What is the BEST character breakfast?

[mamabear2]

In your opinion, what is the best character breakfast at Disney World and why? We're looking forward to taking our three-year old daughter (and seven adults) in January.

 

[dzneelvr]

I would do the Princess one in Norway/EPCOT with a DDFood is food, but the interactions with the Disney princesses will be unforgettable.

 

[jinia]

Yalls sounds like our trip! First trip 2 yrs ago DS5 and 6 adult - our trip a year ago DS6 and 9 adults! Always trying to balance without boring adults to death (actually not a problem-apparently were pretty childish!) and doing all the kiddie stuff! I thought Crystal Palace was awesome food and characters and beautiful! Have a great time!

 

[Tiffany_PartyOf7]

'Ohana is our must do - in fact, we often do it a few times each trip But we stay at the Poly so its convenient, its really REALLY good food, fun atmosphere... We just love the entire theme

 

[mickeyjen]

Our favorite by far was breakfast at the castle - if for nothing else but to be in the parks before they open! Dining inside the castle while princesses come to your table and you overlook an empty fantasyland...

We also enjoyed 1900 Park Faire for the characters and the strawberry soup! (Its Alice and Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins and Pooh and Tigger).

We did the Epcot Princess one for dinner and Crystal Palace for lunch, so I can't comment on their breakfasts, but the locations are both really nice and the character interaction was great! And Chef Mickey's is always a fave for us as well...

 

[1pirate1princess]

Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace

 

[HappyPeach]

I like Crystal Palace most. I don't have daughters, though. If your dd is a princess type of girl, she might like one of the princess meals.

And OT, but Disney is way more girl-oriented with the themed meals / events. They need to step it up for the boys!

 

[mwatson011]

When we took our dd2 and dd3, we were fortunate to be on the deluxe dining plan (dh won the trip!!!) so we did a character breakfast every day...here is my opinion...

Tusker House(AK) - delicious! we did this breakfast twice
Characters: Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy all in safari attire
Food: buffet - assorted breads, bagels, jellies, spreads, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, frittatas, kids buffet, waffles, carving station with ham (YUM), oatmeal, donuts, pastries, fruit cobbler, and more, definitely something for everyone...definitely american but somewhat of an african flair.

Jungle juice is a must, service is very friendly, they have a dancing parade with all the kids, it is really fun, even my dd2 got into the parade, a server from another section took her and held her hand, it was so nice! Plus, this gets you into AK early, and right on the other side of the Tusker House...the Safari!

Princess dining in Norway(EPCOT) - good, we did this breakfast twice, too
Characters: Belle, Jasmine, Aurora, Mulan, Snow White
Food: cold buffet with fresh fruit, jumbo strawberries, cheeses, meats, salmon with the trimmings, croissants, danishes, spreads and jellies...hot family style platter with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and cheesy hash browns. entire meal is all you can eat, the server will refill your hot platter.

This is a nice atmosphere, the princesses are great, all stop and talk for a while, very relaxed atmosphere. This is a bonus because included in the price is a photo with a princess, both times we went it was with Belle. They present your picture package to you while you are dining. Very nice.

Chef Mickey's(CONTEMPORARY) - ok, once was enough
Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy in chef attire
Food: buffet - fresh fruit, bagels, breads, spreads, jellies, waffles, pancakes, frittatas, omlets, potatoes, corned beef hash, oatmeal, donuts, eggs, bacon, sausage.

It is so hard to get an ADR here, we had one for 7:45 am, the line is horrendous, the place is so loud, the food is about mediocre, the characters are rushed, our service was lacking, the only good part was seeing minnie mouse, because she was not at any of our other breakfasts.

Crystal Palace(MK) - ok, once was enough
Characters: Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger
Food: buffet - omlet made to order station, pancakes, waffles, pastries, fruit, breads, oatmeal.

This seemed like the most disorganized place we ate in all week. Food kept running out and it took a long time for it to be replaced. I missed out on a few items I had wanted because they were empty. That being said, the characters are great, I have a picture of my girls dancing with pooh in the lobby, and we were in the potty when one of the characters came by, so our waitress brought him back when we sat down. Very nice service and characters, but the food was pretty much yuck!

Hollywood & Vine Playhouse Disney(DHS) - great, a fave for sure!
Characters: Leo, June, JoJo, Goliath (little einsteins and jojo's circus)
Food: buffet - food was delsih! bagels, toast, pastries, eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, yogurt, fresh fruit, oatmeal, grits, cereal, pancakes, waffles.

This was total traditional american buffet food. My girls were so excited to get yogurt for a change, and all the buffet food was fresh and delicious. We had an early ressie, so my dds got to interact with the characters a lot before it got busy. They came to our table 2 or 3 times, and were great posing for pics! They do a dance every 15 mins or so, and all the kids get up and dance with the characters. Both my girls loved it. This place surprised us, for some reason I wasn't expecting much, but it ended up at the top of our list.

Conclusion:

I say if you are only doing one, and your dd3 is a fan of Little Einsteins or JoJo's Circus, go with the Hollywood and Vine. The food was great, service was great, characters were so nice, kids got to dance and play. Also, there was not too much that interested my dd2 and dd3 at DHS, so that breakfast was part of their entertainment for the day. I would suggest an early ADR (8am or so), then head over to the Playhouse Disney show, which starts at 9:30. We all had a blast!

If your dd3 is not a fan of the above, I would say Tusker House for the traditional characters or the Princess in Norway for the princesses.

I can't speak for the Cinderella's castle breakfast because we did not do that one, but we did eat dinner in the castle, and while the ambiance and surroundings cannot be beat, the food couldn't be worse!

 

[mom2meiko]

i think it depends on what you are looking for and who your favorite characters are.

if you want to see mickey, you can't go wrong with chef mickey's but the food is not the greatest.

we really enjoyed 1900 park fare with mary poppins.

we're going to try the crystal palace breakfast with pooh bear and friends on our next trip. i've heard great things about that on both the food and character avenues.

 

[RainbowWit]

Tusker house is our fave! Great food, good character interaction, especially the dancing with the characters!

 

[Mickeyherewecome123]

We've done Tusker House, Chef Mickey's and Garden Grill.
By faaarrr Tusker house is the best. It has great food and awsome character interaction.
Second would be Garden Grill, DH liked the food and the character interaction was really really good here.
Last would be Chef Mickey's, the food was just ok and I was not impressed at all with the character interaction here.

 

[Carnator]

Another vote for Tusker House. Good food, characters were great. Didn't feel like they were rushed though.

 

[mamabear2]

Thanks everyone! I LOVE hearing about others' experiences -- what did we do before the internet????

 

[CLEO Z]

Oh my gosh I cannot believe that there are so few votes for Cinderella's Royal Table. Hands down "the best" character breakfast, but, alas, also the most pricey and hard to get into. All the little girls in their princess dresses, with the light from the windows shining in like magic and the expressions on the little (& not so little ) girls when they speak with the princesses and their guests!! I could go on and on.

Last year, we had the first seating and my DD (then 6) was chosen to be Princess of the Day!! The food is great too. My DS (then turning 4) enjoyed it too. We walked out at park opening and right on to Dumbo!

If CRT is too $$ or you can't get it then I vote for Chef Mickeys as second choice and Crystal Palace as third choice.