Best Character meals....with toddlers

[Picabo]

I'm sure everyone has their own favorites...I'm curious to know about WHY each is your favorite...what you like and what you don't like.

DD's will be 2 1/2 and 4 when we go....what is your fave place for a character breakfast and character dinner/lunch and WHY. Post PIX if you have any!

ALSO, any meals with Snow White or Ariel or Daisy?

THANKS!

 

[ryrysmom14]

My kids' favorites at that age would be Chef Mickey and Hollywood & Vine. Chef Mickey is so fun with the napkins swinging overhead and the fun energy. We also enjoy the food at Chef Mickey for breakfast and dinner. Hollywood & Vine's food is so-so, but I think the character interaction is one of the best. My kids LOVED dancing with JoJo and the Little Einsteins. About every 15 mins or so, a dancer comes out and does fun dances with all the kids with the characters. It's great for toddlers, esp b/c we know how much they like to sit still!

Lorraine

 

[disneybliss2]

My little one's favorite breakfast is Chef Mickey's. There's great character interaction, they occassionally stop and everyone swirls their napkins and sings the party song (it's a lot of fun), and my daughter loves the food there. She probably eats the best at that restaurant than any others. Who doesn't think it's fun to eat Mickey shaped waffles? They really have a good selection to please the whole family. The combination of the food and the characters really makes it a fun place to eat.
For dinner--her favorite is Akershus. She loves seeing all of the princesses. Though the food there isn't as kid appealing and fun, there's always something on the menu she'll eat (pizza, pasta, hot dog). We saw Ariel there both times we've gone to WDW. We also saw Belle, Cinderella, and Jasmine this past trip. The great thing about Akershus is the cost of the meal now includes a free photo set taken w/ one of the princesses as you first enter the castle.
We haven't gone but I've heard you can see Daisy for the character breakfast (only breakfast I've heard) at Tusker House in AK. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[disneybliss2]

Forgot to mention that we saw Snow White both times that we went to Cinderella's castle for breakfast. Even w/ the allure and hype of the castle, my little one still prefers Akershus. We've gone when she was 3 and last month at 5. The princesses are only out at CRT for breakfast and lunch. It's only the two mice for dinner.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

Our favorite character breakfast is Chef Mickey's. There is a nice selection for the breakfast buffet & the food is good. We've had great character interaction with the Fab 5 - we were never rushed and saw some characters twice. The atmosphere is very energetic and is alot of fun - it's a great way to start the day before heading to the parks.

Our favorite character dinner is Liberty Tree Tavern. We enjoy the food: (turkey, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, etc.) - it's not gourmet, but it's good. We like being able to eat right in Magic Kingdom & the characters have on colonial attire which is pretty neat. We've always had good character interaction at LTT - we've never felt rushed with the characters.

 

[jenb1023]

Our favorites are CRT - lots of princesses (including Snow White both times we went) and just an amazing setting and Tusker House in AK for breakfast (good food and Daisy is usually there!).

Based on the ages, I think they would really enjoy Hollywood and Vine with Jojo and goliath and little einsteins. We had tons of great interaction there (the food is just so-so) Chef Mickeys is fun too but we actually preferred Tusker House if we had to choose (breakfast food is better at CM's than dinner). Ariel in her human form is often at lunch at Askershus - food was okay but the princess interaction was pretty good. Crystal Palace is good for Pooh and friends but there are plenty of other places to find them and it took forever for them to circulate around that huge dining room! Food was good at CP though.

Enjoy!

 

[Coconuts]

Chef Mickey's--great character interaction and classic characters, and fun! My kids at that age also really liked H&V; they were really into the little einsteins then. Food was ok but the place was empty and we practically had the characters to ourselves.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Guess which breakfast I love the most.
<----------
But I feel kids that age would likely be happy at CP with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. And yes,pp, Daisy is at Donald's along with Mickey and Goofy.

 

[cheebiecat]

I agree with the PP that Crystal Palace is a fabulous choice for young toddlers...we go for an early breakfast every time we visit WDW and not one time have we been disappointed with the characters or the food. In fact the characters are always warm, friendly, responsive, and completely willing to give individual attention to each child at each table. The characters also lead the children in a fun parade around the dining room. The food offerings also seem very child-friendly: There is a yummy breakfast lasagna (think blueberries, pudding, bread) and lots of fruit and mickey waffles and donuts and raspberry strudel coffee cake (in addition to more healthful options of course!).

