Recommendations for Character Dining????

[DisneyCruiser2008]

We will be going to WDW for 10 days with DD (4 years) and DS (7 years).... I want to book a couple character meals while we are there so the kids can see the characters that way and we won't have to worry about hunting them down in the parks... DD loves princesses and DS likes Mickey and pals, Toy Story (all the boy stuff).... What would you all recommend for us? I am open to breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc... just want the kids to have a great time and experience the character magic.

 

[Robo]

We will be going to WDW for 10 days with DD (4 years) and DS (7 years).... I want to book a couple character meals while we are there so the kids can see the characters that way and we won't have to worry about hunting them down in the parks... DD loves princesses and DS likes Mickey and pals, Toy Story (all the boy stuff).... What would you all recommend for us? I am open the breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc... just want the kids to have a great time and experience the character magic.

Epcot, The Land- Garden Grill -Dinner

The Garden Grill - Chip and Dale's Harvest Feast - Located in the Land Pavilion in the Future World section of Epcot this restaurant features dinner with Mickey, Chip and Dale, and Pluto, all attired "farmer-style". Kids' menu includes chicken tenders, mac and cheese. Reservations are recommended.

DAK, Africa- Tusker House -Donald's Breakfast Safari

Donald's Safari Breakfast located at the Tusker House in Africa. Characters include Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey. All you can eat buffet from 8:00am - 10:30am.

The above quotes and much more Character Dining info HERE.

 

[mpetti]

Second Epcot Garden Grill...However I think they are just open for dinner now. We went when they had breakfast and it was wonderful. We even did the lunch and loved it. The character interaction is great. My oldest DS(11) was 3 on our first visit to Garden Grill and he was very shy and he loved Chip and Dale. I believe Farmer Mickey was also at Garden Grill.

Also you should do Chef Mickey's at CR. The kids go wild over it. Mickey, Minnie the entire gang.

I would also recommend doing CRT for breakfast. Your DD will just love it, especially since she likes princesses. It's great for boys as well. We went in 07 and my sons at the time were 9 & 5 and they really enjoyed all the attention from those beautiful princesses. Good Luck and enjoy.

Maryann

 

[pbthompson]

My kids LOVED Cinderella's Royal Table and Chef Mickey's. Both had alot of character interaction and were alot of fun. The castle is a must see, your DD will never forget it. Chef Mickey's is just a great place for a kid to be a kid. It is loud and fun.

 

[stnet]

Chef Mickey's is alot of fun and since its not in the park you could always do this arrival day (if you weren't planning on doing a park that day). Also Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle at the Magic Kingdom - you meet Cinderella downstairs and then go up to eat - we saw Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine. I only have daughters but the boys that I have seen when we were there were also enjoying themselves. I would also recommend Tusker House in Animal Kingdom . Do that for breakfast - they have a great buffet. Also the jungle juice is fabulous!! The characters there were Daisy, Donald, Mickey and Goofy. It is also a lot of fun - and its a great way to start the day.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Great recommendations... I am so excited.... So -- how far in advance should I book my ADRs? Do these places book up months out?

 

[pbthompson]

90 days before at exactly 7am EST be ready to call. Keep your fingers crossed and don't make any promises to your kids because you never know if you are going to get what you want.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

90 days before at exactly 7am EST be ready to call. Keep your fingers crossed and don't make any promises to your kids because you never know if you are going to get what you want.

WOW -- ok.. thanks for the tip... Is that 90 days before the first day of our stay or 90 days before the day of the actual reservation? Also -- if we are staying at a WDW resort, does that give us any priority? Thanks again for your help... You all are amazing resources..

 

[rbenn81]

The one that is a must for us is lunch at CRT. You get to meet Cinderella in the lobby for a picture then once upstairs we have meet Jasmine, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. DD(5) and the DW always make sure to remind me when planning to make sure this is on the plan. Plus the last three years I have never had a problem in getting an ADR here during our visit. (that was when it was 180 days)
We have also done Chef Mickeys (dinner), Crystal Palace (dinner), and Garden Grill (dinner). We did Chef Mickeys for the first time last year and I believe this will be added to our must do list. Although it is not a character meal we did Whispering Canyon Cafe last year and the whole fam loved it. If you've never been, be sure to ask for ketchup!!

 

[erinch]

nobody has yet mentioned a couple of others --
Crystal Palace, in the Magic Kingdom, has Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet.
CP is a buffet, and has some of the better TS food in MK (none of which is that over the top great).

If you can't get CRT, then Askerhaus in Epcot is all princess all the time, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and is much easier to get a reservation for.

Many people like Ohanas character breakfast, which has Lilo, Stitch and Mickey and Pluto.

You can read about the character meals here: http://allears.net/din/cb.htm

 

[tinkgurl]

Chef Mickey's is a great one. We've only been there for dinner, which is good.

For princesses, I recommend either doing CRT for breakfast or lunch...or Askerhaus at Epcot.

Another fun one that we enjoyed was breakfast at Ohana with Lilo & Stitch.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Thank you all soooo much! Do you all think there are better times of the day to book certain character dining experiences? E.g. so that there may be fewer crowds and more opportunities to interact with the characters?

 

[rt2dz]

We always do Chef Mickey's on arrival night. It's the perfect Disney Mood setting meal.

