please help - character meals

[skeeterfoot]

I am taking my 3 year old grandson for the first time to WDW. I know little about the character meals but since we are only going for a short visit and will stay at WL and visit MK please tell me which has the best character meals of the following:

Chef Mickey -BF
Crystal Palace - BF or Dinner
Whispering Canyon - BF or Dinner
Ohana - BF

Thank you very much. My daughter says I am overplanning.

 

[KatMark]

I am taking my 3 year old grandson for the first time to WDW. I know little about the character meals but since we are only going for a short visit and will stay at WL and visit MK please tell me which has the best character meals of the following:

Chef Mickey -BF
Crystal Palace - BF or Dinner
Whispering Canyon - BF or Dinner
Ohana - BF

Thank you very much. My daughter says I am overplanning.

We LOVE Crystal Palace for breakfast and it is a must do for us every trip. We love the Pooh characters and the puffed french toast. Chef Mickey's would be our second choice (breakfast only). We haven't done Ohana's, but we are not Stitch fans. Whispering Canyon does NOT have characters at the meals and we ate there for dinner three years ago and will never go back -- on the food.

 

[latexscooter]

Chef Mickey -BF
Crystal Palace - BF or Dinner
Whispering Canyon - BF or Dinner
Ohana - BF

The one thing about all Disney restaurants is that they are inconsistent. Good experience today can be a bad one tomorrow and vice versa. That said, I think when it comes to character meals it's really about the characters themselves first and then the food.

Chef Mickey's is the one where we've had the most rushed and chaotic character meals so I don't recommend it.

Crystal Palace has been great for both breakfast and lunch (I haven't done dinner but assume it's just as good) plus they do a "parade" with the characters that little ones just love. I like the atmosphere here and I think the selection appears to be broader than most buffets.

Personally I love the breakfast buffet at 'Ohana the most. The food is good and served family style which is great for a character meal because there isn't that up and down of rushing to the buffet and wondering if you're going to miss the characters. When we were there last we saw Mickey, Stitch, Pluto and Lilo. This was such a hit that it's the one meal my daughter picked to do again in a couple weeks.

In regards to WCC...I didn't realize they had characters there. We've only been there for dinner and it didn't have characters. However, the servers made it a good time and they weren't missed.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

hi. its better to overplan than to underplan! Crystal Palace is great for breakfast. Try to get an adr before the park opens. It's extra magical to walk down main street without barely anyone around.. you can even stop for a picture or two. Another good thing about this time is the buffets are not as busy yet. We love Crystal Palace for anytime of day, but i like breakfast best. It has more fancy selections for lunch and dinner than the other character buffets. Ohana is good for breakfast but you dont get a big selection since they bring the food to you. It is less chaotic than any other character meal though, atleast all the times we have been there. Chef Mickey's is the most chaotic everytime we have been there. They do a napkin twirl and make a bunch of noise that gets everyone nuts. Their food is pretty good for all the meals. If you like desserts then dont miss Chef Mickey's for dessert. We had the best time at Chef Mickey's right at opening. Not many people there yet, and the characters came around 2x. I least prefer CM for dinner food but i loved getting all their desserts! We went late their once and hated the whole experience thanks to where they seated us.. we literally got crawled on by the neighboring table's kids.. they climbed on my DH's chair, got ketchup on him from being so close to him and touching his shirt. We had to ask to move, but all they did was put us on the other side of the party of 10's table, but atleast that was by the adults. We still had tons of their noise and watching their kids run around the restaurant.. i am not exaggerating. Out of the 4x we have eaten there, two times we couldnt wait to leave. However when i go with our little daughter for the first time.. cant wait... we'll take her there!!! One breakfast you didnt mention is the Grand Floridian's 1900 Park Fare.. that breakfast is wonderful and the resort is gorgeous. You get to see Pooh and Friends, and Alice in Wonderland characters, sometimes Mary Poppins too. That is a must do for us. They have lobster eggs benedict It is also fun to then go out the back of the restaurant and ride the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom.. or take the ferry there from the MK and do the monorail back to MK. Have a great time

 

[squirrel]

If you can't get Chef Mickey's try for Tusker House (breakfast at AK) you get Donald, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy. The food there is really good.

Crystal Palace-I have had breakfast and dinner there. I would pick the one you prefer. I love breakfast food so I would pick it over dinner. I also like to get the early morning photos of the castle when there isn't many people in the park. I book an 8:05am ADR on a day that the MK doesn't open early for EMH. If you don't like getting up early, or don't care about photos-then my next best time is a brunch time 10:30am. You can get some rides in before more people arrive at MK and then go for breakfast.

