character dining

[Mrsbits]

We're taking our family to the BCV in May for 8 nights. Our planning is done, except for character meals for our 4 yr-old granddaughter and 2 yr-old grandson...have never done this before and would appreciate all suggestions, as well as info. on making reservations. Thanks. Mrs Bits

 

[UGAFan0829]

There are lots of good places you could take them! I think it mostly depends on what their favorite characters are. There's Crystal Palace that has Pooh and the gang that's avaiable for breakfast lunch and dinner. Then there's the Best Friends Breakfast over at 'Ohana that features Lilo, Stick, Pluto, etc. Chef Mickey's is another one that is breakfast, lunch and dinner and has Mickey and all the gang. 1900 Park Fare has a breakfast with Mary Poppins. Cape May Cafe has breakfast with Donald. I'm sure there are a ton more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

To make your reservations, you can call 407-WDW-DINE, or you can make them online. You'll just need to tell them what restaurant you want to eat at, and about what time. Once they find a time you like, they will book it for you and give you a confirmation number. You can do this once you are 180 days or less away from your arrival date.

I hope this helps!

 

[TxRabbit]

Staying at BC, you HAVE to do the Cape May breakfast. It is at the Beach Club and it is wonderful. I think that it tends to be less crowded than others because it is harder to get to the BC using Disney transportation. We had such fun with the characters at this meal. We saw them more than once as they came around. Some of my fav pics are from this meal.

How many were you planning?

 

[Mrsbits]

There are lots of good places you could take them! I think it mostly depends on what their favorite characters are. There's Crystal Palace that has Pooh and the gang that's avaiable for breakfast lunch and dinner. Then there's the Best Friends Breakfast over at 'Ohana that features Lilo, Stick, Pluto, etc. Chef Mickey's is another one that is breakfast, lunch and dinner and has Mickey and all the gang. 1900 Park Fare has a breakfast with Mary Poppins. Cape May Cafe has breakfast with Donald. I'm sure there are a ton more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

To make your reservations, you can call 407-WDW-DINE, or you can make them online. You'll just need to tell them what restaurant you want to eat at, and about what time. Once they find a time you like, they will book it for you and give you a confirmation number. You can do this once you are 180 days or less away from your arrival date.

I hope this helps!

Yes, thank you, it gives me a great headstart!

 

[Mrsbits]

Staying at BC, you HAVE to do the Cape May breakfast. It is at the Beach Club and it is wonderful. I think that it tends to be less crowded than others because it is harder to get to the BC using Disney transportation. We had such fun with the characters at this meal. We saw them more than once as they came around. Some of my fav pics are from this meal.

How many were you planning?

Thank you for the review of Cape May, and I think that will be a definite! We were planning on at least two character meals, and one has to be a Princess dining experience!

 

[TxRabbit]

Princesses...We have eaten at the castle (CRT) for lunch and enjoyed it. I'm not sure how food would work out with your DGS at age 2. A buffet might work out better? Except that he would be free to be in the castle, and so it could be a better time to do the pricier meal. Many recommend doing CRT with a before the park reservation. Personally, we enjoyed CRT after a very busy morning in MK. It made such a nice break. We really appreciated the good sit. Our salmon was excellent and DS's meal was one of the best for him on that trip.

We did the Norway meal this past trip. Also for lunch. That's the Akershus meal. We LOVED it. Really enjoyed the food on the cold appetizer buffet, and my lunch was OUTSTANDING. I had the open faced salmon sandwich and the soup.

Both locations have a posed picture that is included with the meal. Because of this the wait can be rather long to get into these meals. A line to check in. A line to wait for the picture. Akershus was especially insane. And I had read to expect this, so I wasn't surprised.

In both locations, the characters were the same. If the characters found a point of engagement with DS, then we tended to have a longer interaction. If they didn't, then we didn't. They would move on more quickly. I think it's the luck of the draw to see whether or not your character will draw you out or look to you more for clues.

I highly recommend both for lunch.

Haven't been to 1900 Park, but I've read some great accounts of the antics of the step-sisters. And the prince is there. Not sure how aware your DS2 is. My impressions from reading reviews is that the interaction between the Step-Mother and the Step-sisters can be showlike. Entertainment all on its own as you see them walk the room. But again, just what I've read from those that have witnessed this and reported.

 

[Mrsbits]

Princesses...We have eaten at the castle (CRT) for lunch and enjoyed it. I'm not sure how food would work out with your DGS at age 2. A buffet might work out better? Except that he would be free to be in the castle, and so it could be a better time to do the pricier meal. Many recommend doing CRT with a before the park reservation. Personally, we enjoyed CRT after a very busy morning in MK. It made such a nice break. We really appreciated the good sit. Our salmon was excellent and DS's meal was one of the best for him on that trip.

We did the Norway meal this past trip. Also for lunch. That's the Akershus meal. We LOVED it. Really enjoyed the food on the cold appetizer buffet, and my lunch was OUTSTANDING. I had the open faced salmon sandwich and the soup.

Both locations have a posed picture that is included with the meal. Because of this the wait can be rather long to get into these meals. A line to check in. A line to wait for the picture. Akershus was especially insane. And I had read to expect this, so I wasn't surprised.

In both locations, the characters were the same. If the characters found a point of engagement with DS, then we tended to have a longer interaction. If they didn't, then we didn't. They would move on more quickly. I think it's the luck of the draw to see whether or not your character will draw you out or look to you more for clues.

