Help!!! Which Character Meals?

[ImaDVCwannabe]

So I know that I am getting way ahead of myself given that our trip is more than a year away....but as my family well knows I am an extreme planner and have to have all of my ducks in a row. Anyway....

My husband and I have only been to Disney World once and it was for our honeymoon so we didn't attend any charater meals. For our trip next summer I want to take our girls (who will be 5 and 22 months) to some but am having a hard time deciding on which one. We will be there for 14 days in August. Any suggestions? Which are the best?

Thanks in advance.

 

[disneymayz]

CHEF MICKEY'S Dinner - is a must for us on everytrip.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Depends on their favorite characters.
That said, Crystal Palace (featuring Pooh and Friends) is DD6's favorite restaurant at all of WDW hands down and the one she requests each year. It gets good reviews for B,L, and D.

We also really like Chef Mickey's breakfast and Cinderella's Royal Table lunch.

 

[lissiesmum]

I'm taking my DD4 to probably every character meal offered (well not really, but it seems like it). Here are our ADRs: Crystal Palace dinner, Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast, Chef Mickey's dinner, 1900 Park Faire breakfast with Alice in Wonderland, Princess Akershuh breakfast at Epcot, Chefs de France with Remy from Ratatouile, 1900 Park Faire dinner with Cinderella, and, I am hoping to get breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 'Ohana on our last day at the Poly (surprisingly, it was the only character breakfast I could not get??? ) We've already been to the Crystal Palace. The food and atmosphere are fantastic, but the pace of the characters moving about is sooooo slloooww It took way too long to see all four characters, and even though I had an 8am breakfast, I didn't get out into the parks until after 9:15 and we didn't beat the crowds. That said, when I told my DD about all of the characters we were going to eat with this time (and I hadn't booked the Crystal Palace because I didn't want to wait again), she asked about seeing Winnie and Eeyore again. So back on the phone I went again and was lucky enough to get a good dinner ressie. Good thing I'm on the DDP, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford all of these restaurants! Are you interested in any of these? I'd be happy to share my experiences when I get back. We leave in six days

 

[Berlioz70]

I'd like to recommend the Garden Grill at Epcot.

It's with Mickey, Pluto and the ONLY dining with Chip and Dale.

Why it's awesome: first off, the restaurant rotates so your view is constantly changing.

Second, it's a family style dinner so the food is UNLIMITED but you don't have to worry about going to the buffet and missing a character at your table (since they typically can't return).

Third, the restaurant is pretty small so it's common to see ALL characters at least twice and sometimes three times. With that said, you'll get tons of photo opportunities and the character interactions tend to be longer.

 

[DisneyBunny15]

For girls, I would say Akerhus, 1900 Park Fare and Crystal Palace

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Chef Mickeys
1900
Cape May

 

[ryanmcin]

Crystal Palace breakfast is great so is the Donald breakfast at the Animal Kingdom.

Chef Mickeys is fun (but a little crazy) for dinner.

 

[lunapnp]

My personal theory is that, for the most part, you only go to the character meals for the CHARACTERS. I have found the food very lacking. Having said that, I know I will be in the minority in this, but I think Crystal Palace has one of the worst breakfast meals. Maybe it was just the day we were there...we all have our bad days. But, it seems as if we caught CP on their bad day. Our fave breakfast is definitely Cape May.. We were at CM in March for breakfast and the food was better than in the past. Have fun with what ever you decide!

 

[MPHARJ]

Our favorites that we do every year are Chef Mickey's for dinner and Crystal Palace for any meal. We loved Cape May last year but we aren't big breakfast eaters so we always do CMC for dinner, no characters there but it is a must do for us. We also enjoyed Ohana a few years ago. Cape May was so nice good selection great character interaction and it was never crowded.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Akershus and CRT!

LOVE THEM ALL!!!!!!!!

 

[mommyaof2]

We went to the Ohana character breakfast yesterday and it was great! We had the last breakfast seating and this worked out great. It was our lunch and our breakfast. We have also done Crystal Palace for lunch before and it was great also!

 

[that's nice]

So I know that I am getting way ahead of myself given that our trip is more than a year away....but as my family well knows I am an extreme planner and have to have all of my ducks in a row. Anyway....

My husband and I have only been to Disney World once and it was for our honeymoon so we didn't attend any charater meals. For our trip next summer I want to take our girls (who will be 5 and 22 months) to some but am having a hard time deciding on which one. We will be there for 14 days in August. Any suggestions? Which are the best?

Thanks in advance.

