Help Me Decide- Character Dining

[Jerseyprincess317]

We are going to DW next month between Christmas and New Years. This is the first time we are staying on site. I, admittedly, went a little nuts with character dining reservations because I want to try all of the restaurants. I have Breakfast at Cape May, 'Ohana and Chef Mickey, lunch at Garden Grill and dinner at Story Book at Artist Point. I need to cut 2 of them but it's so hard. Please help me decide.

 

[MomOTwins]

We are going to DW next month between Christmas and New Years. This is the first time we are staying on site. I, admittedly, went a little nuts with character dining reservations because I want to try all of the restaurants. I have Breakfast at Cape May, 'Ohana and Chef Mickey, lunch at Garden Grill and dinner at Story Book at Artist Point. I need to cut 2 of them but it's so hard. Please help me decide.

Keep whichever breakfast is easiest to get to from your resort. Then keep Artist point.

 

[CynBeth]

Prior to Covid we felt Cape May had a lot more choices for breakfast than Chef Mickey’s don’t know if that has changed plus you can see the chocolate carousel while waiting and take a quick visit to YC to see the train garden. Have never been to Ohana, GG, or AP.

 

[sponica]

'Ohana is served family style and if you have Stitch fans, I recommend it. I've never been to Cape May or Chef Mickeys.
I would check the meal for Garden Grill to see if it works for your crew. I think it has some of the best fur character interactions at a meal, at least in my experience.
I've heard nothing but good things about AP.

I narrowed it down to three?

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Personally I’d get rid of Garden Grill and Chef Mickey’s . Chef Mickey’s is so chaotic and never really feels clean to me . We love Ohana and usually do breakfast there every trip . It’s delicious and at the Poly . Love to visit there if we aren’t staying there . Cape May is fun and delicious! Love the omlet bar. Also we love the area and Yacht is our favorite. We are either staying there or need to visit the area during our trips . Artist Point is a bucket list dinner for us . Had it booked then the world shut down . Someday…

 

[Marthasor]

I agree with PP regarding keeping Storybook. As to choosing the other one, I would pick based on which location is easiest to get to and which characters you want to see. I would probably look at pricing as well. The food at Cape May, 'Ohana, Garden Grill and Chef Mickey is pretty darn bad.

 

[isabellea]

Storybook and a breakfast. For breakfast, I would choose based on characters not food since they are all pretty bad food-wise. We’re only doing ‘Ohana this year because my youngest absolutely wants to meet Lilo and Stitch and we cannot meet them anywhere else. But the almost 300$cad for breakfast is a hard pill to swallow when you know the food will be meh.

 

[HopperFan]

Chef Mickey's would get the boot in a blink.



Where are you staying when looking at Cape May OR are you doing DHS or Epcot after?

Where are you staying when looking at Ohana OR are you doing MK after?

I preferred Cape May of the two of these, both food and characters.



Unless there is somewhere else you want to eat at Epcot, GG is a good option. Character meeting there works really well with fairly private seating, no kids running around like some others.



Storybook would 1000% keep. Great atmosphere, food and character experience.

 

[Jerseyprincess317]

Chef Mickey's would get the boot in a blink.



Where are you staying when looking at Cape May OR are you doing DHS or Epcot after?

Where are you staying when looking at Ohana OR are you doing MK after?

I preferred Cape May of the two of these, both food and characters.



Unless there is somewhere else you want to eat at Epcot, GG is a good option. Character meeting there works really well with fairly private seating, no kids running around like some others.



Storybook would 1000% keep. Great atmosphere, food and character experience.

We are staying at AS Movies. With the exception on GG they are all booked on non park days.

ETA: We will be keeping Artist Point.

 

[tofubeast]

I'd definitely keep AP. That's a very hard to get reservation with outstanding reviews. I'd also keep Breakfast with Friends at 'Ohana. Great reviews for breakfast and fun characters.

I'd chuck Chef Mickey's. Too busy and reviews aren't stellar.

That leaves Garden Grill and Cape May. GG has great character interaction and didn't feel rushed. Cape May wasn't my fave character breakfast, but it was still fun. I am leaning on you keeping your lunch at GG, but it would also depend on what fits best with your schedule. EDIT: after reading your reply above, I would definitely keep GG and chuck Cape May (and Chef Mickey's).

 

[HopperFan]

We are staying at AS Movies. With the exception on GG they are all booked on non park days.

Cape May take but to DHS then walk to breakfast. After I'd take the Skyliner back to DHS to add that extra fun. Then bus home.

Ohana is bus to MK then monorail or boat to Poly.

CM is bus to MK then walk to Contemporary.

Def keep Artist Point, you can bus to MK and then boat to WL which is a nice journey and entry into WL from the lake.

If you want to leave Epcot more open you could drop GG and keep two breakfasts, depending on your dining wishes for Epcot.

Unless of course you have a car then you can just drive everywhere and that negates any of my concerns on location.

 

[Disturbia]

The food at StoryBook was really good. Their mushroom soup wa similar to the one at CRT (has an earthen flavor, see review).

