Best Character meals

[lisadawn2disney]

We haven't been to Disney in years, what are the best character meals for 2 girls ages 5 & 7? We also also have 2 sons but it is all about the princesses this trip!

 

[PoohsFan1]

If you are looking for princess meals then you have 3 choices to choose from. The first one is CRT in Cindy's Castle. We did this for breakfast a few years back and it was good, the atmosphere and the princesses were great, we just loved eating in the castle, but the price is a little too steep for our taste. The next choice is PSB in Norway, this is our personal favorite...we love the breakfast there, they have very good food, the atmosphere and princesses are awesome as well. Last you have 1900 Park Fair for dinner at GF...this is Cinderella and her gang, have never tried it but it has many rave reviews.

The other character meal that we enjoyed but had nothing to do with the Princesses is CM at CR....very fun atmosphere, good buffet, and it is Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. They dance around and it is wild but fun. Hope this helps some.

 

[RN4Babies]

We have ADR at the Princess Breakfast (in Norway at Epcot). The menus for lunch and dinner there are more ethnically themed, but breakfast is fairly standard American fare, served family style. Other people here have said that the princesses each visit every table, and interact with everyone pretty extensively. My dd had been talking nonstop about eating with Mickey Mouse (everything with him was booked), but now she's really excited about the princesses. I bought an Ariel costume for her to wear for it; one of my friends said her daughter wore a Snow White costume there, and she got attention galore from the characters.

Have a great time!

 

[DisneyGalAlways]

I agree with PP. Here are my experiences... Hope it helps. I know you'll have a great time.

We had dinner at PSB in Norway and really enjoyed it. The princesses and princes (Aladdin was a hottie!) visited with us as long as we wished. The crowd inside and the wait was not near as bad as other princess character meals. We're eating breakfast there in March.

We've eaten at CRT for breakfast twice. The food is always delicious. Your only visit with Cinderella is downstairs, but it is nice. The other princesses visit each table in the dining room. The seating there seems a little closer (crowded?) than Norway's PSB. This year, we are having dinner at CRT. From what I've read, you still see Cindy downstairs, but Fairy Godmother is the character you see in the dining room.

Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare is very good as well. We've been there once before and are repeating it again in March. You see Pooh and friends, Alice, Mad Hatter, and Mary Poppins is in the entrance to greet you.

Dinner at the Crystal Palace was very good. It is a buffet, so your options are bigger. But still, it's a buffet. Tigger, Pooh, Eyeore, and Piglet are there and the kids march around the dining room (never getting out of sight or very far away at all). This is the only place where we were skipped by a character. It was corrected quickly, but it required us pointing it out and insisting we get our visit.

We also went to Breakfastosaurus in AK in 2006. Unfortunately, it is no longer a character meal. They have replaced it with a character meal at Tusker House. We will be going there for the first time (breakfast) this trip.

We are doing a lot of character meals this year. Many of them will be new to us. Here's the list:

Tusker House breakfast (1st time)
Playhouse Disney breakfast (1st time)
Ohana breakfast (1st time)
Chef Mickey breakfast (1st time)
Cinderellas Royal Table dinner (1st time for dinner)
1900 Park Faire breakfast
Princess Storybook breakfast (1st time for breakfast)

Have a great time! Come back and tell us what you did and share pictures.

Breakfast at 1900 Park Faire

Dinner at Princess Storybook in Norway

 

[aceys_h0ney]

We have been to Crystal Palace (Dinner) and Ohanas (breakfast) and loved them both. Both had good food and great character interaction. We did not feel rushed at either restuarant.

Thought I would throw those in for you since the princess meals were covered. We are going to try the Storybook Dining for our upcoming trip.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm with the PP, and would HIGHLY recommend the Ohanas character breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto at the Polynesian. This was HANDS DOWN the best character meal of our trip in January (and we did 5 altogether). The atmosphere is fantastic, the service was excellent, the meal itself was absolutely delish (and so relaxing, with it being served family-style rather than your standard buffet), and the character interaction here was second to none. Pluto was OUTSTANDING!

We also thoroughly enjoyed the Crystal Palace dinner. The Pooh characters were great fun and spent lots of time at each table. Dinner was the best we had all week, and there were LOTS of choices for everyone. Again, the atmopshere in this restaurant is very, very nice, its super-convenient being able to eat right at MK, and our server was wonderfully attentive.

In addition to these 2, we also did 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickeys for dinner, as well as Donald's Safari Breakfast. Would highly recommend all 3 of these as well. No complaints anywhere!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Chef Mickey's & 1900 Park Fare are really good for all your children.

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I can also highly recommend breakfast at Akershus in Norway or breakfast in the castle - my girls are the same ages as yours. We like to meet lots of princesses! The photo is included with the price of the meal for both Norway and the castle - Norway is less expensive and just as nice as the castle in my opinion.

 

[summermac]

I have never done a character meal but I've read many good reviews about how much fun the dinner at 1900 Park Fare is. I think your boys would enjoy it as well with the wicked stepsisters being there. It's Cinderella, Prince Charming, Wicked stepmom & stepsisters.

