Character Meal suggestions..

[LisaRae87]

Planning a weekend trip at the moment and want to add in ONE character meal.

It will be myself, my DD3 and my friend.. and possibly my boyfriend but not holding my breath for that one

DD is obsessed with all things Disney, naturally she likes princesses so I have thought about the one in Epcot but not sure.

CRT is out of the question because of cost. I would like to keep the cost down so I expect where ever we go to be for breakfast.

We have done O'hana, Cape May and Crystal Palace so looking for something different. Right now we are considering Chef Mickey, H&V, or 1900 PF.. But it doesn't HAVE to be one of those.

Open to suggestions and opinions..

TIA

 

[peekinglemer]

Don't know if you are planning on going to Animal Kingdom or not, but Tusker House is by far our favorite character breakfast ever. The food is great, the characters come around not once, but twice, you get a great photo meet and greet with Donald before the meal and the tables are not so squished together you feel like you are part of the family next to you.

 

[Destynee29]

Planning a weekend trip at the moment and want to add in ONE character meal.

It will be myself, my DD3 and my friend.. and possibly my boyfriend but not holding my breath for that one

DD is obsessed with all things Disney, naturally she likes princesses so I have thought about the one in Epcot but not sure.

CRT is out of the question because of cost. I would like to keep the cost down so I expect where ever we go to be for breakfast.

We have done O'hana, Cape May and Crystal Palace so looking for something different. Right now we are considering Chef Mickey, H&V, or 1900 PF.. But it doesn't HAVE to be one of those.

Open to suggestions and opinions..

TIA

Our personal favorites are Akershus Breakfast and the Cinderella Happily ever after dinner at 1900 Park fare. My daughter loved both of those options and the price was not bad. We went to CRT twice and thought it was way overpriced for what you got. The plus of Akershus is that the photo is included and when the Princess's come out to your table they actually call your daughter by name, my daughter gasped and said "Mommy! They remembered me!" from our 2011 trip It was a nice touch to the experience.

We also really enjoy Dinner at 1900 PF bc the Step sister's are hilarious and put on a great show. My daughter and niece dressed up as them and we got a wonderful "family portrait" last trip.

Both meals are about the same in price so it's really a matter of which experience you think she will like more

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL RANKINGS, JANUARY 2013:

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

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

Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . 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 characters and the new menu

 

[LisaRae87]

Don't know if you are planning on going to Animal Kingdom or not, but Tusker House is by far our favorite character breakfast ever. The food is great, the characters come around not once, but twice, you get a great photo meet and greet with Donald before the meal and the tables are not so squished together you feel like you are part of the family next to you.

Thank you, we will have passes (again finally! ) so we will probably hit all the parks at some point over the 2 or 3 days we are there.

Our personal favorites are Akershus Breakfast and the Cinderella Happily ever after dinner at 1900 Park fare. My daughter loved both of those options and the price was not bad. We went to CRT twice and thought it was way overpriced for what you got. The plus of Akershus is that the photo is included and when the Princess's come out to your table they actually call your daughter by name, my daughter gasped and said "Mommy! They remembered me!" from our 2011 trip It was a nice touch to the experience.

We also really enjoy Dinner at 1900 PF bc the Step sister's are hilarious and put on a great show. My daughter and niece dressed up as them and we got a wonderful "family portrait" last trip.

Both meals are about the same in price so it's really a matter of which experience you think she will like more

So many choices - I think she would love both of them equally. I am starting to lean towards an IN PARK meal since we have already done 2 that are at resorts and that way if I have to sacrifice our passes again I will still have some character options out of the parks

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL RANKINGS, JANUARY 2013:

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

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

Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . 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 characters and the new menu

WOW.. thank you so much!! that is a great source of info. gonna run it all by my friend. Right now we have an 8:05 ADR for H&V but that could change lol

 

[LB1122]

I know I am in the minority but really enjoy Chef Mickey's for meeting the big 5...BUT

Akerhaus is supposed to be so so amazing for the Princess lover. Looking forward to it myself in a few months.

 

[Destynee29]

I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful time! I also highly recommend Tusker House for breakfast. The other two options are just more "Princess" themed

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[dpswift]

Tuskar House and 1600 Park Faire are by far our favorite character meals.

 

[nickymaria]

As the mother of two girls Akershus was a must-do for years! We honestly enjoy the food there for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And though they now tell me they're too "old" for princess meals, they still insist on Chef Mickey's breakfast with the fab 5. So those are our recs - No matter which one you choose, she'll love it!

 

[sb682]

Actually, as far as interaction goes, H&V is great! The characters visit each table at least twice and interact with you for a few minutes each time. There is also a chance about every 15 minutes for your kids to get up and dance with the characters as well. It's a great atmosphere for preschoolers. On top of that, you can send one adult in your party over to Toy Story Mania to get Fastpasses while the rest of you finish eating. I haven't had breakfast there, but lunch was pretty good.

Lots of people on the boards rave about the character breakfast at 'Ohana. Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch are there, and there are chances for the kids to get up and interact with the characters, too. It's cheaper than H&V and all you can eat, but a limited menu. The Polynesian is my favorite resort to visit when we're there, I'd love to do 'Ohana on a future trip.

 

[LisaRae87]

Thank you every one for your input!!

Actually, as far as interaction goes, H&V is great! The characters visit each table at least twice and interact with you for a few minutes each time. There is also a chance about every 15 minutes for your kids to get up and dance with the characters as well. It's a great atmosphere for preschoolers. On top of that, you can send one adult in your party over to Toy Story Mania to get Fastpasses while the rest of you finish eating. I haven't had breakfast there, but lunch was pretty good.

Lots of people on the boards rave about the character breakfast at 'Ohana. Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch are there, and there are chances for the kids to get up and interact with the characters, too. It's cheaper than H&V and all you can eat, but a limited menu. The Polynesian is my favorite resort to visit when we're there, I'd love to do 'Ohana on a future trip.

We have done O'hana, it was AMAZING!! We saw most of the characters 3 times and the one we didn't, we saw twice. The food was good - limited in selection as you said, but delicious none the less. I highly recommend it and hope to be back at some point myself but have other character meals to conquer first

 

[sb682]

Thank you every one for your input!!



We have done O'hana, it was AMAZING!! We saw most of the characters 3 times and the one we didn't, we saw twice. The food was good - limited in selection as you said, but delicious none the less. I highly recommend it and hope to be back at some point myself but have other character meals to conquer first

That's what I get for skimming posts before I answer. Whoops!

 

[kastoney]

Ditto tusker house reccos, great variety and quality of food and the only buffet I've truly ever liked. My daughter is 2 1/2 loved the characters and seeing Donald and crew and especially the dance through the restaurant. we also had a late morning ressie and got to enjoy breakfast and lunch which was an unexpected treat.