POLL: Best kids reastaurants (themed/character)?

[andreasingh]

Our DD (4) & DS (2) *love* character dining, & I haven't seen any polls ranking restaurants from perspective of kids.

Also a Chef Mickey's question:
CM just told me Chef Mickeys only has Mickey, Pluto, & Chip & Dale, even though all the photos I see show Goofy & Minnie & Donald. I thought it was "the place" to see the Fab 5. Is there such a place? Is Tusker House (no Minnie) as good as it gets?

 

[onelilspark]

When we were at Chef Mickey's in October we had Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and of course Mickey. Maybe since they're closing LTT they're moving Chip & Dale over to Chef Mickey's??

We had a horrible time at Chef Mickey's, but it was because we were 2 adults and they tried to rush us through (and turn the table.) I wasn't having it. However, for the families around us, the CM's couldn't do enough. That was my vote.

 

[islandchick779]

I say Chef Mickey's for the characters. I know my kids would say for the "coolest" theme they really love Sci-Fi at DHS, although I'd go for lunch not dinner. My boys get the biggest kick out of sitting in a car eating!

 

[andreasingh]

I say Chef Mickey's for the characters. I know my kids would say for the "coolest" theme they really love Sci-Fi at DHS, although I'd go for lunch not dinner. My boys get the biggest kick out of sitting in a car eating!

SciFi does sound cool - I'm looking forward to it in a few years! But we have two delicate little flowers who probably aren't up for even tame Sci-Fi clips. Or are they totally not scary?

(my two were pretty freaked by Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol, even skipping over the Ghost of Christmas Future - my two year old kept telling me, "I no like Goofy, I no like Goofy!" who was the sweetest, nicest Marlowe ever.)

 

[andreasingh]

When we were at Chef Mickey's in October we had Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and of course Mickey. Maybe since they're closing LTT they're moving Chip & Dale over to Chef Mickey's??

Thanks! btw what is up with Chip & Dale? there are far too many Chip & Dale opportunities! Campfire, Garden Grill, & now Chef Mickeys. Are there even many Chip & Dale fans? surely it can't save any costs - that Donald costume can't be much more! Maybe they just don't want to commit to who will be there. I'll keep hoping!

(& sorry you were rushed!)

 

[kyirish25]

Chef Mickey's is our favorite character meal. We ate there for Thanksgiving dinner and we had Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

A few years back they did have Chip & Dale there and then Pluto was only at breafast and Donald would be at dinner. Maybe they are going back to that with the characters being pulled from Liberty Tree.

 

[andreasingh]

Chef Mickey's is our favorite character meal.
A few years back they did have Chip & Dale there and then Pluto was only at breafast and Donald would be at dinner. Maybe they are going back to that with the characters being pulled from Liberty Tree.

Thanks! OK - I just called & spoke with someone more experienced. Apparently the 'guaranteed' characters list is short, but the ones who typically appearing at Chef Mickeys tends to be most of the classic ones.

I'm so glad to hear Chef Mickey's is the place to be, esp with reservation system down!

 

[YesMickey]

Yeah, we went to Chef Mickey's on our trip and my kids loved it. However don't expect them to eat too much, they were always so worried about who was coming out. I was amazed how excited my 8 yr old got. It was great watching her keep up with which character was coming out for my little boy. Also they have Blue Moon on tap there.

 

[mybabesuz]

My DS (3) and DD (2) loved the restaurants where they could get up and dance and interact with the characters.
Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Hollywood and Vine were their favorites.
The highlight of our last trip was when DD (2) hugged Piglet sooo tight and said in such a sincere little voice... I LOVE YOU...

 

[DisDreamz]

We went to Chef Mickey last week and didn't see Chip & Dale either of during our two visits (dinner on Sunday, 1/4 and breakfast on Saturday, 1/10). There was Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto during both visits.

However if you ask the kids they all three preferred 1900 Park Fare. They loved the stepsisters and stepmother .

We went to Cinderella's also, but the kids weren't overly impressed--the princesses really didn't spend a lot of time at each table (long enough to sign the autograph book and take a picture and then they were onto the next table).

 

[GatorLady]

Thanks! btw what is up with Chip & Dale? there are far too many Chip & Dale opportunities! Campfire, Garden Grill, & now Chef Mickeys.

The only place that you can now dine at a traditional character meal with Chip and Dale is the Garden Grill for dinner.

 

[Hootch]

one for me. I enjoy Crystal Palace the most and it's the one I voted for. It does tend to turn off my son who is a bit older. I personally like the Pooh characters even though I am much older. (Tao according to Pooh is a great book and definitely geared toward adults.

Chef Mickey's is great because it has the big characters. MY daughter loves Pluto for some reason so we eat here every trip. I like Biergarten as a place for kids where I can get my fill of wursts. CRT is still a must for us since my daughter is still in the princess stage. I don't know how often we'll go in future years. And while the food is much maligned I really like the Major Domo's Favorite Pie - plebeian food dressed up a little.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I let my DD5 vote on this one. We've eaten at all except Akershus and GG. She picked Crystal Palace as her favorite of all the others.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We just returned today from a week's stay at WDW. There was myself, DH, and our 13-year-old DS. We had five character meals during our vacation:

Breakfasts at Ohana's & Tusker House.
Dinners at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, & 1900 Park Fare.


ALL of them get high marks from our family. Each was great in its own right, and we thoroughly enjoyed every meal.

If we had to pick a "winner" in each category, Crystal Palace gets the award for dinner (characters were great and the food was excellent, plus its just a really pretty place to dine), while Ohana's gets the nod for breakfast (we enjoyed the family-style buffet over the serve-yourself-at-each-station set-up of Tusker House, the character interaction here was nothing short of outstanding, and our server was attentive, fun, and an all-around great guy).

Each meal had a unique atmosphere and/or different characters that made us glad we tried them all.

Now I just wish I were back there for more!!!

 

[ilandrazdsw]

They had the fab 5 at CM over Christmas (when LTT was still doing characters). CM just wouldn't be the same without the fab 5 and with C & D. Don't get me wrong...C & D are OK, but not my first choice when we could see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald!!! Say it ain't so!!!

 

[kimbo0569]

Our favorite character meal is Crystal Palace for breakfast. We've done it the last two trips and have nothing but great things to say!

We did the 1900 Park Faire for dinner (with Cinderella) and the character interaction was great but the food was just so-so. I doubt I'd do this one again.

 

[3boymthr]

Hi, Not sure where you're staying but you missed the Cape May Character Breakfast (@Beach Club), which features Goofy, Minnie & Donald and sometimes Chip & Dale (Okay they're at waaaay too many places!) When I did a poll comparing this to Chef Mickey's a lot of people commented that while they saw more characters at Chef Mickey's, it was very noisy. They also said there was more/better character interaction at Cape May - although no Mickey. But we're also planning on O'hana which supposedly has Mickey so I was okay with that.

 

[JenBill5]

Chef Mickey's was our favorite restaurant for DH, ME, and DD (4).

These are the characters that we saw...

 

[monica31671]

Crystal Palace gets my vote for the "4 and under" category.