By and large we are avoiding breakfast dining because we don't want it cutting into our morning touring plans. The only day we are doing it is a day in MK that has early morning hours...
Ultimately, the long and short of it then is that if you are expecting 5-star food then you will be disappointed. If you are there for the characters and something to eat in the meantime, you will be happy. Is that about right?
We have been to CM(breakfast and lunch), CP (breakfast), Ohana, H&V, Garden Grill, Tusker House, CRT (dinner), Akershus (breakfast), and 1900 PF (dinner).
Our favorites, food wise, were Tusker House and Garden Grill. They both offered above average food and different offerings from your standard Disney meals.
Other than CM, whose food was just bleh on our last few trips, the rest all had good food and I would make a return trip based on the food.
We love the breakfast at CP. It was the only ADR my dh asked me to repeat for our last trip.... and it wasn't for Pooh and the gang. He LOVES the smoked salmon. I love the puffed french toast. The restaurant is gorgeous, and both times the character interaction has been great. I love getting there before the park opens. Last month they moved park opening to 8:00, however, so I moved our ADR to 10:10. That gave us 2 hours of park time (we got sooooo much done) and then we were hungry for a nice "brunch."
We tried Tusker House last month partly based on all of the good reviews on here. We got an 8:00 ADR. I thought the food was OK. It is not one that we will return for.
I liked O'hana breakfast. We had this breakfast on our 3rd MK day last June..... we had already made RD twice, so it was not as crucial that we be there the 3rd time. I really liked the fact that it is served family style. The character interaction was GREAT here too.
We don't do Chef Mickey's for breakfast.... we make that our 1st night dinner.
We love the breakfast at CP. It was the only ADR my dh asked me to repeat for our last trip.... and it wasn't for Pooh and the gang. He LOVES the smoked salmon. I love the puffed french toast. The restaurant is gorgeous, and both times the character interaction has been great. I love getting there before the park opens. Last month they moved park opening to 8:00, however, so I moved our ADR to 10:10. That gave us 2 hours of park time (we got sooooo much done) and then we were hungry for a nice "brunch."
We tried Tusker House last month partly based on all of the good reviews on here. We got an 8:00 ADR. I thought the food was OK. It is not one that we will return for.
I liked O'hana breakfast. We had this breakfast on our 3rd MK day last June..... we had already made RD twice, so it was not as crucial that we be there the 3rd time. I really liked the fact that it is served family style. The character interaction was GREAT here too.
We don't do Chef Mickey's for breakfast.... we make that our 1st night dinner.
Mediocre as opposed to ?? Is the way I look at it. IMO the character meals are superb compared to whats offered to us back home. Do we enjoy it while on vacation? Of course, and the kids love it. Do we think some are better than others? Yes, 1900 PF breakfast ranks in as #1 with Tusker House trailing right behind and Hollywood and Vine was nice as well and the Crystal Palace lunch is awesome...BUT in no way shape or form do they compare to say...dinner at California Grill or Citricos. The food IS good and we always go back for more with or without children I don't think we'll ever do dinner character buffets again though...we are over that at this point and would much rather sit down and be served our meal cooked to order instead.