Anyone want to plan our character meals?? Disney first timers!!!

[BaysMom]

We are going to Disney October 5-9th 2011. It is our FIRST TIME!!!! October 6th (Thursday) is my daughter's 5th birthday and my 32nd birthday.

I am wanting to do 2 character meals - one with princesses, and one with Mickey/Minnie, etc.

I was thinking of doing Princesses on her bday...maybe breakfast??
Then another day, one with Mickey and friends.

Any thoughts on where - Royal Table, 1900, etc for her bday and best meal to do it?? I was thinking breakfast at Royal Table.

Also... thoughts... Chef Mickey, Donald, or another on another day...and what meal?? I know Donald is bfast only...but was wondering about Chef Mickey for bfast/L/D?

Any help appreciated!!!

 

[stitchaholic]

Chef Mickeys is a really fun place to go for your first time , and breakfast is the better option there, however, there is an alternative to chef mickey that is much quieter and the food seems a little more fresh and the character interaction not quite as rushed, this would be the cape may breakfast buffet, you will see mickey and minnie and goofy in beach attire, and the resort is gorgeous.

1900 park fare is a wonderful breakfast, however we did not see any princesses there, it was alice, winniw the pooh, the mad hatter and mary poppins.
another option for the princess breakfast is ashkersus breakfast in norway (Epcot)

our favorite of all is the best friends breakfast at the poly, Lilo and stitch, mickey and goofy(i think), this is a fun breakfast, the character always seem to be great here, stitch is a lot of fun and causes havoc in the dinning room. the kids get to do a parade with marocas led by stitch

 

[tinkandpan]

Best princess bfast is asherkus in norway- i call it the princess bang for the buck (it's a pricey bfast). As for Mickey Minnie- i am not a fan of chef mickey. Tusker house is great, but no mickey. Ohana is fun too- but no minnie. Cape May is also a great one.
My all time favorite character bfast is Crystal Palace- but no mickey or minnie. It's all Pooh and Friends.

 

[Quin]

If you are paying OOP, breakfast is definitely the least expensive. Akershus in Norway is the #1 wall-to-wall princess experience. I'm sure she would love it on her birthday (and make sure you tell them when you make the reservation that it is her actual birthday, and remind them when you check in as well. Extra pixie dust may happen!). I would pick Akershus over CRT.

If you are only doing 1 other meal and want the Fab 5, the only way to get them alls is Chef Mickey's. B/L/D mostly depends on what would work best for the way your day is set up. If it's a park day I'd recommend breakfast or lunch there. If you are not going to be in a park the day you go to CM (for instance, if you will spend the day at a water park, or if it's your arrival day and you don't want to use up a park admission) then dinner might be the better option. Cape May breakfast buffet would probably be my second choice but you don't get quite as many characters and unless you are staying at that resort complex it will take a big chunk out of your day.

 

[lamb616]

Tusker house is great, but no mickey.

2 weeks ago - mickey was there for us (see avatar photo)

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I have 2 boys and have never been able to do the character meal at the castle but if I did have a girl I think this would have to be my first choice. It must be so exciting for little girls. Now for meals with Mickey I do agree that everyone should experience Chef Mickey's especially if it's your first time. Although the dinner gets a bad review I would rather do dinners not a b-fast person. We are doing Garden Grill character dinner in Epcot this trip for the first time it has Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. I heard it's not as crazy and more low key than CM. It's also served family style so a little more relaxing. Have a magical trip!!

 

[candielips]

Are you on the DDP or paying oop?

Chef Mickeys is only open for Breakfast and dinner, no lunch here. We prefer the dinner here. If your daughter wants to see Minnie this is a must do.

Akershus is a nice use of one ddp credit, as you will get a photo pkg included in the price of your meal. We prefer the food at the breakfast. Not too crazy about the food at lunch or dinner.

CRT is a must do for my family. My DD and DH love to eat in the castle. We usually do the dinner here as we like to get more bang for our credits.

Tusker House Breakfast is nice if you are looking to see Daisy. We have always seen Mickey here. This one is also a must do for us as my DD has to see Daisy.

Now that I have given you the rundown on a couple of restaurants, here are the plans I would do:

Plan A) Breakfast - Tusker House
Dinner - CRT

Plan B) Breakfast - Akershus
Dinner - Chef Mickey's

Hope this helps.

 

[amy-momofthree]

Definitely Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle

We had breakfast there and really enjoyed it. The food is brought to you so it's more relaxing than a buffet. AND you get a photo package (included in the price)

There is something especially magical about eating in the castle.

Another one that we really enjoyed was Tusker house in Animal Kingdom. WE saw Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy (?) And the food was wonderful!!!

We will be in Disney the same time as you Oct 1-7.

Have fun planning!

 

[Catie.Hiltz]

Character meals are the best!

-Crystal Palace: pooh/tigger and great food, and you can't beat the setting, you walk out the door into the magic kingdom (I prefer breakfast here)

-Chef Mickeys: after a day at MK, you get to take the monorail to the contemporary if you do dinner here, and the characters are great (the classics-mickey, minnie, pluto, goofy, donald), and the food is kid friendly for sure

-Cinderellas royal table: a big treat for sure-dinner here was amazinga nd the princesses spent a lot of time at each table, a lot of the little ones dressed up like their fave princesses, and that would be a super cute pic to have, your kids dressed like their fave princess WITH their fave princess in the pic!

