Only one character meal...which one?

[princesspiglet]

We (myself, DH and DD3) are not big eaters and my DD is quite picky. We also dislike eating at buffets. We have decided to do only 1 character meal and see the other characters in the parks by chance and our other meals will be either "good" table service or counter service. So, with a picky 4 year old who has no particular favorite character (except Ariel, and we ARE NOT eating at Norway...bluh) and 2 adults who really, truly dislike buffets...what character meal would you choose? (or should I say, out of all the character meals, which is the least disgusting?)

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

here are my thoughts. If you completely want to skip buffet you could do Liberty Tree Tavern which is family style and pretty plain food, you could do 'Ohana for breakfast which is also family style and pretty normal plain food and if you want to go for a buffet, the absolute best buffet at Disney is 1900 Park Fare for dinner, and it has wonderful character interaction which consists of Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzy and Perla and the Fairy Godmother in the lobby greeting you. Honestly, the buffet at 1900 Park Fare would be my choice even over the other family style character meals, and let me just tell you, like you, I HATE buffets, absolutely despise them, I'm a very picky eater myself and just really have no interest in buffet food, but it's a higher end type buffet food. Hope I've helped! Good luck.

 

[apurplebrat]

I would choose 1900 Park fare at the grand floridian. It is great for both breakfast and dinner

 

[blitzkrieg048]

It's too bad buffets are out because Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is fantastic. It's all the greats:Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip&Dale. The buffet is not disgusting at all. It has a lot to choose from for all the picky eaters. I'm sorry I do not have other suggestions for that's pretty much all we do. I have heard O'hanas at the Poly is good, I believe that's family style.

 

[Terri C]

I'm not a fan of buffets either. I would choose dinner at LTT. The food, service and character interaction are great!

Terri

 

[Ginamarie]

If you don't like buffets, I would recommend either Liberty Tree Tavern (turkey, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes and a delicious salad) served family style at your table or the Garden Grill in Epcot. I know that Garden Grill has changed its menu a little since we were last there, but we really enjoyed the food there, including a delicious flank steak.

 

[Cinderella]

I too would try 1900 Park Fare. Or Liberty Tree Tavern if you truly detest buffets.

 

[DLBDS]

I can't vote in this one as I haven't been there....yet. But, you should check out the other thread "Which Character Breakfast? Chef Mickey's or Cape May?" It seems that Cape May (Goofy's Beach Club Breakfast) is winning out as having better food and character interaction. These are both buffets though. Hope this helped.

 

[mom2alix]

Like everyone says, LTT is not a buffet but it has characters. Another choice would be Garden Grill at Epcot. It is served family style. The revolving restaurant might be kind of fun for you too.

 

[jmsvss]

We just returned from a week long stay at the Contemporary. My experience is very limited with character meals but I will give you the benefit of that limited experience. In March 2005 we stayed at the Poly and went to the family style Ohana character meal. Last week we went to the Chef Mickey character buffet. The experience at Chef Mickeys was horrible - bad, almost non existent character interaction and very, very poor food quality. And then there was the $60 bill for the three of us. If we had had either character interaction or decent food I would have been happy because I knew it was going to be expensive. In comparison, Ohanas was terrific. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed it. In her words, after our Chef Mickey experience she said, "Next time can we just go back to the place with all the trees?"

If it is just the character interaction you are looking for you would be better off getting it in the parks - IMHO. I don't think we will ever do another character meal again.

Good luck!

 

[IamAnniM]

For that little princess in your party -gotta go to the StoryBrook Princess Breakfast at Norway in Epcot - guarentees 5 princesses - great service - good food - avoids the running around trying to see all of them -usually have Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, Mulan and Alice.

 

[Brianne]

Breakfast at Norway is your standard breakfast food--eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. The menu does change to a more traditional fare later on, but not breakfast. Otherwise, I'd say LTT for dinner, personally.

 

[DisnsyDog]

Try and hit one of the Princess meals as you will see all the other charecters out in the park without a huge wait. To get the most bang for the buck Akerhush breakfast is the way to go. We went for dinner last year and vowed to return for breakfast, dinner was very poor, simply based on the number of princesses DD was able to visit with. We did 1900 Park Fare last year which was nice but the charecter interaction was not even close to that of Akerhush.

 

[goofy47]

The Chef Mickey Character Breakfast at the Contemporary is one the best in WDW .. We love it... as I always say... everyone has a different take on restaurants.. Isolated incidents do happen, but overall food at the breakfast buffets are fantastic.. which ever one you choose , have a great time...

 

[laughinplace199]

Our favorite buffet is breakfast at the Crystal Palace. We do it every trip.

 

[iluvwesties]

If you don't like buffets, I would recommend either Liberty Tree Tavern (turkey, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes and a delicious salad) served family style at your table or the Garden Grill in Epcot. I know that Garden Grill has changed its menu a little since we were last there, but we really enjoyed the food there, including a delicious flank steak.

ITA

We did both LTT and GG last week and the food and character interaction was great!!!

iluvwesties (aka Carol)

 

[goofy47]

Our favorite buffet is breakfast at the Crystal Palace. We do it every trip.

Yes that one is awsome too... Have you ever tried the dinner buffet there... I hear they have Prime Rib and all the trimmings... Is that character themed also...

 

[tracyerin]

We've done them all ---most more than once in the last year with 3 year old twin girls who are really into princesses---I would choose 1900 park fare---Very good food and character interaction or Garden Grill in Epcot---Family style. We were pleasantly surprised by both. Less commercial than Chef Mickeys. Crystal Palace was the worst----No character interaction at all and very typical buffet (crowded).

 

[jenniferma]

Hi-- I think the ones that are not buffets are: Liberty Tree Tavern, Garden Grill, and Ohana's (for Breakfast), and the Princess Storybook (for breakfast). I have only done LTT so far of these and we really liked it. We ate there in Nov 2004 and thought the food was good, but the best part was the character interaction. We had five characters visit our table twice a piece-- a few three times! I think we got lucky-- there didn't seem to be a ton of kids eating in there (it was a 4:20 ADR before MVMCP)... so our kids got lots of attention!

Good luck with your planning.. I know how you feel with picky eaters.. we actually do buffets because we figure we can find something there for our kids... Mac and Cheese is the only food our DD2 will eat on a regular basis!
jen

 

[java]

It's too bad buffets are out because Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is fantastic. It's all the greats:Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip&Dale. The buffet is not disgusting at all. It has a lot to choose from for all the picky eaters. I'm sorry I do not have other suggestions for that's pretty much all we do. I have heard O'hanas at the Poly is good, I believe that's family style.

Um I respectfully disagree. I hated Chef Mickeys and give it 4 dirty forks on the disgusting scale of one to 4. The day we went the food was cold and watery and the only cereal selections on the day we went were Frosted flakes and another sugary nightmare and to go with it was a container of M&M's right next to the cereal. We gave it 2 chances because so many people rave about it but we HATED it. (that is all of us DH, me , 11 year old,8 3 and baby- yes even the baby hated it lol)
As for suggestions I have not done Crystal Palace so no help there. We did go to 1900 Park Fare and that was very nice(but it is what I would call upscale buffet) Um Liberty tree tavern is not buffet and there is nice character interaction and I think the restaurant at the Land it was called the Garden Grill when we went is also a good one! Check out that menu- we are going back to that one. Good luck and I am with you on the buffet issue!