Which Character Meal with older kids?

[Mary.Poppins]

OK...So we've been to Disney a couple of times and have done the
following character meals....
Crystal Palace in 1999
Cinderella's Castle in 2001
Chef Mickey's in 2001

My DDs are ages 16 & 13 (will be 14 while there).
So, to be honest, not sure we will be even doing a character meal...
But, if we do, we will only do one....
So, which one would you recommend and why?
Remember my DDs are 16 & 13(14).
THANKS!!!

 

[bzzymom]

A couple years ago, my brother and his wife went to 1900 park fare for dinner when they were on their honeymoon and had a nice time. They were 22 and 20 at the time, but they wore their wedding ears and got lots of attention from everyone there.

My kids are now 11 DS and 4 DD. We all pick one TS. DS doesn't choose character meals anymore, he loves to eat at Teppan Edo, Ohana, or WCC.

 

[annie1995]

Garden Grill is nice!! The resturant very very slowly rotates over living with the land in Epcot!

 

[2crazy4disney]

We went 2 years ago with my 3 kids then 15, almost 12 and almost 7. We are going again this August and they are now 17 DS, almost 14 DD and almost 9 DS. They are looking forward to those alot. Character meals are really interactive and the adults have fun too. We are trying the 1900 Park Fare this year. We loved Chef Mickeys and Liberty Tree Tavern the last time. Garden Grill isn't bad either.

Chris
NY

 

[jacksmom]

My ds is 11 and loves Chef Mickey's!

 

[vellamint]

1900 Park Faire for breakfast was fantastic!! (We are trying dinner this year).

Character interaction that is appropriate for the age of the kids.....Mary Poppins was a hoot and dragged my sons into the fun. The Mad Hatter was hysterical and Tigger played some sort of hand slapping game with my daughters (and husband)!

 

[mrzrich]

I too came on to suggest 1900 Park Fare, but for Dinner! Since you have DD's I think they'd love it now that the Evil step-sisters play such a big part! My friend Kim and I went on our girls only weekend. Two adult women fit right in!

The food's pretty good too!

 

[christa112]

My vote is for Chef Mickey's

 

[mickeynut1]

In my opinion, I don't think any age is too old for character meals at Disney . One of our favorites is Chef Mickey's, but we also like Cape May breakfast at the BC where the characters are dressed in beach wear and Ohana breakfast with Lilo & Stitch . But my honest opinion is that no meal is really too childish when you're at Disney. My two DSs (15 & 13) still enjoy all the fun meals, but I think sometimes I have more fun than they do .

 

[disnut8]

Another vote for 1900 Park Fair. We "dragged" two late teenage boys to that meal and they loved it. It might be the more elegant setting but it just felt so much more relaxed to them and not as "crazy" as Chef Mickey's (their words).

 

[mom2my3kids]

My kids will be 15,11 and 5 when we return in October. We are eating at Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner and Tusker House Breakfast so they will get a bit of every character. My oldest just goes along with it, she could really care less about characters.

 

[DCDisney]

I would say no way on Chef Mickey's. It is full of screaming toddlers and preschoolers. The food isn't good and the place is dirty. 1900 Park Fare is fun character interaction and we really enjoyed it but lots of mini princesses if that will make your girls feel too babyish. My other choice would be Tusker House breakfast. The characters there rotate through pretty quickly just enough for my older kids and the food was GREAT. There was more of a mixture of adults and older kids than we saw at other character meals.

 

[snowdrift7]

We were at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast 2 weeks ago and DS-20 and his girlfriend-19 loved it. The characters are great - the Mad Hatter is hysterical. There aren't any princesses which they might like. And we really enjoyed the food - something for everyone.

Runner up would be dinner at LTT - DS has liked it since he first went there when he was 14. Some years he pretended to be too cool for characters but he likes the food and hey, it's Goofy, Chip,Dale and Minnie - who doesn't like them? And the characters don't overdo it or embarrass the older kids.

Either would be great.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

Thanks for all of these great suggestions. My son will be 12 when we go next year and I was trying to find a good character meal that will fit both him and his younger sibling (and me too, )

 

[tarheelmjfan]

My DS(16) would never choose a buffet for lunch or dinner, but he's an adventurous eater & loves the nicer restaurants. For breakfast, he just wants to be fed, regardless of where that is. If he did choose a restaurant based on characters, it would probably be 1900 Park Fare for either meal. He loved the Mad Hatter at 1900 PF, when he was a pre-teen. Alice was also fun. With him being a teenage boy, I'm sure the step sisters would be a blast, since they're always looking for their prince charming. I don't have a girl though, so I don't know if they would like these characters or not. When I was a teenager, I always wanted to eat in the castle, but I see that you've already done that. 1900 PF does seem to be the most fun for all older kids.

All that said, we're actually planning 3 character meals on our next trip. Our choices are based on circumstances alone. Unlike many, my DH & I couldn't care less about the characters either, & we really don't like buffets. We're planning two breakfasts, prior to park opening. At AK, that means TH or RFC. TH is further into the park, so we went with that. At MK, that means CP or CRT. We chose CP. We've also booked LTT, prior to MNSSHP. I booked that thinking the atmosphere would be a fun way to start off the party. So, we basically made our choices based on what's available where we're planning to be.