Best Character Meal?

[disneybliss2]

Another vote for 1900 Park Fare. The dinner food is delicious, there's a large variety, and it's very fresh tasting. We really liked the carved meat station and the station where the chef prepares pasta in front of you with ingredients you choose. The character interaction is by far the best on property. The stepsisters are an absolute riot! We also really love Akershus. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[goofyintoronto]

LMAO! hilarious!

Haha. Autocorrect said Obama. Clearly I meant Ohana!

Tusker, Crystal Palace, Cape May and Ohana are are great. Very delish. Tusker and CP are my faves.

1900 bfast isnt bad. But not my fave.

The worst dinner buffet I think is 1900. Awful food. Quality and selection were awful. Even desserts were lacking. The only saving grace were the step sisters. They were so funny.

 

[herb102211]

WE have 3- Crystal Palace (MK), The Tusker House (AK) and 'Ohana (Poly). I would say that those 3 have the best food and character interaction. What's nice about 'Ohana is that the food is served family style at your table, so you don't have to stand in line at the buffet. However, Crystal Palace and the Tusker House do have a wider selection of food to choose from.

I think it also depends on what characters you want to see

Crystla Palace- Eeyore, Winnie, Tigger and Piglet
'Ohana- Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto
Tusker House- Donald, Goofy, Daisy and Mickey

Have a great time!

 

[MASKED MANIAC]

Chef Mickey is the best experience but Crystal Palace has the best food....

 

[emilyindisney]

We had a great meal at Garden Grill back in January. We sat down at about 7:00 when the restaurant wasn't quite as busy. The characters came to our table 3-4 times over the course of the meal. At least once they sat right down at the table and joined us! Even if you go during a busier time, the dining room is small so you're still bound to get lots of attention. The food was simple but good too. I'd definitely recommend it!

 

[Wendy31]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL RANKINGS, JANUARY 2013:

Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . Tusker House
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's

Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)

Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambience):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akerhus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Cafe
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Chef Mickey's


NOTE1: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House
wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at
each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's
is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible
food quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table,
due to the brief time at tables for charcters and the new menu.

NOTE2: Characters
. . . 1900 (Breakfast): Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh & friends
. . . 1900 (Dinner): Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Step Sisters
. . . Akershus Banquet : Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine
. . . Cape May Café : Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy
. . . Chef Mickey : Mickey, Minnie, Chip-n-Dale, Goofy
. . . Crystal Palace : Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet
. . . Hollywood and Vine : Disney Junior Characters
. . . Ohana : Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto
. . . Tusker House : Donald (outside, only), Mickey, Gooffy, Daisy, Pluto

I saw that you rated the food at CRT next to last since the menu change. We've been to CRT many times - the most recently in September 2012, but we haven't been since the menu change. When I looked at the new menu, I was actually a little excited about the changes (especially breakfast - but we're doing dinner... LOL!). In your opinion, why is the food worse now after the menu change?

Also, have the characters changed at Chef Mickey's? I thought the characters at Chef Mickey's were Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, & Pluto & the only character meal w/ Chip & Dale was Garden Grill. Is this a recent change? One of the reasons we have breakfast at Chef Mickey's is it's a "one-stop-shop" for all of the Fab 5 characters.

OP - Our current "must-do" character meals are breakfast at Chef Mickey's (love that we can see the Fab 5 characters & the setting is just so "Disney" to me), Cinderella's Royal Table (it's our "first MK night" dinner - you just can't beat eating in the castle!), lunch at Crystal Palace, & dinner at Garden Grill.

 

[doclegler]

My vote is definitely Garden Grill for the food, atmosphere and characters. Other places like Chef Mickey's have great character interaction, but the food is REALLY average.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Chef Mickeys breakfast is one of the best! I wouldn't do dinner there again though. Crystal Palace is a very close second!

 

[buzzmom12]

Ours are ohana, chef mickey and crystal palace.

 

[ttintagel]

Agree with others that your family's favorite characters make a difference. Kenny the Pirate has what I consider the definitive character-finding site, with a page on character meals.

kennythepirate (dot) com/disney-world-character-schedules/disney-world-character-meal-list/

I loved both the food and the characters at the Crystal Palace in the MK.