Disney Character Dining Question?

[pixiedust1st]

We are going on our 1st Disney trip in October. We have 3 kids, what character dinner have you enjoyed the best on your visits? Thanks!

 

[twoplustwins]

we have two boys and two girls, so we needed a mixture of characters for them. we went to 1900 Park Fare, Tusker House (Donald's Safari Breakfast), Chef Mickey's, Princess Breakfast at Akershus, Hollywood and Vine, and Crystal Palace. All of our character meals were breakfast, except for 1900 Park Fare.
Our favs were Tusker House and the Crystal Palace.

just our opinion of our last trip:

1900 Park Fare - great character interaction, horrible food
Tusker House - great character interaction, great food
Chef Mickey's - good character interaction, okay food
Akershus - good character interaction, okay food
Hollywood and Vine - great character interaction, good food
Crystal Palace - great character interaction, great food

 

[2kids2luv]

We've only been to a few character meals so far but would definatley recommend going to Chef Mickey's. We were there for dinner our first night and loved the character interaction and the food was good. This was also the first place the kids asked to go back to this trip. We've also ate at CP (dinner) and weren't impressed. CRT was wonderful but DS doesn't want to go so we're trying 1900 Park Fare this year.

 

[BNukem]

Garden Grill for dinner or if you want breakfast O'hana's. My kids really like both of these and both are served family style, so you don't have to keep getting up with the kids to get food.

 

[MSLRAC]

Our absolute favorite was Cape May Cafe for breakfast with Goofy, Donald and Minnie...great food, wonderful character interaction and a relaxing setting.

1900 Park Fare dinner was another favorite. Again, great food and wonderful characters! It also seemed a bit less rushed and chaotic than many of the other character meals.

Tusker House was also pretty good. The food was wonderful but the characters were a bit rushed.

Chef Mickey's was horrible! The food was cold and gross. The buffet area was a total mess with food spilled, splattered and dropped all over the place. The characters were very rushed and barely paused long enough for a picture and to sign the kids books. Mickey also outright skipped us and our server was somewhat snotty when we asked to see him.

Akershus was OK. DD loved seeing all the princesses and the interaction was decent but the food (breakfast) was just kind of blah.

Crystal Palace has been a fav since our first trip. Breakfast, lunch or dinner the food is good and the characters are great.

 

[troynkasey]

If you want breakfast, then I recommend Crystal Palace. Good food, great character interaction and you're at MK. The other breakfast we've done twice is Donald's and I like the fact you can see Daisy (not as common) and the food is good. It's a buffet, so you can come and go as you please. Food is good and very similar to Crystal Palace. We also did 1900 Park Fare and it was nice, but nothing special. It was nice to see Mary Poppins, Alice, and the Mad Hatter and see the girls interact with them.

If you do a dinner, we did Chip n Dale at the Garden Grill this year and it was good. Food was good and the characters all made it around more than once in the hour we were there. We've done Chef Mickey's and it's nice and the character singing and parade thing they do is nice, but the food was just average. Good selection, but mostly what I'd call kid type foods... it wasn't bad by any means, but nothing compared to Garden Grill or Crystal Palace/Tusker House.

 

[MODisneyfan]

I have been to quite a few Character meals and my favorites are Crystal Palace, Ohana's and Tusker house. They have great food and the Character interaction is just wonderful. JMO

 

[aimmike&meg]

We really enjoyed Chef Mickey's for dinner! Ohana or Tusker House for Breakfast! Character interaction at Chef Mickey's was AWESOME!

 

[HunnyJar]

Garden Grill for dinner or if you want breakfast O'hana's. My kids really like both of these and both are served family style, so you don't have to keep getting up with the kids to get food.

I agree with these choices 100%! Super fun places with great characters and great food. Characters for 'Ohana breakfast are Mickey, Pluto, Stitch and Lilo. While at Garden Grill you will find farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Also if your kids like Pooh and friends, I would also suggest Crystal Palace for breakfast - not a huge fan of Crystal Palace for dinner but love it for breakfast.

 

[GladGame]

We did a lot of character meals on our last trip, and the only one we are planning to repeat is Tusker House breakfast. Good food, fun atmosphere, and the character interaction was good!

