One and only character meal for son - which would you choose?

[friedela]

If you could choose only 1 character meal for your 6 year old boy, which would you choose? I have reservations for 'Ohana breakfast and Chef Mickey's brunch, both on the day before we leave and I can't decide which to keep or if I should cancel both and pick something entirely different? This is our very first visit so whatever is a "must do" for first timers. He's SUPER easy to please, he isn't really crazy into specific characters except Star Wars (how cool would a Star Wars Character meal be?! I know it doesn't exist yet but that would be perfect, lol) Thoughts?

 

[quandrea]

I’d give Tusker House a try. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy in Safari gear. The god is above average, great theming.

 

[hllb]

We did Ohana and Tusker House this time w our 7 year old. We liked them both. Food was better at Tusker House though.

 

[MainMom]

Ohana breakfast is my 12 year old DS favorite.

 

[AFwifelife]

By far best character interaction we’ve had with character dining is at Garden Grill.

 

[22Tink]

Our favourite character meal was the Garden Grill breakfast. The character interaction was awesome and the food was excellent. We also enjoyed our Tusker House breakfast for the food but the interaction was better at GG for sure.

 

[JZCubed]

If you could choose only 1 character meal for your 6 year old boy, which would you choose? I have reservations for 'Ohana breakfast and Chef Mickey's brunch, both on the day before we leave and I can't decide which to keep or if I should cancel both and pick something entirely different? This is our very first visit so whatever is a "must do" for first timers. He's SUPER easy to please, he isn't really crazy into specific characters except Star Wars (how cool would a Star Wars Character meal be?! I know it doesn't exist yet but that would be perfect, lol) Thoughts?

If the choices are only Ohana versus Chef Mickey - Chef Mickey.

This is the only place to see Fab 5.

I prefer Tusker House and it's a similar character mix to Chef Mickey's.

 

[chris benton]

I'd chose by characters FIRST. If the kid has no preference, then you make the choice.
Location second. I wouldn't travel too far away JUST for a char meal, but that's me. I'd try to incorporate it into the day.

If you choose one of the buffets, and you know how to navigate buffet choices, you'll eat well. You just have to know that you are not going primarily for food even though they are expensive. The food is definitely not worth the price.

 

[bashuck]

By far best character interaction we’ve had with character dining is at Garden Grill.

Mickey escorted our DD7 hand in hand half way around the restaurant as we were leaving. There were some teens who thought they were going to get a free Mickey M&G when he headed down the ramp but an employee handled it. Food is really good too.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR OWN WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*rev: August 2017*):
Results are listed from best to worst
Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . 1900 Park Fare (B-D)
. . . Tusker House, moved from #1 Spot due to menu changes (B-L-D)
. . . Ohana (B)
. . . Garden Grill (B-D)
. . . Garden Grove Swan (D)
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet (B-L-D)
. . . Tusker House, (D)
. . . Cape May Café (B)
. . . Hollywood & Vine (B-L-D)
. . . Crystal Palace (B-L-D)
. . . Cinderella Royal Table, since new menu (B-L-D)
. . . Chef Mickey's (B-L-D)
Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare (D)
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare (B)
. . . Garden Grove
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)
Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Chef Mickey's
.
NOTE: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible food
quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, for brief time at tables by characters and the new menu. For non-character breakfast buffets, we prefer The Wave (CR) or Trail's End (FW).

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Unless your son is really into Stitch, I'd go to Chef Mickey's. My son is also 6yo and loves it there. Another resort character breakfast he really enjoys is Cape May Cafe.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If it can be in a park, I would pick Tusker House in AK. That is DS10's favorite character meal. If we have to pick between CM and O'hana, I would pick CM. The food is equally bad at both, but at least at CM you have more of a variety of food and the whole Fab 5.

 

[Tksolomom]

Another choice outside the park is trattoria al forno where you can meet Flynn Ryder and Prince Eric. It is on the Boardwalk

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Garden Grill or Chef Mickey's would be my top pics for a first timer.

 

[KenHutch]

Stitch is both mine and my daughters favorite character and the breakfast is good. At Chef Mickeys you get the Fab 5 which can save hours in line standing to meet them. For both characters and food its easy Tusker House.

 

[GillianP1301]

Of those 2, Ohana is the better food, but you can't beat Chef Mickey for the opportunity to meet the Fab5. So based solely on characters, I would go with CM. Unless he's a really big Stitch fan, in which case I'd go with Ohana.

Not mentioned, but in my opinion the best character meal on property is Garden Grill. Still gets you Mickey and Pluto, plus you get Chip & Dale who have always been my 10yo son's fave characters.

 

[friedela]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!! I think I'll stick with Chef Mickey's, I was mostly leaning in that direction. I've heard that it's so large that you don't get much time with each character, is that true? Have you all been happy with the length of time you got with each character?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!! I think I'll stick with Chef Mickey's, I was mostly leaning in that direction. I've heard that it's so large that you don't get much time with each character, is that true? Have you all been happy with the length of time you got with each character?

I think the length of time is fine. It was no less than any other character meal we've been to except 1900 breakfast where the face characters spent quite a bit of time with my DS.

 

[Crystal824]

Tusker House has the best food of any character meal on property. Since this is for you son, I would go for what characters he likes best.

 

[rjrcstan]

I went for the first time with my boys in November 2016. We did a character breakfast each morning and above all I would pick one based on the convince of your day. With that said, Chef mickey was my boys favorite character breakfast. I know it gets a bad reviews, but we all thought the food was good, not the best, but good. It was a standard breakfast buffet, which suited us just fine. The characters danced with my children and were in no rush to get by our table. O'hana was a more relaxing breakfast. They bring platters of food to your table. It's your basic eggs, lilo and stich waffles, meats and some breads. The food was also good, but you don't get the whole Mickey crew there.