If you've done - Character Dining

[crisi]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?

Not the first trip (1984), but I think every subsequent trip - we are skipping it this time because its a short trip and our guests have no interest


Why did you choice to do it?

Its a fun, low impact way to see characters and get autographs. One of the quiessential Disney experiences.


Will you be doing it again?

Absolutely

How did you figure out where & when?

We "normally" do the breakfast at the Poly because that is our tradition. We "normally" do it first thing so we get to the MK right about opening. We've tried a late breakfast and that didn't work well. We've also done Norway's Storybook breakfast for my daughter because she was Princess age. My standard advice is

(1) Are there characters you really want to see (Mickey, Snow White, Pooh?). Pick a breakfast where the characters appeal to you.

(2) Do you have a strong preference for a certain meal. Breakfast is served a lot of spots, but if you want lunch or dinner, you'll have fewer choices.

(3) Is there a point in your schedule it will fit well, and where will you be? The Poly became a tradition because that was where I stayed on my honeymoon years ago and it was a convienent place for breakfast. If you are spending a lot of time in the MK, Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree tavern make sense. If you have a lazy morning scheduled and are staying at the Contemporary, schedule Chef Mickey's.

(4) If something really appeals to you, do that - if you want to follow a lot of people and develop a tradition of a first night meal at Chef Mickey's (a common tradition among frequent Disney guests), give it a try. Always wanted to take a peek inside the Yacht and Beach Club or the Grand Floridian, the breakfast there will give you an excuse to do so.

 

[hdmichael]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?
It was my first trip to Magic Kingdom: I had been to Epcot a few times before. And, it was my first trip with kids- my son (3 mos.), my nephew (18 mos.), and my niece (3 yrs.)

Why did you choice to do it?
Because my niece loved the princesses, so we ate at the castle. Snow White kissed my son's cheek (he had an allergic reaction to her lipstick), and Peter Pan had his picture taken with my red headed baby (for two red heads together).


Will you be doing it again?
We do them every single trip- usually, at least two or three. We change them around some, but we always do Garden Grill (by far, the best character interaction, although the stepsisters are now up there) and Crystal Palace. It's a great way to character "hunt" and still be relaxing in the air-conditioning.



How did you figure out where & when?
The first time my sister in law made the decision based on my niece's obsession with princesses. Now we try to do a few in the parks (usually late lunch or early dinner on the days we know tend to be good for that park), and a few at the resorts (usually later in the evening followed by a quick trip to MK or Epcot to watch the fireworks or parades).

 

[ppjluvsdvc]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?
It was when our DS was 2 (not sure how many times we had been to WDW before)

Why did you choice to do it?
Choose CP because it was Pooh

Will you be doing it again?
We have not been back there since but we are great fans of Cape May for Breakfast, Chef Mickey's and the Breakfastasaurus. We have been to LTT but it was not our favorite - you can see the same characters at Chef Mickey's and We thought the food was better for breakfast. We are trying Ohana's Lilo and Stitch breakfast this time as well as going back to CM's.

How did you figure out where & when?

We usually choose what park we are going to and try to schedule it early enough so that we can be at the parks in time for rope drop or earlier if it is inside the parks (like AK).

 

[ljb9539]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?
- Cant really remember - probally our fourth or fifth time.

Why did you choice to do it?
- we choose LTT b/c it was recommended on the boards with MNSSHP. Then from there I just loved dining with the characters - we had no kids on the trips till this coming May - LTT b/c of MNSSHP - 'Ohana b/c has Stitch - Donald's Breakfastsaurus - just to try something new - coming up in May we want to do H&V b/c Jo Jo is there for our daughter.


Will you be doing it again? - every trip now


How did you figure out where & when? If I plan to try someplace new I look on here to see the reviews. we are going to do Chef Mickeys b/c I hear good things for kids... we are doing H&V for Jo Jo (I hope no place can really make breakfast bad), CRT b/c it is in the castle not really for the characters but to see the inside of the castle.

Good luck!

 

[applechips]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?


Why did you choice to do it?


Will you be doing it again?


How did you figure out where & when?

every single trip we've taken has had character dining (4 trips), from our first to our fourth and our fifth is next week and we will do one (only) probably since its just a short trip.

My kids love the characters but I secretly was SO excited as an adult having never once in my entire life been to Disney World that I HAD to see them too and was told on here and in the unofficial guide that this was the best way to get to see the characters.

yup

unofficial guidebook really and then looked at menus and what parks I was going to, in order to decide where to eat. We LOVE Lilo and Stich here in this family and love Hawaii so Ohana's breakfast is a must have. I think Chef Mickey's at least once is a must have too(breakfast IMO). I think Cinderella's breakfast is a must try event as well but very very hard to get ADRs for.