Chef Mickey is mediocre (see reviews)

For the money Topolinos (walk ups are sat at bar and don’t get character interaction) or if you’re willing to travel - character dining at Capa (Four Seasons)

 

[DaniPoppins]

I would definitely choose the breakfast at Cape May. Then it would be a toss up between GG lunch and Artist Point dinner. I would pick the one that was the most convenient based on what we were doing that day.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

GG is my favorite on your list. We love Chip and Dale, the most entertaining characters at character dining. Plus, it's nice seeing Mickey in a farmer's outfit. The food is delicious.

 

[ShannyMcB]

If anyone in your party is opposed to loud noises ditch chef Mickeys. One of the kids in our group gets skittish with loud noises and wouldn't go near any characters at chef mickeys. Topolinos where it's quiet he was all about the high fives. Chef mickeys is nice in terms of being able to get there easily but nothing to write home about.

 

[jjb1974]

You don't specify where you're staying or how your meals line up with park days (or your number of days in each park), so it's a bit of a guess here. I'm going to comment on your choices but also throw a recommendation, because a) you didn't ask and b) I'm a busybody who likes to tell people what to do, right?!

If I were focused on breakfast for a day when I was going to Epcot or DHS, I 'd get Topolino's as it has the best quality breakfast for character meals, period, end of. It would appear your character meal for breakfast for Epcot/DHS would be Cape May? Okay, sure, it's fine, nothing special. I'd be watching rezzies for Topolino's a couple days before I arrive, they can pop up and it's worth it: I know that's a very hard get, and you will have to be patient/lucky with rez finders and wait until late in the game when people might cancel. But, it's worth the throw. Otherwise, assuming you are looking for the Epcot/DHS breakfast, Cape May it is.

Your other two breakfasts appear to be for MK: Chef Mickey's is fine and it's popular, it is what it is. I've not had a bad experience at all and thought character interaction was 2nd best (1st is Tusker House) and I did several. It's certainly better than other character dining in the parks (looking at you, Hollywood & Vine!), and I have yet to understand folks who will slate Chef Mickey's but then bop over to Ohana as if the Poly hasn't also declared some kind of holy war on quality dining and is strongly winning said war. Those two places are six of one / half dozen the other on food, and I personally think seeing the monorails while you eat is better and again the Fab 5 are good at their jobs. That's a showpiece character spot. But hey, the more of you who turn down Chef Mickey's, the more space there is for me, so win/win. It's a Disney breakfast, if you ain't at Boma you're suffering.

For your lunch, most people like Garden Grill for breakfast. This could go if you ask me. Character lunches eat time in the park. Now if I got the 2 things I personally would want to do at Epcot done and I had no pressure? Then knock yourself out. But this seems superfluous. If I want an in-park character meal that's good and fun, there is Tusker House....and then there is crap.

Dinner at Artist Point: Okay sure, yeah, I guess but I have questions: I mean you hopefully aren't under time constraints and so this is an end of day, before I go back to the hotel thing? Then go for it. Hopefully that's not your only MK day, because I think any character breakfast and then a character dinner is going to be a bit of a work. I like the boat ride to Wilderness Lodge from MK and there are unique characters over there, but this feels like an overload if you're doing any 2 characters in one day.

 

[SouthJersey]

We are going to DW next month between Christmas and New Years. This is the first time we are staying on site. I, admittedly, went a little nuts with character dining reservations because I want to try all of the restaurants. I have Breakfast at Cape May, 'Ohana and Chef Mickey, lunch at Garden Grill and dinner at Story Book at Artist Point. I need to cut 2 of them but it's so hard. Please help me decide.

I'd keep Ohana and Artist Point

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I would personally keep Cape May Cafe (this is one of my favorite character dining breakfasts, and is an opportunity for most of the Fab5) and I would keep Storybook. Storybook had some of the most interesting and thematically on point food I've seen at a character dining spot, character interactions were on point. That one is a can't miss in my opinion.

 

[tobikaye]

So, are any of your breakfasts on the same day as your Storybook Dining? Maybe cancel that morning breakfast.

I am going to say that it really depends on works best for your family. Some want a more relaxed atmosphere and some want a place where their kids can be loud and do activities so it really is going to be what works best for your family. Something to consider are your plans for after breakfast.

• Chef Mickeys: Great if you love loud, chaotic places and the Fab 5
  • I ate here in May and it was actually really good food/service and character interaction. But we had an 8 am breakfast and were staying at BLT so easy walk to the restaurant and it was early enough the chaos was not in full force. Any later and I expect we would not have enjoyed as our group was not good with load chaos usually.
• 'Ohana: Lilo with Stitch is not as easily found together
  • It has been a bit since I ate hear and it was okay, but I think we had seen stitch 5 times that trip and I did not find the food overwhelmingly remembered. I would probably do this again, but only if I had someone that absolutely loved Lilo and Stitch with me.
• Cape May: Relaxed atmosphere
  • I think this was my second favorite character breakfast I have done. It was more relaxed and had just enough options to not be overwhelming on the buffet. The food was not memorable, but we had great service and character interactions.

So, since I really like the relaxed atmosphere and these were my options, I would probably keep Cape May unless I had plans for after that made being on the monorail line easier and then I would select 'Ohana.