Which character meal is best for us?

[Girly_Qs]

That's what I was thinking, but I hadn't heard of anyone who had done Chef Mickey's for dinner. Is the food good? I'm used to a lot of good sit down restaurants in Houston.

Sherry

I guess it just depends what you're used to? And how the stars allign on the night you go?

We enjoyed it the night we went. Decent prime rib and the parmesan mashed potatoes were quite tasty. It wasn't the best meal I've eaten by any means, but it wasn't bad by any stretch either. My girls enjoyed the traditional characters and had fun swinging their napkins and dancing. The dessert buffet is nice too. No one in our party of 6 left hungry or complaining (and trust me, since I did all the planning, I'd have heard about it, lol).

We'll be trying it for breakfast this next trip, only because that's how it 'fits' into our schedule with coming in from Port Canaveral from the cruise. Usually we arrive early evening when driving from home, vs. this time we'll arrive in the am and head straight to the parks. So, we're planning to do a CM breakfast before heading home (again, since it's not in a park and we won't need tickets), as a sort of character send-off.

HTH a bit!

 

[sherry_car]

OK, I asked my son last night if he'd like to meet Pooh and Tigger, and he was very excited. At least until I asked if he would prefer meeting Mickey or Pooh. Mickey won, hands down. So, I'll have to reserve either Tusker House or Chef Mickey's (whichever works best with our plans at the parks). Then, I'll add an early (before park opening) Crystal Palace reservation if I can convince everyone to do 2 character breakfasts.

Thanks for all the help! With so many opinions, you would think I'd be more confused than ever, but it actually helped me sort out my preferences.

Sherry

 

[Girly_Qs]

Then, I'll add an early (before park opening) Crystal Palace reservation if I can convince everyone to do 2 character breakfasts.

Oh, I hope you can! Not that either is a bad choice, IMO, but where else can you eat with the characters?! That's always my approach: I can eat a really nice meal at home any time I'd like, there aren't many places I can dine with Mickey and Friends!

(can you tell I'm ALL about character meals? LOL)

 

[PrincessBetsy]

My favorite is the Crystal Palace. I would suggest going there for breakfast at 8:05. The food is wonderful and if you go this early the CP is somewhat quiet for a while. Since it is a buffet there is plenty of food choices to please your whole family and once you are done, you can begin to immediately enjoy your day at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Tiggr88]

Just removed my post - my memory must be failing or they added lunch as a meal after we went there last. My suggestion for a late breakfast is not an option.

 

[moparop]

We went with grandparents and my kids last year, so I feel like I have a little knowledge on this one. We did dinner at Chef Mickey's and a late lunch (1:30 ADRs) at Crystal Palace. The character interactions were so much better at CP than they were at CMs. My parents were much more impressed with the CP food than they were with CM. I've heard that breakfast at CM is better, so I think I would go that route for your son and look into the late lunch option. It really worked well for us to get there at rope drop, do everything we wanted to do for the AM and have a nice A/C break. Everyone was very refreshed when they were done and was ready for more fun!

 

[fottafamily05]

I know you must answer this question all the time, but I don't seem to be able to find exactly the info I am looking for. We are a family of 5 (Grandparents, parents, and a 4-year-old). With only 1 boy, we are interested in a non-princess character meal, either dinner for our first night (Mon.) or an early breakfast the next morning. Probably Mickey and some group of his friends. Which has the best food? Which has the best interaction with the characters?

Right now I am considering Chef Mickey's (either breakfast or dinner), Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House (we are staying at AKV), Garden Grill (dinner), or Crystal Palace (breakfast or dinner). I don't want it to interfere with early morning touring of the parks, so a breakfast would have to be before the park really opens to everyone else (we are all comfortable with early mornings). I am open to other suggestions as well.

Thanks for the help!

Sherry

Dont do the Garden Grill. When we ate there it was horrible

 

[MJAJmom]

Our family loves character meals, so I try to squeeze in as many character meals as possible on our trip for my DS4 and DS6. We've eaten at lots of them (see my Oct trip report for pictures and writeups about the character meals). We are early risers so I plan an 8:05am ADR before entering the parks -- that means Tusker House before AK, CP before MK and Hollywood & Vine before DHS. Other times I've booked a 7:30am ADR bfast before rope drop. We like buffets, and breakfast meals are cheaper than lunch/dinner.

I would suggest that you look at the characters at each meal and prioritize which ones are important to your family (we avoided princess meals, had to do H&V because DS4 loves Little Einsteins). Also, which ones you can/can't fit into your touring schedule (we were not at Epcot at night so couldn't make Garden Grill for dinner). Sometimes the clothing the characters wear might make it more/less interesting (beach wear at Cape May, safari at Tusker, chef hats/aprons at Chef Mickey, hawaiian shirts at Ohana.

Our top favorites were Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Tusker House and Crystal Palace. And yes, Tusker House is a harder ADR to get (it's the only one I could not get for my June ADRs). I didn't like the food much at Ohana, but if you really want to see Lilo/Stitch/Pluto/Mickey in hawaaian clothes, then you put up with the food.

Have a great time planning!!

 

[aidtrismommy]

We did Donalds at Tusker House in AK. We had my son age 2, son 1, my parents and my sister. We had reservations at 8:30 but Disney changed EMH to 9 am after checked emh and made the reservation. So there were a million people there because the park was just about to open and I gues it was a common time. It was chaos (plus there was a huge tour group) The food was good and the coffee was great. The characters did a great job of coming to every table and the kids got to dance around with little noise maker things with Goofy. My son loved it. Make sure you have help getting food and pictures because you can't all leave at the same time (obviously) or you will miss a character. My advice, plan ahead. Get all the EMH and decide where you will go each day, based on that, pick a breakfast where there will not be any EMH. By the time you are done eating, you can go play with minimal lines!! And maybe make an 8am reservation.

