Much will depend on several things....
1) Which characters would you like to see?
2) are you going mostly for the characters, the food, or both?
3) would you like to eat in a park, or at a nearby resort?
4) which park you will be going to on the day of your character meal
5) where you are staying.
If you are into members of the Fab 5 (not all will appear at all meals), then the following may be of interest to you:
in parks:
Donald's Breakfastosaurus at the AK
Liberty Tree Tavern at the MK (dinner only)
Garden Grille at Epcot (lunch and dinner only)
in the resorts:
Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary (breakfast and dinner)
'Ohana at the Polynesian (breakfast only)
Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club (breakfast only)
If Pooh is your deal, you can see he and his friends at:
parks:
Crystal Palace in MK (all meals served)
1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian (breakfast only)... others like Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins will also be present.
If you want to visit with the Princesses:
in parks:
Cinderella's Royal Table in MK (breakfast only)
Storybook Princess Breakfast at Akersaus in Epcot (breakfast only)
in the resorts
Cinderella's Royal Dinner at the 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian.
Having just checked my Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger, I noticed that there are some character meals listed that are no longer in operation... they include:
Artist's Point with Pooh and Friends at the Wilderness Lodge.. this has been closed since 2001.
Hollywood and Vine at MGM which has not been operating for character meals, although is still open for dinner, since earlier this year.
Olivia's at Old Key West with Pooh and Friends which was suspended in 2002.
We have found that the food at the 1900 Park Faire Character breakfast to be the best quality, and the service was top notch. The characters were really great and accessible, as well.
Chef Mickey's specializes in kid friendly fare, which may not be as interesting to the more mature palate. It also tends to get pretty loud... but the kids LOVE it!
We thought that the Akersaus Norweigan castle was the perfect setting for the Storybook Princess breakfast. The food was served family style and the service was good. The princesses were very good. We haven't had the opportunity to go to Cinderella's Royal Table, as the priority seating is almost impossible to get!
We liked the food at the Garden Grille and thought that the rotating dining room with the view of the Living with the Land ride was an extra added bonus. This was also a more sedate character meal due to the set up of the restaurant. The characters were very good.
We really enjoyed the characters at Liberty Tree Tavern, but were not as thrilled with the food or service. Perhaps it was an off night????
We haven't yet tried Crystal Palace, Cape May or Donalds, but would definitely like to check them out, as they get rave reviews.
Hope this helps in making your decision and that you enjoy whichever character meal you decide to attend!
