Best character dining experiences?

[harrisb1964]

We have done Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill at Epcot (did not like), and the royal dining at Cinderella's castle. Can anyone suggest some other character dining experiences? We are doing Chef Mickey's again, but would like to try other restaurants with character experiences. My son is 8 and not into the princesses!

 

[4under4]

For Princess, we have had multiple great experiences at both Akershus & 1900 Park Fare (dinner).

My kids also love the Crystal Palace characters, but really prefer breakfast over dinner for the food aspect.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My grandson enjoyed the Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House. It's a good one for boys.

 

[rewilliams]

We enjoyed Tuskers for breakfast the last time we went. I have heard 1900 Park Fare is great. (we are going this year for the first time) Dinner is more girly since it is Cinderella and her gang, but breakfast is Alice in Wonderland I believe and a few others.

What about the Luau one? I can not for the life of me think of the resort it is at. That is a character dinner right? And has lots of guest interactions.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I would also suggest Tusker House breakfast. It has been one of the best character meals we have done.

Ohana breakfast was also good. Stitch is a fun one, and I would think boys would like him.

 

[whositsandwhatsits]

100% agree with Tusker House.

We also really like Hollywood and vine in HS. My kids love the Disney Jr. Characters and the interaction is great. The music and dancing is a lot of fun and the food is pretty good.

 

[Figment Mom]

We've not been yet but I had an 'Ohana breakfast scheduled for my ds (he'll be 9 on our trip). We just watched Stitch and he loved it. I ended up switching it out for breakfast at Tusker House. I think we'll enjoy the variety of food there more and it also fit well into our schedule. We got a pre-park opening slot on our AK day.

 

[augusta1]

We evenly Akershus for princesses, Crystal palace for Pooh and friends, and Tusker house. Oh O'hana was fun too but not the best Pluto, Pluto didn't seem into it but everyone else was great!

 

[SweetMissy]

We did Ohana a few years ago and Tusker House last month....we enjoyed both. The food was great and the characters made it fun. Both for breakfast. Either one would be my vote.

 

[buckeev]

A shout out for Cape May breakfast! We love it!
Tucker House is also one of our favs.

 

[dixielanfan73]

We love Tusker House! They have the best variety for my daughter who has a tree nut allergy and for the rest of us too! My kids are starting to outgrow character meal thing ( 9&13) and this is still the only one they insist on.

 

[Lupeix]

I think Tusker house is one of the best. Do lunch so you can get to savor some unique food while having good options for not so adventurous eaters. We also liked the Crystal palace. DS loved it when we went last year but I think the food is nothing special, he is a big fan of Winnie the Pooh though and he is a toddler, not sure how exited an older kid will be

 

[harrisb1964]

Thanks! Great suggestions !

 

[MomOfWesAndNorah]

Yay , Chef Mickey's! My son enjoyed Hollywood and vine. I didn't. Maybe for breakfast but the lunch food wasn't good. Crystal Palace breakfast was phenomenal!

 

[Mariep26]

Tusker House and Akershus were both great!

 

[Sarahbelle341]

Chef Mickeys Dinner was overrated. The food was awful and the character interaction was meh.

Ohana breakfast was delicious but they are always running behind. Stitich is a riot though.

1900 Park Fare is my favorite breakfast it has terrific food, 5 characters (Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger, Alice, and Mad Hatter) and great interaction. I love the omlette station, and strawberry soup.

Crystal Palace dinner was delicious and Pooh and friends were a big hit with my little boy. The salmon was fabulous.

Hollywood & Vine was great and the character interaction was a lot of fun with lots of dancing. The buffet was great with an omlette station, cheesy breakfast potatoes that were awesome, and a nice yogurt parfait station.

Garden Grill was meh. Fish was good but the rest of the food was a little lacking in flavor for me. Character interaction was good though and I liked not having to get up for another buffet.

Akershus was ok. Food wasn't anything special but wasn't bad either. I loved the picture package with an actual character in the photo. Princesses were Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins on the day we went with Belle in the photo at the entrance. I was hoping for Mulan, Jasmine or Aurora since we already had one character meal with Mary Poppins that trip but my son loved seeing her twice.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

On a character interaction standpoint I loved Garden Grill (Food OK). I shared this story elsewhere on the forum, but this was our interaction at GG:

I posted this in a dining forum but it fits here as well. Most character meals we had done were simply meet character, get pictures, quick hug or handshake. Nice but not over the top.

Then we encountered Chip and Dale at Garden Grill. On our last visit my wife was 7 months pregnant and when she stood up to hug Chip he freaked out when he saw her belly, made her sit back down and began massaging her head. Dale saw this and came running over and started fanning her with a napkin, and then it turned into a full competition for her affection. From offering her soda till she sipped it through the straw, to wiping her brow, to fanning her with her mister. It was so much fun. We noticed this wasn't unique to us, they interacted with almost every table this way.

 

[Tylerandhayleysmom]

My kids LOVED LOVED LOVED their Tusker House and Ohana dinning experience. I think I enjoyed the 1900 Park Fare experience more than they did, as my kids had never seen Alice in Wonderland (2.5yrs & 6) but I grew up on Mary Poppins and Mad Hatter so I loved 1900 Park Fare. They also enjoyed Crystal Palace as my daughter was super in love with Tigger. The food was great, but hey as long as there's Mickey shaped anything it's great . If I had to rank them in order my kids loved the atmosphere, characters and food.

1. Ohana (Lilo and Stitch are awesome)
2. Tusker House
3. Chef Mickey's
4. Crystal Palace
5. 1900 Park Fare
6. Cinderella's Royale Table (ate during Lunch and food sucked!, but liked the atmosphere and my daughter lit up seeing all the princesses.