Please grade your character meal experiences

[caribear]

Place: Crystal Palace
Meal (B,L,D): B
Menu or Buffet: Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 5
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Favorite Food Item: Cinnamon Suger Puffed French Toast
Least Favorite: Loved them all
Who were the characters: Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore & Piglet
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 5 (sometimes 4)
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special: DD's 2nd birthday and she received a special birthday cupcake and a card signed by all the characters. We will always remember the look on her face the 1st time we went to the Crystal Palace!
Comments: We love this place!! The food is always great with a large selection of items. The characters come around at least 2 times while we are there. DD can watch the characters walking around the room while she eats and this occupies her while mom and dad enjoy breakfast

 

[jenr812]

Great thread! I've enjoyed reading this reviews

 

[rt2dz]

Place: Chef Mickey's
Meal (B,L,D): B
Menu or Buffet: Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 3.5
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): 3.5
Favorite Food Item: ??
Least Favorite: ??
Who were the characters: Mickey, Chip, Dale, Pluto, Minnie
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Anything that made it extra special: no
Comments: Chef Mickey’s was off to a bumpy start. I had made the PS for one of our first days, Sunday. I even called and confirmed our date two weeks prior to our arrival at Disney. We made a late PS time on an early entry day to the MK, to use it more as a lunch, having a light breakfast in our room that day. The kids were whining to eat, so we decided to head over there early (around 10:30 am) to see if maybe we could be squeezed in early. Turns out, they did not have our PS. Luckily, I had our confirmation number, but they still did not have our PS. Somehow, it was erased out of the system. They were able to squeeze us in the next day though. Our oldest was extremely disappointed, but we managed.

The next day the got us in right away when we showed up. The service was really good and the food was good with a wide selection. Very child orientated. There was tons of time with the characters. We had the latest PS time available and were the only people pretty much in our section. The characters were just all over our kids constantly. Minnie was a bit elusive though, but we have boys so no big deal. They played games, danced, and posed for a ton of pictures. It really worked out well. The restaurant itself is very open and to a certain degree, I almost felt as if I was eating in the lobby. Tables were also quite close. If it had been more crowded, it may have been uncomfortable. Not sure if I would do it again, but am very glad we did it once.


Place:Liberty Tree Tavern
Meal (B,L,D):d
Menu or Buffet: family style (no menu choice, but no buffet)
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 3
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): 4.5
Favorite Food Item:
Least Favorite:
Who were the characters: Minnie, chip, dale, pluto, meeko
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Anything that made it extra special:
Comments: This was a last minute, let’s do a character dinner tonight decision. When going over the map I had noticed that PS was not always necessary. So we ran by City Hall to see what they had opened. They had some seatings in the 4 pm hour. We took 4 pm exactly at City Hall’s suggestion. They told us it was a great spot to catch the parade at 3 and then walk straight in to dinner. They were right. Except we did have a little time between the parade and dinner. This meant we walked into Hall of Presidents. We had a very short wait there and then walked straight into our PS at Liberty Tree.

The service again was wonderful, very attentive. The food was served family style, which meant not having to get up a lot. This was really nice after so much walking around. Much to my surprise, it was also really excellent. There was a nice wide variety of foods, and healthy (something hard to come by at WDW). The kids really enjoyed the food also. The characters were around a lot. Meeko was a little taken with our oldest and they kept playing hide’n’seek around the tables and walls. We were sat off to the side in a corner—very private and quite comfortable. The theme of the restaurant was excellent. Everyone was very friendly. One caveat is that the bathrooms are extremely small, made even smaller by the largeness of the restaurant. However, I would definitely do this one again.



Place: Donald's breakfast
Meal (B,L,D):b
Menu or Buffet: buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):4, b/c DS#1 is a dinosaur fiend
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 4.5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Favorite Food Item:
Least Favorite:
Who were the characters: Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special:
Comments: This restaurant was excellently themed. My son, a dinosaur nut, was in heaven. The characters came around multiple times, but not as friendly as at Chef Mickey’s or Liberty Tree. When the baby was crying though, Goofy tried very hard to get him to stop. I felt bad at his failure; he just needed a nap. Mickey was painfully obvious a Minnie in drag, which could be a serious problem with older children. Our server was very upbeat, friendly, and attentive. The food was good, not quite the variety of selection that Chef Mickey had, but was easier to get to. The tables again were close, but not so close that you did not have room to eat. We enjoyed it. I would do it again.


