Crystal Palace/Other Character Dining

[familyof5]

Hey all! I'm planning my family's first ever trip to Disney in December:)

Is Crystal Palace the only place that has character dining with Pooh and friends?

Also...what other character dining would you recommend for kids that are 12, 10, & 8 ??

Since we aren't getting park hoppers, I need to plan some of this out. I just made reservations for Cinderella's Royal table for my daughter and myself...SO EXCITED!!

[poohspal]

Congratulations on your 1st Disney trip! I hope it is a magical one. Crystal Palace is the only place to dine with Pooh and friends. It is a favorite of ours, and a must-do on every trip. We also like Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club, Garden Grill in Epcot, and 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. Akershus in Norway (Epcot) is good too, but it has princesses and you may not want that if you are going to dine at Cinderella's Castle.

Happy planning!
Liz

[familyof5]

Congratulations on your 1st Disney trip! I hope it is a magical one. Crystal Palace is the only place to dine with Pooh and friends. It is a favorite of ours, and a must-do on every trip. We also like Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club, Garden Grill in Epcot, and 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. Akershus in Norway (Epcot) is good too, but it has princesses and you may not want that if you are going to dine at Cinderella's Castle.

I don't need a park pass for Chef Mickey's, since it at the Contemporary resort, right?

[forever a child]

I don't need a park pass for Chef Mickey's, since it at the Contemporary resort, right?

Correct! ;)

[faline]

Are your kids all girls? I'm guessing not since you mentioned "daughter".

[familyof5]

Are your kids all girls? I'm guessing not since you mentioned "daughter".

12 & 10 year olds are boys...8 year old is the daughter!!

[BelleKP]

Congrats on your first trip!! :thumbsup: You will undoubtedly have a wonderful time!! :cloud9:

As for character meals, we usually do three. One with Pooh, one with Mickey and one with the princesses (2 girls myself!). You've got the princess meal covered, so I would definitely say Crystal Palace for sure! Both breakfast and lunch/dinner menus here are good.
As for Mickey and friends, I would say either Donald's Safari Breakfast at AK or if you would rather do dinner than Chef Mickey's at Contemporary.
Now that being said, we really like Chip and Dale . . . if you do too, than I would suggest Garden Grill at EP!! :D
Whatever you decided, you will have a great time I'm sure!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Some of the better non-princess meals, at least for our family are: Tusker House at AK for breakfast and Garden Grill at Epcot for dinner.

Enjoy! :eat:

[dmallan]

1900 Park Fare in the GF has Pooh and Tigger along with Mad hatter, Alice and Mary Poppins for breakfast.

[eeyoremom]

Try to make a reservation for before the Magic Kingdom opens. There is nothing like walking into the park with only a handful of other people-best pictures of the castle ever. We always go to an 8 am breakfast at Crystal Palace, even with just adults. It's one of our favorite things to do on every trip. Enjoy!!!

[SnowWhiteMom]

Ohana at the Polynesian has Lilo & Stitch.

[Brooklynos]

My DH and I LOVE the Crystal Palace breakfast, we always eat there before the park opens so we have time to take pictures!!! We did Chef Mickeys for the first time last trip and loved it too, plus you don't have to have park tickets. For your daughter, Akershus Princess Breakfast was great for character interaction, the food was so/so but overall a good time. PLus you get to walk through EPCOT before it opens! That was really neat!!!

[familyof5]

Thanks for the advice everyone! It is MUCH appreciated!!

[magicalmom]

We have had some of our happiest character interactions at the lunch buffet at Hollywood and Vine in the DHS. (Assuming they still offer a lunch buffet?) Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale. Sort of a Hollywood/Guys and Dolls look, everybody in suits, or gowns. It's been a while, though.

[finaldynasty]

Its not a character meal, but I would recommend the Hoop de Doo Revue. The other meal I would request is the breakfast with Donald, Mickey and friends at the Tusker house in AK.

[5togetherWDW]

We have had some of our happiest character interactions at the lunch buffet at Hollywood and Vine in the DHS. (Assuming they still offer a lunch buffet?) Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale. Sort of a Hollywood/Guys and Dolls look, everybody in suits, or gowns. It's been a while, though.

That was one of our favorites, as well. Unfortunately, they changed characters / theming. They now only have pre-school / playhouse Disney characters. :(

Loved it before -- but only went once since the change -- such a letdown! I doubt Little Einsteins or Jojo and Goliath will be a thrill for yours. I heard Goliath was leaving, to be replaced by another -- Handy Manny, maybe? Still, not right for us with older children/ children at heart . . . .

Sure wish they'd bring back the old Hollywood feel / Mickey and pals to this one.

[homeschool mom]

I'll cast my vote for Chef Mickey's and the Hoop Dee Doo. We just took our kiddos (DDs 19, 17 & 16 and DSs 11 & 9) to the HDD for the first time and they loved it! We have only ever done Chef Mickey's for breakfast so I can't comment on lunch or dinne. The breakfast is good and the whole atmosphere with character interaction is a lot of fun.

[forever a child]

DD and I have loved our interaction and meal at Garden Grill! Trying two new Character Meals for our Dec trip (1900 Park Fare for Breakfast and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for Dinner) but we will miss not visiting the GG!

[KAT1811]

Try to make a reservation for before the Magic Kingdom opens. There is nothing like walking into the park with only a handful of other people-best pictures of the castle ever.


:ditto:


My DH and I LOVE the Crystal Palace breakfast, we always eat there before the park opens . . .


:ditto:


We also really enjoy 1900 Park Fare the dinner is with Cinderella and friends and the breakfast had a bunch of different characters the Mad Hatter being the best of all the chracters we saw on the whole trip!!!

Have an amazing first trip!!!

[wdwfansince75]

Over the years, we have always done at least 2 character meals on every trip. We have never had a bad character meal! We have had kids and grandkids from 6 months to adults....
That said, our favorite is Donald's Safari Breakfast...food and character interaction are wonderful. It allows you to have breakfast before AK opens, then to do a full day at AK...or do as we do...some of us open the park on an EMH day, than join the others for a late breakfast at DSB, and then, use the FP's we gathered earlier. Makes AK a full day park!
We also really enjoyed the Garden Grill...Characters really were great. Food is served family style, so you don't worry about missing characters while kids are doing the buffet.
Never did the Cape May breakfast...transportation to/fm Beach Club, if you are not doing Epcot or DHS that day, can be an issue...
Poly (Ohana for Breakfast), CR (Chef Mickey's, breakfast and dinner), and GF (1900 Park Faire, breakfast and dinner) have great character meals, outside the parks. My dream is to celebrate our 50th on June 13, 2014, with a family dinner at 1900 Park Faire.
Our last several trips to Crystal Palace were fun, but since we usually have parties of more than 8, we are always seperated at CP...Plus we have experienced longer waits.
We did Christmas Dinner at Hollywood and Vine years ago, with a party of 16 (!)...It was my most favorite all time Christmas...and I've had 68 Christmases...but they have changed the characters.

[minnie-mouse]

Definitely Chef Mickeys and OHana's breakfast is a lot of fun too.

[Mary Poppins fan]

My kids (DS15 & DDs 9) absolutely love the food at the Pooh Breakfast at the Crystal Palace - it is a must for our family every year. Ditto to the suggestion to getting an ADR early in the morning. For years we took our Christmas card pictures on Main Street with almost no one else in the background. In fact, my husband jokes that we have had the most expensive Christmas cards ever! ;)