Character Dining

[pirateandprincesses]

We are going to Disney in April '13 and wanted recommendations on character dining. We did Chef Mickey's for Breakfast many years ago and enjoyed it. We may chose that again but I wanted to hear what others liked. We would prefer breakfast to save $$. We like to see mickey and minnie but the princesses work to! Our kids are 8,8,6,2!

 

[mm1971]

We are going to Disney in April '13 and wanted recommendations on character dining. We did Chef Mickey's for Breakfast many years ago and enjoyed it. We may chose that again but I wanted to hear what others liked. We would prefer breakfast to save $$. We like to see mickey and minnie but the princesses work to!

First sitting at the Crystal Palace is my suggestion if you've never done it. It is the Pooh characters, but the real treat is you can get into MK before it opens and walk up Main Street by yourself with the park empty. Takes some pics of the castle with no one in them, except you if you like. I have some really nice shots of just the castle with no one in the wheel or on Main Street.

We didn't enjoy the food at CRT in MK at all. DD and DM had to order things made that they would eat. DD enjoyed the princesses and the atmosphere, but the food made it so we will not do breakfast there again.

 

[theyoungs07]

We have boys and girls, so we hit Crystal Palace, as said before, get an 8:00 res when the park opens at 9
We do the princess Bfast at Akerhus, the food is pretty good, and beats CRT for price and convenience.

We also have reservations at Tusker House to see Mickey/Donald.

We always do breakfasts, and always as early as possible before the park opens.

With 4 kids, you may also want to book the Fantasmic dinner, no characters, but much less line waiting for the best show at the World, IMHO. We do it every time as well...it was necessary when we went in 2010 and the show was only run once a week.

 

[Kristian]

We love The Crystal Palace, although I can only speak for lunch as we've never had their breakfast or dinner, but the character interaction is great. We also like Hollywood & Vine's Disney Jr. breakfast as dd love's everything Disney Jr. We've done Tusker House and I'm not a fan. The food was ok, but the service wasn't great. Maybe we caught them on an off day, but it was very disorganized and hectic. I'm not a nitpicker by any means and I realize that sometimes things don't go as planned, but I was not the only person complaining. We weren't impressed, but I won't say that we'll never try it again.

We've never done a princess character meal because dd wasn't really into the princesses until here recently and she still isn't "over the moon" so to speak. SO, on our upcoming trip, I think we are going to give Akershus a try. I wouldn't mind doing CRT, but we do the dining plan and I really don't want to use two dining credits for it. I'd rather pay out of pocket for it and save our meal credits, but I'm not willing to do so until she gets a little more into the princesses.

 

[MSSANDRA]

There are pros and cons to most Character meal. We have done a lot of them over the years so here are my thoughts. In general, an 8:00am breakfast is nice but we are such big rope drop people that we do tend to feel a little rushed. Also nice is the latest breakfast sitting. Eat a light breakfast in the room and get a brunch about 10:30 or so.

Chief Mickey- We think the food is good, not great but fine. Service we find just ok but the characters are really good here.

Ohana's Breakfast- Not big fan of who the characters are (Stitch) but the food is family style and yummy.

Crystal Palace- Character are really good and food is good. We have always had great service here too.

CRT- We really liked this place but with boys and the price it's not one we do often. Our food, service and characters were excellent.

Tucker House- Our current favorite. Food is great and the characters are wonderful. We like an 8:00 adr here. Have not done lunch.

1900 Park Ave- Dinner at the GF with Cinderella and friends. Food and characters were both excellent. Love the strawberry soup.

Hollywood and Vine- Characters much better than the food. Playhouse Disney may be a little young for your 8 year olds.

Garden Grill- Loved the setting, and the characters but not the food. It is fine but just not out taste. Family Style which is nice and the way the lay out is, you have a little bit more privacy with the characters.

 

[jayhawk74]

For the characters since they stopped doing the characters at the Liberty Tavern we now only do 2 meals.
We do dinner at the Crystal Palace where the food is very good. While my DD gets to meet her favorite Pooh Characters she loves doing the Poohrade.
For the Princesses we do lunch at Cinderella's Castle. We do this the day after my DD goes to the Bidy Bop Boutique so she gets to meet her fellow princesses for lunch.

 

[jlsmith376]

We've been to most of the character breakfasts and Ohana offers the most value IMO. The food is served family style in giant platters of pastires, eggs, bacon, sausage, mickey waffles and is so delicious! The juice they serve is incredible. Our kids love Lilo and Stitch so it was a hit with them, but Mickey and Pluto are also there.

 

[ktlm]

Since your trip is in 3 months and you are looking for tables for a party for 6, I think at this point, you need to get online at WDW's website and see what is still available. The time to make reservations opened up 3 months ago, and character meals tend to book up really fast.

We really enjoy Tusker house at AK, but be aware that Daisy is there instead of Minnie.

If your 6 or 2 year old are girls and Princess fans, nothing can beat eating in the Castle (Cinderella's Royal Table) at MK. My DD loves it there.

A non-character meal to consider that would be fun for the kids is Biergarten in Epcot (lunch or dinner). They have a German band and the kids can get out and dance on the dance floor during the show. My DD(6) ranks it up there with Princess meals.

 

[Chimichanga]

Just booked our breakfast at CRT for our entire party (5 adults, two kids and a baby). But, I didn't book for the baby - she'll be six months. She won't be eating anything; or very little. Can anyone let me know what the "policy" is on infants?

I haven't been to WDW in almost 20 years. We never did character dining as kids (not even sure that was an option!! ) and we'll do a few this time around.

CRT for sure - we have two girls (6 and 3) who are VERY into princesses!!

Some other options I'm looking into are: 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace, Ohana and Chef Mickey. Oh, and the Cape May Cafe for breakfast before we head to Epcot.

 

[msmama]

If there are any Disney Junior fans, I liked the breakfast at Hollywood and Vine at HS. They had the most delicious cheesy starchy potatoes. Yummy!! Although I was NOT up for spinning around in rides afterwords, lol!!

Anyway they have Jake, Oso, June from little Einsteins and Handy Manny (or did last year).

I am also a big fan of Garden Grill inside the land pavilion at Epcot - Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale in their farm gear. Food is some of the best I've had at Disney, too.

 

[bean24]

Just booked our breakfast at CRT for our entire party (5 adults, two kids and a baby). But, I didn't book for the baby - she'll be six months. She won't be eating anything; or very little. Can anyone let me know what the "policy" is on infants?

I haven't been to WDW in almost 20 years. We never did character dining as kids (not even sure that was an option!! ) and we'll do a few this time around.

CRT for sure - we have two girls (6 and 3) who are VERY into princesses!!

Some other options I'm looking into are: 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace, Ohana and Chef Mickey. Oh, and the Cape May Cafe for breakfast before we head to Epcot.

You have to tell them about the baby. No charge but it still effects room capacity.

 

[Kristian]

You have to tell them about the baby. No charge but it still effects room capacity.

I was about to post the same exact thing. You have to include everyone in your party...even infants.