What Character Meal is your personal favorite?

[DisneyYorkie]

We haven't done many character dining over the years, but did visit Chef Mickey's (with the Mouse Couple) I believe it was '10, LOVED IT! And on this past trip we dined at Crystal Palace with them, we really loved the food and the characters, of course!

B-dude and I did Cinderella's Castle in '08 and really loved it! The atmosphere is great. I had reviews where people said they felt rushed, but we really didn't. The food was good too! I was even given my very own magic wand!

Wow! Sounds like Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace win again!

I love character meals. I'm thinking that even when I'm eighty I'll be doing character meals!

[Amy]

We've only ever had a character dessert at the Garden Grill. The meals are generally too expensive for us but Disney visa had a promotion once for the garden grill, just for an ice cream sundae. Chip and Dale were great there. I don't remember any other characters being there. Our only other character meal was out in DL at Chef Goofys. There were lots of characters there. The only ones we have photos with are Goofy and Snow White I think. Once again, once Frontier deems us worthy of Internet again I'll have to put those pics up. I have a great one of F1gment and Snow White

[Len90]

Wow! Sounds like Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace win again!

I love character meals. I'm thinking that even when I'm eighty I'll be doing character meals!

My personal feeling is that you are never too old for Disney World and age is just a number. My brother and I are 25 and 21 respectively and some of our favorite meals are with the characters. I personally think that as you get older you are able to appreciate and interact with the characters in a different way. On our last trip we had Chip and Dale throwing sugar packets at us.

[DisneyYorkie]

My personal feeling is that you are never too old for Disney World and age is just a number. My brother and I are 25 and 21 respectively and some of our favorite meals are with the characters. I personally think that as you get older you are able to appreciate and interact with the characters in a different way. On our last trip we had Chip and Dale throwing sugar packets at us.

You are so right. In fact, I never even went to a character meal until I was an adult! In fact, I never even went to WDW at all until I was 19 or 20, I believe. And even then, I didn't attend a character meal until we took our kids for the first time.

[Mark86]

Last year, I was very impressed with Crystal Palace. Food was excellent and characters spent a decent amount of time per table. I almost had to be wheeled out of the restaurant I ate so much. I am salivating just typing this!

Garden Grill is another one of my favorites. Food is fresh and tasty but not much variety. Characters are VERY friendly. They spend a lot of time at each table and interact with the guests. I once got into a sugar packet fight with Chip and Dale Len90 probably also has some fond memories from that place as well thanks to me.

[Sharonofwindham]

The only one I have ever done was Crystal Palace, and that was for the great food, not the characters. Have to say I'm not really into that sort of thing unless we have kids along on the trip. The first time we went there were no kids in our party, but I still found it to be fun watching other children's reaction to the Pooh crew The food was excellent the first time I went, and very good the second. I happened to be at the bread/salad counter when a window/shutter sort of thing opened just behind, and it was a chef asking how everything was, and he so reminded me of the wizard from the W of Oz when they get to the door at the emerald city and he tells them to go away :lol:It freaked me out a bit! Never know what to expect @ Disney

[secondstar]

For me, Crystal Palace is my absolute favorite character meal, followed closely by Chef Mickey's. They both just embody what is so magical about Disney.

On a different note: I was struck by how few posts stated Cinderella Castle since it is one of the hardest tickets to procure.

[Amy]

The only one I have ever done was Crystal Palace, and that was for the great food, not the characters. Have to say I'm not really into that sort of thing unless we have kids along on the trip. The first time we went there were no kids in our party, but I still found it to be fun watching other children's reaction to the Pooh crew The food was excellent the first time I went, and very good the second. I happened to be at the bread/salad counter when a window/shutter sort of thing opened just behind, and it was a chef asking how everything was, and he so reminded me of the wizard from the W of Oz when they get to the door at the emerald city and he tells them to go away :lol:It freaked me out a bit! Never know what to expect @ Disney

I can just imagine how startled I would be if the chef had done that to me What fun that he was taking the time to inquire though

For me, Crystal Palace is my absolute favorite character meal, followed closely by Chef Mickey's. They both just embody what is so magical about Disney.
On a different note: I was struck by how few posts stated Cinderella Castle since it is one of the hardest tickets to procure.

I've read so many reviews that state the food is just so-so at Cinderella's Castle though. I wonder if that is more why people aren't mentioning it??

[cousininmiami]

I like the Crystal Palace the best because it's inside the Magic Kingdom! But when it comes to our favorite buffet, I would have to say Ohana is by far the favorite of the entire family! A very close second is the Cape May seafood buffet at the Beach Club, it's expensive but worth it!

[leblanan]

Chef Mickey is my all time favorite. The rest of the family also lose 1900 Park, but I love the Contemporary and the classic characters.

[Brian845]

I think I like Crystal Palace the best, just because it's tradition:). Donald's Safari Breakfast is a close second tho, I love the juice (mango?)! I wasn't a huge fan of dinner at the Castle...My boys aren't into princesses, and our waiter was surly on our recent trip!

[Amy]

I think I like Crystal Palace the best, just because it's tradition:). Donald's Safari Breakfast is a close second tho, I love the juice (mango?)! I wasn't a huge fan of dinner at the Castle...My boys aren't into princesses, and our waiter was surly on our recent trip!

How did you end up at the castle with 2 small boys anyhow? Was it more for the experience of eating in the castle more than anything?

[Brian845]

I think I like Crystal Palace the best, just because it's tradition:). Donald's Safari Breakfast is a close second tho, I love the juice (mango?)! I wasn't a huge fan of dinner at the Castle...My boys aren't into princesses, and our waiter was surly on our recent trip!

How did you end up at the castle with 2 small boys anyhow? Was it more for the experience of eating in the castle more than anything?

It was actually for our 10th wedding anniversary...We ate in the castle 10 years ago on our honeymoon. It was a very different experience!

[Amy]

I think I like Crystal Palace the best, just because it's tradition:). Donald's Safari Breakfast is a close second tho, I love the juice (mango?)! I wasn't a huge fan of dinner at the Castle...My boys aren't into princesses, and our waiter was surly on our recent trip!

How did you end up at the castle with 2 small boys anyhow? Was it more for the experience of eating in the castle more than anything?

It was actually for our 10th wedding anniversary...We ate in the castle 10 years ago on our honeymoon. It was a very different experience!

I can imagine what a different meal it would be 10 years and a couple sons later! Fun that you did it though ~ nice way to celebrate your anniversary!

[momeja]

I think we've managed to do them all over the years.

For a long time, Crystal Palace was our favourite, but the character experience can be hit or miss, and I've seen kids in tears there as a result.

Me, I think you're paying the extra money for the characters, so I tend to judge the restaurants based on character interaction.
My top 3 are:
Park Fare, both breakfast and dinner.
Cape May Cafe
Garden Grill - I love the revolving restaurant, too

We've found the characters at the Princess meals (Akershus and CRT) and Chef Mickey's were too rushed: quick signature, take a picture and move on. Chef Mickey's used to take more time, but it seems like less and less over the years. We used to love going there but not so much anymore.

The worst character experience we ever had was a Breakfastasaurus. It really felt like an assembly line experience. I just realized that we've never been to the Tusker House Breakfast that replaced it. I hope it's better.