What is your favorite Character Dining location / meal and why?

[lawgirl]

We just got back from Aulani, and did the character brunch there. My little boy (2 yr old) LOVED it.

We have never done a character dining meal at WDW (after 30 years of vacations!), and we are not doing the DDP, but we are hoping to do 1 character meal in September. My son loves Mickey and the gang.

Where is your #1 pick for dining with the characters? We'll probably be at AK and Epcot, and will be able to hit any of the resorts as well.

Thanks!

[Jillirose]

We love Cape May at BC, because of the character interactions. There is a constant flow of the characters and they spend lots of time at your table, taking as many pics as you want.

[ElenitaB]

Oh, I do hope you've written a trip report about Aulani. I really can't wait to go there!

We have a few favorite character meals, but these are the ones that I'd suggest for a two year old:

Garden Grill (dinner) — the rotating restaurant helps keep little ones (and their parents) occupied and entertained between visits from Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Since you're either seated in booths with high sides or in tables, and all these tables are arranged around the circular center of the restaurant, the littlest (and maybe most impatient) members of your party don't really see the characters coming. We've also had the most fun with the characters at this restaurant. The food ain't half bad either! ;)

Crystal Palace — while this restaurant does have its faults, we do like it. Good selection of food, no matter when you go (breakfast, lunch or dinner), and the characters are fun ... and even patient with little ones who are still deciding whether they like these big furry creatures looming over them or not.

Cape May (breakfast) — Smaller than Chef Mickey's and with fewer characters (only Minnie, Goofy and Pluto here), I think that's an advantage for a 2-yr old rather than a flaw. I have seen some of the issues that have led me to dislike CM's here but on a much smaller scale.

Tusker House (breakfast and lunch) — Lots of characters here (including but not limited to Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey, from what I recall) but you can be seated in a room far from the food which could be a problem in that it means that one of the parental units will have to stay at the table while the other is off hunting and gathering the food.

'Ohana (breakfast) — If you don't mind the Pacific Island vibe having just been to Aulani, this is a fun meal with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. Food is good, they bring it to you (a plus in my book when travelling with a little one) and it doesn't get terribly, terribly crowded (at least when we've been) which translates into more time with the characters.

Have fun planning! :mickey:

[lawgirl]

Thanks guys! Very helpful info. I hear mostly good things about Ohana so we'll probably do that one.

I haven't written a trip report re: Aulani yet. We only visited for the day (my sister lives in Honolulu so we stayed with her). The property is GORGEOUS!. It reminds me of the AKL atmostphere but with a Polynesian, very sophisticated Hawaiian theme. I would love to stay there. The Makahiki Character Buffet was awesome...great food, lots of time with the characters, great service...we are making it an annual tradition for our Hawaii trips. I have nothing negative to report. It was a gorgeous place with great food. And my son spent over 5minutes with Mickey Mouse all to himself...we went on a weekday and it was not crowded at all, and he was able to run up to Mickey (where on earth other than Aulani can you do that?!) and spent so much time with him, it was unbelievable. And the CM's were loving it. They took tons of photos of them together, and did the "hot dog" dance...just amazing memories!

The beach at Ko Olina is perfect...I've been to Hawaii 10 times, and this is the first time my sister has taken me to the Ko Olina lagoon, and it is my new favorite beach on Oahu...especially travelling with a 2 year old. It was perfect.

There is still some construction going on at Aulani, but the disruption is minimal.

Again, I would LOVE to stay there at some point. Just gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

[Fastpasssteve]

ElenitaB gave very good info.

My favorite character dining location has come to be the Garden Grill in the Land Pavillion. I love the food, it is easy for kids to find something to eat, and the character interaction is great. The characters come by at least twice during the normal meal. Character interaction does not feel rushed here. Plenty of time for fooling around and taking pictures.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

Garden Grill and Tusker House for the reasons that Elenita listed.

