So torn between chef mickey, CP and ohana breakfast for my son

[sazzifrazz]

We want to do one, maybe 2 character meals. Im torn between Chef Mickey dinner, Ohana breakfast, and CP lunch or breakfast. They all seem to have plusses and minuses. This is for my 4 yr old son.

CM: fab five-who can beat that!? but loud and caotic, food just OK
Ohana-cute characters that DS likes well enough, food OK and brought to table which is good for us, possibly less caotic than CM
CP-nice atmosphere, good food but characters arent DS's favorites.

Darn...I wish CP had the fab 5!

Anyone have any thoughts? We really prefer lunch/dinner foods over breakfast foods...but the idea of getting into MK before rope drop is intriguing me!

 

[DannysMom]

I've done all 3 & my fav is the Ohana breakfast. One big plus to my way of thinking is that it is NOT a buffet, it is all you can eat, served family style. The food is decent, but lets face it, breakfasts at WDW are largely the same, but the food was seved hot & tasty.

I like CP too, but probably lunch moreso than breakfast (unless you can get an early ressie & get early entry for breakfast.)

CM (breakfast) I didn't really care for, loud, chaotic, food was only so-so, much of it tepid. But DS (6 at the time) loved it -- go figure.

 

[Sandy Mouse]

Character meals are not about the food, so choose the one with the characters your son would most like to see. That said, I liked CP for both breakfast and dinner, and I am really looking forward to breakfast at Ohana on our next trip. I've heard the food is pretty good and the characters funny.
Whichever you choose, have fun.

Sandy

 

[MJAJmom]

We've been to all 3 with my 2 boys, who have been as young as 3yo and as old as 7yo. If they only had to choose 1 place of your 3 choices, they'd pick chef mickeys. My least favorite is Ohana because I don't like their food selection (I much prefer a bfast buffet). The characters are very different at each place, so you might want to go where you son's favorite characters are at. Here's my thoughts on your 3 places:

Chef Mickeys - very fun place, 5 characters which circulate well. Usually we can see them all twice. Food is decent, great variety of desserts at dinner. Lively atmosphere. My boys love to wave their napkins.

Crystal Palace - fun atmosphere, 4 Pooh characters, they circulate well, buffet is good, service is pretty good. Nice that it's inside the MK park.

Ohana - very dark inside, the 4 characters only circulate once, Lilo always goes too fast, limited bfast food selection. However, my boys love to see Stitch here. The have a character parade where the kids can join in.

My trip reports have lots of pictures of each character dining place if you'd like to see the character photos. For my boys, any place with characters is a fun place, so I'm sure you'll have a great time!! Have fun planning.

 

[mrwilby]

Can't speak for Chef Mickey's, but we've just had breakfast today at 'Ohana's and did Crystal Palace yesterday.

Personally, we found 'Ohana's quite lacking - service was pretty lousy, it was super busy and they plonked the bill at the table before we'd even eaten the 'fruit starter.' Then because we decided to take our time a little bit, we were hounded (the service staff kept checking if we'd prepared the bill!)

Character interaction was rushed and basically I don't think it was worth it. That and the food wasn't very good on top of everything else.

Crystal Palace was good - of the three breakfasts we have done it was in the middle. Good character interaction, lovely location (we also got in the park early through careful planning) and enjoyed the wide selection of food. That would be recommended - and we'll do it again.

Favourite so far this week has been Tusker House. Great food (definitely the best breakfast choice we've seen of the three) and excellent character interaction. Good, attentitive service and no rushed feeling. We also got into AK early, which was good.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

You're missing my favorite character breakfast - Donald's Safari breakfast at Tusker House.

 

[sazzifrazz]

I think we have decided on Chef Mickey's dinner and crystal palace breakfast.

Tusker house looks good but we aren't doing AK at all this trip.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I say choose by the characters your kid wants to see. We're doing Chef Mickey's this time. I'd rather do Tusker House as the food is supposed to be better BUT Minnie isn't always there. We have to see Minnie!

 

[MSSANDRA]

I vote for CM.

