Character dining

[kingsimbabear]

Need advice on a good place to take toddler boy for first character dining expreience at WDW. We are staying at SSR, but are open to other resorts. Also, should we do more than one character dining? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Lizzie]

The best things about charachter dinning is you don't have to wait in long lines to see the charachters and they come to your table. So if your son likes charachters I would do more than one and try to do meals with different charachters. But if your son is afraid of them I wouldn't do more than one, and your meals are a little more chaotic, because you always stop eating to talk to the charachters and there is always stuff to watch. The food is great and our kids love it.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

My kids love breakfast with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace in MK. That is our favorite.

Chef Mickey's is great too.

My DD 3, loved the Playhouse Disney meal (Play and DIne I think) at MGM. We had lunch there.

I have heard the Garden Grill in The Land in Epcot is also great, as is the Libery Tree Tavern.

The only one we do not like is Donald's Breakfast in AK. I think they are changing that one though.

I would do more then one. Just make sure you check the characters that are normally there so you can get different ones. :mickey:

Have fun!!

[wifey5794]

You didn't mention how old your toddler is but I would probably do Crystal Palace for the Pooh characters or Chef mickey's for the mickey characters. We had one child who was afraid of th character when she was a toddler, but for some reason seeing a big Winnie the Pooh was okay!!!

[Dizneyfan]

I would suggest taking him to the Crystal Palace:pooh::roo::piglet::eeyore: or Chef Mickey's:minnie2::mickey2::pluto::goofy2:
Both of these are good choices because most little kids know who all of them are.
We went a few years ago and they really interacted well with our two children.

[Rica]

I second that! We brought my DS for his first character dining to Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's. He loved them both; they are my favorite too. :pooh::mickey2:

[TheMartellFamily]

This is what our family does. We do Chef Mickeys for breakfast and for lunch or dinner we make PS for Crystal Palace. Both are great character meals with a buffet and lots of things for everyone to find something to eat.

[Harkleroad]

I just booked for Chef Mickey's our 1st night in Dec. I am hoping it will be a great way to start the trip. Our little boy will be 20 months then and already loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Winnie the Pooh. So our second night will be dinner at Crystal Palace and MVMCP. I am hoping he'll love them in person as much as he does on tv.

[goofyandmax]

Chef Mickeys is cool because you take the monorail to get there. Ask to sit up front with the driver. Anyway, Chef Mickeys was my DS favorite Character meal.

[tinksmom02]

Another vote for Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace, but if your DS is into Little Einsteins and/or JoJo's circus, he might enjoy Play N Dine at Hollywood and Vine.

If I were you, I would make more than one ADR for character dining. If your son had a negative experience at the first meal, you can always cancel the others!

[mook3y]

I would say it would really depend on if your toddler has an absolute favorite character.

For us, our kids LOVE JoJo, little einsteins and chip n' dale.

So for us, the Playhouse Disney at MGM and LTT in MK were high on our kids (both toddlers) favorite places.

I think it is hard to go wrong with any of the character meals. We are going to be doing 5 of them this year. :mickey:

[Mickey91]

I agree, it is more about who is his favorite character.

Mickey and Gang- Chef Mickeys
Playhouse Disney - Hollywood and Vine
Pooh and Friends - Crystal Palace

[Mom to a Princess and a Prince]

We just had breakfast at Cape May Cafe in May. My 4 year old DS loved it. We visited with Chip, Dale, Goofy and Minnie. And the food was great!

[LibertyTreeGal]

Dittos on Crystal Palace (1st choice) and Chef Mickeys. The CP characters might be a bit more warm and fuzzy and identifiable to your son. But, like others have said, who does he love the most???

[Dznygrl79]

Okay I will admit it I am a total Charcter meal fanatic! I have no kids of my own but in October we went down with my Godaughter and she LOVED the playhouse disney lunch and MGM. The staff was wonderful and the characters are ones she recognized from playhouse disney (gotta love JoJo!).
I have also done Chef Mickeys sans child and loved it myself! I also enjoyed the Ohana breakfast so if you have a Stitch loving toddler that could be awsome.

[peaceful19]

It's funny not to see many recommendations for the Garden Grill. I love this place. Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale are resident characters there and dress in their famer work clothes. I have gone there for lunch each of my last three visits and was pleased each time. Not only do the characters come to the table, I have found them to be very interactive and ready to pose for many pictures. We have had all the characters come to our table at least twice a visit and once even three times.

As a bonus plan, the food is very good. The restaurant rotates ever so slowly and that adds to the fun as well. As you turn, you are able to look down into the ride that goes through the Land and hydroponic gardens.

My 7 -year-old granddaughter loved it and so did my 65 -year-old mother-in-law.

[moe513]

CP has winnie the pooh characters and very good buffet food.

[DawsonAR]

I think the best character meal is at the Garden Grill. It isn't as loud as some of the others.

[DREAMADREAM93]

Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, Donald's Breakfast, Liberty Tree Tavern.

For a 3 y.o. boy, all of those are GREAT. I never realized how much of the parks were geared towards girls until i really thought about it!

JOrdan :]

[CU Tiger]

We have not experienced all of the character dinning locations, but of the ones we have gone to, Chef Mickey’s has been the best:thumbsup:. We have been here for both the breakfast and dinner sittings. Here you see more of the classic Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, Goofy, etc.. It is also fun to take the monorail there. :mickey:

[kingsimbabear]

Thanks for all the info! I will clarify that my son will be almost 3 at the time of the trip. He is a big fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins, so I will definitely check out Playhouse Disney at Hollywood & Vine and Chef Mickeys. I am also interested in the Garden Grill. What is best for all of the above: B,L or D?