I like 1900 Park Fare for breakfast at some point--a variety of different characters for girls that don't bug boys and for boys. It's also the only one that offers a little variety beyond the princesses and the fab 5.

Cinderella's Royal Table is the gold standard of princess meals, but 1900 Park Fare offers a dinner and Akershus also has princess meals. Having all boys, we do CRT for dinner; I get to eat in the castle (which they enjoy), and they only have to put up with Cinderella in the lobby. Not having any girls, my boys aren't very tolerant of pink and princesses for an entire meal. Easier to get ressies for too.

Garden Grill is always a big hit for us too. We get great character interaction there.

Ohana's offers Lilo and Stitch for breakfast too. Another nice change of pace.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

The following restaurants are my son favorites:
Tusker House Breakfast buffet (Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy dressed in safari outfits) great character interaction and good selection of foods, great juice and coffee. They have a musical parade that the kids will enjoy
Cape May breakfast (characters are dressed in beach wear), good food and good character interaction
Chef Mickey (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, pluto and goofy) we went for dinner which was not great but my son had a blast with the characters. We are going to try going for breakfast next time.
CRT, we went here for me b/c I wanted to eat in the castle and my son had great time with the princess giving him kiss and alot of attention. He wants to eat in the castle again (he was 3 when we took him). He is 4 now and I asked him where he wants to eat in MK, he said in the castle to see princess and CP to see Pooh and Piglet.
Crystal Palace is a must for our family. We went here lunchtime and the great food selection. Characters are Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger.
My son loves Hollywood and Vine b/c he loves the Little Einstein show. The character here are great but the food is ok. They have a song/dance ever 20 mins and the kids have a ball. They have a musical parade.
We went to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and dinner. They have different characters during breakfast (Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh, Tigger) and dinner (Cinderella, step sitters and Prince Charming) great character interaction but dinner was not good. Breakfast food is good.
Hope this hepls.

 

[Wendybird55]

One ouf our favorite character breakfasts is Cape May at Beach Club. The characters are Goofy, Minnie, Chip N Dale and I think Pluto sometimes.

First of all - food wise, I think it's one of the best breakfast buffets. Also the chracter interaction is great. Last year each one of the characters put an autograph on the paper tabel cloth for my son. Cape May would be good on an EPCOT day a syou can walk to EPCOT via international gateway from there.

We went to alot of character meals last year with DS (he was almost 2 at the time) and our least favorite was Tusker house. It seemed the most crowded and rushed with the characters. The way the buffet was laid out some people were confused and didn't know you can just go up to any station you wanted to get food and they formed this long line. We're skipping it this year.

We enjoyed Holywood & Vine with the Playhouse Disney characters last year - there was music and dancing.

But I would say if you're only going to about 2 and you want to catch the characters for both kids I would say CHef Mickeys at is has all the Fab 5 and one of the Princess meals (Norway, Cinderellas Castle or 1900 Park Fare).

Another fun restaurant for kids - though it's not character - is Whispering Canyon in Wilderness Lodge. It's most fun for dinner. The waiters have different fun things they do - it's loud, at times they do things where the kids can interact and the food is good. DS had lots of fun there last year.
We're trying 1900

 

[Robo]

1- Is that 90 days before the first day of our stay or 90 days before the day of the actual reservation?


2- if we are staying at a WDW resort, does that give us any priority?

1- 90 days from your FIRST (arrival) day.

2- Then, if you are staying at a WDW Resort, you can ALSO make ressies for the next TEN days, in that same phone call.

HERE is a calculator to determine when your 90 days is due.

 

[Bullseye]

For princesses I reccomend Askerhus breakfast in Norway. It's a really nice atmosphere and you meet like four princesses. Chef Mickey or Donalds Breakfastsaurus are good character breakfasts-lots of fun and audience participation.

 

[lissiesmum]

I would highly recommend 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. There's a great mix of characters: Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins plus Pooh and Tigger. The food was really good with made to order omelets. There's something for everyone, and the characters spend a lot of time interacting. It is the one character experience my DD4 asked to do next time. And that says a lot, because we also went to Lilo & Stitch, CRT, CM's, Princess Akershuh, CP, and Park Fare dinner (a close second). Have fun wherever you go

 

[CathieArms]

I would also recommend doing CRT for breakfast. Your DD will just love it, especially since she likes princesses. It's great for boys as well. We went in 07 and my sons at the time were 9 & 5 and they really enjoyed all the attention from those beautiful princesses. Good Luck and enjoy.

Maryann

Truthfully, I think I'd skip CRT and do Akershus instead. 5 princesses, less expensive, awesome experience.

 

[kissthemouse]

Our fav character meal from our trip last year was Bfast at Cape May with Minnie, Donald and Goofy. (Apparently Chip and Dale are *usually* there, but we got a day where they weren't). Food was great, service was great, and the characters were GREAT...each one came around twice and spent a good deal of time with us both times.

The other meals we did (and both were decent) were:

~ Dinner with Cinderella, Step Mother, and Step Sisters at 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian) - food was decent...but we had bad luck with the characters...had to ask 3 times for them to send Cinderella over (we had already paid our check)

~ Princess Lunch at the Akershaus in Norway - Belle (photo at the beginning, not wandering), Ariel in ball gown, jasmine, cinderella, sleeping beauty. Food was okay (dessert was good!), and characters were good...but rushed.