Best Character Dining Experience?

[Here'sTigger2U]

Grand Floridian is the home for 1900 Park Fair...buffet-style restaurant w/ an
"upscale" feel that you would expect at the GF. (the last time we were there) Breakfast buffet charatcters were Alice and freinds, Dinner was Pooh and company.

Great family restaurant!

Bob.

 

[kittymarcy]

Thanks for the 1900 Park Fare info! I wish more were family style like Ohana - it's so much easier with the two little ones when you don't have to get up!

 

[Spencer'sMom]

Our favorite character meal experience is at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The characters always sign my sons autograph book, pose for pics and horse-around with DS and DH (tapping them on the shoulder, hiding a pen or fork). The food is great and the characters make this a really fun dining experience.

 

[kdibattista]

1) Crystal Palace breakfast hands down although Chef Mickey's breakfast is a close second.

2) Nothing specific because it was all so incredibly special. My sister has Downs and all the characters were so amazing with her... they was so sweet

 

[MJMcBride]

The best is Chef Mickey's IMHO for breakfast

I wrote a review for it here: http://www.mouseextra.com/2007/01/23/disney-dining-review-chef-mickeys/#comments

 

[belle&beast]

Our favorite was 1900 Park Fare for breakfast (we will be trying it for dinner on out next trip). The food was great- we all found plenty the we liked and the characters were unique.

When we arrived Mary Poppins was waiting to greet us. My DD was so excited! This CM could have been Julie Andrews- she looked and sounded exactly like her. She gave DS a kiss on the cheek and told DD that Bert was going to be so sorry he missed her. We also had lots of fun with the Mad Hatter and Alice. Our DS turned 2 the next day, but he was really into the characters. The MH fed him his waffles like an airplane, zooming past his mouth at times. When Alice came to us, DS reached to her and she took him out of his high chair and sat in the booth with him in her lap. She then proceeded to tell him that she kew his name was "Mr. Stinky Pants" because he certainly was stinky! Oh well, we didn't know... Tigger and Pooh were lots of fun, too. We really enjoyed this meal!

 

[LOLA2]

Che Mickeys for diiner - my family is in love with the pamesean mashed potatoes. We have so many pictures from Chef Mickeys through out the years. So much character interaction. The kids had a blast with the napkin twirlin. Then we hop on the monorail for a looksy, this is perfect for the first night to get your Disney taste.

 

[Micca]

We like 1900 Park Fair a lot, CP was good, but the big surprise to us was Donald's Breakfastosauras at AK. We kind of "accidentally" ended up there one morning and we were pleasantly surprised at the food selection and quality. It was just me and DW, so character interaction wasn't a big deal to us, but they seemed to do a good job and it appeared to be very well organized.

 

[princess-rn]

We like 1900 Park Fair a lot, CP was good, but the big surprise to us was Donald's Breakfastosauras at AK. We kind of "accidentally" ended up there one morning and we were pleasantly surprised at the food selection and quality. It was just me and DW, so character interaction wasn't a big deal to us, but they seemed to do a good job and it appeared to be very well organized.

Many times those "accidental" finds are the best!

 

[Luvmyfam3]

I have to agree with Spencer's Mom! Our family goes back to Liberty Tree Tavern every time! We've been to all the others and this one just seems a little less loud and rushed. We also like the food. We don't like to use our mornings for big breakfasts so LTT works out well for us at dinner. The period costumes make it a little different too!

That being said, they're all wonderful in their own way!!

Have fun!! Kim

 

[fonsy]

We're a family of 5 adults. I made almost all my ADR are for character dinning, and now I'm a little worried that because of our age, we wont get interaction with the characters. Do they only interact with kids?

 

[Demosthenes]

My favorite breakfast is Ohana. I prefer table service to the buffet, and my son loves those characters. It is also a little more relaxed setting than Chef Mickey's, and not in the dungeon like 1900 Park Faire (this would be our favorite if not for the lack of windows; good food, better character interaction).

My favorite memory is actually from the Empress Lilly at the old Village Marketplace as a child. I remember the food being excellent (though I was a kid), and since character meals were not so abundant (this was the only one at the time), it was a really special experience for me to spend one on one time with the characters. I have a picture with me and Pinnochio at the restaurant, but I seem to recall Mickey and Pluto also being there.

