Some Advice for 1st Character Dining!

[waynesgirl]

Just wanted some advice:

My DS's birthday is Nov. 29th and I want to do his first Character Dining. He is not a big eater of too much of anything-except pizza, tomatoes, salad, chicken, and cucumbers. But even then, he doesn't eat a lot at 1 sitting. We generally eat smaller meals more often during the day. We are going to do QS dining this year (never done a DP before) because it is a lot better for us to snack and eat 2 meals than to have to eat big meals.

I want a place where he is going to enjoy the characters-especially Donald, Mickey, etc.- but my DH and I can enjoy the food and watch him. Nothing worse than rushed CM's and unhappy parents around us.

This is an OOP dining so money is not an issue- food, interaction, and overall best experience level is what I want.

Any advice or favorites? And why?

 

[mickeysgirl17]

No matter which character meal you choose, expect it to be loud and crazy! Especially any character meal that has Mickey!!!

Your son will not have to leave the table so you don't have to worry about watching him. He will be with you at the table the whole time. The characters come to you. One table at a time. Each character will visit every single table one at a time. They will only spend a minute or two at the tables. Generally, all the restaurants that host character meals are huge and busy so they don't have much time at each table. Keep in mind that every character meal will have a kids buffet area for picky eaters.

Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary resort is great for character interaction, but I prefer breakfast over dinner as far as food. Mickey and Donald will be there along with Minnie and Goofy. Food is very limited at dinner.

Tusker house breakfast at Animal Kingdom was great. Food was very good and lots of choices. Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were there. Interaction was just ok.

You could also try Ohana breakfast at the polynesian, or Cape May Cafe breakfast at the Beach Club. I've never tried these, but Mickey is usually there at both of these too.

 

[AirGoofy]

For your 1st character dining experience, what is the best time for your child? Oftentimes, you find less tired children, parents, and CMs in the morning for breakfast, than after a long day at the theme park. Problem with that is that those food items are not on the breakfast menu.

The only restaurants I can think of with Mickey and Donald is Chef Mickey at CR and Tusker House at AK. Chef Mickey serves breakfast and dinner. Tusker House serves breakfast only with characters.

 

[DISNEYNV]

IF your son likes the Winnie the Pooh characters I would recommend Crystal Palace at MK! The buffet is great and not over powering with choices, the characters do a cute little parade with the kids around the dinning room (your doenst have to if he doesnt want to join in) and they come around to each table for pics and autographs. We have done it each time we go and the kids love it! I would choose a time that is as early as possible for dinner and I believe they only have the characters at dinner times. I also have heard that Tuskerhouse in AK has a great character meal too. We are going to try that this coming trip as well. It's breakfast with Donald and friends (hit or miss which Friends though). I would let them know it is your sons birthday whichever you choose and they might do something special (a little cake with a candle, etc. ). HAVE FUN...stay clear of Mickeys Backyard BBQ!!! IT was a crazy house when we tried it two years ago...no order or anything...kids all over the place!

 

[waynesgirl]

Thank you all but I guess I should clarify.

It will be his first but I have been to some with my older children. He doesn't eat a lot so I wanted more character interaction than food for him.

I have done some serious reading on the forums and narrowed it down. Here are the reasons:

1. Garden Grill- it seems more people are saying the charaters really do more 1 on 1 time than anywhere else; the food is limited but fresh; and it tends to be quieter-plus it is at EPCOT where my little man can ride Ttrack and the "big golf ball" ride. (And honestly, where Mom and Dad can have a beer-just 1 though 'cuz he's a hand full)

2. Chef Mickey's- it is in the CR which is where we are staying; it will be easy to go to it and back to the park (walking will take off some of the calories), and it is close to the bar where we can have a beer-but just 1 'cuz he's a hand full).


However, I understand that people have different tastes so I love the opinions?

 

[AirGoofy]

1. Garden Grill- it seems more people are saying the charaters really do more 1 on 1 time than anywhere else; the food is limited but fresh; and it tends to be quieter-plus it is at EPCOT where my little man can ride Ttrack and the "big golf ball" ride. (And honestly, where Mom and Dad can have a beer-just 1 though 'cuz he's a hand full)

2. Chef Mickey's- it is in the CR which is where we are staying; it will be easy to go to it and back to the park (walking will take off some of the calories), and it is close to the bar where we can have a beer-but just 1 'cuz he's a hand full).

