Which character meal?

[JennG]

We are going in September and I am trying to decide on which character meal. My DS will be 2 and he loves Mickey, Pooh, and Goofy. I don't know how he'll react to the characters either. I'm thinking of doing this towards the end of the trip (maybe the last day or 2nd to last day). I'm thinking maybe breakfast, or do you think dinner would be better?

Thanks in advance for all of your opinions!!

 

[stacy6552]

Ok so I picked Crystal Palace, for the food. Best buffets on property. However for chatacter interaction, the Liberty Tree Tavern is the best, no question. They handled our older son's interest great, while they avoided our infant who was terrified. And when the baby was 3, it was the LTT where the light switch went and he loved them.

 

[MissionMouse]

Based upon your childs favorite characters I would say wither Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace. I don't know if you have gone to a character meal before but the amount of time at your table is rather brief.

We found breakfast more peaceful and your child will be fresh and not tired as you could encounter at a dinner. Also buffet dinners tend to be a little on the crazy side as kids are going crazy, grumpy or passing out. Overall CM and CP offer good breakfast buffets. A bonus to scheduling a CP breakfast early is that you can get into the park before the park opens to get some unrushed photos with Main Street almost empty (depending on what else might be going on at WDW at the time).

 

[tlhbdm]

Wow that is a tough choice between ohana bfast and Chef Mickey's bfast. I like both the same. I can't wait to go back and do both. I LOVE Stitch but the food is AWESOME at Chef Mickey's so it depends on who you want to see in my book.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I voted for Chef Mickey's because Mickey is the one your little guy likes the best...so I figure that's where you ought to be! I picked breakfast because IMO the breakfast is better than the dinner and the kids around you (though excited) are less crabby.

The Crystal Palace has the Pooh characters and is IMO the better meal.

But if my kid liked Mickey and Goofy better than Tigger and Piglet, I'd be heading to the Contemporary for some Chef Mickey's!

 

[scrapnmom]

We actually had the best character interaction at the Garden Grill in the Land at Epcot (Chip, Dale, Pluto, Mickey). We've done Crystal Palace for lunch twice and it's just so big you don't get as much time. Last time Pooh didn't even come to our table! We had to go find him on our way out. We've also done O'hana and had a good time.

ETA: same experience at Chef Mickey's. Great food, but so big that one of the characters never made it to our table.

There was a guidebook I read that had a chart of how many tables are in the restaurant and how many characters so you can see where you'd have the most interaction.

 

[Terk-1]

My vote is for the Crystal Palace for dinner (although breakfast is a very close 2nd). Food is great!! This is a must dine for me twice on every trip (once for dinner and once for breakfast)!!

 

[coachyo]

I voted for CP breakfast as that is what your child is really into and as mentioned earlier, breakfast is a better time as the rest factor is not an issue 1st thing in the am and if done early enough you can get in to MK early for a nice little quiet stroll down Main Street. I think you should try this meal early in the stay and add a dinner later in the stay. If the character interaction doesn't go well you can cancell the other. Just my 2 cents.

Have a great time.

YO