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I'm sure everyone has their own favorites...I'm curious to know about WHY each is your favorite...what you like and what you don't like.

DD's will be 2 1/2 and 4 when we go....what is your fave place for a character breakfast and character dinner/lunch and WHY. Post PIX if you have any!

ALSO, any meals with Snow White or Ariel or Daisy?

THANKS!

Chef Mickeys for both. It is the best resturant all around. Food, Characters, atmosphere. It's the best. It don't get better!

They have a princess breakfast in Norway. I can't speak for this place. I have 5 son's.

 

[karenr766]

We went last year in October and are planning a repeat trip for this October. I have an eight year old and so we did not make ressies for any toddler-oriented character meal. We opted for more generic character meals that would be appropriate for all ages. Three good breakfast meals are 1900 Park Fare (Alice, Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger), Cape May Cafe (Chip and Dale, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto-maybe Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger), and CP (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore). They are all fun and toddlers would enjoy them. The food is simply incredible at all of these and all ages would find plenty to eat. Two good dinner meals are Liberty Tree Tavern (Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Pluto) and CM (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald) Again, food is awesome and all ages would have plenty to eat. At LTT, the food is served family style. Unfortunately, rumor has it that LTT will be without characters next year. What a shame. They had the best character interaction and the smallest bathrooms (FYI).

 

[JeanfromBNA]

The last character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern will be January 4, 2009. The restaurant will stay open, though.

 

[karenr766]

The last character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern will be January 4, 2009. The restaurant will stay open, though.

Glad to see that the restaurant will remain open in spite of not having any characters. Thanks for the tentative date for this change to occur. I wish that it did not have to happen. I hope that the money they save by not having characters will go towards enlarging the bathrooms. Maybe the Imagineers wanted to carry out the Revolutionary War theme into the bathrooms. I guess I should be glad that there was indoor plumbing and TP. When the Imagineers take theming that far, is when I refuse to frequent the LTT.

 

[Steelersfan]

I would say our 4 year old daughter liked the following:

1. Chef Mickey's Dinner- She got to meet her heroes and loved every minute of it.

2. Norway Breakfast- The food was good and she got to meet her princess pals. She even finally got the opportunity to grill Snow White as to why she left the dwarfs and woodland creatures behind as soon as the opportunity to go with the prince arose. It was a great debate and I must say Snow White handled herself well... must have had the question before!

3. Hollywood-N-Vine Play-N-Dine breakfast: Great experience here. She loved meeting Jo Jo and the Einsteins. he food was awesome and we all had a good time.

4. Crystal PalaceBreakfast: My personal favorite due to the overall food quality, but our daughter loved meeting Tigger, Pooh, etc. Great time.

I'm guessing as to which she liked the most, but you can't go wrong with any of these choices.

 

[piratemom07]

My family will be going to Disney in 5 weeks and we have ADR's at Chef Mickeys and LTT as well and several other places. We love the interaction and the food has always been good at CM we eat there every visit. 2006 was our first trip to LTT and the character interaction was wonderful.

My neice was 7 at the time and she had gone to the restroom well she had brought along her Minnie doll. Minnie came by the table and saw the doll and she put it in the booster seat put a glass and a roll in front of her and put her hands up to the table. My neice loved it when she came back and then we were able to get a pic of her the doll and Minnie.

We have never felt rushed at either CM's or LTT, I hate to hear LTT will no longer have characters we will once again visit here in Aug.
We also enjoyed breakfast at the Ohona's (at the POLY) with Lilo & Stitch and Mickey we were not rushed and the food was good we are not big breakfast eaters and it was fun.

I guess I have never been to a place where I have felt rushed or did not have great character interaction, now there have been places that I did not like all the food but for the most part it was good.

 

[Ashes8380]

If you really want princesses, try the princess breakfast in Norway. The food is American, in case that is a concern, and it was good when we went. It's very pretty inside, we met Aurora, Snow White, Belle, Mulan, and maybe another? It's been a few years. Not my very favorite, but good for princess fans.

I would highly recommend Crystal Palace. Pooh and friends are a blast, the food is great, and it's gorgeous and right in the MK. We're starting off our first day in the parks with this breakfast and I can't wait! 8:00 am and I'm a night owl god help me!