Top 3 character meals: Classic, splurge, and newbie

[Jedimom3]

We've done so many character meals over the years, with many great meals and interactions. One summer trip, we did 5 in a row....FIVE....by the end of the week, I was like 'omg, here they come again, I just wanna eat my meal in peace!!!"

It's hard to say our top 3 only because some were good when kids were younger, vs some just being good no matter what age.

I think our favorites for food would be Tusker House, great character interaction

Akershus....yes we actually like the crazy cold fish and weird cheese buffet at Akershus, plus princesses are great there.


Chef Mickey---worst food of all our buffet, BUT the BEST character interaction of all. It was fun

Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Faire were also fun when we did them, and food was good enough, standard buffet food.

Hollywood and Vine--DH and kids loved it, I've gotten sick both times....

Garden Grill--fun, but again, I got sick....maybe I just need to avoid buffets....

Never done any breakfast buffets, except the one Star wars weekend one at Sci Fi. I sure hope they bring back a Star wars character meal. that was awesome!

Fave then would be Tusker, Akershus, and any one of the others depending on which characters you want to meet, as all others food is just standard, not bad, but nothing special

(non character buffets tho--Boma and Cape May are our faves...and O'hana!)

[Brian5581]

Originally Posted by brp

Oh, Norway was quite scenic. Particularly the busload of young ladies descending on Oslo for a bachelorette party. Both mrs. brp and I like blondes

Cheers.

Sounds absolutely spectacular.

[cornbread4]

Originally Posted by Jedimom3

Garden Grill--fun, but again, I got sick....maybe I just need to avoid buffets....

Is Garden Grill sometimes a buffet? I have often have bad luck with buffets too . We've only been there one time for dinner and it was a set-course meal (no choices).

[MagicAllAroundUs]

Originally Posted by cornbread4

Is Garden Grill sometimes a buffet? I have often have bad luck with buffets too . We've only been there one time for dinner and it was a set-course meal (no choices).

It’s not a buffet, but it’s a fixed price family style character meal brought to your table. Best character interaction because due to its small size, characters can spend extra time with you. We have had Mickey sit down at our table for a little bit and usually meet each character two or three times.

[cornbread4]

Originally Posted by MagicAllAroundUs

It’s not a buffet, but it’s a fixed price family style character meal brought to your table. Best character interaction because due to its small size, characters can spend extra time with you. We have had Mickey sit down at our table for a little bit and usually meet each character two or three times.

ah- good. We thought it was the best character meal of all the ones we did. Like you, long interactions, and seemed less rushed, and the food was great. But that would depend on the menu each time.

[MagicAllAroundUs]

Originally Posted by cornbread4

ah- good. We thought it was the best character meal of all the ones we did. Like you, long interactions, and seemed less rushed, and the food was great. But that would depend on the menu each time.

We’ve dined there three times; once on every October/November visit for the past three years and the food has been the same each time. Not sure if that was the case due to us going at the same time of year each time..

[rachstar]

Our favorite is Cinderella's Royal Table, such a great experience dining in the Castle!

Garden Grill is a great place to have breakfast, we love to see Chip n Dale along with Mickey and Pluto.

Ohana is a must if you love Stitch!

Others we have been to are Akershus, BOG (not exactly a character meal but you do get to meet Beast), & Tusker House.

[jedwards]

We love 1900 Park Fare dinner. It is a ton of fun with the stepsisters and good food. We loved the food at Ohana breakfast as well. For character interaction nothing beats Chef Mickeys breakfast (food is just regular breakfast food)

Our very worst experience was at Crystal Palace, that was a one and done for us.

[K&P]

We just got back from our first Disney trip with children. So our experience with character meals is limited. Prior to having little ones with us we focused more on quick small meals that got us back onto rides quickly.

As far as character meals we did Chef Mickeys and Tusker House on our trip.
We did both at breakfast time.

The quality of Chef Mickeys food was slightly below par, I think they benefited from it being breakfast food which is pretty easy to do an average job at. The interaction was awesome though! Our 3 year old loved waving his napkin with the characters!

Tusker House has some great food and a wonderful variety. The character interaction was top notch too. Watching our three year old follow Minnie with a shaker and dancing around the room was very cute!

I guess we did do a character meal without kids years back. We were at either the Swan or Dolphin for breakfast and Chip n Dale and Pluto were there. It was us and two other families so we had tons of interactions as the characters kept coming back. Chip n Dale sat at our table for a while and one of the two of them basically offered to take care of my pregnant wife! They were hilarious!

[inadaisyworld]

Originally Posted by ResalesDVC

Character meals are special experiences offered at various restaurants throughout the Walt Disney World theme parks and resorts that allow guests to enjoy a meal while interacting with characters. Characters and food?! What’s not to love, right? Take a closer look at three of our favorites here:

TOP 3 CHARACTER MEALS: CLASSIC, SPLURGE, AND NEWBIE

Which Character Meal is your favorite?

My favorite is Chef Mickey's. I know it's not always known to have the best food but its become a tradition in our family to have breakfast there on our departure day since we aren't in the parks that day either. Love the nostalgia of riding the monorail there and passing MK and entering the Contemporary and the submersion of Disney Fab 5 theming in the restaurant is our kids favorite! Next trip I really want to try Minnie's Seasonal Dine at H&V.