We found the breakfast food really good and the characters were great. Service was really slow and we waited forever for our check.

CP the food was just ok for lunch. Characters and service was good. Lunch was a nice break to our day.

Have not done Ohana's for breakfast but most kids LOVE a buffet and have dessert for breakfast rather than family style.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Cape May and Tusker House has the Fab 4 (tucket ghouse 4 plus Daisy..no Pluto at either)

Cape May is beautiful and no where near as crowded as CP. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto in their beach clothes! Very cute.

Tusker House

 

[IluvDonald!]

Both DH and I tend to go to the restaurants that feature DD's favorite characters if we are selecting the character meals. We figure she is only young once so we try to keep it as magical as possible. Okay - so she's 15 now, but we still pick her faves.

 

[dormouse72]

CP is not my favorite. We went for dinner and while the location is great, it was an additional 30-40 min wait beyond our ADR time. We had to wait outside, at 5:30 PM, when we were already hot and tired, in muggy October. I also wasn't a fan of the whole "parading with Pooh" thing. DD8 loved it but trying to get her to pay attention to her food was hard enough without her wanting to march around the restaurant. My fear was she'd say "Mama I'm hungry!" later on (and she did).

My favorite is always Chef Mickey. I love the breakfast buffet for the choices (something for everyone - even if the kids load up at the pastry counter rather than the healthier options). Really it's my favorite because I remember back when DD12 was only 18 months old and scared to death of the characters because they were so big. We were over in the corner and it was one of the last breakfast servings (much quieter) and Mickey got right down next to her high chair and played peek-a-boo with a napkin. Then we got her out of the high chair and Mickey sat on the floor with her for five minutes for an "eye to eye" chat (she liked that she could see herself in his nose). She was hooked from that moment on and it's our one MUST DO ever since.

I've never done Ohana but love the feel of the Poly (hope to one day be able to stay there). My kids are afraid of the dark so we've never tried it - maybe next trip.

 

[divawife]

I found the breakfast at the Poly with Lilo and Stitch wonderful! I have no clue where the "dark" idea came from. It is breakfast and it is sunny out it is light inside. Lots of fun with Stitch and the parade. Mickey is there too.

CP for breakfast is a treat, a great way to start the day. Never went for lunch or dinner though.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I hope you don't mind a little editorial comment.

I think too many parents get too wrapped up in this stuff.

By all means plan and have fun but you child is only 4, this is more for you than them. My kids only remember specific things about our many early trips to WDW and I can tell you that almost exclusively they are the unscripted moments they're going to remember (and those moments are precious).

So again, have fun planning but don't agonize (it's not worth that). It'll be great no matter what.

 

[sazzifrazz]

I really don't feel I am "too wrapped up" and no, this is not for me or DH...this is for my 4 yr old son. If it was for DH and I we wouldn't go to any buffets, and certainly no character meals! My son went right before his third birthday and it is amazing what he remembers. Now, almost 2 yrs later I am positive he will remember even more from this trip. I just want to choose the best option...not sure why that is a negative.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I really don't feel I am "too wrapped up" and no, this is not for me or DH...this is for my 4 yr old son. If it was for DH and I we wouldn't go to any buffets, and certainly no character meals! My son went right before his third birthday and it is amazing what he remembers. Now, almost 2 yrs later I am positive he will remember even more from this trip. I just want to choose the best option...not sure why that is a negative.

Didn't think I was criticizing, but whatever.

 

[Mousefan72]

Definitely choose the place that has the characters your son likes the most. I prefer Ohana's for breakfast and dinner because I think their food is very good and I like being able to stay in one place and being served rather than getting up to pick out my food. Of course they don't have characters at dinner, but I thought their breakfast was very good and the characters were fun. It's a much more peaceful breakfast than CM's too!

 

[proxy10]

Obama breakfast?? Breakfast that contains BO?

 

[whitney37354]

Ohana

 

[septbaby]

'Ohana is probably better for an older child.

1. Chef Mickey's won't be chaotic for a 4yo...

2. Crystal Palace has the parade he can participate in, young kids really enjoy that.