Character meals

[lovemy2girls4eva]

Which character meals do you have booked? Looking for suggestions. It’ll be 2 adults and 2 year old daughter. She loves all characters. Looking for good food selection at all parks and resorts too. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. Thank you!!!

 

[Genie+]

I’m not sure why it feels like we get the best character interactions at Hollywood and Vine in HS. We’ve done most at least twice (except Topolinos) and H&V 4 times in the last 5 years. They’ve been fantastic and fun, in a natural way that gets everybody having a good time. And typically they’re able to make more rounds than most other places, coming back around every 15-20 minutes usually. We do dinner though, so maybe that is different for breakfast.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

I’m not sure why it feels like we get the best character interactions at Hollywood and Vine in HS. We’ve done most at least twice (except Topolinos) and H&V 4 times in the last 5 years. They’ve been fantastic and fun, in a natural way that gets everybody having a good time. And typically they’re able to make more rounds than most other places, coming back around every 15-20 minutes usually. We do dinner though, so maybe that is different for breakfast.

Thank you!! Did you enjoy the food for dinner?

 

[sponica]

I don't do any buffets, it's nothing against buffets, but buffets with kids are just not my preferred way to enjoy vacation.

We tend to do breakfast over other meals, mainly because my kids will eat their weight in breakfast foods.

Our favorite character interactions have been at Topolino's and Garden Grill. I've done GG for both breakfast and lunch but I haven't done breakfast since before COVID.

If you like Stitch, the breakfast at Ohana is fun.

Once my kids are older and can better manage buffets, we'll add Tusker House back into the mix. We went when it was family style post COVID and loved it, but I understand people who were used to the buffet didn't.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

I don't do any buffets, it's nothing against buffets, but buffets with kids are just not my preferred way to enjoy vacation.

We tend to do breakfast over other meals, mainly because my kids will eat their weight in breakfast foods.

Our favorite character interactions have been at Topolino's and Garden Grill. I've done GG for both breakfast and lunch but I haven't done breakfast since before COVID.

If you like Stitch, the breakfast at Ohana is fun.

Once my kids are older and can better manage buffets, we'll add Tusker House back into the mix. We went when it was family style post COVID and loved it, but I understand people who were used to the buffet didn't.

Great point! Thank you!

 

[Doingitagain]

Our favorites are Topolino's and Garden Grill for the grandchildren.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

My favorite is garden grill dinner(so so relaxed and my kids were the most entertained by the characters coming around a lot and also looking at the ride plus I didn't feel too crowded) and runner up is toppolinos breakfast (good food and felt fancy). My daughter's favorite was the princess breakfast at akershus because princesses.

 

[Genie+]

Thank you!! Did you enjoy the food for dinner?

Yes we did. I especially love the salmon at H&V, it’s seasoned and cooked very nicely. Everything is really good though, they keep it interesting and fresh. Like it’s not just generic mashed potatoes, mac n chz, etc. Really good roast beef and ham. There’s always plenty of different things too choose - at least 20 different meats and sides.

Honestly I wasn’t expecting much the first time we booked. It’s been great every time so far. We’ve gone with different people and each has always found stuff they couldn’t get enough - in a good way! Lol. Somethings for everybody

 

[Joanna71985]

I love 1900 Park Fare breakfast

 

[Hubalorian]

Chef Mickey Brunch (around 11:30 or noonish). 4 times
Topalinos breakfast is excellent. 2 times
Garden Grill once and loved it
Akershus Royal Banguet hall for breakfast was really good and saw 4 or five princesses. 1 time

Ohana breakfast was by far my worse dining experience on property. Burnt Mickey Waffles!!!

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

Thank you all!

 

[eliseisawkward]

In the past I’ve been less than thrilled with the food at Chef Mickey, so we booked Topolino’s with our 3yo! We managed to snag a reservation at 12, so it’s “breakfast” at lunch time which will work well for us. We also grabbed 9am at Akershus.

A few years ago (pre kids) we did Tusker House and it was great. My 3yo has never done a buffet, so I’m not sure how well that would go with her.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

In the past I’ve been less than thrilled with the food at Chef Mickey, so we booked Topolino’s with our 3yo! We managed to snag a reservation at 12, so it’s “breakfast” at lunch time which will work well for us. We also grabbed 9am at Akershus.

A few years ago (pre kids) we did Tusker House and it was great. My 3yo has never done a buffet, so I’m not sure how well that would go with her.

Same! So maybe just want to do one buffet and the rest family style!

 

[Rory607]

Ohana at Poly is one of our favorites. We’ve never had a bad experience there. We did Cape May last trip because we were staying at Yacht Club. When our kids were little I chose based on what characters they wanted to see. They loved Crystal Palace for the Winnie the Pooh characters at that age. I don’t remember the food being outstanding, but it was a nice break in MK and they had great character interaction with toddlers.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

Cape May had great character interactions both times we went.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

We liked Crystal Palace because the Pooh characters are great. We also like 1900 Park Fare because the characters are usually ones you don’t see elsewhere and the food was tasty.

For Mickey and friends, we had great interactions at Hollywood and Vine and also Chef Mickey. However the food at Chef Mickey was poor and the ambiance is loud. Hollywood and Vine lunch was surprisingly good and it’s pretty good value for the Fantasmic package that gets you preferred seating at Fantasmic (without having to wait in line).

 

[Specter]

We are taking DD in March when she will be just a few months shy of turning 6. Believe it or not this is her 4th Disney trip, however it will be the first time with just her, DW, and myself, the others have all been extended family trips.

On our last trip in November 2022 we went with DW's sister and her family so we had 3 girls all under 10 at the time and it was their first trip. That time we did Storybook Dining and Hollywood and Vine. Those were both great, particularly Storybook Dining, plus because of the time of year we got to see Wilderness Lodge decorated for Christmas which was nice.

For our upcoming trip we really leaned into making this trip focused on DD (not that we didn't do things she'd like before but there were just more people to entertain). To that end we booked Hollywood and Vine again. The food is ok, not bad at all but also nothing special, but the characters were great, especially with the different seasonal outfits.

We also got a 7:30 Topolino's breakfast. This is perfect for us because we do prioritize park time so we are hoping to still make it to Epcot shortly after opening, but the meal sounded really good, the character costumes are fun, and DD wants to check out the skyliner, too.

And because DD loves princesses we got Akershus for dinner one night and Cinderella's Royal Table on our last night. Looking forward to all of them and making memories.

In the past, long before DD was born, we took an extended family trip with my side of the family and when our niece and nephew were little we did 1900 Park Fare which was pretty good, great character interaction, and Chef Mickey's. That trip was fifteen years ago so take this for what it's worth but I remember Chef Mickey's feeling very chaotic. And, when DD was 10 months old, we went to Tusker House which we liked quite a bit.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

Thanks!