[wendybird]

My son LOVED Tusker House for breakfast. The food is typical breakfast buffet selection, but they did have a special buffet especially for kids that my son could serve himself at and he loved it. Characters were great and games played with kids (sort of like Ohana style). Best part was we booked it very early for before AK opened. Got to stroll in through the empty park and then we were the first to hop on the Safari (right next door to restaurant)when the park opened. Great experience!

[stitchaholic]

Cape May at BC is definitly a top character meal for many reasons ;

character interaction is always how it should be here , not rushed , characters are in character and having fun

the restaurant is always bright and sunny , love the beach themes and sandcastle art

the food is awesome , the baked french toast is calling me now ......

[TinkerbellT421]

My character favorites out of the ones DBF and I have done are:

Magic Kingdom: Crystal Palace, Winnie the Pooh and Friends are the characters here. The food we found to be excellent and the character interaction was phenomenal. Tigger tried to kidnap me, it was so cute! We had a blast here, it was DBF and I's first trip to Disney together and this was our first dinner there so it holds a special place in my heart for sentimental reasons. But it was really good.

Epcot: Akershus breakfast with the Princesses. We enjoyed the food a lot, especially the fruit bar. But the food was different but good, it was mostly Norwegian foods which we found to be delicious. Princess interaction was the best, even compared to the Castle, it was definitely worth the money which was not all that expensive at all.

Garden Grill: Dinner, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale. The food was delicious, characters were great and I was super excited to meet Chip and Dale that trip. We had a great time, and all the food is made there in Epcot, the food you see when you go on the ride next door, I'm blanking out on the name of it, but the boat ride where you go through all the "farm" like areas and they show you how they grow their foods, etc. First time I ever ate Catfish and actually found it to be quite good even though I was petrified to try it.

And of course, Chef Mickeys, Mickey and friends for characters. Food was decent, expensive but good and character's were a lot of fun.

[whitney37354]

Two year old boy @ character meal, AK, EPCOT & resorts:

AK: Tusker House breakfast-good food
EPCOT: Garden Grill dinner-great character interaction, rotating restaurant, intimate setting
Resort: O'hana breakfast-loved the food, great group picture, cute kids parade

Mickey is at all three. I'd go with O'hana!

[Tinkerbella16]

Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary is my favorite for breakfast!

Crystal Palace is a great one for in the park dining.

Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club was always a favorite of ours and the easy access to Epcot and DHS is great!

[eandrsmom]

As far as LOCATION, we like Chef Mickeys. We always go our arrival night for an early dinner. That way, my little ones get the meet and greets with the main characters out of the way, and we can enjoy MK the rest of the night without having to hunt down the characters. The food is okay, in my opinion, there are better dining options. However, you're paying for the whole experience, not just the food.

[brownie]

Our favorite is Goofy's Beach Bash Character Breakfast at Cape May Cafe. We like the layout of the buffet and the atmosphere. We've always gone first thing in the morning and it's never been packed or real loud.

[i'm grumpy]

O'Hana! We have been to Chef Mickey's, but the last few times we couldn't get a table for a party of 2!

[ANG]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Chef Mickey's for breakfast!

We like that it's on the monorail so it's easy to visit before Epcot or MK. They have so many great food choices on the buffet. And we love getting the Fab Four!

[Imalismom]

Another vote for Chef Mickey's.

My all time favorite would not be a good deal for a young boy, and the food is not that super great, but I LOVE breakfast at CRT in the magic kingdom... Gotta love breakfast in the castle....

[Imalismom]

Wilderness Lodge October 2012!

Are you going to to Intercot Meet in October? I will be at the WL that weekend, so was wondeing...

[chefmickey3]

We had great character interaction at O'Hana. Food was good. We are trying Tusker House this year for the first time. Beach Club is one of our favorites too. I don't think you can go wrong!

[hope2survive]

We love CP for breakfast and have never had a trip yet without dining there. The characters are great, the food is good, but I think it is the bright and sunny Victorian atmosphere of the place that does it for me. I love the feeling of stepping out of there right in the park.

[DisneyorBust]

Crystal Palace breakfast, we really enjoy being in a near empty Magic Kingdom and enjoying a prety good breakfast too!