Best Character Meal?

[Jazzy2Shoes]

From your experience what was your best character meal? What characters did you see and the best time to go? We are taking my DD during her 7th Birthday. We went to Chef Mickey on her 5th Birthday. Thanks!

 

[sexyravenfan]

Chef Mickey's hands down. There is a huge variety of offerings and it is very good. Although, if you don't like noise and crowds, it isnt the best place to be. The characters at my sitting were Mickey, Goofy, Chip, and Dale.

 

[momof2minnies]

go to 1900 Park Fare at the GF for dinner. Cinderella, Prince Charming, Susie and Perla. Wish we were there. Have fun!

 

[CamColt]

The only ones we have done are Chef Mickeys breakfast(5x), CRT(2x), and Donalds Breakfastasaurus(once). Out of those we have found Chef Mickeys has consistently great food service and atmosphere. CRT is very good too, but considering we have 2 DSs, the craze to book it isnt really worth it. Plus we prefer the wide variety at Chef Mickeys...love that breakfast pizza! Donalds...well, like I said we have only been once, but we wont be going back.

Chef Mickeys Breakfast wins hands down for us!!!

 

[cocodog]

You will find the best character meals at LTT and CP. I have not been to 1900 Park Fair (couldn't get ps), but it is supposed to be good, too.

 

[bellarella]

I heard raves about Chef Mickey's but found it by far to be the worst character meal we went to. Character interaction was fine -- no better or worse than anywhere else -- but the food was terrible. Not so much what they served, but the quality. Everything was left out way too long and seriously had me concerned about eating it. The things I did feel ok trying tasted lousy too. Hopefully it was an off day, but I've read a lot of reviews of people who've gone in the last two months that had the same experience (this was at dinner btw) so I'm afraid it may more be a staff issue.

The two best ones we went to were CP and 1900 Park Fare. Great food at both, everything fresh. 1900 Park Fare had fantastic desserts (though more geared to grown ups). I like the atmosphere at both better than at CM. CP had Pooh and Friends and 1900 Park Fare was Cinderella, the mice, prince charming and the fairy god mother.

Have fun!

 

[JFrey4240]

Crystal Palace is our favorite character meal and never miss it! The food is great and you get to meet Pooh, Tigger, Eyore and Piglet. Our daughter is 5 and she loves Piglet so this is the place for us.

 

[F1Julie]

We've been to most of them and found 1900 Park Fare to be the best breakfast and Garden Grill to be the best dinner.

 

[goodferry]

CRT was our favorite, hands down. We are taking dd there again for her seventh birthday, but she is a princess addict! I have heard the breakfasts at 'Ohana and Cape May are also very nice and for something different, the Princess Tea at the GF with Sleeping Beauty is supposed to be fun. Which characters is your daughter interested in seeing?

 

[crisi]

I hate "best" because its very subjective.

What characters do you want to see? Chef Mickey's isn't "best" for princesses, and the PSB isn't best if you were hoping to see Pluto.

What meal do you want to eat? Breakfast has the most options, but other meals are available.

Do you care about style of service? A buffet has a lot of options, but involves getting your own food. Personally, we like family style or plated meals.

Where will you be? If you will be in MK anyway, Crystal Palace is nice. But it isn't necessarily a good choice for an AK day. Would you prefer a resort - don't have to have themepark admittance and can turn character breakfast day into a non-park day. If you do a resort, it may be worthwhile to choose a meal either close to the park you'll be spending the day in, or close to your own resort. Not sure if Cape May is a good choice for people staying at AKL and spending the day at the MK.

 

[abk96]

I know that when we went 1900 Park Fare was our fav. Now that we have kids I know they will really enjoy this one as well.

Good luck in your search. I don't think you can pick a bad character meal at Disney.

 

[Stephanie VanMeter]

We have done CM and loved the atmosphere. You can't beat CRT, the food, atmosphere and characters are wonderful. I think my dd6 would say she loved the ice cream social at Garden Grill as much as anything. We, family of 5, all went for delicious ice cream. It was mid afternoon so not many people in there. Mickey, Chip, Dale and Pluto entertained her all by herself. They took her around and showed her everything and then she and Mickey had a paper(napkin) fight with Chip and Dale. It was very one on one and I loved Mickey in his overalls.

 

[jacksmom]

We like Donalds breakfastasaurus! We also enjoy Crystal Palace and LTT!

