Your must do Character meals with 5 year old??

[bsmartin2000]

Taking my Grandson in August and I am just curious as to what Character meals out there are a "must do"? He has food allergies so we are planning to do as many TS character meals as possible with him because they are easier to manage what he can eat. Any must do meals out there?

 

[Tinkerkell]

I'd pick at least one place where you see Mickey. Tusker House (breakfast or lunch) and the 'Ohana breakfast are our favorite of those options. We like Garden Grill too, but there are so many other places we like to eat in Epcot.

Pooh and the gang are fun at Crystal Palace, too!

 

[zurgandfriend]

I would do Chef Mickey's you get some great characters.

 

[zero creativity]

We usually do Ohana on the first day of our trip. The kids get to see Mickey and it becomes less of a worry throughout the day. We did Tusker House last time and you get a picture with Donald, (but you can't get his autograph if you wanted it), and it had a good variety of different food compared to other restaurants.

 

[Pooh Lover]

We like Chef Mickey's because you get the "Big 5" characters....Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. It's fairly easy to get to since it's on the monorail from MK and the kids seem to love the dessert station. Crystal Palace is good for the Pooh characters but this place gets crazy busy, both inside and out, and the character interaction can seem a tad rushed.

 

[zero creativity]

My son has food allergies too. They did a great job at all the restaurants. They brought out "clean" food for him and showed us at the buffets what were off limits and the questionable stuff. Just make sure you let them know when you make your reservation and double check when you arrive at the restaurant.

 

[i.am.mockingjay]

tusker house and crystal palace for sure. if your grandson watches disney junior hollywood and vine is great too since they have jake and handy manny in the house. all buffets as well

 

[copcarguyp71]

Garden Grille and Crystal Palace were our DD favorite at 5! Admittedly CP is still mine at 41

 

[erasure fan1]

I am not a huge fan of chef Mickey. If you have your mind set on meeting Mickey and the gang then go ahead. My problem with it is the interactions feel just so rushed. Disney knows people want to see the whole gang so they just don't seem to try very hard. I have had very good luck with the play and dine at hollywood and vine. The food is top 3 of the buffets we have done and for the most part the characters spend a good amount of time interacting with the kids.

 

[princessmommy]

I am not a huge fan of chef Mickey. If you have your mind set on meeting Mickey and the gang then go ahead. My problem with it is the interactions feel just so rushed. Disney knows people want to see the whole gang so they just don't seem to try very hard. I have had very good luck with the play and dine at hollywood and vine. The food is top 3 of the buffets we have done and for the most part the characters spend a good amount of time interacting with the kids.

I agree with this!

 

[crispy]

I am assuming he wants to skip the princesses so I would recommend Garden Grill (my new favorite!) and Chef Mickey's for dinner. For breakfast, we love Crystal Palace, 'Ohana, and Cape May Cafe. I have never done the Playhouse Disney meal at Hollywood Studios, but I have heard good things about the character interaction there plus the characters there are a bit different than you will find at other restaurants.

 

[WDW_Emily]

Another vote for Tusker House! It's a great way to start your day at Animal Kingdom. You meet Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Minnie, and Mickey. There a more food options than other breakfast buffets and I feel like the characters are less rushed and spend more time at each table. We went to Crystal Palace for breakfast last year and all the character were come to the table, picture, leave (Except Tigger) and IMO the food was just so-so.

 

[wiigirl]

I would do Chef Mickey's you get some great characters.

That would be my suggestions too!

 

[MaryJaneP]

Another vote here for Chef Mickey's. An arrival dinner tradition in our family. Great way to start the magic.

 

[taz0162]

We are a fan of Chef Mickey's as well.
But another thing you may want to consider is that some reservations can be made for these character meals starting before the parks open for the day. We are booked for the Tusker house Breakfast meal for a start time an hour before AK opens. So saying Breakfast takes an hour we are already in the park so we can shoot on over to the first Safari Ride of the day. It's a Win Win to start the day. Crystal Palace at MK also offers this option. I believe there are a couple others as well.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

CRT of a more affordable option of Akerhaus! Tusker Breakfast gets a Honorable mention.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Chef Mickey's Breakfast, Crystal Palace Breakfast, and Garden Grill Dinner would be my must do's for a boy that age. 1900 PF breakfast is my fave character meal and I enjoy the princess meals, but I don't know if he'd enjoy those as much.

 

[luv]

Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Garden Grill

I'd probably even suffer through Tusker House?

T-Rex would be the #1 Must Do on our list, though.