best character dining

[jerseygirl82]

Hello All

October of 2008 DH and I will be treating DDad, DSM, DBro(will be 5 by then) and DSis(will be 3 by then) to the kids first ever trip to WDW. DH and I recently bought into DVC and I am planning this trip like a crazy woman

I need help in picking a good character restaurant to make an ADR at. I want it to be the best place for DBro and DSis to interact with the characters and really enjoy themselves but at the same time we don't want to pay a fortune (as if that is possible at WDW ) Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Disneyof3]

None of the character meals will let you spend lots of time with the characters but we have found that CM to be the best food and character interaction the best. When we have gone (which is every trip, just a have to for us ) we get the characters at our table at least once if not twice and three times. The kids I think will enjoy the atmosphere and the dancing and swinging of the napkins during the mickey song which is done about every 20 minutes or so. It is also nice so when you do go to the parks you don't have to wait in line again for these characters or run around finding them because you already have the photo and the autograph.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip to WDW.

 

[joleen76]

We really liked 3 different character meals. It really depends on if you are looking to stay in the parks and if so what park, or if you are willing to go to a resort.

Chef Mickey's is great, but it's at the Contemporary which means leaving the park. We don't mind so we are doing it for the second time this year. The characters dance around the room every half hour and encourage everyone to twirl their napkins over their heads. This is a buffet.

Liberty Tree Tavern is in Magic Kingdom. We love this one. You get to stay in the park and the characters come to your table. This is a family style dinner. We get more interaction with this rest. than Crystal Palace where we had to practically beg to have the characters stop at our table.

The Garden Grill is in EPCOT and in the Land Pavilion. This one is neat because the rest. rotates. We loved this one as well. The character interaction was good here too. This too is a family style rest.

Honestly you can't go wrong with any of the three of these.

Have a great trip!

 

[mickeysgal]

To me, THE signature character dining experience is Chef Mickey's. All your main Disney characters are there. Its appeal is to boys and girls alike. The kids were always awed by the monorail gliding through the center of the hotel in full view from the restaurant. Its just a monorail ride away from the MK and the monorail is an attraction unto itself. Plus if you time it right, you can always go outside afterwards to view the electric water parade on the shores of the Contemporary beach (check it's viewing times and/or operating season).

 

[Cleokitty]

I know lots of folks love it but we didn't care for Chef Mickey's at all. Too crowded and way too hectic. Got tired of being bumped by peoples' tushies when we were trying to eat. Character interaction was hurried.

When my kids were 5 and 3, they liked Crystal Palace and the Winnie the Pooh characters. We had a late breakfast seating (think 10:30 or so). The characters came around 5 or 6 times and then a little later actually came and sat at the table with us for several minutes. Once the restaurant cleared out some, we got some great photos. It was nice not having 1/2 of a stranger's body in our photos. Also, the late breakfast kept us full for most of the day eliminating the need for lunch.

Liberty Tree Tavern at dinner has been fun for us in the past too, even as the kids get older (9 and 11 now).

Garden Grill in Epcot was enjoyable. We had good character interaction and found it to be one of the less hectic character meals.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure the kids will have a great time!

 

[mla2177]

I just returned from WDW and did three character meals this trip.

We did Chef Mickey's for dinner, and HATED it. The character interaction was good, but out of four adults, no one liked anything but the sundae bar. I hear breakfast is much better.

We did Hollywood and Vine for breakfast, and the food was good, not great, but we liked the characters since they were JoJo's Circus and the Little Einsteins (my son's fav). They have the kids get up and sing and dance, and my DS 3 really enjoyed it.

We also did Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner and this turned out to be one of our favorite meals the whole trip. The food was like Thanksgiving dinner,turkey,beef, ham, ashed potatoes,gravy, stuffing, rolls, and mac and cheese. The salad had a strawberry vinegarette that was very delicious. The dessert was an apple crisp w/ vanilla ice cream that was very good also. I felt like the characters just kept coming. There was always one of them at the table. They were also very playful at this one. My son loved it. I highly recommend this one!!!!

 

[madenon]

Last week I did CM (lunch), CP (lunch) and Akershuys (breakfast). I liked the last the best. Not only do the princesses spent the most time at each table interacting with everybody, they also go back if they see a table coming in a bit later/people just coming back from getting some food. At CM and CP this was a no deal, which meant a lot of people missed some caractres. Also the food at Akershuys was the best in my opinion. They got great pastries, great bread and nice good and fresh salmon filet. The service there was the best of the 3 and they were also the quietest place of the 3. (actually CM was raving mad, CP was busy and Akershuys was almost totally quiet except for some "look mommy there is........", with more than enough kids there) Downside is that they don't do pagers, so you'll have to hang out around the entrance and keep your ears very open. (a lot of people didn't hear the first time their name was called)

But to be honest; I'm a bit of a sucker for Norway and the Norwegians. The server girls reminded me of home (blue eyes, natural white blonds, built of the body, the way the act), I like Norway and I like seafood.

I was surpised to find out I really liked doing breakfast. Normally I don't eat much for breakfast so thinking this was just me using up the "extra" credit (came in late on day 1 and was leaving early on last day) and me wanting to see some princesses. I had a reservation for 9.45 am and ate like you wouldn't believe. The weather affected my appitite and when it wasn't that hot yet, I ate with more taste and ate quite a bit more. After that, I was more than full untill I ate a cs at about 9 pm and didn't even finish that one.

MLA, I liked the dessertbar at CM, but to be honest I'm a simple girl. I love my plain vanilla icecream with chocolate things on them. Did you get all of those large tube like containers with all kinds of chocolate and candy in them?? They had some great chocolate things in there that I could life on, no prob. Downside of CM for me was the feeling I got when the caractres came out. Might have been me, but I got the feeling that they rushed when coming to a table with adults only and stayed at the kids tables a lot longer, which didn't happen at CP nor Akershuys.

 

[TLinden16]

I find that I've had the best character interaction at the character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. It's not as zooy as some of the other character breakfasts, and the characters came to our table once or twice during the meal.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'd pick Crystal Palace. That is the only non-princess character breakfast I've gone too that I've really liked the food. If you don't want to do breakfast I'd recommend lunch or dinner at Garden Grill or dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.