1st trip to disney-help with character dinning

[libbylast]

Hi All

I have a 4 yr and 9 yr old both girls. I want to dine at the castle and other character resturants can you advise which is best and if breakfast or lunch is best. Do I need to request any special tables etc.

Thanks for any help.

Angie

 

[Smile4Me]

If you have girls definately do the Princess character dining experience at the restaurant in Norway! They do breakfast, and dinner for sure, not 100% about lunch though. The food is great!

 

[guelde96]

Breakfast at Akershus in Norway at Epcot. They have @ 5 different Princesses in attendance. My daughter loved it.

1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian is great with little girls. Cinderella and Prince charming but by far the best part was the The ladies Tremaine. They were hilarious.

 

[allaboard]

All of our kids - 2 girls and 1 boy - have LOVED Chef Mickey's ... they do not have Princesses there ... but they have adored seeing Mickey and Goofy, Pluto, the Chipmunks, and Minnie ... in fact, they are a bit upset we are not planning on going there this coming trip. We like breakfast there - it's a great b-fast buffet.

 

[KatMark]

They do a Princess Lunch in Norway as well (however, we did not care for the food).

If you want something besides the Princesses, I strongly suggest the Crystal Palace for breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. It is our must do every trip...and we don't bring our "adult" kids any more.

 

[cissy]

I agree that the Crystal Palace is a must for breakfast. Try to get the first ressie of the day as the buffet line can get long. As soon as we were seated, I sent my DH straight for the buffet and he made a couple of trips to get it all. By the time we were there a half an hour, the line had grown considerably. But this will be a repeat for us the next time we go.

Also, we did the CRT lunch but I have since heard from many people that the Norway breakfast is more interactive. Check the lunch menu (on allears) because I hear it is not for finicky eaters. Lots of fish. We will do this one the next time.

We also did O'hana breakfast which was nice as we were staying at the Poly, but I would not do that one again. Nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't that exciting.

We plan on trying Chef Mickey's and the Liberty Tree next trip.

 

[ElizabethB]

We like the Lilo and Stitch breakfast at the Polynesian. It's not as frantic and insane as Chef Mickey's. They have the kids do a parade with the characters and there was lots of interaction with not just Lilo and Stitch but Mickey, Minnie (sometimes) and Pluto.

 

[tink2]

I've done both princess meals- castle and Norway- and both are great. But, to me, there is just something special about the castle and dd agreed- she was 5 the last time we went. She like Norway, but when we were planning our upcoming trip- the first thing she asked was if Cinderella was going to invite us to eat in the castle with her and her friends again- didn't say a word about Norway. Both are great- but I would definitely take your girls to eat with the princesses in the castle- JMHO. Also, we aren't doing Norway this year- we did both when she was 5 and I think she started to notice the differences in the 'princesses'- a couple were at both and you could see the differences. Now that she is 8- I know she would notice.
Others to try- Crystal Palace is our favorite. Never tried breakfast, but I've heard it is wonderful. Lunch and dinner are both terrific as well. Eaten here many times and never had a bad meal or experience. My kids- 8 and 6- still love Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet!
Chef Mickeys- had breakfast last time- loved it. Trying dinner this year on our arrival night so we don't lose park time to eat here (we don't do parks on arrival days)
Donald's Breakfasaurus in AK- now in the Tusker House- ate at the old location- good selection and good characters. Check allears.info for the latest on this one- it just reopened- I know it is supposed to be Donald, Daisy, and Mickey- not sure on the others.
Have fun- your girls are at great ages- have a magical trip!!!

 

[frdeb1999]

O'hana's breakfast at the Poly is wonderful if you want a slower paced type setting. We do it every year and enjoy it. They have Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey. We have done Chef Mickeys and honestly while it was fun....the food was'nt worth the price. LTT is also alot of fun and has very good food. Crystal Palace is also very good.

 

[Wendy31]

We like the following character meals:

Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort - Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, & Donald character meal; characters at breakfast & lunch; buffet - we prefer breakfast to dinner; very cool atmosphere with the monorail running through

Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom - Princess character meal at breakfast & lunch (Cinderella is in the lobby) & the Fairy Godmother & the mice (Suzy & Perla) are there for dinner; preplated breakfast, order from the menu for lunch & dinner; very wonderful atmosphere!

Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom - Winnie the Pooh & Friends character meal; characters at breakfast, lunch, & dinner; buffet with lots of yummy items not normally on buffets; the interior of the restaurant is lovely

Garden Grill at Epcot - Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Chip, & Dale dressed in farmer attire character meal for lunch & dinner; family-style; neat atmosphere w/ the slowly revolving floor

Liberty Tree Tavern - Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, & Dale dressed in colonial attire for dinner; family-style; good character interaction

Other family-fun restaurants, but w/o characters, that we like are Ohana at the Poly and Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge.

We've also done the Princess Storybook dinner at Akershus in Norway at Epcot - the character interaction was good (Cinderella was marvelous!), the interior was lovely - very "country castle", but we we didn't care for the food - it wasn't that we weren't prepared to try Norwegian dishes - the food just wasn't very good - my DH's entree was cold, my pasta was dry & the sauce was overcooked. We'd probably try it again (everyone has an "off" night), just, after we've scheduled our favs & then added some new places we want to try, there's no "room" left in our dining schedule.

We have a little boy and a little girl, so we schedule a variety of character meals. If I schedule too many princess meals, I start feeling guilty! However, if we had two little girls, I'd probably do either CRT or Princess Storybook and 1900 Park Faire (dinner) and then Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and Liberty Tree Tavern or Garden Grill - depdending on how long our vacation was going to be.

Have fun planning!

 

[Harambe]

Since you have girls, I'd go with one princess meal and one Mickey (ya gotta have Mickey!)

We've never done more than one character meal per trip (now the kids are older and don't care if we do one or not). It is a real treat - especially if you take your time and enjoy it.

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

Hi All

I have a 4 yr and 9 yr old both girls. I want to dine at the castle and other character resturants can you advise which is best and if breakfast or lunch is best. Do I need to request any special tables etc.

Thanks for any help.

Angie

We have done Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast and lunch - enjoyed the food at both and saw several princesses there.

Crystal Palace's breakfast with Pooh's characters was good too (buffet style) - the characters take the kids around the room in a "parade"/dance that the younger kids loved. I've done dinner there as well and the food was not bad (again buffet style).

This year we are going to try the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique before our Cinderella's Royal Table lunch. I have a 6 year old who can't wait for her makeover! Your girls may enjoy that as well.