 

[Stacerita]

We've done character meals on every trip to WDW. It sounded like a good way to make the trip more memorable. We love it so much that we will probably do it every trip. We plan it out and see where it fits in our schedule. Normally we take the red eye in, so having a nice character breakfast when we get in puts us in a great mood. The rest of the character meals we do get scattered over the rest of the trip.

 

[Saturn23]

We did character dining during our last two trips to Disney. The first time we were staying at the Contemporary and arriving rather late so there wasn't time to go to a park. I chose Chef Mickey's because it would be convenient. Also, my husband won't stand in line for character pictures so this was my sneaky way of getting pictures. We got a good one where it looked like Goofy was choking him while he ate.

The second time we did Crystal Palace because I wanted to eat somewhere in MK before the Christmas party, and that looked like it had the best food of all the MK restaurants. (Didn't want to spend 2 credits on Cindy's, LTT seemed like Thanksgiving food which I don't like, and Tony's menu looked worse than Olive Garden).

We also did breakfast at Ohana one morning because we were staying at the Poly. We didn't use the meal plan for that so it ended up being a $50 breakfast!! oops. That's ok, we got a good picture of Pluto licking my husband.

I don't have any character meals planned for my next trip but I may include one again on a future trip sometime. I find it hard to eat because I'm constantly looking to see where the characters are, and I have to make sure I'm not at the buffet table when they come by.

 

[HopperFan]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)? When first kid was @ 3


Why did you choice to do it? Back then in the old days there were no "lines" for characters. It was total chaos to meet one. It was a more relaxed way to do it.


Will you be doing it again? Probably with my one child, but not if others are with me. They don't care, so the price is not justified.


How did you figure out where & when? Where is my day planned and will one work into my plans, characters and food offered.

 

[noahdove]

3rd and 4th trip and yes I am plananing on doing it again in August
In fact, the children that I am taking LOVE breakfast so at least 3 if not 4 will be character ones. I have the dining plan so why not and see the characters at the same time.... I must say tho, the Crystal Palace was better for food and cost then the Princess one at the Castle..But, all the characters took lots of time and really enjoyed the picture time with the girls..Oh, yes, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger were a great delight to my 20 plus daughter Enjoy

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

What trip was it for you (1st, 2nd, etc)?

1st as a family! (I had gone as a child in 1976 and while in college around 1988). We went for just 3 nights, from March 11-14, 2006. My dd was 3 1/2 at the time.

During that time, we went to 5 character meals.
Park 1900 dinner--Amazing place for a special celebration. DH was celebrating his 40th birthday and I pre-ordered a special dessert: a white chocolate slipped with chocolate mousse and raspberry filling. VERY special. DH also really liked the buffet. It was a bit meat heavy for my taste, but I made a decent meal out of Asian vegetable salad, caesar salad, and a vegetarian pasta dish. DH's favorite meal of the whole trip. Got to see Alice in Wonderland (normally Fairy Godmother, but she was out), Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzy, and Perla.

Crystal Palace breakfast--Fantastic food and character interaction with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. My favorite meal of the whole trip. In addition to standard stuff like eggs and breakfast potatoes, they had these mini chocolate muffins that were yum. Plenty of fruit too.

Restaurant Akershus dinner--We went for the princesses and were pleased to get to see Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, and Mulan! The food was not really to my liking at all, but maybe I chose poorly from the menu. The desserts were pretty good.

Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast--The atmosphere is fantastic, and it was cool to get to see Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Snow White, Belle, and Aurora. The food was not fantastic, largely due to the fact that it came kind of lukewarm at best. But who cares? Dd had no interest in hot breakfast foods at that age, but ate fruit cup from a large champagne glass and was happy with just that.

Park 1900 Breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger. Great food, again, and fun characters.


Why did you choose to do it?

DD loves the characters. In fact, we only went on two rides the whole time we were there. The main purpose of the trip was seeing characters, shows, playing in places like Pooh's Playful Place and Ariel's Grotto, and swimming in the pool.


Will you be doing it again?

Heck yeah. We are going again in just a few days and have booked

Restaurant Akershus breakfast
Park 1900 dinner--> Oh, and if it is true that the step-sisters now come by, I will be beyond excited!!!
Cinderella's Royal Table lunch
Crystal Palace dinner
Cape May Cafe breakfast

...we may also hit Gulliver's Grill for dinner to meet Rafiki and Timon.


How did you figure out where & when?
Dd likes princesses and Pooh...and Lion King. So we base it around that and our other plans.

 

[Joanna71985]

My family has always done character dining (the family tradition is to go to CP). And now my personal goal is to do all the character meals. So far I have:
*CP
*CRT
*LTT
*CM
*Garden Grill
*Norway
*Play and Dine
*Donald's Breakfastsaurus

I just to finish:
*Poly breakfast
*GF breakfast
*GF dinner
*the new breakfast at AK
*Cape May breakfast
*doe backyard BBQ count?