character meals

[battymum]

So now that we have free dining, have been thinking about where we will eat. As our kids are teenagers I wasnt considering any character meals unless there is one that we shouldnt miss and would be fun for our 14 year old boys and 16 year old girl.
I think princesses would be out, but are there any particularly cheeky and entertaining characters we should meet.

 

[PrincessInOz]

BattyMum - the thing about character meals is that if you book an early ADR, you get to go into the parks BEFORE they open!!

I'd definitely recommend Tusker House (Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Minnie) at AK. Go early, take a shot of the Tree without anyone around, finish before 9 and head towards Kali and Everest or the Safari Ride for Fast Passes.

I liked Crystal Palace (Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger) for dinner. I thought the character interaction was great there as well. If you book early, you can take your Castle shots without anyone around and then head towards Fast passes on one of the 3 Mountains and/or Peter Pan and Dumbo before they get too crazy.

I know that there is character breakfast at DHS; but I've never done it. Ehsmum posted on her TR/blog.

Epcot is the breakfast with Princesses at Norway. I have a boy; so this one has never been high on my priority list.

 

[DizOz]

Battymum, trust me when your kids get around the disney characters they will love it. Age doesn't come into it. You should do at least one.

Agree with PrincessinOz. We loved the breakfast we had at Tusker Hourse on our trip 3 years ago. A few weeks we did CRT and we loved it. The food was great and the experience in the castle was also thrilling. We also did Chef Mickey's but it was no where near as good as CRT.

We have also done breakfast at Ohana with Stitch and Dinner at Norway. Ohana was fun but the food at Norway was pretty ordinary.

We also had free dining but upgarded to deluxe. Best money ever spent. I love my food and we used our 3 credits each day, 2 going to signature restaurants and the other for breakfast or lunch at one credit restaurants.

 

[Travel Mum]

Yes, we plan to do an 8.05 am booking at Tusker House on our AK Day and an 8.05 am booking at CP on our MK day- exactly for the reason Princess says so that we can go into the park early!

 

[Willow25]

Garden Grill in Epcot has a character breakfast which I believe includes chip n dale and one or two of the fab five. I agree with PrincessinOZ that Crystal Palace is good and Tigger can be fun.

The MGM Playhouse Disney would be too young for your kids. We take ours but we have toddlers who love Little Einsteins.

We like Chef Mickey's, Cape May, and Ohana as well. As adults we love the character breakfasts as much or maybe more than the kids.

 

[battymum]

Thats a good point, I like the sound of being in the parks before opening. Looks like I will put Tusker House on our schedule, although I dont really want Kali to be our first ride of the day (will have to take change of clothes)

 

[DVCAustralia]

Character meals are a must when at WDW, particularly with the dining plan.
One that has not been mentioned is Cape May breakfast at Beach Club resort. This is a must do as it is usually quieter so you can get all the photos and interaction with characters without stress, the outfits are unusual, and the food is very good too.

 

[G'day Disney]

I would do 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian, it has Cinderella and Prince Charming which you will possibly not see in the Parks, unlike Mickey Pooh etc It also has the Stepmother and Stepsisters who true to form I have read carry on a bit interacting which is supposedly hilarious-much more appreciated by older kids!
Hope you have a great trip.

 

[DVCAustralia]

Originally posted by G'day Disney
I would do 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian.

I knew I had forgotten one. We actually did this for both breakfast and dinner during our last trip, and not only was it a fantastic character experience but the food is SO good worship:Strawberry soup) It is also great value on the dining plan as it is the most expensive of the character meals OOP.

 

[hjd0411]

I will second (or third?? ) Crystal Palace for breakfast. The food is good and the character interaction is very good. Chef Mickey's food is so-so. Liberty Tree used to do characters and the food there I really enjoyed (dinner). I don't know if the characters have been stopped temporarily or permanently - worth a look, anyway. It was Minnie, Chip and Dale and Pluto (I think).
I'm sure your kids will like wherever you choose to go!!

 

[Travel Mum]

I would do 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian, it has Cinderella and Prince Charming which you will possibly not see in the Parks, unlike Mickey Pooh etc It also has the Stepmother and Stepsisters who true to form I have read carry on a bit interacting which is supposedly hilarious-much more appreciated by older kids!
Hope you have a great trip.

Character meals are a must when at WDW, particularly with the dining plan.
One that has not been mentioned is Cape May breakfast at Beach Club resort. This is a must do as it is usually quieter so you can get all the photos and interaction with characters without stress, the outfits are unusual, and the food is very good too.

My issue with these two Character meals is that is sounds like it's quite an effort to get from one Disney hotel to another. We will be a POR with no car and, as a family-of-five, finding a taxi to fit us is not always easy so I wondered if it was best for me to just plan on character meals at the parks for us?

 

[PrincessInOz]

There were no characters at Liberty Tree two weeks ago.