 

[esrags01]

Garden Grill is good for interacting with Mickey. The characters spend a good amount of time at each table. Also, the restaurant is family style, so you get a good amount of food without the hassle of a buffet.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Chef Mickeys, Garden Grill, Crystal Palace all 3 are favorites for the food & the character interactions


You know about making ADRs right? Character meals are popular & can fill reservations F A S T !

407-wdw-dine or can do it on the Disney web site

 

[whitney37354]

For character interaction my favorite was 1900 PF at GF for dinner. Can't beat dancing with Cinderella & Prince Charming!

For food, my favorite was Ohana at Poly for breakfast. It was nice not having to run to a buffet and the food was good. The characters & the parade around the restaurant were good and the photo they made is one of our best family photos of the trip.

 

[Polarone]

Cannot recommend Crystal Palace enough - we go there nearly every trip, and generally have a good meal, see all four characters (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger & Eeyore) at least once and rarely stay more than 45 minutes.

We also hit Chef Mickey's for breakfast on our last day and the kids enjoy that as well.

 

[shannonstar]

We did the following when we were there last:

H&V Breakfast - got in park early, that's about the only good thing
Cinderella - food was just okay, good if you like princesses
Crystal Palace - good character interaction and yummy food
Garden Grill - personal favorite all the way around
Mickey's Backyard BBQ - 2TS, so not worth it
Tuskerhouse Breakfast - 2nd favorite, son wanted to stay for all characters for the 1st time ever
Chef Mickey's - ick! Loud, crowded and not so good food
1900 Fare Park - liked the Mad Hatter, that's it
Akershus - odd food choices, good princesses

Planning for Ohana Breakfast on Thanksgiving this year! Also thinking of trying Cape May breakfast. Have heard good reviews. Only ones I repeating from above are: Garden Grill, Crystal Palace, and Tusker House
May add Akershus & H&V Breakfast to get in park early, but that's about it.

 

[pixarmom]

We have three boys (ages pre-school to pre-teen) and without a question, their favorite character meal (and our arrival night tradition) is Garden Grill.

The character interaction is the best we've seen at Disney - they spend a lot of time at each table, and we see Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale at least twice per dinner.

The food is good - nice selection of very fresh salad and bread to start (that's my favorite part) and both adult and kids' items for everyone to share.

As previous posters have mentioned, the family style (versus buffet) is a great benefit - no juggling plates with our three kids, taking turns going to the buffet, or missing characters as they pass by your table. You sit, and everything comes to you!

The restaurant also rotates very slowly through different scenes in the Land ride and our kids have always found that very interesting.

Finally, we love the high semi-circle booths on the lower level. My husband and I sit in the middle with the kids on the end (to meet the characters) and all you see is the character that is coming to visit and the various scenes from the Land ride. We find that much more relaxing that a huge room full of people, particularly because our pre-schooler has a tough time seeing a character in another area of the restaurant and having to wait for it to come to our table. This way, he just sees each character as they appear in front of our booth, and between characters, he can actually eat something!

 

[pixiedust1st]

Thanks for all the great info! We have ADR for some places already - Chef Mickey's for our last night, Cinderella's Royal Table for Breakfast, and Crystal Palace for Dinner one evening & a few others too. One place we haven't gotten ADR for is Garden Grill, from the sounds of these posts it would be a great one to check on! Thanks so much!! It's our 1st visit so it's a little overwhelming when trying to decide on all of this!!

 

[jdisnut]

Garden Grill is probably my favorite character dinner, but considering it will be your family's first visit, I recommend trying Crystal Palace. It's loud and crazy, and the food is fairly mediocre, but it's a quintessential Disney experience. There is something special about hanging a left at the end of Main Street and dining with Winnie the Pooh and his pals in a beautiful Magic Kingdom setting.

 

[Coconuts]

I agree with all the other pp and loved GG. I personally prefer family style, the food was different than your basic disney fare, character interaction was great, and it was quieter than most character meals. We did lunch there, and unfortunately they cut the characters at lunch so now there's only dinner to try to book.