I'm having a hard time narrowing down our character meals.

[lovemy4sweeties]

We're staying at the Fort for 14 days with the dining plan. This gives us lots of choices, but I've heard so many good things about so many restaurants I'm having a hard time deciding. I'm down to about 24 restaurant idea. I figure I'll break it up and just concentrate on what character meals we want. I don't want to do too many breakfast (especially b/c we can make eggs & toast, cereal, yogurt and fruit etc at our trailer) but I don't mind a few. I also would like a good mix of buffet and plated meals. I normally like plated meals better, but I've been to a few really good buffets.

For the character meals, I'm wondering which ones are similar enough that I can at least make a decision btn 2 (ie, crt vs princess storybook). Not a good example b/c we're actually doing both of those b/c I'm going to pay oop for just my dd and I for breakfast at crt one morning. But that's the way I'm hoping to eliminate some of the other meals. I prefer not to do 2 similar meals when I can do one that's different. I noticed that some of the meals have some of the same characters, but is the character interaction different, if the food different (better at one vs the other), are there some characters that only appears at certain meals? I d

This is the list I've narrowed it down to so far:

Ohana's breakfast with Lilo and Stitch
Princess Storybook (not sure whether to do B, L or D)
Crystal Palace (probably dinner)
1900 Park Faire (there are different characters for B & D right?)
Chef Mickey's (probably dinner)
Liberty Tree Tavern
Garden Grill
Donald's Safari Breakfast (I would really like to try this for L or D too, so I don't know if I should do both or skip the Safari Breakfast).

I was originally going to pick mostly character meals, but some of the other restaurants look soooooooooo good (thanks to the food porn thread LOL).

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

Oh yeah, and please let me know if I've missed a good one that I should add to my list. Thanks.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

Bump

 

[Crystal_27]

For what it's worth, we opted for CRT (breakfast); 1900 Park Fare (dinner with the Cinderella crew, including the stepsisters and Lady Tremane); Chef Mickey's (dinner); and Ohanas (breakfast with Lilo & Stitch). We chose meals that have, for the most part, been reviewed positively on The DIS, and also meals that we can use to get the best "bang" for our DDP credits (although we are paying OOP for CRT). Since you are soliciting advice, I would stay away from LTT - that restaurant has pretty sketchy reviews. Anyway, I really don't think you can go wrong with any of your choices (subject to LTT, that is) and good luck with your planning.

 

[Rylee]

Is this your first trip? Have you experienced any of the restaurants before? As for the character meals...

Ohana's breakfast with Lilo and Stitch - Good food. (My kids hate Stitch)
Princess Storybook (not sure whether to do B, L or D) - Food receives mixed reviews, good place to see the princesses without a long line.
Crystal Palace (probably dinner) - Nice building, fun character interaction, large selection of food choices.
1900 Park Faire (there are different characters for B & D right?) - Haven't been since 1997 but... I enjoyed checking out the GF. We didn't feel rushed here.
Chef Mickey's (probably dinner) - Fun, good food and character interaction.
Liberty Tree Tavern - Haven't been.
Garden Grill - - 1997, again... Relaxing, but dull.
Donald's Safari Breakfast (I would really like to try this for L or D too, so I don't know if I should do both or skip the Safari Breakfast). - We liked the food (breakfast) and character interaction.


I noticed your children are very young, so I'm wondering if this will make a difference to you...

Some of the character meals are served all you can eat family style, (platters brought right to your table) while others are buffet style, (stand in line and carry your plates). Family style is a little calmer and easy to manage with young children.

Also consider -
Coral Reef @ Epcot... one entire wall is an aquarium... keeps kids amused for awhile.
Si-Fi Dine-In @ HS... sit in cars at the drive-in movies.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

Yes, this is our first trip to WDW. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[disneyfan2]

Garden Grill and LTT, are very similar both have Chip and Dale.
1900 Park Fare is great for Characters but we were really disappointed in the food here. Love the stepsisters though.
Really preferred Chef Mickeys for BF over dinner.
Tusker house, food good, characters good.
CP good for dinner
Akershus, recommend for BF, over lunch and dinner if you have finicky eaters.
good luck!