Of the two, Garden Grill was more character time because the restaurant was less crowded. The characters were "Farmer" Mickey, Chip n Dale, and Pluto. And, the food is served family style so not getting up out of the table. I thought the food was decent.

With Chef Mickey, you have to get the food at the buffet, so you are moving around more. But, you get one extra character. I think Chef Mickey had more of the traditional kids buffet meal like the other character meals.

 

[wizzzzzard]

Ordinarily I would gush over Chef Mickey's but it seems like Garden Grill will be better for your family, in particular your son.

The restaurant is less crowded, so the characters do have a little more time for interaction. Plus, the restarant rotates. The whole family might get a kick out of that.

To our family we've seen the Mouse & friends so often, we go for the better food options. We were not impressed by Garden Grill when we went in '05. Things could be different now, as I see the menu is different. (We had pork instead of fish.) So give Garden Grill a whirl with no expectations.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I forgot Garden Grill....but honestly, I didn't like the food here. Yes, the character interaction was decent, not great though. Dale and Pluto were great but Chip and Mickey were not very upbeat. They just came by and waved hello and took a quick picture.

I would pick Chef Mickeys over GG any day.

 

[shawnh199]

Tusker House was our favorite character meal. The food was really good and the character interactions was better than most. The kids also do a cute parade around the restaurant. We did 7 character meals (6 breakfasts and one dinner) on our last trip and I would not do Garden Grill again (unless you like what's on the menu - we didn't care for the food but love Chip and Dale) or Chef Mickey's. Chef Mickey's has great characters, but they were incredibly rushed when we were there. The food there was our least favorite of all our breakfasts. We really enjoyed Ohana's breakfast as well. Mickey and Pluto are there, along with Lilo and Stitch. The kids also do a parade here. I don't know if you are even considering breakfasts for the meal, but it's great getting pre-rope drop ressies and getting into the parks early before they open!

You really can't go wrong with any character meal because you're meeting the characters and your at Disney World!! That's what your son will remember. My daughters (2.5 and 6 on our last trip) don't remember much about the food at the restaurants we ate at, but they sure remember meeting all those characters! We love meeting them too!

Have a great trip!

 

[Kimberly Hill]

At the Tusker House breakfast, Donald is outside for photographs but doesn't come around to the tables. Just FYI

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Just read on another thread that the Garden Grill is open for dinner only...we decided on Tusker House...

 

[crabbygal902]

I like the character meals where you don't have to get up and down out of your seat to fill your plates from a buffet. I always manage to miss the BEST picture opportunities of my kids interacting with the characters!

'Ohana breakfast is served family style. We opted for a late seating (10:30 I think,) and the restaurant was practically empty. My kids got lots of attention from the characters, and the food was very good. My boys loved playing with Stitch and Pluto. It seems that so many character meals are geared towards girls and princesses; this one was great for my boys.

The only complaint I have is that the tables in 'Ohana are kinda close together even when the restaurant isn't crowded; you may want to request an 'inside' table so that the characters don't have to squeeze through to your kids.

I see you've been to WDW many times, so you probably already know that it helps if you have your kids wear a shirt with the character's picture on it or have a souvenir with them as a 'conversation' starter if your child is shy around the characters. My 4 year old is not shy, but he won't talk to the characters because they don't 'talk' to him!

 

[GrumpyMom25]

Someone posted that Donald was only outside at Tusker House and not inside. We had just the opposite ... saw no characters outside but Donald was inside. And I've read that Donald is always at Tusker House. We have been to Chef Mickey for breakfast and never seen Donald there. When you call to book you may want to ask if he's at the meal you choose if it's important that he's there for your son. When my oldest son was little we spent a good part of our trip on a hunt for Donald.

 

[waynesgirl]

Thank you all so much! Even though it is several months away, it will be ADR time on Tues. and we just had a discussion about it.

I asked him if he would rather have breakfast or dinner with Mickey. He said dinner-and then I asked him what he wanted to ride and he said Test Track and Soarin' so I guess it will be Garden Grill for him. (DH would rather be with Donald Duck)

I guess that's the whole point, huh? If the little man wants it, then that's what we do.

 

[Tiger926]

Garden Grill has been dinner only for awhile now, and they just changed their menu this month. Check All Ears for an upated menu.

Have fun! Tiger

 

[waynesgirl]

Just letting everyone know-pulled up pics of all restaurants and DS chose Garden Grill-so I rushed to make my adr's and got it!!!!