If you have little ones you will know Character Dining is one of the best options for meals while at Walt Disney World. It combines great food with an unique dining experience.
- Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – The Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is located in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot, and is a wonderful eating location. After checking in, your first stop is to have a family photograph taken with Belle – and the pictures are included in the price of the meal. After being taken to your table, your initial selections are off of the cold bar, which has an assortment of cheeses, meats, breads, and other goodies for you to enjoy. Lastly, you are able to select authentic Norwegian meals to enjoy. If you go, try the Kjottkake! By the way, did I mention that while you are eating you are visited by the Disney Princesses? Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty greeted us at our table for pictures and autographs!
- The Garden Grill Restaurant – The Garden Grill Restaurant is located in the Land at Epcot. This restaurant features character greetings with Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Chip, and Dale, and is located on a circular restaurant that slowly rotates to show you the different seasons for the Land boat ride. In addition, the food is wonderful, served family style, and includes selections of fish, turkey, and beef (with side dishes to accompany). All in all, it is a great restaurant and one I highly recommend!
- The Crystal Palace – The Crystal Palace is located in the Magic Kingdom, and features a delicious buffet and a fun interaction with the characters of Winnie the Pooh. Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet all come to your table, and while you are eating there are fun parades and other wonderful interactions with the characters. If the Pooh characters are your favorites, then you won’t want to miss eating here!
- Cinderella’s Royal Table – Cinderella’s Royal Table is located at Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom. If you have a child that is a huge Cinderella fan, then this is for you! The difference between this restaurant and Akershus is that here you and your family will be included in a photo with Cinderella (rather than Belle) before you are seated. You also get the photos as part of your meal price. After you are seated, and depending on the time of day, you are visited by Snow White, Ariel, Aurora and Belle. The food is good, the location is excellent (did I mention that your dining location is upstairs in the castle?), and while the price is a little high, it is nice to do this every couple of years or so.
- Cape May Café – Here you can enjoy breakfast with Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck! It is a standard buffet breakfast, with Mickey Mouse waffles, bacon, eggs, sausage, and yummy pastries, and was a fun little getaway. The Cape May Café is located over on the Boardwalk at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.
I hope you have enjoyed my top five places to enjoy a character meal. Why don’t you comment and tell me what your favorites are? I’m always looking for new experiences to enjoy at Disney World!
Learn more about Walt Disney World Dining and get suggestions for where to eat, how to use the Disney Dining Plan and more.
(Mike of My Dreams of Disney!)
Cindy says
Even with four boys our favorite was 1900 park fare for DInner with CInderella. Good food and the step sisters are SOOO Funny!
Although I must say I think I enjoyed the two character meals we had in Disneyland the best (cannot remmener their names but both were breakfasts, one with Chip & Dale and the other with Lilo and stitch) We did the last seating and got a whole lot of one on one with the characters!!
April says
Cape May Cafe was hands down my favorite! The characters came around a few times instead of just once and the food was awesome. It is a must on our next trip. We also did Handy Manny and Little Einsteins at Hollywood Dine and Vine at Hollywood Studios and loved it!
stephanie says
i have to say every character meal is great and i have been to them all but i am a big stitch fan so my favs are the breakfast at Ohanas and the luau both also have mickey.
Kelley says
I have to agree that the Garden Grill is special. We were there a few years ago. At the time our kids were 5 and 3 and I was expecting our 3rd child. Our son, who was 3 at the time is a picky eater. And would not eat any of the delicious food they brought to our table. So, the waiter brought us some chicken nuggets for him. He still didn’t want to eat, until Mickey came over. Mickey spent a long time at our table and encouraged our son to eat his food, and he finally did! It was a wonderful experience.
Lisa Cox says
Our favorite wasn’t listed either! Ohana! Love the large, open room so even when Lilo, Stitch, Mickey or Pluto aren’t at your table, you can still see them. And my kids LOVE the parades.
Donald’s Safari breakfast is a close second. Only downfall is the smaller rooms, but I love that each room ALWAYS has at least 1 character.
Chef Mickey’s has lost my vote as favorite since the remodel. We waited over 20 minutes to even *see* a character. Another 10-15 before they reached our table.
Jenn says
I agree about Chef Mickey’s..We were just there the beginning of June for breakfast…we waited an hour and NO characters came into our room (except Minnie for 2 minutes to do the napkin wave dance and left immediately after). We ended up paying for our meal and leaving without seeing ANY characters.
Amanda says
Does the dining plan include any restaurant at the park…including the character meals? I’m still not sure how the dining plan all works.
Jenn says
Our favorite Character meals aren’t listed!! Donald’s Tusker House Safari Breakfast was by far the best character meal we had…Delicious food, the characters were quick and EXTREMELY enjoyable
Kelly says
I had no idea that the photos with Belle & Cinderella are included in the meal price at Akershus and Cinderella’s Royal Table. It’s a separate charge of $31.95 for a photo with Donald in safari attire at the Tusker House breakfast. I don’t suppose anyone has an idea as to why that’s different do they? As I understand it, Cinderella’s Royal Table takes 2 table service points off the Dining Plan, but I don’t know about Akershus. Could that be one of the reasons why the photos are included?