If you have time check out my Trip Report(just click on the link in my signature). We did quite a few character meals. We didn't do CRT this time but your DD5 would probably love it!

 

[ImaDVCwannabe]

I'm taking my DD4 to probably every character meal offered (well not really, but it seems like it). Here are our ADRs: Crystal Palace dinner, Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast, Chef Mickey's dinner, 1900 Park Faire breakfast with Alice in Wonderland, Princess Akershuh breakfast at Epcot, Chefs de France with Remy from Ratatouile, 1900 Park Faire dinner with Cinderella, and, I am hoping to get breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 'Ohana on our last day at the Poly (surprisingly, it was the only character breakfast I could not get??? ) We've already been to the Crystal Palace. The food and atmosphere are fantastic, but the pace of the characters moving about is sooooo slloooww It took way too long to see all four characters, and even though I had an 8am breakfast, I didn't get out into the parks until after 9:15 and we didn't beat the crowds. That said, when I told my DD about all of the characters we were going to eat with this time (and I hadn't booked the Crystal Palace because I didn't want to wait again), she asked about seeing Winnie and Eeyore again. So back on the phone I went again and was lucky enough to get a good dinner ressie. Good thing I'm on the DDP, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford all of these restaurants! Are you interested in any of these? I'd be happy to share my experiences when I get back. We leave in six days

That would be wonderful thank you!!!

 

[ImaDVCwannabe]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. From the sounds of it I will for sure be putting Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys on the list.

I do have one other question. We are planning to stay at the Poly and were thinking about Ohana. We live in Spokane Wa and have about a 6 hour flight so we will be getting there later in the day and were considering this as our first meal. Do the characters appear at all of the meals?

 

[WALTSAGOD]

Chef Mickey breakfast.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. From the sounds of it I will for sure be putting Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys on the list.

I do have one other question. We are planning to stay at the Poly and were thinking about Ohana. We live in Spokane Wa and have about a 6 hour flight so we will be getting there later in the day and were considering this as our first meal. Do the characters appear at all of the meals?

The characters are only at 'Ohana for breakfast. If you want a character meal for your 1st night, you could hop the monorail for Chef Mickey's or 1900 Park Fare. 'Ohana dinner is still a lot of fun though (hula dancing etc...) and one of our family's favorites. It's non-character, but definitely Disney.

 

[littlemarmalade]

Depends on their favorite characters.
That said, Crystal Palace (featuring Pooh and Friends) is DD6's favorite restaurant at all of WDW hands down and the one she requests each year. It gets good reviews for B,L, and D.

We also really like Chef Mickey's breakfast and Cinderella's Royal Table lunch.

In addition, Crystal Palace serves healthy dishes. If one of the family members has a strict diet, you definitely have to check this place out!

 

[BillZ]

Just got back yesterday and did 5 character meals with DW, DD5 and DD3. If your daughter is into princesses CRT is a must do. The food was excellent and my DD5 was mesmerized by the princesses and the surrounding. Chef Mickey's is nice because you get to see the fab5. Donald's Tusker house was our first so it was special but the food was not as good. Ohana was fun because DD is also a Lilo and Stitch fan but the food was only okay. It was family style which was a plus since you did not have to get up to go to the buffet and risk missing the characters . H&V was only okay. Food was better than I thought based on prior reviews but the charachters June and Leo and Jojo and Goliath were not as good. That being said keep it in mind if your younger child is a playhouse disney fan. They may like it as they perform songs from playhouse disney every 1/2 hour or so.

 

[danielle.st]

So I know that I am getting way ahead of myself given that our trip is more than a year away....but as my family well knows I am an extreme planner and have to have all of my ducks in a row. Anyway....

My husband and I have only been to Disney World once and it was for our honeymoon so we didn't attend any charater meals. For our trip next summer I want to take our girls (who will be 5 and 22 months) to some but am having a hard time deciding on which one. We will be there for 14 days in August. Any suggestions? Which are the best?

Thanks in advance.

We went in December and went to as many character meals as we could manage. It was a blast
Ones we definitely want to repeat: Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine, CRT, Akershus, Cape May Cafe. The girls are insisting on another Chef Mickey visit, so we're going to try breakfast. Dinner was just ok, but they loved the place.
The only one that disappointed me was 1900 Park Fare for dinner. The characters were good but we were off in a side room and it ruined some of the entertainment IMO, and the food was just ok (strawberry soup was good, that it). We are thinking about trying ti for breakfast though, so you can see we didn't hate it.

eta: oh, and we loved breakfast at Tusker House. It was very good We're probably skipping AK, but I will miss having that breakfast!