 

[thatgirl23]

Unfortunately I can't help with how the food is, since I haven't eaten at any of these, but I went ahead and put which characters are at each. To the best of my knowledge these are where the characters can be found, although I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Ohana's breakfast - Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto
Princess Storybook - Princesses (varies)
Crystal Palace - Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore
1900 Park Faire - Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter (breakfast) Cinderella, Prince Charming, Wicked Stepmother/Sisters (dinner)
Chef Mickey's - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto
Liberty Tree Tavern - Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale
Garden Grill - Mickey, Pluto, Chip, Dale
Donald's Safari Breakfast - Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Daisy


I definitely think you should consider doing Ohanas and Crystal Palace as those characters are only found there. If you don't mind missing Daisy, I say skip that breakfast since you wanted to eat there for lunch/dinner and you can see the other characters elsewhere. I think you could skip Liberty Tree and not miss anything.

Hopefully this was at least somewhat helpful!

 

[thatgirl23]

I forgot to add which are buffets and which are family style...

Family Style:
Ohana's breakfast
Liberty Tree Tavern
Garden Grill

Buffet:
Princess Storybook
Crystal Palace
1900 Park Faire
Chef Mickey's
Donald's Safari Breakfast

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We're staying at the Fort for 14 days with the dining plan. This gives us lots of choices, but I've heard so many good things about so many restaurants I'm having a hard time deciding. I'm down to about 24 restaurant idea. I figure I'll break it up and just concentrate on what character meals we want. I don't want to do too many breakfast (especially b/c we can make eggs & toast, cereal, yogurt and fruit etc at our trailer) but I don't mind a few. I also would like a good mix of buffet and plated meals. I normally like plated meals better, but I've been to a few really good buffets.

For the character meals, I'm wondering which ones are similar enough that I can at least make a decision btn 2 (ie, crt vs princess storybook). Not a good example b/c we're actually doing both of those b/c I'm going to pay oop for just my dd and I for breakfast at crt one morning. But that's the way I'm hoping to eliminate some of the other meals. I prefer not to do 2 similar meals when I can do one that's different. I noticed that some of the meals have some of the same characters, but is the character interaction different, if the food different (better at one vs the other), are there some characters that only appears at certain meals? I d

This is the list I've narrowed it down to so far:

Ohana's breakfast with Lilo and Stitch
Princess Storybook (not sure whether to do B, L or D)
Crystal Palace (probably dinner)
1900 Park Faire (there are different characters for B & D right?)
Chef Mickey's (probably dinner)
Liberty Tree Tavern
Garden Grill
Donald's Safari Breakfast (I would really like to try this for L or D too, so I don't know if I should do both or skip the Safari Breakfast).

I was originally going to pick mostly character meals, but some of the other restaurants look soooooooooo good (thanks to the food porn thread LOL).

Of the mickey set, CM's usually has Donald in the Lobby, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, Chip, and Dale all in chef outfits. You can pick up Pluto at the Lilo And Stitch Breakfast, and that's the only place that has Lilo and Stitch. If Daisy is important to you, well then she's at the Donald's breakfast. I would drop LTT and Garden Grill off that list and the Donald's breakfast too unless I really really wanted Daisy. Keep in mind though that though the characters are duplicated, their outfits may be different.

On to the Princesses. You're set on CRT. So at this point the PSB becomes rather redundant. The only one that's at PSB often that is not at CRT is Ariel in human form. And you can see Ariel in Mermaid form in the Grotto. If you've never eaten in the palace you've gotta do it once. I wouldn't do it again at these prices, but I'd certainly do it once as it was truly a once in a lifetime experience for us.
1900 Park Faire at dinner has Cinderella who is also at CRT. But it has the step relatives who are a hoot. So if you're interested go for it.
1900 Park Faire at Breakfast has Alice and the Mad Hatter, neither of which are usually anywhere else. Mary Poppins is usually at CRT and Pooh and Tigger are usually at CP.
So if you want the step sisters do dinner at PF, if you want Alice and the Mad Hatter, do breakfast. Or do neither. PSB I would nix.

Crystal Palace has the Pooh characters so I'd probably leave that in.

