Help... which character dinner?

[Chel Bell]

Hi everyone,
We are new to the Disney experience. My daughter Cami has cancer and Make-A-Wish is sending us to WDW for a family vacation. They have given us enough funds to do ONE character dinner for our family (we are also paying extra so I can take my DD to a princess breakfast). What is the best character dinner food, characters and atmosphere? We have a 5 year old daughter, and a 2 year old son. We will already be getting the princesses in so I was thinking a family dinner with Mickey or other characters. Any suggestions would be mUCH appreciated! THANKS!

 

[serendipity]

Hi there,

Welcome to the boards. I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this, but am very happy to hear you will be able to take this trip. Below I've listed a link which will bring you to a list of all of Disney's restaurants with their corresponding menus. There are MANY character dining experiences, so it really depends on her favorite characters. Princesses are always at Akershus in EPCOT, as well as Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom inside of Cinderella's Castle (although be forewarned that getting reservations to this restaurant can be VERY tricky).

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

I've also listed some of the character dining I know off the top of my head below for your reference - I hope this helps!

O'hana Breakfast in the Polynesian Resort - Lilo and Stitch Characters, Mickey, Pluto
1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian - usually I believe there is a combination of Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh etc
Crystal Palace - Winnie the Pooh Characters in Magic Kingdom
Donald's Breakfast at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom
Garden Grill - EPCOT, Chip and Dale, Mickey, Pluto
Cape May Cafe Breakfast - Yacht and Beach Club - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, etc

 

[serendipity]

One more note - if you do book Cinderella's Royal Table it has to be for breakfast if you'd like to see characters

 

[serendipity]

I apologize - I missed the note about your son.

Chef Mickey's is VERY popular for families in the Contemporary,

 

[hannahdrewmom]

For an evening with Mickey I'd say either Chef Mickey or Garden Grill. Both are great meals and your whole family would enjoy them. Chef Mickey is a buffet and Garden Grill is served family style. (Not sure if you are more comfortable with one over the other.) Garden Grill is in Epcot, so if you are going to be there on a particular night it would be a great way to end the evening. Chef Mickey is at Contemporary and very easy to get to from Magic Kingdom. It's also awesome since the fab 5 are the characters! They take a family picture before hand for purchase that might be a special memory for your family too!

 

[alala]

I would also consider The Crystal Palace, which has Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore at breakfast, lunch, and I think also for dinner. We thought that the food was the best of the character meals we have done. You can't beat the location in the Magic Kingdom, and the restaurant is just beautiful to me. If you think that your kids would like these characters, consider it.

Have a great trip!!

 

[pumba]

we love the atmosphere and the characters at Crystal Palace too..

And as said.....I am so sorry that you and your family have to go thru this......YOu will find that the Dis is the best place to get info from some very nice people...

The Crystal Palace is wonderful with Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore and Piglet. The Cast members are awesome and the choices of food is great for all kinds of likes and dislikes....

I hope that you and your family have a great visit to the House of the Mouse..


If you need any questions asked on anything please just yell out and we will all be glad to help you...

 

[LORI522]

We have always had the best character interaction at Garden Grill (with Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale) in EPCOT. Somehow, it doesn't seem as hectic as the other character meals. The food is good, too. I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

 

[jacdolfin]

We have always had the best character interaction at Garden Grill (with Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale) in EPCOT. Somehow, it doesn't seem as hectic as the other character meals. The food is good, too. I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

This has been our experience to. It is less hectic and they continue to come to your table until you leave the restaurant. The food tasted really good as well. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[DLo]

Our family likes the Crystal Palace but you won't get to see Mickey. For a calmer breakfast, you could try Cape May at the Beach Club. We have been there and Chef Mickey's - like both but think that Cape May is a little less crowded. We have only had lunch or dinner at Crystal Palace and it has become a must do for us. Chef Mickey's and Cape May we have only had breakfast. I think the food is about the same at both but prefer Cape May for the character interaction.

Have a Magical Trip - so happy that your family gets to experience the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

 

[gothtinkerbell]

We thoroughly enjoyed this one in the Grand Floridian. The characters were Lady Tremayne, Anastasia, Drizella, Cinderella and Prince Charming. The interaction between the characters was priceless. At one point, the stepmother had both of the stepsisters in the corner for not behaving. They were hilarious. If you go to this one, you must try the chilled strawberry soup.

