Suggestions needed for Character Meals please!

[bbak30]

Hi all,
I'm new here, I've just begun planning our December trip. We have two girls, who will be 5 and 17 months at the time of our trip. I have NO idea what I'm getting into. I went to Disney when I was 10 and don't remember a thing about it. So I'm pretty overwhelmed.

I've been reading a lot, but I'm more confused then when I started. Can you all give me some suggestions for Character meals that you think my girls will enjoy? And do I need to dress them up?
I also remember reading about a tea party that my older daughter can go to, does anyone know what I'm talking about.

Any and all advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
Brittany

 

[PictureJumpr]

Hi all,
I'm new here, I've just begun planning our December trip. We have two girls, who will be 5 and 17 months at the time of our trip. I have NO idea what I'm getting into. I went to Disney when I was 10 and don't remember a thing about it. So I'm pretty overwhelmed.
Welcome to the boards! It can definitely be overwhelming, especially for the first trip where you are the planner - I'm assuming you did not have to think about anything in regards to your last trip?

I've been reading a lot, but I'm more confused then when I started. Can you all give me some suggestions for Character meals that you think my girls will enjoy? And do I need to dress them up?
Dressing up is a personal choice, lots of folks like to do it for the pictures; none of the kids I've traveled with over the years have done so. Their mothers, even if they originally consider it, decide it is too much trouble/uncomfortable since we almost never just go to a meal without heading directly to a park or coming there directly from a park, on most trips.

That being said, the first thing you might want to think about (or ask your 5-yr-old) is, who would you like to meet?
Mickey Mouse? Donald Duck? Princesses? Lilo & Stitch? Chip & Dale?
The next question is, what park will we be in on which day?
If you don't know this already, you may wish to consider meals outside of parks to make sure you don't book something and get 'stuck' going into that park on that day because of the meal arrangements.
Next up, breakfast? Lunch? or Dinner?
The answers to this will depend on budget if you are paying oop (breakfast costs less than lunch which costs less than dinner in all cases), preferences (are you big breakfast people?), availablilty (Chef Mickeys, for example, does not routinely serve lunch, while Ohana does a character meal only at breakfast).

I travel more often with little boys than with little girls, but we still do meals at Akershus (my nephew considers Ariel to be one of his best friends) and usually for breakfast, because their lunch service has gone way downhill and we were dissatisfied with it the last couple of times we tried to do lunch. This one is a good place to meet a bunch of princesses and as a bonus you get a photo package included in the price of the meal.
I personally am a huge fan of the Crystal Palace for breakfast or lunch, they have consistently good food and the characters are very friendly (Pooh and friends).
I am also personally not a fan of Chef Mickey's. It's never clean there and the food is not worth the hassle, to me.
There are a lot of options, like you said it can be overwhelming to consider character meals.

I also remember reading about a tea party that my older daughter can go to, does anyone know what I'm talking about.
There is a tea party at the Grand Floridian with Alice and friends, child only (they give you a pager and you come back to collect her after the party). It's about $40.
They also hold the uber-deluxe perfect princess tea party there; this one is close to $300 for mom and child, and the child will get a tiara and a doll as a gift/souvenir.
You can call Disney to book either of these. I think the perfect-princess one is only on certain days but I don't know which.

Any and all advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
Brittany

In case you might find it useful, here's a list of character meals available:
MK/MK area
Chef Mickey's (breakfast/dinner)@ Contemporary - Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald (I think?)
1900 Park Fare (breakfast) @ Grand Floridian - Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter
1900 Park Fare (dinner) @ Grand Floridian - Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine & Stepsisters
Ohana (breakfast) @ Polynesian - Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto
Crystal Palace (all 3) @ MK - Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet
Cinderella's Royal Table (all 3) @ MK - the 'holy grail' that I don't particularly like

Epcot/Epcot Area
Akershus (all 3) @ Epcot - Varied mix from Belle (photo), Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderella, Alice, Mary Poppins
Garden Grill (dinner) @ Epcot - Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto <<Another of our favorites, the characters are a LOT of fun here>>
Cape May (breakfast) @ Beach Club - Minnie, Donald, Goofy

DHS
Hollywood & Vine (breakfast) - Playhouse Disney folks

AK
Tusker House (breakfast) - Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Goofy


HTH

 

[squirrel]

If your up early, getting into the park before everyone else is fun. Pick a day that there isn't an early AM opening, otherwise you will be up way too early.

Donald's Safari Breakfast in AK is really good. If you don't want an early ADR get a late one 10:30am as the Characters are still there, but it's not very busy so you get lots of attention.

Crystal Palace is another one you can get into the park before it opens. Also good food.

Chef Mickey's-Breakfast was good, haven't been to dinner since 2000. Some have said dinner isn't very good.

1900 Park Fare-dinner has Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step-Sisters and Step-Mother. Breakfast has Mary Poppins, Alice, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger (they may change some of these).