Travel Mum - My best overall character breakfast has been at Cape May; which is out at Beach and Yacht club. Just be aware that in May this year, there was only Donald, Minnie and Goofy at Cape May. Reading TRs from May, I understood that Mickey rarely/never made an appearance there. From POR, it is harder to get to. There are also a heap of other great eateries and restaurants at the various resort hotels.

I wouldn't recommend that you try and book in to any of them UNLESS you REALLY want to and if you allocate at least an hour to get from resort to resort using Disney transport. It will take you about 5 minutes by taxi - but then that adds the $ on your trip.
The exception to this rule potentially is a character breakfast at a monorail resort. I believe that O'hana's is quite good and someone else who has recently been may be able to confirm or deny this. It's at the Polynesian.

Chef Mickey (at Contemporary Resort) was GREAT .... 5 years ago. All the recent Dis-information seems to indicate that it's not the same and the quality of food and character interaction has dropped significantly since that time. I avoided it in my May trip and my October trip because I have fantastic memories of the breakfast 5 years ago. And I like to keep it that way.

If this is your first visit to WDW, then I would book character breakfasts at the parks only. That way, you can get from POR to the parks using the buses. I would check what time the buses start running at POR; I can't remember....but most of the time the buses would start early enough for people to make their early breakfast ADRs in time. Certainly they were running at 7.30 am; but I'm not sure how much earlier they start from.

Let us know how you go with your decisions!

 

[queenie82]

Liberty Tree Tavern has stopped Characters (as far as I know...unless things have changed in the last few months) basically permanently. It has been this way for over a year.
This was very disappointing for me as they had characters in Thanksgiving type dress.

There were thoughts that by removing characters there would be a boycott and a decrease in attendance. But in fact the turn over has increased and they are doing very well..so...I don't think the characters will be back.

The only time the characters returned was while the Crystal Palace was being refurbished. And I'm not sure if they actually just shifted Winnie and gang across.

Speaking of Crystal Palace I found the breakfast food and interaction better than dinner.

And something to remember about the Grand Floridian is that it is on the monorail line. So you can get to the TTC and then get a bus to ANY resort from there. [please correct me if I'm wrong with this...I don't use Disney buses]

Cape May is walking distance from EPCOT. Or you can get the ferry.
So you can do the breakfast then go to EPCOT.
And again...go via the park to elsewhere.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Cape May is walking distance from EPCOT. Or you can get the ferry.
So you can do the breakfast then go to EPCOT.
And again...go via the park to elsewhere.

Queenie - do you know if you can walk through Epcot or get the ferry before the park opens for a Cape May breakfast? I had read that they do let you into Epcot for an Epcot breakfast; but not through Epcot for a breakfast at Cape May.

I hadn't recommended this as an option because I wasn't sure if you were allowed to do this. TravelMum has booked breakfast at the 8 am timeframe...

If you book a breakfast after 9 am; it is possible - just bear in mind that you need to factor in at least 15 minutes walking time; more with kids; if you use this method for getting to Cape May.

And from POR (or any other resort), you get dropped off at Magic Kingdom; not the TTC. So, you would get on the monorail there to get to the Grand Floridian (or any of the other monorail resorts) for breakfast. When you finish, you'd get back on the monorail back to MK; or switch at the TTC to the Epcot monorail; or a bus to any other park or resort.

 

[queenie82]

Queenie - do you know if you can walk through Epcot or get the ferry before the park opens for a Cape May breakfast? I had read that they do let you into Epcot for an Epcot breakfast; but not through Epcot for a breakfast at Cape May.

I hadn't recommended this as an option because I wasn't sure if you were allowed to do this. TravelMum has booked breakfast at the 8 am timeframe...

If you book a breakfast after 9 am; it is possible - just bear in mind that you need to factor in at least 15 minutes walking time; more with kids; if you use this method for getting to Cape May.

And from POR (or any other resort), you get dropped off at Magic Kingdom; not the TTC. So, you would get on the monorail there to get to the Grand Floridian (or any of the other monorail resorts) for breakfast. When you finish, you'd get back on the monorail back to MK; or switch at the TTC to the Epcot monorail; or a bus to any other park or resort.

I was more talking about AFTER the meals. As it is getting back from the meals to the parks that I saw as more important.

In the morning a taxi ride to the resort would seem a reasonable option. But it is after when things are busier that I was trying to suggest options.

You can't walk through Epcot before park opening unless you are going on a tour or going to the Norway.
But as I say I was talking about AFTER the meal

 

[DVCAustralia]

Originally posted by Travel Mum
My issue with these two Character meals is that is sounds like it's quite an effort to get from one Disney hotel to another. We will be a POR with no car and, as a family-of-five, finding a taxi to fit us is not always easy so I wondered if it was best for me to just plan on character meals at the parks for us?

For 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian the best options would be breakfast after early entry at MK and dinner during a day in the parks (each a nice break).
For Cape May at Beach Club a taxi would be the best option, it is quite a short drive so it should not be too expensive. Also this is Disney, taxis for a family of five should be easy to get and you could probably even book one to ensure there is no delay.

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks for your input everyone and I will take all the advice on board and do the planning before my ADR times comes up early April