-1900 Park fare-good for dinner, has alice in wonderland/mary poppins charactiers (at least it did last time I went!)

I woudl recommend any and ALL of the above meals-its a great way to get autographs and pics and enjoy some great food-it can be chaotic, but its worth it!

 

[BaysMom]

If you are paying OOP, breakfast is definitely the least expensive. Akershus in Norway is the #1 wall-to-wall princess experience. I'm sure she would love it on her birthday (and make sure you tell them when you make the reservation that it is her actual birthday, and remind them when you check in as well. Extra pixie dust may happen!). I would pick Akershus over CRT.

Wow...Leaning towards Akershus for breakfast.... From what I had read, I felt like more princesses were at CRT..but seems like you are saying they are at Akershus?? The only thing that makes me want CRT is the castle experience.

Im so torn!!!!!!

I think CM would be fun for dinner too... You just can't beat seeing all those characters!!!

 

[BaysMom]

and yes, we are paying OOP for CM. We have QSDP.

 

[lamb616]

we just went to both - CRT for dinner, and Akershus for breakfast (i shouldn't have booked both, I didn't realize princesses would be so similar). For CRT we had:

Cinderella out front
Snow White
Belle (blue dress)
Jasmine
Aurora

At Akershus we had:

Belle out front (yellow dress)
Snow White
Ariel
Jasmine
Cinderella

 

[amym2]

Personally I'd do CRT for breakfast and Chef Mickey's for dinner. If you can manage it, get an ADR for CRT at 8am or earlier (not sure how early they open). Then you will be in the Magic Kingdom when the park is empty and can really enjoy the atmosphere. Plus you won't eat up much of the prime ride time (the lines are shortest the first hour the park is open). After breakfast, head right into Fantasyland and hit those rides first.

The problem with doing Chef Mickey's for breakfast is that again that is the best time to be riding the rides. By the time you finish breakfast and take the monorail (or bus) to a park, you will have missed the opening. The monorail from the Contemporary to MK can be very crowded around the time the parks open. We much prefer to do CM in the evening when we can relax and not feel rushed. Taking the monorail into the Contemporary is lots of fun as well, especially when it's not crammed with people.

 

[ilovediznee2]

I have 2 boys and have never been able to do the character meal at the castle but if I did have a girl I think this would have to be my first choice. It must be so exciting for little girls. Now for meals with Mickey I do agree that everyone should experience Chef Mickey's especially if it's your first time. Although the dinner gets a bad review I would rather do dinners not a b-fast person. We are doing Garden Grill character dinner in Epcot this trip for the first time it has Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. I heard it's not as crazy and more low key than CM. It's also served family style so a little more relaxing. Have a magical trip!!

We did the Garden Grill the first time I went to Disney (about 13 years ago), and it was pretty cool. Despite not eating most of what they served, it was very relaxed, and all of the characters (Chip, Dale, Mickey, and Minnie) stopped at our table, and spent quite a bit of time with us, posing for pictures, and goofing around with the kids.
Also, because I don't eat meat, they let me order off of the kids' menu.
I think you will enjoy it!!

 

[BaysMom]

LOVE the idea about doing CRT before Park opens to get awesome shots of the castle. I would def take my SLR camera that day!!!!!

OK>.. Now Im leaning towards CRT for breakfast on her bday (Thursday the 6th) and then Chef Mickey's for dinner one night... either Fri or Sat.

 

[ChrisHartman]

LOVE the idea about doing CRT before Park opens to get awesome shots of the castle. I would def take my SLR camera that day!!!!!

OK>.. Now Im leaning towards CRT for breakfast on her bday (Thursday the 6th) and then Chef Mickey's for dinner one night... either Fri or Sat.

The earliest reservation you can get for CRT is 8:10am if the park is opening at 9am. I went last year at the same time, so I'm pretty sure that'll be accurate for your dates. There is nothing more amazing than eating in the castle, it was our favorite character meal of our trip (we had 5 LOL).

We hated the dinner at Chef Mickey's, the food wasn't very good and the character interaction was only so so...plus, we really had to wait a while for our table. But, if its specific characters you're more interested in than in food quality or service, then this is a good bet. We preferred Tusker House breakfast for the food, service, and character interaction ...and we did see Mickey there.

 

[2kids2luv]

Definately CRT for her b-day. It will be a magical experience for her to eat there. I would also do CM for dinner - lots of fun.

 

[whitney37354]

For the experience:
Princess: CRT (we did breakfast) & Mickey: Chef Mickey (we did dinner)

For the Food:
Princess: Akershus (we did breakfast) & Mickey: Ohana (breakfast is only option)

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Definitely do CRT on her birthday. I've done both Akershus and CRT, but given your DD's age (5) I'd pick CRT. She's probably in the midst of her princess phase and nothing compares to eating at Cinderella's Castle. I haven't done breakfast though - we had lunch. The food was pretty good.

 

[smiths02]

If I were paying OOP, I would choose two breakfasts.

I can't speak to CRT b/c I have a boy, but I would go there if I could.

We loved our experience at the Donald Safari breakfast at Tusker House. We saw Mickey there What we did was get the park at opening, rode the Safari, grabbed fastpasses for something, and then it was time for our late breakfast/brunch.

Chef Mickey dinner was not good food. The character interaction was good, but I didn't like the atmosphere at all either.