First timer needs Char. Dining Advice

[FloridaGirl]

Hi all--- My DH and I are taking my 3 year old DD to Disney March 18th. We are staying at Coronado Springs-- we will be there four days and I wanted to get a Character Dining experience in for her? what do you suggest for a new comer?

thanks in advance

Gray

 

[pigget74]

The first character meal we did was Chef Mickey's and my children loved it. My daughter also loved the Princess Storybook (no cinderella) in Norway. Our all time fav. is Crystal Palace for breakfast--we just love this place. The characters here are Winnie the Pooh.

 

[LindaR]

I personally prefer character meals that are at resorts as opposed to the ones in the parks!

The resorts seems so much calmer and quieter and more controlled.

No matter what you choose, have a great time!

 

[scanne]

We just LOVE Crystal Palace for dinner in the Magic Kingdom! We took our son there when he was one (twice actually in one trip) and again when he was 18 months (last week). The character interaction is outstanding and they sing and dance a little every 30 minutes. Also the food is one of the best buffets on WDW property (IMHO). We also like 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian for dinner and breakfast, and Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, but I only liked this one for breakfast.

You can always check out www.wdwig.com for menus of all the WDW restaurants to see what meals suit your taste. Have fun! It's truly a magical experience with a little one! Have a great trip!

 

[disneyfan551]

Ok, everyone's tastes are different... We went in Dec. with our 2yo (and 2yo niece, and 2yo friend), and went to the Garden Grill in Epcot - food was pretty good, but had the BEST character interaction. At MK, we went to the CP dinner, and the buffet was fabulous (not alot for our 2yo though!), and the characters were so-so. But her favorite was probably CRT with the princesses. If your child is into Disney at all, THIS IS IT!! The food was ok, and yes, it was rushed, but most definitely worth every penny! The kids loved it!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of them! Good luck deciding!!

 

[KaityBsMom]

I would suggest Crystal Palace if your DD has any interest in the Pooh characters. Our CP breakfast was one of the biggest highlights of our trip. The food was good (and DD loved the Pooh and Tigger waffles ) and the characters were all adorable. We had great interaction with all of them.

If Pooh is not big in your house, I would suggest any of the characters meals that Mickey and/or Minnie are at. There just seems to be something special about seeing the First Mouse Couple I think. We did Chef Mickey's for dinner and had a great time, but it was somewhat noisy there. Next time, I think we are going to try the Garden Grill at Epcot to see Mickey.

Have a great trip!

 

[sha_lyn]

If you think she might be frightened of the characters at all I'd suggest a meal with "face" characters such as Cinderella's Royal Table, Princess Storybook breakfast etc. If not our fav for food, characters and atsmophere is Crystal Palace. Second fav is Donalds breakfastosaurus for Mickey. If you think she'd like to see Minnie I'd suggest Goofy's Beach Blast.

 

[disneyfan551]

If you aren't already....start showing her the Disney planning tapes! Also, the sing-a-longs are great for the kids to watch and get them familiar with the characters. My dd was not nervous when she saw them at 7mo, but at 2, she drew back a little. Actually, she only did that during her first sighting, and then she would hug and kiss them! She was in awe of them!

 

[BobbiG]

My two year old watched many of the singalongs...and is normally very shy...but wow...did she love the characters. But she does not like the face characters! I guess they are too much like real people. Anyway, we loved the Cape May breakfast at the beach club...characters had a lot of time with each table. Goofy actually sat down with her and colored for what seemed like several minutes. It was very low key. Chef Mickeys was my DH fav...and my DD loved it there too, again, a lot of character interaction. It was noisy, like a party. Crystal Palace was our first one, so that seemed great, but in retrospect, the characters did not have as much time to spend as the others. Donalds Breakfastsauras was horrible for us. It seemed like a bad set-up, or a bad day, or something was wrong. The food was just so-so, and they seemed out of alot of things every time I went up the buffet line. So I am skipping that one next time. We are trying Garden Grill this time, and I can't wait. I've heard really great things. I would choose your meals based upon characters and locations...and choose off meal times, so the characters will have a little more time to spend with your DD personally. It seems a lot more fun that way, and a little less intimidating.

 

[Harambe]

We love the Garden Grill at Epcot, but 1900 Park in the Grand Floridian was also nice (they change the characters here frequently so check who's there when you make your PS).

 

[polkadotminnie]

We will be at CSR when you are! We will arrive March 20-25 then to POFQ 25-27. Maybe we will see you there. I will be the frazzled mom with 3 girls under 8. We like Chef Mickeys, Cape May, CRT, and Crystal Palace-in that order. I just wasn't really impressed with the Crystal Palace's character interaction when we went. We are heading back to Chef Mickeys, then trying PBS and Mickey's Bar-b-que on this trip. Hope to see you at the pool!

 

[antmaril]

We had breakfast at the Crystal Palace on Wednesday and LOVED it! It was myself and two teens. The breakfast was wonderful and the characters were great. Everyone in the restaurant, young and old alike, were having a great time.

I highly recommend the Crystal Palace. For us, it will be a must every trip. I have been to WDW many, many times and this was our first visit to CP, but it won't be our last!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Our favorite dinner is the LTT at the MK. It is family style rather than buffet and is a traditional thanksgiving meal. The characters are Mickey, Minnie and Chip and DAle and I think Pluto. For breakfast we like Donald's at AK. It has the fab-4 including Donald Duck! With a preschool age little girl however, I think I would have to try one of the three princess meals. We have not done any of these as I have no girls , but I am sure you can get some feed back from other that have done them.


jordans' mom

 

[peanutzmom]

My kids loved the character breakfast at 'Ohana. It was very laid back, and we weren't rushed at all! The characters came by and spent plenty of time with the kids. We also have done Chef Mickey's for dinner. The food was great, but it was very loud and busy. It was our first character meal, so I didn't know what to expect. We saw Mickey out in the lobby and Goofy came by and got a photo with our son, but that was it for character interaction. We loved it, since we didn't know any better at the time! =)

 

[Duchie]

The first character meal we ever did was Donald's Breakfasaurus at AK. I'd recommend this one, too! The characters were so patient and thorough - they made sure to greet each and every child (and some of the adults, too).

 

[RescueRanger]

I recommend Garden Grill. We go here at least once per trip. The food is really good but the character interaction is the BEST. The characters have always taken alot of time with our 2 DDs. They even sit down and color with them. The characters are really over the top here and my daughters just love it. Chip and Dale were throwing crayons at each other on our last trip until Mickey came along and chased them off. Oh, did I mention we love Garden Grill .

P.S. We try to take a late lunch when it isn't as busy and it always works out really well for us.

 

[lillygator]

I agree...everyone's opinions are different.
We just returned from a 4 night stay this week. We did 1900 Park Fare first and then Crystal Palace.....I must say 1900 Park Fare was MUCH more organized and the food was 10 times better than the Crystal Palace. The Cp wasjust a disarray and the CM's didn't have control over the children at the tables.....they would just get up and follow the charcters around. This dod not happen at GF.
We are returning in May and we will be going to 1900 Park Fare but not to CP........

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We have been to many character meals, and all were fun, and the food was always good but not outstanding. My best suggestion for a 3 year old is to go with the one that has her favorite characters.