Best Character Meal

[serenitynow]

You can only choose one character meal.

Three boys under 10, first time at Disney World.

Breakfast or dinner, any park or resort.

Which would you pick and why?

 

[1420Elexismc]

My guy loved Garden Grill-he was obsessed with Chip & Dale at the time-so it was a big deal. I actually really enjoyed the food, and we got to see the characters multiple times. It was fun

 

[Shelleyfs]

I think it depends on who your child would like to meet and in what costumes. I think the Tusker House costumes are really cute and they are always very friendly.

 

[1420Elexismc]

I think it depends on who your child would like to meet and in what costumes. I think the Tusker House costumes are really cute and they are always very friendly.

The food there is really good there too...we go every time...another one with great character interaction

 

[RoseGold]

Hollywood and Vine. Food is surprisingly good, buffet is just massive, lunch reasonably priced, seasonal characters are cute, there's plenty of time for interaction, not impossible to book. The pic of three boys with Mickey is the photo you are looking for in the whole trip, really.

I thought Garden Grill was the worst meal I had at Disney, which is a high bar.

I'd consider Snow White at Artist Point, if you think they'd be into a villain experience. This is outside a park, so you can do it on a day without tickets. I would not waste park time traveling to this.

 

[1420Elexismc]

Hollywood and Vine. Food is surprisingly good, buffet is just massive, lunch reasonably priced, seasonal characters are cute, there's plenty of time for interaction, not impossible to book. The pic of three boys with Mickey is the photo you are looking for in the whole trip, really.

I thought Garden Grill was the worst meal I had at Disney, which is a high bar.

I'd consider Snow White at Artist Point, if you think they'd be into a villain experience. This is outside a park, so you can do it on a day without tickets. I would not waste park time traveling to this.

We went to Garden Grill back in 2017...so maybe it's fallen off since then? Wouldn't be the first time that's happened unfortunately

 

[TheGingerMermaid]

Food wise, Tusker House was our favorite. Felt very rushed there though. Was a very eat and get out vibe. Chef Mickeys the characters were great and they came around a bunch of times, food was okay, but I think the restaurant needs a desperate reno.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[Disneykingofkings]

1900 Park for dinner or even for brekkie; different sets of characters at both meals(Cindy and Prince at dinner along with Lady Tremayne, anastasia and drusillia; alice, mad hatter, mary poppins, and some pooh characters at brekkie) now if it will only open again?????

 

[elvispursley]

We LOVE 1900 Park Fare and wish they'd open it again. The Cinderella "villains" were the absolute best character interactions ever. We have some of the best pics with our two DS with Cinderella. And as a vegetarian, thought the food was quite passable for "good" for a buffet!

 

[Disneykingofkings]

Cindy has always been my favorite and she gives me the loving magic when she sees me

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

Chip and Dale are our favorite characters at character dining. They are so entertaining.

Garden Grill is my favorite because of C&D, Mickey’s farmer costume, delicious food, and the view into the Living with Land attraction.

Honorable mention to Hollywood and Vine and Tusker House.

 

[_19disnA]

We had dinner at both Garden Grill & Chef Mickey during a prior Disney trip. The small children enjoyed both. Breakfast seems to be more crowded/hectic at Chef Mickey's due to those eating and then heading off to a park. We stayed at the Contemporary and you could see a huge line of people every morning. It seemed the characters can spend a bit more time at Garden Grill since it isn't as crowded. We enjoyed the food at both places.

The Disney website shows that Garden Grill doesn't serve breakfast only lunch & dinner. It also seems that breakfast was more rushed due to the people hurrying to eat and then racing off to a park. Dinner is more relaxed and didn't seem as hectic to us, but just depends on what you prefer.

 

[pinkxray]

Based on your Info, I would pick Tuskerhouse breakfast. After that I would pick either Ohana or Chef Mickey. I always prefer breakfast as I typically don’t like buffet lunches or dinner.
My 8 year old son likes to think he is too cool for character meals but always love them once we get there. He had fun at Toppolino and Crystal Palace this year.
We loved Garden Grill breakfast but since that hasn’t returned we wont go back until it does.

We haven’t gotten the choice to try Park Faire or Bon Voyage. Hope they return soon.

 

[tetera]

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[maryblanchard49]

Garden Grill located at The Land Pavillion at Epcot is my favorite as of now. My kids loved not only getting to see the Disney Characters like Mickey, Goofy etc. but, also enjoyed the rotating scenery. Each time I've been the food has been amazing!

 

[B-Ride]

The food there is really good there too...we go every time...another one with great character interaction

Good food and characters. Hard to beat that combination. Of course the characters they like and their taste in food may play a part too.

 

[DonTheDuck]

Toppolinos breakfast is the best character meal right now.

Looking forward to trying Hollywood and vine in a couple weeks. We will also be trying cape may breakfast for the first time and having dinner at be our guest and Cinderella. So we take our character dining pretty seriously

Also - now that the Winnie the Pooh characters are back at Crystal Palace - I personally think that is a nice experience for breakfast and easily able to book.

 

[PinkPixel]

Garden Grill, most laidback and personal character experience you can get, IMO (No Minnie, Daisy or Donald though) . Food has always been pretty reliable. Nice salad, Blue Moon on tap was great and I also enjoyed the meal, but mostly my kids having fun.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

This is a really tough question to answer. I think you have to consider what sort of experience/characters that your boys would like to have/see. Cinderella's Royal Table was amazing for my son when he was 6, but all the princesses were coming out then. Not sure if it's still only Cinderella dancing in the middle of the room? She used to greet guests at the entrance and provide a photo opportunity prior to the meal.

Chef Mickey's is a great experience for meeting all the classic characters. One of my son's favorite experiences. He also enjoys all the options at the buffet.