'Ohana breakfast has Lilo and Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. Served family style.

Akershus-Princesses, Photo with Belle. Family style and buffet.

CRT-Princesses, Photo with Cinderella. Family style.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi,

We took our DD(8) to Akershus Princess Breakfast in Epcot last year. We all really enjoyed it, there are about 5 princesses who come around to the tables, then there is one when you go in to get a picture with. The picture is included with the meal. The food was good, they have a home fry casserole that is awesome. My daughter has requested it again this year.

We have been to Garden Grill for lunch and it was good, the character interaction is o.k., I believe there is chip and dale., Mickey and I think Goofey.

This year we are trying 1900 Park Fare for dinner.

I have read mixed reviews on Chef Mickey's and Tusker House.

Good Luck with your choice.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Our favorite character meals are:

CRT, we have enjoyed all meals there, besides it is really that atmosphere of eating in the castle

Crystal Palace, breakfast is better than dinner

Ohana, breakfast, this is DS5 favorite!

Chef Mickey's has all the traditional characters, the kids have really like it, but last fall, we felt as though the food was not great and neither was the character interaction, very rushed and a couple characters skipped our table and we had to keep telling our server to send them over to us.

 

[bbak30]

Thanks everyone! When I asked my DD who she wanted to meet, she said all of them! Yikes
I'm leaning towards Crystal Place for breakfast one day. I don't want to book too many of these things and not be able to enjoy the parks.

 

[djp0630]

Character meals are so much fun, so don't think they are a waste of time! Personally, I would do the following 3:

Chef Mickey's breakfast or dinner - you get to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto

Cinderella Royal Table (CRT)- the princesses, this is a must. Your 5 year old will LOVE it!!! You will get to see Cinderella, Aurora, Belle in her blue dress, Snow White, and most likely Jasmine!

Crystal Palace breakfast before park opening (8AM) - Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, & Piglet.

DD had so much fun at the character meals, she was literally jumping up and down from excitement at Chef Mickey's. If you don't do the castle, I would do Akershus in Norway at Epcot. Also, awesome! Have fun!

 

[Rosetta89]

I would most definitely take them to Akershus(Princess) - Breakfast I wouldn't do Cinderellas Royal Table. Overly priced for not the best food.
I would take them to Crystal Palace for Lunch!!
And lunch or dinner at Cape May Cafe.
I wouldn't do Chef Mickey's :/ I have heard a lot of good things about 1900 Park Fare also so I would definitely recommend that!
Magical Wishes

 

[TaylorsMommy]

I'm planning a trip for late October, so need to make some dining decisions soon. This is my first trip back to WDW since 1993, so LOTS has changed.

My 5 yo daughter is kind of nervous about meeting many of the characters (she loves them, but she's a big scaredey-cat at heart), so I think a princess dining experience is the way to go for her (you can't go wrong with Princesses, right? ). I'm not sure which one makes the most sense, though.

I've read everything I can find on CRT, Akershus, and 1900 Park Fare and am finding mixed reviews on all of them. We'll have 4 adults and one child, so I'd like to find that perfect mix of personal princess interaction and good food (I'm leaning toward dinner - somehow it just seems more "magical"). Does that exist?

 

[PictureJumpr]

My 5 yo daughter is kind of nervous about meeting many of the characters (she loves them, but she's a big scaredey-cat at heart), so I think a princess dining experience is the way to go for her (you can't go wrong with Princesses, right? ). I'm not sure which one makes the most sense, though.
Face characters are generally easier on the little ones who are nervous. We went with my then-4-yr-old nephew a couple of years ago, and while he is not generally a nervous/scared kid, he was very hesitant when we got in line to meet his favorite folks - Chip and Dale. He hid behind a pole and wouldn't go up to them no matter how much his mom asked him to... I knelt down and asked him, what's wrong? The answer: 'They're too big.' As in, they are supposed to be these little chipmunks, not people-sized. He actually didn't warm up to any of the characters until the next day, when we had lunch at Crystal Palace and he met Piglet, quiet, sweet and gentle, not-bouncing, kinda-small (comparatively), piglet.

After that, he was fine with any and everybody we came across.

Ariel is still his bestest friend, though.

I've read everything I can find on CRT, Akershus, and 1900 Park Fare and am finding mixed reviews on all of them. We'll have 4 adults and one child, so I'd like to find that perfect mix of personal princess interaction and good food (I'm leaning toward dinner - somehow it just seems more "magical"). Does that exist?

This combo is particularly difficult when looking for dinner, easier if looking for breakfast (the food at Akershus for breakfast is actually quite good, and there are a bunch of princesses there). The 1900 Park Fare dinner is not too bad food-wise (not our favorite, but not on the 'No way' list yet) - but the characters here are maybe not for the shy. The most fun comes from the Stepsisters and Lady Tremaine, who are not exactly friendly or mild-mannered. On the whole, we just don't do CRT - not worth the trouble or the money for us.