Advice on character dining

[mrtoad]

I am glad you did. It really is one of the nicest themed places to eat at WDW. They really went to town when creating it. If you get a chance to sit by the windows, check out the glass. I believe it is antique leaded glass but might be just recreated using the same process. Either way, they really wanted to give the look of what it would have been like way back then.

I have been eating there since the 70s when I was a kid and we still never miss it.

If anybody reading has never gone there, you really should check it out.

We only discovered this gem 2 years ago. It was the only place we could get into on short notice. I'm so happy we did! It has become one of my favorites

 

[jeffb]

Last yea we did lunch at Crystal Palance and my 2 year old daughter had a blast and actually ate quite a bit. We were probably there for about an hour and half. It can be a little slow waiting for the characters to come back around and the lines for the buffet can also get a little long but it was not too bad. We all had a great time.

I would also recommend (but not sure if they still do it) Mickey's Ice Cream Social at the Garden Grill at the Land in EPCOT. I believe it was Mickey, Pluto and Chip. It was not very crowded, characters came a round alot, and inexpensive.

 

[LeeSeeBabe]

Liberty Tree is great for lunch as well though it is not character dining. At lunch you can pick from a menu which gives so many more choices. It is not too pricy and gives you a nice break in the day.

So Liberty Tree is only Character Dining for Dinner? **Checking my reservation times**:lookaroun:hammer:

 

[mrtoad]

Yep, only for dinner. Personally I like lunch there though as the menu is excellent and with the dinner it is limited. If you can you might want to try both a character dinner one night and lunch another day. It is not much more expensive for lunch than going to a counter service place but the food is so much better, no standing in line and great theming.

So Liberty Tree is only Character Dining for Dinner? **Checking my reservation times**:lookaroun:hammer:

 

[Chernabog66]

Chef Mickey's

Worked out pretty well for my three kids, 9, 7, and 5 when we were there in April of 05. They loved it, but they love the action. We're registered to do a Princess breakfast at the Castle when we go again in April 06. I hope it measures up to expectations.

 

[shoppingnut]

I love Chef Mickey's, it is lots of fun and I think it is so neat when every so often they turn the music on and the character's dance with the kids in a circle and you twirl your napkin in the air.

Incidentally, all character meals are like a circus, it is what you do so you don't have to wait in the lines to see them in the parks. And as far as it being over stimulating, well you could say that about all character meals because it is a high energy atmosphere, but it is just that the kids are very excited to see the characters, nothing you can do about that.

Chef Mickey's and CP dinner menu's are fairly similar for adults and children. I would first decide which characters the kids want to see and go to that one. The other thing I keep telling people who go to disney with kids and want to eat in sit down restaurants for dinner for a decent meal is that you should look at the menus to see what you would like and pick that restaurant, since all the restaurants pretty much have the same dopey chicken fingers, etc. on the menu for the kids. It is not about the kids eating dinner at the sit downs, it is about you having a good non-fast food meal and enjoying a little down time. And, yes, this summer we were with my 4 yr old niece who eats next to nothing and likes next to nothing and we had dinner at Chef de France, Le Cellier, CP, Brown Derby, Chef Mickey's, Boma and had no problem with her finding something that she liked that she pretty much took two bite fulls and informed us she was done.

 

[VetMed]

make sure you do a char. meal with your son, you'll never forget it. All of the aforementioned locations are great and we have done all of them. Chef mickey is just a quick monorail away from MK, or a simple drive, but very loud. Beach club's character breakfast is one of our favorites because it isn't as crowded and jam packed elbow to elbow compared to chef mickey's.

you may want to stick with the buffet style because of the variety for the picky eater. Cindy's bfast isn't a buffet, but the breakfast was still delish and the variety was good enough.

have fun

 

[3fordisney]

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions. We tried to get reservations at Chef Mickey's but was unable to do so. We were able to get Breakfast at Donald's breakfastasuras in Animal Kingdom. We loved it. We had the best breakfast buffet and the characters were great. We never felt rushed and really enjoyed it. The cast members were friendly and fast with juice refills. My son ate the most he did all week there!

I would reccommend this one to anyone interested in a character breakfast. We were already in the park when it opened and were able to ride some rides with no wait at all.

Thanks again for everyone's input. :lookaroun