 

[CathieArms]

Hi everyone,
We are new to the Disney experience. My daughter Cami has cancer and Make-A-Wish is sending us to WDW for a family vacation. They have given us enough funds to do ONE character dinner for our family (we are also paying extra so I can take my DD to a princess breakfast). What is the best character dinner food, characters and atmosphere? We have a 5 year old daughter, and a 2 year old son. We will already be getting the princesses in so I was thinking a family dinner with Mickey or other characters. Any suggestions would be mUCH appreciated! THANKS!

That's so hard because it might really depend upon which characters your children prefer.

If seeing Mickey is a priority, then you might be best at Chef Mickey's, though I've heard it can be hectic there and really busy. Based upon that alone, that probably wouldn't be my first choice...though you do get the fab five there.

Cape May is really nice - laid back and has Minnie and Goofy and Donald. I really love this character breakfast.

Crystal Palace is really beautiful inside and has all of the Pooh characters. For your childrens' ages, that might be a good bet. With the ages of your children, that would probably be my first or second choice (tied with Cape May, probably).

Tusker House has Donald and Daisy and Mickey and one or two others. It has a reputation for being one of the best character breakfasts on property, but word has it that they can get behind and you might experience a long wait time past your ADR. Not what I'd want to do with three small children.

1900 Park Fare and 'Ohana also have characters but, based upon the ages of your children, I'd think it wouldn't be as appealing!

Oh wait! Do they like the Agent Oso, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins characters??? Maybe Hollywood and Vine would be a good choice for you. I don't know that the food has a reputation for being outstanding, but it does have a reputation of being really fun for that age set...especially if they're familiar with the characters.

 

[CathieArms]

One more note - if you do book Cinderella's Royal Table it has to be for breakfast if you'd like to see characters

Huh???? I don't think this is correct. I believe the princesses are there for all three meals.

 

[CathieArms]

We have always had the best character interaction at Garden Grill (with Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale) in EPCOT. Somehow, it doesn't seem as hectic as the other character meals. The food is good, too. I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

I'm not a huge fan of the food at Garden Grill (there was nothing at all wrong with it...it was good, just not my thing), but I will admit that you really can't beat the character interaction and the "laid back" atmosphere of this place. This might actually be the best bet for the OP, especially if she wants Mickey.

 

[ChrisHartman]

One more note - if you do book Cinderella's Royal Table it has to be for breakfast if you'd like to see characters

That used to be the case, but it isn't anymore. We had dinner in the castle last October and met Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle.

Chef Mickey's is another place for a character meal. We didn't care for it, but I've heard the breakfast is better than the dinner and we had dinner there. Characters there are Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto

We loved Tusker House and the Crystal Palace for breakfast!

I'm so sorry about your little girl. She will love WDW, it truly is magical there!!

 

[Sgt Mickey]

My vote is for Chef Mickey ....my kids loved it and still talk about it and want to go back. I think we had a lter breakfast time too soo the charcters spent alot of time with us and some even came back to out table

 

[ClaudeGobet]

for mickey, our favorite is garden grill. as it turns out, i think it is also the freshest most delicious meal in wdw. it is served family style, all you can eat. the character interaction has been consistently the best for our family, we start every trip here on our 1st night. this restaurant also rotates, giving you different views of world nature settings throughout the entirety of your meal. reservations for the time of evening you want are a little more difficult to achieve here, but w/ persistence can be had. we have a 4 and 2 year old, for dinner this place is their favorite.

 

[jbuey22]

It seems as alot of people are giving you breakfast suggestions when it seemed to me that you asked for a dinner suggestion. If you have princesses booked for breakfast then I think a good dinner character show is Mickeys Backyard BBQ. It has mickey, minnie, goofy, chip & dale. Its actually a dinner show type thing and the food is basic. Basically Chicken, ribs, and hot dogs with corn on the cob and baked beans. Watermelon and marble cake for desert. BBQ style fun with characters and country band and line dancing. Its more than just dinner its an experience. Nothing fancy but my kids loved it when they were 5 and 7. To me chef mickeys is a bit stuffy. If not mickeys bbq then I would suggest the garden grill. Same characters basically without a show.

Sorry to hear about your child. Good luck and either way just have fun!

 

[ClaudeGobet]

refering to the last bbq post, for your family this meal will either cost you $137.00 or double dining credits. we intend to try this one ourself on the upcoming trip. your children are the right age for it, but you should be aware of the cost as many are not, and it can make a difference in the choosing.

 

[smiths02]

I love Crystal Palace. I know it is not Mickey, but the only good thing I could say about Chef Mickey dinner was the characters. I don't like the atmosphere of the Contemporary Resort, and the food was just so-so (it wasn't bad, but it was the worst table service meal food wise that we had on our trip 2 years ago). I can't imagine that a 5 year old and a 2 year old wouldn't love Pooh.