 

[noname70]

Pre school set-H&V
Dinner -LTT
Relaxed atmophere -Cape May

Norway-felt rushed and food was sub par
CM-food was good and the "dream team" of characters were there but interaction time was brief
CP-same as above -for Pooh fans

 

[2Pirates_1Princess]

We loved CRT. My DD4 couldn't get enough of the the place. Each of the four characters talked to her and spent time with her.

My favorite story is from Chef Micky's. We celebrated DS birthday there. When they sing you have to swing your napkin in the air. DS 9 was above all that until Donald Duck came over to the table and started smacking the table with his napkin and pointing at my son. Donald demanded participation. My son was into it the rest of the night. DS 7 got help from Micky Mouse to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. It is just the greatest place.

 

[MissKris721]

My DH and I just came back from the world last week. My favorite character breakfast was Chef Mickey's (Mickey and gang). All of the characters came around (Minnie kissed my new hubby 4 times...I told her I was going to tell Mickey on her!). There was a CM that came around and made sure that all characters came to our table so I am assuming there must have been complaints about that. All characters stopped long enough to sign our autograph book and to take a picture.
1900 Park Faire was pretty good too. The Mad Hatter was awesome. He was loud and obnoxious at 8am, just like me! Alice asked my husband how we met and he said "the internet" and Alice was like "what's that?" and he said "it's a potion..I told him to drink it and boom he woke up at Disney World" So then Alice asked if I was a witch, lol. It was a very cute interaction.

We did the Crystal Palace breakfast (pooh and friends) which was nice too but when Eeyore came around and I told him he was my favorite he waved and moved on without signing my book or getting a picture which was kind of rude. That was the only character that did not pause to sign and get a picture. It kind of ruined the breakfast for me.

 

[tink_about_it]

We like Chef Mickey's and have always like CRT. We've done breakfast in the castle twice and always seem to have great servers and interaction here. They server 2 trips ago brought us "Pixie Dust" (Mickey confetti) because my DD4(at the time) talke and talked to her. She paid extra attention to us! Chef Mickey's is neat because it's lively and we got 2 trips around with the characters.

 

[lunapnp]

I was just about to post a thread about this topic myself!

What characters are at Cape May for the breakfast? We have done CRT and CM before. Character interaction at CM was great...food was okay. I can't really give a non-biased opinion for CRT as we were there for my DD make-a-wish...so of course she got lots of special attention! I will say that I thought the food at CRT was not the best I've had...but it was tolerable.

 

[PeggyPup]

So it seems like Chef Mickey's is the place to be when it comes to interaction. Nice. Some great stories you all have. I can't wait for my next character meal. Which will be the next time in WDW...which is still undetermined. Oh sigh.

 

[livandemsmom]

Our dinner at 1900 Park Fare was one of the highlights of our trip because DD, 5, got to meet her hero, Cinderella. I'm sure CRT is "the" place to meet her, but this was a great alternative. She got lots of one-on-one time with the characters. You could see her getting more and more anxious as Cinderella made her way toward our table. She told Cinderella she loved her more than any other Princess and Cinderella hugged her for the 2nd time and gave her a kiss. Well, that sent DD over the moon! She jumped up and down and clapped and squealed. DH and I were both teary-eyed.

 

[Donold_Fan]

That's a tough one, we always do Chef Mickey's. I think the food is pretty good and it seems like every trip we have a good interaction with at least one character. One time DD and I were wearing Mickey shirts and DW wasn't. Mickey wouldn't let her hear the end of it. He went to other tables and told on her, it was great. Another time, Dale (DW's favorite) made her get up and take a picture and do a little dance with him.

Crystal Palace is another must do, but we've never had the level of interaction there as at other places. The food there is also good, maybe a notch up from CM's (although we always hit CP at 8, so it always hot and fresh). The bonus picture opportunities of the empty park are what really bring us back each year instead of trying somewhere new.

I thought Belle and Mary Poppins were good at CRT, but Aurora and Cinderella were disappointing, and the food was not the best.

I think 1900 Park Faire is the winner on both food quality and interaction with characters. We had tons of time with Mary Poppins, who was standing in the foyer. If there weren't others there, which was the case, we had loads of time. Also, Alice was very inquisical and asked DD11 tons of questions. Tigger played pranks on DD11 and the Mad Hatter was there so long that I started to actually wish he would leave. The downside is that those aren't the headliner characters at Disney, so if you aren't into English characters, it's probably not the place. I don't know that I'd call it a dungeon, but I do remember commenting that it needed more natural light when we were there.