Disney Character Dining

[Firefoz]

Hello I would like some info about characters dining. We are going to WDW for our first time in September 2009. I would like to know some of the best places for characters breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. We are taking our 10 y/o granddaughter there and thought it would be fun to take her to one are two while we are there. Any advice / help would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you,
Firefoz

 

[RMulieri]

Welcome! I have to ask ..Have you made any dining reservations? Sept is a slow time for the parks but the restaurants, because of the Free Dining promotion( especially character meals and themepark ones) are very crowded and typically do not take diners without reservations .

 

[2littlez'sandme]

I highly recommend Donald's Safari Breakfast @ AK. Great food selection and wonderful character interaction. I was there the other day and loved it all!! So much better than Chef Mickey's, IMO.

 

[Goopy]

I would suggest dining at the castle for Breakfast, Dinner isnt really that great there and there are not as many characters out. If she loves Princesses I would suggest this is try the Princess Storybook over at Norway.

 

[Firefoz]

I have not made any reservations yet I will soon. I am just trying to get an idea from everyone which ones are the best exc. Then it is off to the reservation page with fingers crossed.

Thank you,
Firefoz

 

[RMulieri]

I have not made any reservations yet I will soon. I am just trying to get an idea from everyone which ones are the best exc. Then it is off to the reservation page with fingers crossed.

Thank you,
Firefoz

Well...For princesses we liked the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Akershuhs in Epcot, We like the Garden Grill for dinner with Mickey and friends.Cape May Buffet at the Beach Club resort also has a great Breakfast.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Since your under 60 days and many made ADRs at 90 days out, you may need to find out what's available. If Akershaus and the Castle are booked, as surely the Castle is, you might try 1400 Park Faire for princesses. Cape May Breakfast with Character should have slots available. I suggest going to

www.allears.net
and click on dining at the top of the page and look at menus and characters to see what she might like, then book as soon as possible.

 

[lidec]

my kids loved Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace for the characters.

 

[ses1230]

You might have trouble getting some of these since your 90 days has passed, but I would say Askerhus in Norway for Princesses, CP for Pooh and friends and Tusker House for Mickey, etc. We loved TH b/c Daisy is there, and we had never seen her before. Cape May Cafe is also good (not great) for Mickey.
Also, the experience of eating in the castle is magical, but the Princesses only circulate at bfast and lunch. Dinner is Fairy Godmother, Suzy and Perla.
Good luck!

 

[ktlm]

If you want character meals, you should get online and start trying right now. Actually if you want any table service meals at all, you need to get online and try to get ADRs now. People get turned away from restaurants a lot without ADRs, especially with free dining. You can always cancel reservations later if your plans change, but it is better to have some to fall back on. You may have a very hard time getting ADRs when you are going during free dining and are under 60 days out from your trip. People cancel, so if you don't get what you want, keep trying every day. Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch or breakfast is great if she wants to see princesses, but this late you may not be able to get in. Our last trip, I called on the 1st day I could and they only had one time left the entire week we were there. The other princess meal is Akershus at Epcot. Tusker House Breakfast at Animal Kingdom has Mickey and Friends in Safari outfits and great food. Crystal Palace at MK with Pooh and Friends is good. 1900 Park Fare Dinner has Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Stepmother and Stepsisters, the characters are fun, but the food is just okay. Good luck- I hope you find something good.

 

[mom2rtk]

At this point you are unlikely to find any of the character meals in September with openings. Try checking out the thread for September ADR trades and cancellations. And go online several times a day to see if you can find openings. They pop up as people cancel their trips.

Good luck!

 

[Kermity]

Last year we spent my granddaughter's 5th birthday dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. We've eaten there each of our 4 previous years at Disney and thoroughly enjoyed it. So this year we again got reservations. Half way thru the meal we asked why we hadn't seen any characters yet. Our waiter told us they no longer do character meals at the Liberty Tree due to complaints from others saying it annoyed their meal. What a disappointment for our five grandchildren who were with us. We just arrived back home last night and I double checked the listing for the Liberty Tree and it still shows as a character meal. How sad to not let us know, the kids were really counting on seeing their favorite characters during dinner there. Just as an added note, there were several birthdays going on while we were there eating....it amazed me that the loud clapping and singing is not considered annoying, yet having a character walking around making a child's day perfect is looked upon as being annoying.

 

[williamson_ja]

I was looking for something to eat before MNSSHP on Sept. 22 today and they had CRT listed as available for 6 people! We didn't want to spend 2 dining credits on it, so I chose something else. I guess you never know when good character meals are going to come up. It was for around 4:00 if anyone wants to see if it is still there.

 

[gingerfeathers]

I agree with everyone that it might be hard to get character meals this late in the game.

With that said, when you get to your resort (if you are staying on-property), check with concierge as soon as you check in to see if anything is available for character dining. We've gotten lucky before doing that. And if not, just check several times a day because some people cancel at the last minute.

You can try just walking up to the restaurants, but be forewarned: You have a better chance of being turned away than being given a table during Free Dining (which is all of September), and I would hate to do that simply because I can imagine it would be awful to get your grandchildren's hopes up.. know what I mean?

GOOD LUCK, and have a wonderful trip!!!!!

 

[mjmselby]

Just to give you some hope, I just booked ADR at Askerhus Princess Storybook dinner TODAY online (for 2 adults/two children). Just keep checking back and you might get lucky! BTW, we are going Sept 20 - 27 and are not doing free dining. Don't give up!

 

[abubu919]

I recommend Crystal Palace for Breakfast. It is delicious and the Winnie the Pooh characters are great. Also, they have the best french toast on the kids buffet portion. My family and I always come here every trip

 

[msvlg]

We have done every character breakfast except for Cape May and breakfast at the Castle (we have done dinner there twice)and we are going to try Cape May in April. Chef Mickey's is our all time favorite. Tusker House was also fun.