Place: Crystal Palace
Meal (B,L,D): b
Menu or Buffet: buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 1
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): -3 (yes, that IS a negative)
Favorite Food Item:
Least Favorite: everything
Who were the characters: Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 1
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):1
Anything that made it extra special:
Comments: I can not say enough bad things about this place. It was horrid. We had 10:10 PS times, showed up at 9:40, was seated at about 11. They had the buffet basically closed completely, some nasty, yucky scraps were left that tasted horrid. We barely saw Tigger & Eeyore, never saw Pooh. Piglet only hangs out in the lobby, so at least we saw him. The service is the worst service I have ever had. I'm not even sure we had a server. And management could have cared less when we complained, they only wanted us to pay our (full priced) check.


Place:Garden Grill
Meal (B,L,D): d
Menu or Buffet: family style
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 5
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 3
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):4
Favorite Food Item:
Least Favorite:
Who were the characters: Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special:
Comments: By this time, my husband and I were really sick of the same characters, but the kids were thrilled. This is one of the best themed restaurants I have seen at Disney. It revolves around the boat ride in The Land at Epcot. Very adult like, but the kids were thrilled with it and enjoyed seeing what comes next. We were there long enough for one full rotation, which we were told was typical/average.

Our server was very nice. I would describe her as professional and friendly. She never let anything slip. Drinks were constantly full and trash removed from the table. The food, family style again, was beyond good. There were many vegetables and the meats were good. My husband was in awe of how good the catfish was. There was a different set of foods for the kids. They ate both, finding favorites on each serving. There was a special dessert for them, which was wonderful. In addition, here they had coloring pages and crayons on the table. They were just constantly busy. They would have been just fine without any characters.

The characters here were again excellent. They came by frequently and took turns how they rotated around the restaurant. I do not think we ever went longer than 5 minutes without attention from the characters. They played and had a fun time with our kids and other children around us. They were enjoying themselves. They played with each other also. It just could not get any better. No doubt about it, we will revisit this one every trip.

 

[JodyLynC]

These are great!! Keep 'em coming!

 

[eeyore0062]

Forgot one!

Place: Hollywood and Vine
Meal Lunch
Menu or Buffet: Buffet
Decor 4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Favorite Food Item: Mashed Pototoes
Least Favorite: ??
Who were the characters: Minnie, Goofy, Chip, Dale and Pluto
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5): 5
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5): 4
Anything that made it extra special:
Chip and Dale were GREAT w/ DD
Comments: no longer open for character meals... much missed!!!

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

but since we just returned last week, I'll post only those from our trip 3/26 tp 4/1!

Here goes nothing:

Place: Chef Mickey's
Meal (B,L,D): Dinner
Menu or Buffet: Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest): 5...DD and DN loved the monorail and napkin waving!
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):5
Favorite Food Itemarmeasn Mashed Potatoes
Least Favorite:They're desserts just aren't my thing
Who were the characters:Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):5...they all came around twice and some three times!
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5...we have already planned two trips and have scheduled CM both times!
Anything that made it extra special:The chef, Allen, made a wonderful meal for both my DS and DN who are highly allergic to several foods! He was wonderful to all of us!
Comments: I recommend this to anyone who visits WDW!

Place:Chef Mickey's
Meal (B,L,D):Easter Sunday Brunch/Breakfast
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):5...Again the monorail was a HUGE hit!
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):5
Favorite Food Item:The lamb, fritatta and PMP!
Least Favorite:None on this one!
Who were the characters:Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale...No Donald
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):5...again they all came around twice or more!
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special:It was Easter and a different Brunch, but we had never done breakfast before and the breakfast fritatta and pizza were wonderful!
Comments A new must do!

Place:CRT
Meal (B,L,D):B
Menu or Buffetre-plated
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):5
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):5
Favorite Food Item:The stuffed French Toast...I ate three pieces!
Least Favorite:eggs
Who were the characters:Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Mary Poppins, and The Fairy Godmother
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):5
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5...going back again on next trip!
Anything that made it extra special:Snow WHite and Aurora sang and danced with 2YO DD! It was priceless!
Comments: Do not miss this one!