I highly recommend both for lunch.

Haven't been to 1900 Park, but I've read some great accounts of the antics of the step-sisters. And the prince is there. Not sure how aware your DS2 is. My impressions from reading reviews is that the interaction between the Step-Mother and the Step-sisters can be showlike. Entertainment all on its own as you see them walk the room. But again, just what I've read from those that have witnessed this and reported.

Thank you so much for the feedback!! Our Disney Wishes are for our GD to have a wonderful Princess experience(she's into all the Disney Princess stuff); and, at the same time, we have to be able to entertain the GS!

 

[TxRabbit]

Thank you so much for the feedback!! Our Disney Wishes are for our GD to have a wonderful Princess experience(she's into all the Disney Princess stuff); and, at the same time, we have to be able to entertain the GS!

If you go to Epcot, keep your eyes open for the Princesses there. The lines can be so much better there than in other places. I believe that I saw Belle in France. She is there with Beast. And I think that there are others that are scheduled, so look them up for sure. Often times, these character meets have a photopass photographer so you can get some great pictures with you and the grandkids. Not necessarily a must do, more like a get the info and keep your eyes open as you go through the day kind of thing, especially since you are planning the character meals. But if the line is short, these can be fun too.

 

[Berlioz70]

All of the above information is great. If you'd like a quick overview of available TS, meal times, and regular characters you can click here.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

We just did 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. We had Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger. It was a great overall experience. They were all wonderful. Pooh and Tigger came around for a 2nd time. Mad Hatter was wonderful! Mary and Alice were great as well.

Next time my goal is to go there for dinner once since Cindy, the Prince, the sisters and stepmother are there.

 

[shawnh199]

If you are going to all the parks, we did the following character breakfasts on our trip early Dec 2009. We enjoyed them all, and if you get ADR's before the parks open it's great. You are there and ready to get on rides as soon as your are done at the breakfast.

If you are going to Magic Kingdom
- Our first day at MK we ate at Crystal Palace. Pooh and Friends were great as was the buffet with lots of choices and good tasting food. The made to order omlets were awesome. I believe they did a little parade for the kids.
- Our second day at MK we ate at Ohana's and took the monorail to the park. Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey. They do a little parade around the restaurant. Lots of fun. Food is served family style and was really good.
*You can get to both of these by taking a Magic Kingdom character breakfast bus that runs from the resorts beginning around 6:30am (some report earlier than that). Just note, you won't get through the gates at MK until 7:45am. It's neat being in the park in front of the castle with so little people there. Great photo opp. and after breakfast (we finished around 9:10am we headed back to Dumbo and only had a 10 minute wait)

If you are going to Animal Kingdom -
- We loved Tusker House. It is a huge buffet with tons of options and we thought it was great. Donald is outside for pics, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy are the inside characters. The restaurant is steps away from the Safari ride so you can get on it quickly after you eat with little wait if your ADR is early enough.

If you are going to Epcot
- We love the Princess Breakfast. With two girls 2 and 6, it is a must do for us every trip.) It is served family style and there is a pastry/cold "buffet" line with fruits, salmon, cheeses, etc. When we were there last we had Belle for pics at the front (you get these pictures with the price of the meal), Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Snow White were there. (2 years ago we had Mulan and Jasmine instead of Cinderella and Ariel) Whatever princesses you don't catch there (except Cinderella) you can catch most of them in World Showcase. (FYI - we have never done Cinderella's castle - we didn't want to use 2 TS credits for the food that you get there compared to the Princess Bkfst at Epcot.)

If you are going to Hollywood Studios
- We ate at Hollywood and Vine for breakfast. It was a really good buffet with lots of options. JoJo, Goliath, and Leo and June (Little Einsteins) were the characters. The characters here spent the most time with our kids than at any other character meal. I believe most came by twice, except JoJo - we had to ask for her and she was sent to our table within minutes.

*Character breakfast buses run to these 3 parks beginning @ 7am.

We also did Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort. I liked it, but it was my least favorite food. You do get the big 5 thought, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck.

We also had dinner at Garden Grilll (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.) Despite loving Chip and Dale we won't be going back to this one. We were not that big of fans of the food. Check out the menu on allears. You might like what you see better than we did.

(Don't forget to see the Princesses in ToonTown. The line was very short when we went. However, the line for Tinkerbell was over 60 minutes long by 10:15am - to see Tink without much of a wait - be at ToonTown before rope drop around 9:45am and you can head into line and not wait long. By the time we were done with the Fairies (and we were the 6th family in line) the line was already 60 minutes long. Both of these interactions are great. They spend a good deal of time talking with the kids and will take as many pics as you want with your camera or photopass.

Hope this info is helpful in making you decisions. Have an awesome trip!

 

[TxRabbit]

If you are going to all the parks, we did the following character breakfasts on our trip early Dec 2009. We enjoyed them all, and if you get ADR's before the parks open it's great. You are there and ready to get on rides as soon as your are done at the breakfast.

This post totally confirms what I was saying about Cape May. It's harder to get to, so people skip it because they can see the characters there in other places, and so there are fewer people there!

We did Tusker and Chef Mickey's on our last trip. Both good. But given your accomodations, I still recommend Cape May. Have you picked a princess meal yet?