Character Meal Questions/ opinions

[Belle7]

Hi everyone! Well three days and counting!!! We are going to be there for 4 days. I have one character meal scheduled per day while we are there and I wanted to get some opinions about them. They are:

Sat: 1900 Park Fare Dinner w/ Cinderella 5:00
Sun: Crystal Palace Dinner w/ Pooh 5:30
Mon: PSB Norway 8:40
Tues: Chef Mickeys Dinner 8:30

These are all very expensive and I am wondering if I had to skip one or even two, which ones would it be. I have a 5 yr old daughter and this is her first trip.

Thanks!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

Crystal Palace is our favorite character meal. The buffet is great (grab a chocolate chip cookie before you go!) and sometimes the characters take the kids on a "parade" aound the restaurant. The inside is beautiful and sunny.

Chef Mickey's also has a great buffet and it is the "classic character meal." You also picked a late dinner, and less crowds mean more attention from the characters. FYI: Mickey doesn't walk around here, but you can get a picture with him.

1900 Park Faire was nice, but I would cut that one first if I had to.

I've never been to the Princess Breakfast at Norway, but we're going to try that one next time!

Hope this helps, have a great time.

 

[Carrieberry]

Whatever you do don't cut Chef Mickey's! It is the best, and we do it every trip. If I was going to cut one it would also be 1900. You might want to switch Chef Mickey's to a breakfast, that would save you some $$, also they do an Ice Cream social over at Garden Grill at Epcot, and the characters are there as well. I beleive it is under $10! I have never done the new breakfast in Norway so I can't say, but there are 2 character meals we never miss and they are either a breakfast or a dinner at Chef Mickey's, and the Donald's breakfast over at AK. We had the opposite exp over at Crystal Palace a few years back. The food was cold, it took 2 hours to get to see all of the character, and it was a miserable experience we will not be repeating. Although, they have refurbed CP since then so maybe I am being unfair!

 

[jacksonsmom]

Guess I am the odd ball & I would cut out Crystal Palace before 1900!
We really enjoy our dinner at 1900. The characters were great & your little girl if she is into Cinderella, this dinner is a perfect spot to meet Cinderella.
The food at 1900 in my opinion is WAY better then the food at Crystal Palace.
There is nothing wrong with Crystal Palace, just if I HAD to cut one of your meals out it would be Crystal Palace.

I would keep the breakfast in Norway. It is a very nice breakfast & I never did Chef Mickey for dinner but we love doing Chef Mickey for breakfast

 

[charabby]

Just wanted to say two things.

1) We loved Chef Mickey's - it was by far our favorite character meal! Great interaction. I would definitely not skip that.

2) Mickey walked around at our meal. It's Donald who generally doesn't (although even he did at ours - he came over to the table to 'help' my dd blow out her bday candle on her cupcake).

 

[bibbidiboo]

I definitely wouldn't skip Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace.

I must say that I haven't been to the other two, but the energy at Chef Mickey's is incredible, and considering the age of your child the Pooh characters at Crystal Palace would be perfect. In fact Crystal Palace is our all-time favorite--and we've done alot of character meals.

 

[meeko_33785]

Oooo... that's a tough one. I would say that it would depend on what characters your daughter really wants to see. Most of those meals all feature characters that you can find elsewhere in the parks. The exception is 1900 Park Fare becuase it features Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother who are very hard to find outside of meals. I think you would want to keep the Princess meal as well judging by your post about Mulan, so that's another keeper. Chef Mickey's is supose to be a lot of fun for kids, plus Mickey's there! I would recogmend skipping Crystal Palace since You can find those characters just about anywhere in the parks. Maybe you could skip that meal and just go see them at EPCOT in the back of the UK Pavillion or at AK on the Discovery Island dock insteed.

 

[MarkLem]

We did both Chef Mickey's and 1900 the week of New Years. Between the two, we preferred 1900 by a margin.

Chef Mickeys is much more hectic and noisy. After a long and noisy hectic day at the park, 1900's atmosphere was much more relaxing. 1900 has the better food (the adult food at least). 1900 has Prince Charming and Cinderella, the mice assistants, and the fairy godmother sometimes pops in. These characters don't really make an appearance at the other character meals or in the parks (except at Cinderella's castle, but even then you might not see the prince (my wife's favorite!). The characters at Chef Mickey's can be found elsewhere in the parks and will make appearances at the Disney Resorts if you happen to be staying at one of them. Plus 1900 is a great reason to go over and check out the Grand Floridian if You've never seen it.

 

[MagicPrincess]

glad I looked at this post!!!

I think I will visit 1900 Park Fair for sure!
DD will love seeing Cinderella! (and me, Prince Charming!!!)

 

[AspiringCindy]

I would skip Crystal Palace! The atmosphere is nice...but the food is just average. I think your DD would enjoy princesses over Pooh! And definitely don't skip Chef Mickey's!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Wow, we are not making it much easier are we? I tuned into your post to read the opinions because I am trying to decide as well.

I have gone to 1900 and Crystal Palace and have had PERFECTION at both every time. I just love the Pooh Characters and so I am going to CP in 2 wks w/ my kids. I have made a habit of going to CP every time I am in WDW. When I went to 1900, it featured Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, Alice, and some Pooh Characters. I used to go there when I stayed at the GF, but now that I am a DVC owner, I will have to make a special effort to go back.

I went to Chef Mickey's forever ago when it prob. called something else and really need to visit again soon. I have heard such good things about it. It's lively and hectic, but like a previous poster indicated, maybe not the place to go if you want to relax.

Never been to Princesses, but I have heard MARVELOUS comments about it.

So I guess I haven't helped, have I? Well, good luck...... I'll keep reading too.