If it were us, and this was a long trip with 14 days, we'd whittle it down to these.
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace.
Cinderella's
Ohana Breakfast
1900 Breakfast
1900 Dinner

That gets you a lot of different characters in and few duplicates and cuts your list to 6. And the one princess you'll probably miss (Ariel) has her own meet and greet in the Grotto in MK in mermaid form.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I love the Beach Club Resort so thought I would suggest:

Goofy's Beach Club Adult Character Breakfast Buffet 7:30am-11:00am - Fresh cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon, and fresh berries, mixed fruit and yogurt selections. Scrambled eggs, omelets and eggs to order, biscuits and gravy, French toast, and Mickey waffles, bacon and sausage, seasoned potatoes, assorted hot & cold cereals, bread pudding with vanilla sauce, muffins, danish, and donuts. Bagels and breads toasted to order, coffee, tea and juice selections. - $18.99 *

The Beach Club Buffet Character Breakfast features Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale (Characters subject to change).

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

If it were us, and this was a long trip with 14 days, we'd whittle it down to these.
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace.
Cinderella's
Ohana Breakfast
1900 Breakfast
1900 Dinner

Thanks so much. I think I might do this. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sign my 2 oldest up for the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party, so I might change the 1900 Breakfast to something else. Maybe Tusker House? Thanks so much to everyone who replied to this thread. All of your suggestions helped.

Thanks so much to the pp who listed all the characters and which meals are buffet and not buffet.

 

[teedisney]

Very helpful thread to FT DDP users!!

 

[wildirishrose]

FYI I dont think Chip & Dale are at Chef Mickey's anymore. So if they are a must for you consider LTT or Garden Grill.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Ohana's breakfast with Lilo and Stitch This is one of our favorites! The food is wonderful and kids love it. They get to do a conga dance with the characters that goes all around the rest, so the pics/video looks awesome!
Princess Storybook (not sure whether to do B, L or D) We like Breakfast the best but Dinner was okay. I had the pasta with Chicken. The only bad thing was that rice dessert. Some people may LOVE it but I about gagged! lol The menu is limited but at all meals you have the self serve bar as well to fill you up on fruit, bakery items, or cold cuts & salads depending on what seating you choose. PS is one of mt DD's faves!
Crystal Palace (probably dinner) I've been here a couple of times and the wait has always been bad, even with ADR's we've always had to wait another 20-30 minutes. Food is okay. Typical buffet, nothing extraordinary. Last time Pooh Bear skipped us over all four times, and my 18 month old was a big PB fan. It's a crowded loud restaurant.
1900 Park Faire (there are different characters for B & D right?) This is one of the best buffets in all of WDW! AT Breakfast they offer the omelet station and at dinner you have the pasta station. In the morning we saw Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh Bear, and Tigger. At Dinner we had Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzy, Perla, and the Fairy Godmother. I think this has changed again but I'm not sure. Been a few times and enjoyed every meal.
Chef Mickey's (probably dinner) My kids LOVE this place, especially the ice cream/dessert bar. Characters are fun! The salmon is delish! You can go on the monorail from the MK, easy to get to.
Liberty Tree Tavern We like this place a lot but it is traditional Thanksgiving food so if that's not your thing skip it! The characters are dressed really cute and they're friendly. Food is good, nothing special. This wait also runs over your ADR most of the time.
Garden Grill IMO the BEST place to do a character meal. Food is really good and the restaurant is small. The characters will sit down with you at the table and play or pose for pics. The rest spins slowly while you eat and you can see the part of the Land boat ride. Just make sure you sit on the lower level. The upper level is not good! I've been here several times and always had great food and nice servers. If anything is ever not to your liking they will redo it for you. Once I had the catfish mae "crispier" like it was on a previous visit, and I have to get my steak well done whereas the DH like it medium. They are happy to get it the way you want.
Donald's Safari Breakfast (I would really like to try this for L or D too, so I don't know if I should do both or skip the Safari Breakfast). Haven't tried this yet but sounds good. We made our ADR's for before park opening so we can get some cool uncrowded pics of the park. Always do breakfast in the parks at the first seasting....the food is FRESH and the pics you get are GREAT!! Hope this helped out a little!

Have a fun vacation!!!