I'd also probably do Askerhus with your party. CRT is just so pricey.

Our character meal plans are (5 year old boy, 2 year old girl & 6 adults who think they're kids):
O'hana dinner
Crystal Palace breakfast b/c I want an 8:05 ressie with the MK practically to myself
1900 Park Fare dinner

and possibly one more TBD

 

[MAGGIED]

We have done a few and here our my thoughts

Cinderellas Royal Table.... we have done this for breakffast maybe 5 or 6 times... love it... its just so magical eating in the castle. The breakfast food is nice, very accommodating to different tastes (DD is a vegetarian)... We will be having dinner there in May... our first dinner

Crystal Palace... Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and friends.... we have done this both for breakfast and dinner... we far prefer breakfast.... standard american fare but nicely done... the breakfast lasagna is great!!! The characters spend a nice time visiting at each table.. there is a parade around the dining room.... fun atmosphere.

Chef Mickey's... have been here for breakfast and dinner.... food wise not my fav place to eat... think the food is just okay... but tons of fun with the characters.... we are going here in May at DMom and DAunts request.

1900 Park Fare... Dinner... we have been here a few times and have always had a great meal... character interaction is okay... the food is wonderful though....try the strawberry soup!!!

Princess Story Book in Norway.... have only had lunch here and it was greta... the food and the characters were wonderful... we are having dinner here in May.... I had their traditional meal... it was delicious....

hope that helps...

 

[MickeyNicki]

Our 6 year old niece loved Crystal Palace breakfast and the Princess Breakfast in Norway. Ohana breakfast is also fantastic and Dh loves Cape May breakfast

 

[VTNuke]

My wife loved the breakfast at Cape May. Tusker House was the basic breakfast buffet plus a bunch of extras. The Norway breakfast was good, my 3yr old DD loved all of the princesses.

I wouldn't do Cindy's Royal Table for breakfast unless you're paying cash for it. It counts as two meals on the meal plan and you get "more for your money" if you do dinner there.

Crystal Palace was great for lunch, haven't had breakfast there, yet. It's Pooh and his friends and again, my 3 yr old loved the characters. Chip and Dale's Harvest dinner was unique and Mickey & Pluto were there when we did it. The restaurant slowly spins while you are eating. It takes about an hour to spin all the way around and our meal took about 5 to 10 minutes longer than the hour.

Liberty Tree was by far the least favorite food.

I learned on our last trip to only plan breakfast and dinner each day. Doing 3 meals a day was just too much.

 

[tessiesevin]

Here are our favotites

Cinderella's Castle is a must for princesses

Princess Story book in Norway (Epcot)
Not sure about the food in Norway so
we always do breakfast

1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridan Hotel
very nice for the little princess
you get to see Cinderella and the Prince dance

Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom It has Winnie the
Pooh and friends

 

[PrincessMomto2]

CRT is definitely a must for princesses! We did both CRT and Norway on our last trip. The storybook dinner at Norway was ok but we felt very rushed, the princesses quickly moved from table to table and didn't spend much time with us. The food was not very good and they kept trying to take our food away before we were finished! They were really crowded that day and that might have had something to do with it. We are not doing this one for our next trip but if we do go back it will be for breakfast. We use to eat at Norway before the princesses were there and loved the food. For our last trip it was not good at all.

At CRT we had breakfast, got in the MK before the park openned and got to walk up a mostly deserted main street. My then 3 year old absolutely loved CRT. I asked her the other day where would she like to eat again in WDW and without hesitation she said the Castle. It was magical to eat in the Castle and even her big sister who was 10 at the time had fun during the wishing ceremony. The food at CRT was great. We are going back again this year in June. The princesses spent a lot of time at each table we did not feel rushed at all. Mary Poppins was there and she was so in character.

'Ohana breakfast with Stitch and friends is really great too. Very relaxing and the character interaction was the best of all the character meals that we attended. Stitch was a hoot!

 

[catho72]

'Ohana breakfast is our favorite character meal. The food is delicious and I love the fact that it's not a buffet but served family style. The kids had a ball with the characters!

Chef Mickey's breakfast is our second favorite. The food is better at breakfast than at dinner (which isn't saying much) but it's the best place to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy without waiting in long lines in the park. All of our kids loved watching the monorail pass thru the Contemporary while we ate.

We've also eaten at Crystal Palace for both lunch and dinner. I personally preferred dinner but loved getting into MK early for breakfast and taking pictures on Main St. and in front of the castle without lots of people in the background. 1900 Park Fare for breakfast was fun....the kids really enjoyed the Mad Hatters antics. They still talk about him one year later (they didn't know who he was until that meal!).

CRT is nice to do once but that's enough for me. My 5 year old daughter keeps asking when we'll eat there again but I didn't care for the food or the service (it felt very rushed). The princesses were wonderful, though.

 

[summermac]

Another option would be to do CRT as a mommy-daughter thing and have DH take the boys someplace cool.