 

[kendzee94]

We took DD to PSB for her 5th birthday. We got the first PS of the day and were the first to check in, and she ended up being honorary princess, got a sppecial wand and crown to wear at breakfast, sat in a special chair for breakfast, got a special cookie with edible paint and a birthday card signed by all the CM's and the princesses. It was an awesome experience. However, we did not really care for the food. Like someone else said, it definitely depends on what her character favorites are. If she could care less about princesses, I would choose Chef Mickey's on selection and taste of food!

 

[Good Ol Gal]

I have four children, 3 boys and 1 girl, all under 10 and since Feb '04 we've done :

Crystal Palace dinner... kids loved food, but not too much interaction

GF 1900 Park dinner... nice characters, very patient, kids thought food was ok

Chef Mickey's dinner... horrible interaction..we were stuck in dark corner and the characters came by for like 1 min, and we have 4 kids... It was Ds 4th birthday and Mickey didn't even stay long enough for him to slid out of the bench for a picture and hug ....food was ok

Ohana's breakfast.... GREAT interaction.. fun activities...too much good food

Garden Grill dinner...kids LOVED IT!!! Great food, abundant characters!! The characters came by so often that the kids seemed to *tire* of them :') (this was before they changed the menu, so can't talk about all of the food now)

Princess Breakfast.. limited breakfast food for my non meat eating son.. all he wanted was some fruit but our waiter never came back with it... Princess were GREAT!!! They all added some sweet personal touch to our visit. Very patient and kind.

This upcoming trip I am going to *try* to get PS/ADR's for:

1. CRT breakfast for dd and I... heck, why not try for it at least right! Won't tell her about it unless we get it.

2. Princess breakfast for dd and I.. dd loved the princesses and it is a great memory

3. Liberty Tree Tavern.. have heard great things about this, and it is our kind of food

4. Ohana breakfast.. Great fun from previous trip

5. CRT dinner.. I can't wait.. dinner in the castle

6. Chef Mickey's breakfast .. maybe we just had a bad night here.. let's give it another try.

My best suggestion is to go with your daughters tastes of characters. My dd just turned 8 and is real into the princesses. She wants to bring her princess barbie dolls so she can get a picture with them and the real princess!

 

[Eeyore2003]

We have done Chef Mickey (both meals), CP (breakfast), CRT, Cape May Cafe, 1900 Park Fair (dinner) of these we like...

Chef Mickey--good food and party atmosphere

CRT--it's the castle!!! Good character interaction and we enjoyed the meal.

1900 Park Fair--excellent choice of character mix and interaction, and definitely the BEST meal. Delicious food!!!

I would choose 1900 Park Fair or CRT.

I think the character interaction is equal.
The food at 1900 Park Fair better.
The castle is the castle and for atmosphere can't be beat anywhere, but 1900 Park Fair is very elegant.

 

[tink2]

I agree it depends on who your dd is interested in seeing. We've done many charater meals: CRT 3X, PSB, Crystal Palace 5X, LTT, Garden Grill 2X, Chef Mickey's, and Donald's.
CRT- our favorite for DD b/c she LOVES princesses and who can beat eating in the castle with the real princesses? Food- OK, character interaction very good 2/3 visits- with the 3rd visit being OK
PSB- fulfilled DD's wish to eat with Jasmine, food OK, character interaction was horrible the day we were there- princesses were running between tables
Crystal Palace- our favorite for the whole family- great food and lots of fun with Pooh and friends
LTT- OK food- not our favorite by any means!, character interaction OK
Garden Grill- loved it! good food and great interaction both visits! The characters all came by at least twice! It's been a few years since our last visit though
Chef Mickey's- breakfast, very good food and character interaction was OK-good to see the 'main gang'- Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale, I just don't like using park time to do a meal
Donald's- did this one a few years ago too- food wasn't good, characters were OK
Go with who your DD likes. My DD LOVES princesses, so CRT is her favorite- however, DS4 didn't love them our last trip!

 

[Jazzy2Shoes]

My DD likes all the Disney characters. She liked Chef Mickey's because of the fun atmosphere with B-Day song being playing alot and everybody swinging their napkins in the air, we had dinner. She was turning 5 and Chip and Dale came and pretended to drink her drink then sat down with us for a few minutes and fed her the food.
I'm looking for somewhere with good character interaction and very happy servers.
This time will be more special because we are taking her to at least two character meals. I really appreciate your continued input. Thanks!