WCC-Doesn't have characters. They do offer free refills on the milkshakes. They have the skillet for both breakfast and dinner.

'Ohana breakfast-I have been twice. Both times the servers decided I didn't deserve some of the food that everyone else got, so I'm not going back for breakfast.

 

[ashleypmo]

No such thing as 'overplanning' when it comes to WDW!

 

[whitney37354]

We did Crystal Palace & Chef Mickey for dinner. Food was okay at both. It took longer to be seated, eat, & see all the characters at CP, but we had an awesome CM. Would your grandson rather see Mickey or Pooh?

Ohana was our favorite breakfast of the week. I loved not having to rush to a buffet to fill a plate for DD & myself to keep from missing character time at our table. The food was the best of the week & character interaction was good. If a character accidentally skips you (Stitch almost passed us by after the parade & short character break), either flag them down as DH did or ask your "cousin"/CM, to have them come back to you. The family photo made before we entered the restaurant was also the best of the week. Characters here are Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, & Stitch.

I'd vote for Ohana, but any of them would be fine.

Whispering Canyon isn't a character meal, as others have stated.

 

[murcor]

What a lucky boy your 3 year old grandson is

We havent done Crystal Palace but have heard good things about it. (breakfast)

Chef Mickeys breakfast is a must for any 3 year old.....start your vacation with this

We have done the dinner at Chef Mickeys twice and didnt really care for it either time.

O'Hanas Breakfast is good as it is an all you can eat but brought to your table, not as chaotic as a buffet.

I think the meals with characters is a wonderful Disney experience. My kids loved meeting the charaters and watching them....they thought it was a very cool thing to be doing!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Chef Mickeys isnt very good. Food is very poor in quality....selection too, IMO. I also dont like the atmosphere....for a nice hotel, they did a poor job with this one. Looks like a school cafe (sounds like one too!). We waited forever for the characters too. I wouldnt go back.
Ohana and Tusker House is one of our FAVE character breakfasts. Ohana is nice and relaxing....they bring the food to you. Yes you get limited options here, but its quite tasty. Esp their pineapple bread and their iliko juice! SO GOOD! Atmosphere is gorgeous....and characters are fun. we saw mickey twice!! we became a stitch fan after seeing him at ohana. He's a riot!
Tusker has the best selection and quality of food i've seen at disney. Its truly wonderful. The characters are great here too....esp Daisy! What a hoot! You cant go wrong with either place. It just depends what location, characters, and atmosphere you prefer.
Oh, crystal palace is great as well. Loved that place a lot.

 

[smiths02]

Who is his favorite character? If you are only doing one charcter meal, I wouldn't worry about the food as much as the best characters.

I have a special place in my heart for Winnie the Pooh and we celebrated my son's 3rd birthday (on the actual day) at Crystal Palace for dinner. (we are trying breakfast this year)

We also did Chef Mickey and did not like it as much, but we will see Mickey at Tusker House. Also, Mickey is relatively easy to find, IMO.

ETA: You are definitely not overplanning. People get reservations now 180 days in advance. If you don't plan for it, you may not get a character experience. AND try to see if your grandson is okay with the big characters (how is he with Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc.? some kids don't like it).

 

[KatMark]

I am taking my 3 year old grandson for the first time to WDW. I know little about the character meals but since we are only going for a short visit and will stay at WL and visit MK please tell me which has the best character meals of the following:

Chef Mickey -BF
Crystal Palace - BF or Dinner
Whispering Canyon - BF or Dinner
Ohana - BF

Thank you very much. My daughter says I am overplanning.

You don't mention your dates of when you are going, but you need to book something as soon as possible because the character meals book very quickly.

 

[MickeyNicki]

On can never over plan a WDW vacation

When I took my niece she was 3 and super picky eater...the character meal dinners didnt work for us as the food was terrible but the breakfasts were perfect!

 

[tinkgurl]

Chef Mickey's is always a must for us. It would be great to try and get this one for your first day. But I agree with previous posters, if you can't get Chef Mickey's, try Tusker House! Another good place!

We just had a horrible experience at Crystal Palace this past summer. The characters took forever to get to our area, then they rushed through the tables. There was hardly any interaction with my 3 1/2 year old. It was very disappointing. I've read TR's where some of the characters haven't even made it to their area yet and they were all done with their meals so they left. So, instead of the Crystal Palace, I really recommend eating breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. We had an amazing breakfast there with our little guy. We got there as soon as the place opened, so there weren't many people there. The characters were great and very interactive. My little guy had a blast getting up and dancing with the characters.

Whispering Canyon is another must for us. It's good food and a fun experience. Make sure your grandson asks for ketchup!

Ohana was another great breakfast this past summer. The characters were GREAT with my little guy.