What is the Best Character dining place ?

[stencill]

Hey everyone,

I am new to DIS and also I am going to Disney 05 January 2014-11 January 2014. This will be my first trip ever as well as First plane ride lol. I am a rookie at this Disney thing. There will be 2 adult and 2 Kids (11 boy,14 girl) My kids are older and I thought they still might enjoy a Character dining expierence.

Can Anyone recomend a good one to go to as I dont think the princess one will work but any help would be great

Thanks

 

[The3rdDisneyBoy]

What characters do they like? There are really a range of good ones out there.

My personal favorites are probably Crystal Palace (Pooh and Friends) and Ohana (Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch).

Both have good food and character interaction. Crystal Palace at the MK has the added benefit of (if you schedule an early reservation for breakfast) getting in the park early.

For pure characters, Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is good because you get to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto but the food falls a tad short. Not awful but not as good as the other two I mentioned.

Tusker House at AK has Daisy, Goofy and Mickey (and a photo with Donald). The big plus here is the food is very good. However, in my experience, while the characters are good ones to see (especially Daisy who you cannot see at any other meal) the interaction has been meh

Garden Grill at EPCOT is another fun one you might like - the food is good, the restaurant rotates and you get to meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. However, we don't do this one a ton because of the food options available at Epcot. Plus, we often do the Princess breakfast here...which is actually really good.

Cape May cafe is another good one at the Beach Club - Goofy, Minnie, Donald ...the food is ok but its only a character meal at breakfast.

We have also done the Hollywood and Dine at HS but with your kids' ages, not sure if that will be all that great for you since its Disney Junior characters.

Hope all this helps - again, I feel the two best are Crystal Palace and Ohana. But it all depends on what you are looking to get and who you are looking to meet.

 

[stencill]

Thank you for all that info I really appreciate it!!

How do the character dining works, what is the interaction or is just the chacaters walking around meeting kids?

Also I would like to meet Mickey,Donald, etc the old time characters not fussy just not princesses lol

 

[The3rdDisneyBoy]

For the most part, the characters walk around to each table and...erm...interact. They will pose for pictures and sign autograph books as well as some special touches usually (hugs, high-fives, goofing around).

If you want to meet Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie - then I would suggest Chef Mickey's. Again, the food is not "the best" but its not god-awful either.

 

[Octoberbaby]

Hey everyone,

I am new to DIS and also I am going to Disney 05 January 2014-11 January 2014. This will be my first trip ever as well as First plane ride lol. I am a rookie at this Disney thing. There will be 2 adult and 2 Kids (11 boy,14 girl) My kids are older and I thought they still might enjoy a Character dining expierence.

Can Anyone recomend a good one to go to as I dont think the princess one will work but any help would be great

Thanks

Since they are older kids I would go with Chef Mickey's or Tusker House...Both for breakfast. If you decide to do a princess meal go with CRT... You eat in the castle. Akershus was not that great for our family. The very best meal on property no doubt is Ohana dinner and Boma dinner. They aren't character meals but they are my favorites!

 

[herb102211]

The Crystal Palace as all of the Winnie the Pooh characters (Winnie, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet). CP is our favorite character meal.

The Fab 5 can be found at Chef Mickeys.

Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Minnie are also at the Tusker House in AK.

Cape May Café at the Beach Club has Minnie, Donald, and Goofy in their beach attire.

As far as character interaction goes, all of the characters come up to your table for photos/autographs. Weve always had great character experiences at all of the restaurants I mentioned above.

 

[stencill]

Thank you so much everyone for the help !! So many to choose from

 

[fauntleroy53]

Just throwing in my two cents..
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. They have "face" characters, no full furry costumes, but real people. The Mad Hatter and Evil Step sisters really get into character and might appeal to older children