PlaceSB
Meal (B,L,D):B
Menu or Buffetreplated
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):4
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):4
Favorite Food Itemotates
Least Favorite:eggs
Who were the characters:Snow White, Aurora, Mulan, Mary Poppins, and Belle
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):5
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special:Aurora and Snow WHite again had a wonderful time with DD and they invited her to come see thema in the afternoon in their respective countries, which we did that afternoon and the next! Aurora was the best!
Comments: If your daughters like princesses these ladies are the best!

Place:Breakfastasaurous
Meal (B,L,D):B
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):5
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):5
Favorite Food Item:Breakfast Pizza
Least Favorite:nothing
Who were the characters:Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5, this one has improved drastically, we plan on going back again!
Anything that made it extra special:Our server was great!
Comments: This one is so much better than it once was...we will go back!

Place:Crystal Palace
Meal (B,L,D)
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):4
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):4
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):2
Favorite Food Item:The dessert bar is fantastic!
Least Favorite:Most everything else!
Who were the charactersooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):2...they were the worst...it used to be the best, but it seems to have gone downhill!
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):2
Anything that made it extra special:No
Comments: As is unlike most other WDW reataurants, we found out that lots of their foods comes pre-packaged, and this was hard for my DS and DN to eat very much, beacuse they didn't know the exact ingredients of the foods they served. Th chef was accomodating, but it is not what it once was!

That was all for our last trip!

We have also eaten at: 1900 Park Fair, both B & D, with Cinderella and the villans, Gulliver's Grill at the Swan, Cape May at the BC, Garden Grill at Epcot, Liberty Tree Tavern, Artist's Pointe with Pooh, O'Hana's at the Poly, Hollywood and Vine, and Mickey' Backyard Barbeque...I think that is it!

 

[swilphil]

Place:Chef Mickey's
Meal (B,L,D):Breakfast
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):2--extremely LOUD
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):3
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):4
Favorite Food Item:Goofy's Lasagna (I think that's what it's called).
Least Favorite:None, but seemed to have only very heavy choices.
Who were the characters:Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):3
Anything that made it extra special:Napkin waving was fun for my kids.
Comments: I think it's a little overrated. We were staying at the CR, so felt obligated to try it. It's the only restaurant at WDW where we've had bad service. Crystal Palace is our favorite character meal!

Place:Breakfastasaurous
Meal (B,L,D):B
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):2--kind of a dump.
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):2
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):1
Favorite Food Item:none stands out
Least Favorite:everything was cold, so none of it tasted very good
Who were the characters:Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):1. AK has a couple of great counter service meals. We will have breakfast in our rooms and hit Tusker or Flaming Tree for an early lunch.
Anything that made it extra special:The characters were fun.
Comments: The whole breakfast seemed rushed--servers and characters. Plus the cold food ruined the whole meal.

Place:Crystal Palace
Meal (B,L,D):B
Menu or Buffet:Buffet
Decor (1 to 5, 5 being the highest):5. My favorite atmosphere of all WDW restaurants. It's so bright and cheerful. Very pretty.
Food variety (grade from 1 to 5):5--both healthy and not-so-healthy choices
Food taste (grade from 1 to 5):5
Favorite Food Item:Veggie Frittata and Pooh waffles
Least Favorite:None
Who were the charactersooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger
Character availablity (grade from 1 to 5):4
Likelihood that you would return or recommend to others (grade from 1 to 5):5
Anything that made it extra special:Character parade at 9 a.m. around the restaurant with all the kids following. Getting into the park early.
Comments: Such a great way to start the day. We've been twice, and on our last trip my son was asking on our first day when he got to eat breakfast with Pooh.[/QUOTE]

 

[Soupermom]

I've read lots about breakfast and dinner character meals here, but noone seems to go at lunch? How is the meal then? What's the latest PS time you can get for lunch...we'd be going for an early dinner. TIA!

 

[back2disney]

I read on another older thread that the food a liberty tree tavern was processed. Does anyone know if that includes the turkey. Was the turkey fresh out of the oven or heated straight out of the can?