 

[sherry_car]

We are early risers so I plan an 8:05am ADR before entering the parks -- that means Tusker House before AK, CP before MK and Hollywood & Vine before DHS. Other times I've booked a 7:30am ADR bfast before rope drop. We like buffets, and breakfast meals are cheaper than lunch/dinner.

I would suggest that you look at the characters at each meal and prioritize which ones are important to your family (we avoided princess meals, had to do H&V because DS4 loves Little Einsteins). Also, which ones you can/can't fit into your touring schedule (we were not at Epcot at night so couldn't make Garden Grill for dinner). Sometimes the clothing the characters wear might make it more/less interesting (beach wear at Cape May, safari at Tusker, chef hats/aprons at Chef Mickey, hawaiian shirts at Ohana.

Have a great time planning!!

That's exactly what I have been doing. We are also early risers, and enjoy breakfast buffets, but not dinner buffets so much. My husband is tolerant of Disney (I expect to change him into a fan on this trip!), and my parents and I love all of the characters. So, it's my son we need to please, and his favorites are Mickey and friends, followed by Tigger and Pooh. He could care less about Princesses or Little Einsteins.

I've just about decided to book the earliest Tusker House ADR, if I can get it. If not available, I'll book Chef Mickey's. And, I will try very hard to convince everybody to go to the Crystal Palace, also for the earliest ADR. That would cover all of his favorites. We don't go until Sept., but he is already excited!

When I told my parents I was pregnant, their response was "that means his first Disney Trip will be in 2008". We decided to wait an extra year, but I am finally getting to make the plans and having a great time doing it, though it is a bit stressful at times! I have been to Disney World MANY times (starting the year it opened), but not since 2000, and so much has changed since then! So far, we only have our reservation at AKV, but we will get the rest decided soon!

 

[PinkPrincess4Ever]

AWw your little guy would love Chef Mickey's I have been to breakfast and dinner both were good. Mickey, Minne, Goofy, pluto, Donald , and Daisy Duck were there both times we went. They have a fun spin the napkin song too! We also love Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom but the characters there are Pooh, Tigger, piglet, Eeyore. They have the kids get up and follow the characters around ther restaurant fo the winnie the pooh song. Both have great character interaction with greets, photo, and autogr. time. If my kids had to pick 1 13Ds 10Dd and 7Dd they would pick chef Mickey's! I love them both. GL and have a magical trip

 

[sherry_car]

AWw your little guy would love Chef Mickey's I have been to breakfast and dinner both were good. Mickey, Minne, Goofy, pluto, Donald , and Daisy Duck were there both times we went. They have a fun spin the napkin song too! We also love Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom but the characters there are Pooh, Tigger, piglet, Eeyore. They have the kids get up and follow the characters around ther restaurant fo the winnie the pooh song. Both have great character interaction with greets, photo, and autogr. time. If my kids had to pick 1 13Ds 10Dd and 7Dd they would pick chef Mickey's! I love them both. GL and have a magical trip

Chef Mickey's is the 1 character breakfast I have been to (10 years ago), and it was fun. That makes it hard to pass up. But I like the idea of seeing the parks before the crowds, something I have never seen before. I also like the idea of the characters in their safari costumes, so I think we will try Tusker House this time. If we can't get in for first seating, I'll go for Chef Mickey's.

We will be going to Crystal Palace also! I have talked to everyone inour group, and everyone agrees it is worth going to 2 character breakfasts!

 

[Girly_Qs]

We went with grandparents and my kids last year, so I feel like I have a little knowledge on this one. We did dinner at Chef Mickey's and a late lunch (1:30 ADRs) at Crystal Palace. The character interactions were so much better at CP than they were at CMs. My parents were much more impressed with the CP food than they were with CM.

And that's where I think it all just depends (on the tastes and hunger of those going, the CM's who are characters, the CM's who are service, the food prep that day, etc). We did dinners at both CM and CP last trip, and our whole group (including grandparents too) vastly preferred CM. The characters stopped longer at our table than at CP, and they did far more 'mime' interaction and hugs, as well as several pics (we got a wave, and a pic, and then moved on by at CP, even though we had a then 2.25yo and a 5.5yo). We also all preferred the food at CM to CP. While the food wasn't 'terrible' at CP on our trip, we all felt it was the 'bottom' of our character buffets that trip (CM ranked in the middle, with 1900PF at the top - we all LOVED it, and you'll find plenty on here who haven't!).

So, I guess my advice is: go wherever has the characters you most want to see (and wherever fits best with your park plans). If it's Pooh & friends then go to CP, if it's the 'traditional gang' then CM. The food could be great or so-so at either it seems.

Dont do the Garden Grill. When we ate there it was horrible

I know others have had good experiences here and have gone back more than once . . . I'm with you though. We went once, we won't be back. Maybe that's not entirely fair, as it could've been an 'off' night, etc. But, we had too many other good character meal experiences to repeat that one again anytime soon. JMO.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

we took our 4 year old son to Chef Mickeys (dinner) and breakfasts at Crystal Palace, Tusker House and Cape May cafe last year.

Tusker House was definitely everyone's favourite. Great food and great character interaction - plus if you get an early reservation (I believe they start at 8.05am) then you are well placed to be at the front of the queue for the safari afterwards!!

 

[sherry_car]

Thanks everyone! I am going to try for ADRs at Tusker House and Crystal Palace, both before the park opens. Hopefully I will be able to get those, but if not I'll probably try for a late breakfast, or possibly Chef Mickey's.

You were all a big help! I didn't even know it was possible to get a reservation for before the park opened!

Sherry