered right to your table. We love the feel of the Poly. We love the leis that they give you when you arrive. We love having a view of the castle from our table. And the food......oh, its soooooooo good. Super yum.

The characters are great (Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, Stitch) and we have had great interaction here. Stitch is a real rascal, and is a hoot with the kids. When we were there over Christmas, he was picking boogers from his nose and wiping them on the shirts of guests. The kids were roaring with laughter. The characters also do a parade through the restaurant, and kids are welcome to join them as they shake their maracas and bang their tambourines while they wind their way through the tables.

I have a ton of photos and a full write up of O'hana's character breakfast from Christmas week 2012 in my trip report. Click on the link in my signature, then go to page 6, post 87.

 

[Bearybear]

We had a terrible experience at Tusker House with the characters....they spent NO time at our table, were rushed through, food was just okay. Crystal Palace was amazing...characters played peek-a-boo with my son and pretended to eat his food...it was great and the food was amazing!!

Same here with Tusker house. Mickey actually walked past our table and didn't even stop. My son was so dissapointed that Mickey ignored him.

But we've always had plenty of time with the characters at Crystal Palace. It is our all time favorite character meal.

 

[jwgm2012]

Just chiming in...

We've done Tusker House and Crystal Palace and loved both!

I loved the food more at Tusker House because of the mixture of both African dishes and regular American choices. That said, Crystal Palace has puffed french toast which many people go there just for that! I thought Tusker had a great look and theme to it and I enjoyed getting a pic with Donald before we ate. We were two adults only and still enjoyed lots of interaction with the characters. Tusker House is more cramped though and gets very loud. CP had a more spread out feel, could've felt that way because it had more windows which gave it a more open and airy feel.

We had our kids with us for CP and even with our large older group of 6, we still got to enjoy the characters as much as those families with the younger kids.

We really enjoyed both very much - I personally liked Tusker House the most. Just a great place.