Need good lunch and/or dinner character meal!!!!!!

[ciociania]

Hi, We are going to DWS at the end of June. It is our first trip, but I am sure not the last one. What is the best lunch and/or dinner character meal in MGM, MK, or AK. We are traveling with 4 year old DS and almost 3 years old DD. Since we have full breakfast included in hotel cost, I would prefer to do character meal for lunch or dinner. Any suggestions?
I read a lot about Cindrella RT breakfast; anything similar for lunch or dinner?

 

[sha_lyn]

AK .. no character lunch or dinner

MGM ... no character dinner ,and the lunch will end in a few days

MK
Lunch ...
one choice
Crystal Palace.. Pooh and friends. Buffet. Good food

Dinner.2 choice
Crystal Palce (see above)
Liberty tree tavern. Mickey and friends. Thanksgiving style preplated dinner. Haven't eaten here because of the food choices (or lack of)

 

[zulaya]

There is also the Garden Grill at Epcot which has character lunch and dinner. Very good food and you get Farmer Mickey, Chip, Dale and Pluto.

If you don't mind a character meal at a resort, the GF also has a Cinderella dinner at 1900 Park Fare. There is also Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary for dinner as well.

 

[MrsMud]

Ciociania:
I can't give you anymore info. about the character meals then was already posted, but I did want to tell you of our experience. We also stayed at a hotel with full breakfast buffet, and we found that, after filling ourselves up at breakfast, we never ate one lunch! I brought some snacks into the park (Nutrigrain and granola bars, raisins, crackers, juiceboxes, etc.), and the only food we ever purchased at the park was ice cream. We then had a nice big dinner, sometimes a character meal and sometimes not, and we were never hungry. I think if you eat a large buffet breakfast you will not want to eat a large lunch, so I would lean more toward the dinner. But of course, that's just IMHO

 

[Erikarate]

I know you were looking for lunch/dinner, but at AK we love Donald's breakfastosaurus in Dinoland. I normally am not crazy about buffets, but I really enjoyed this, especially the fresh-made omelette station. In the past, we have also had a good experience at Cape May Cafe.

 

[wintermom]

I agree with MsMud,
After a big breakfast we don't do lunch, just a snack at the
park and then a big dinner. Two meals a day (sitdown)
work great for us. My favorite character meal, CP, at MK
I have done it for lunch twice and it is open for dinner as
well.

Wintermom

 

[Jinglebells]

just came back...

I loved the Crystal Palace lunch buffet. Good character interaction and loud enough for kids. I have 2--ages 1 and 3. My older one loved marching in the Pooh parade. Since my kids don't eat big breakfast we had a 1230 reservation--perfect for eating and then heading back to CBR for nap and pool.

Did Garden Grill dinner...Lots of character interfaction..and you don't have to leave the table for it. We even did the rehitching ceremony on the occasion of our 10th anniversary.

 

[Bella2000]

We typically eat our larger meal at lunch and have loved CP at MK and another vote for Garden Grill at Epcot although you didn't mention Epcot in your original post. We did Tony's last trip for lunch because CP was under renovation but I still preferred CP (but what a great view of the parade). 1900 Park Fair at the GF was our overall favorite for character dinner last year but the characters have changed from Pooh to Cinderella so I can't tell you how it is now.

 

[ciociania]

Thank all of you for very valuable info! I haven't decided yet where to go, but your input will sure help me. Since there is no character meal at MGM and AK, are there at least some good places to eat? And another question, with small kids (mine 4.5 and almost 3), did you take a break in a middle of the day (a nap in the hotel etc.) or you tried to go for the whole day at the park with kids resting (naping) in a stroller?

 

[sha_lyn]

At MGM we love Primetime Cafe. The "setting" is a 50's style home. The humor is a little over the top, but my family loves it. If you had rather eat without interacting with your sever, this is not the place to dine.

At AK I'd skip lunch and head over ther AKL for Dinner at Boma

DD at 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 did not nap at all at WDW, other than cat naps in the stroller. However at 3 1/2 she asked to go back to the room and nap at US/IOA. It really just depends on your kids. Are you staying onsite? If so where? Also what time of the yr are you going?

 

[ciociania]

We are going the last week of June and staying off site at Buena Vista Suites. It is close enough that we can go back to a hotel room if needed. My kids still take afternoon naps (Thank God for that!), but on weekends thay can last whole day with no problem. That's what we'll try to do on our trip. We will have 4 park days total. Thanks for another good advice about places to eat.

 

[Bella2000]

We live by the nap/or a rest by going back to the hotel during the early afternoon to swim in the pool/rest whatever and then coming back later (even when just the adults went). DD doesn't nap per se but we found having character lunch and then heading back to the hotel it gave us time to recharge. Otherwise she is too stimulated by the end of the day and can't sleep or would have had a melt down. Which if you've witnessed this at the park makes you feel really bad for that family, especially the child. But the best advice is listening to your child you know them best and their limits.