best character dining for boys

J

Jackiep9

New Member
Original Poster
Any tips on which character dining experience is best for my 7 and 4 year old boys? We are staying at Shades of Green and not doing a meal plan, so we will only do one character dining experience. I'm thinking of breakfast at Crystal Palace (that's winnie the pooh, right?). Or maybe Donald's Safari breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Thinking with either of these that we would try for the earliest time and then be ready to go for the day at that park.

One other question, though, is that I'm wondering how to find out when there are extra magic hours for shades of green. We aren't going til the end of January 2018 and I don't see a schedule anywhere when I google it. But I would hate to, for instance, reserve breakfast at the Magic Kingdom early and then miss our morning extra magic hours. But I know I need to reserve 6 months out to get reservations. Thanks for any help.
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Tusker House or Garden Grill. Tusker is probably better food, but if you can get an 8am at Garden Grill you can be in line at Soarin' before anyone else without wasting a fastpass.
 
RememberWhen

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
Garden grill is pretty great. It's a rotating restaurant, which most kids find fun. Plus chip and dale are trouble makers and our interactions there have been awesome. You also see Pluto and Mickey.

Other good choices would be crystal Palace (Winnie the pooh, tigger, piglet and eeyore), tusker house (Donald, Mickey, Goofy and maybe Minnie?), or Chef Mickey (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and maybe Goofy and Pluto).
My apologies for not quite remembering the characters.

If you aren't set on characters and just want a good time, consider Hoop de Doo. It's our favorite!
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
You and your boys will love Shades. It's perfect with boys and if you only do one Character meal I'd say go to Tusker House any time of day:joyfull: That being said CP for breakfast would be my second choice
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
Tusker House or Garden Grill. Tusker is probably better food, but if you can get an 8am at Garden Grill you can be in line at Soarin' before anyone else without wasting a fastpass.
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Great breakfast. Low key character interaction with Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. Rotating restaurant. My pick is Garden Grill.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Jackiep9 said:
Any tips on which character dining experience is best for my 7 and 4 year old boys? We are staying at Shades of Green and not doing a meal plan, so we will only do one character dining experience. I'm thinking of breakfast at Crystal Palace (that's winnie the pooh, right?). Or maybe Donald's Safari breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Thinking with either of these that we would try for the earliest time and then be ready to go for the day at that park.

One other question, though, is that I'm wondering how to find out when there are extra magic hours for shades of green. We aren't going til the end of January 2018 and I don't see a schedule anywhere when I google it. But I would hate to, for instance, reserve breakfast at the Magic Kingdom early and then miss our morning extra magic hours. But I know I need to reserve 6 months out to get reservations. Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

EMH for SOG: Yes. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/magic-hours/extra-magic-hours-entry/
 
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Minnie1986

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Don't forget to use a reservation finder like touring plans or mousedining, if the Disney website doesn't show availability for the days/times you want. I'm taking my 7yo godson, and touringplans is how I managed to snag an 8am Tusker House on our AK day.
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
Another plus for Garden Grill is that many ingredients are grown on site at the Land Pavilion's greenhouse, so freshness is guaranteed!
 
KCheatle

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
I would say O'Hana, Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park fare, crystal palace, cape May cafe, Donald's safari breakfast, and garden grille are all pretty gender neutral. I have done them all and enjoy all of them --with the exception of garden grille simply because I got motion sickness from the rotation (but I'm a pansy...)
 
slappy magoo

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
Even if your boys are 7 and 4, don't underestimate the power of beautiful princesses paying them special attention and planting one on their cheeks. They might be grossed out, or they might start sprouting facial hair right then and there, voices dropping an octave, starting to talk about the importance of life insurance...

Seriously though most of the characters, face or suited, work well with the audiences they have.

Since SoG is so close to Poly and TTC, it makes sense to try to take advantage of the location - Ohanas at Poly, 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian, Chef Mickey's at Contemporary...Crystal Palace at MK or Garden Grill at Epcot. When it comes to food, I'd give more points to 1900 Park Fare and Crystal Palace because they're the two that offer a made-to-order station, if you want an omelet or something special. When it comes to character interaction, the best experiences we've had were at 1900 Park Fare and Garden Grill. Your experiences may vary.
 
MissPixie

MissPixie

Well-Known Member
I have to agree that The Garden Grill in The Land is great for little boys. We ate there this past trip with my 2 year old boy and he loved seeing Chip and Dale and Mickey.
 
Minnie1986

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
yedliW said:
Ohana is not a character dinner.. Mickey and gang are only around for breakfast there.
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I know. I've just heard the dinner food is good and think he'll enjoy it. Between Akerhus, Chef Mickey and Tusker House, he'd better be satisfied in terms of quality time with Mickey and the gang lol
 

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