Character meals are a great way to meet characters and not have to wait in line in the parks. My family loves character meals even though my children are a little older. Our next trip they will be 9 and 12 and still have requests for certain character meals that are a must on each of our trips. I would like to share my favorite character meals with all of you. I highly recommend trying at least one on your next trip.
We love Mickey’s Backyard BBQ. It is such a fun and lively atmosphere. It is a big BBQ with all of your favorite friends. Characters are out on the dance floor dancing with you and your children plus there are photo opportunities for those that do not want to dance. It is considered a $$ character dining experience so it is more money than most other character meals but so worth it to do at least once. If you are on the Disney Dining Plan this meal is considered 2 table credits The food is great with a lot of variety and beer and sangria are included in the price for guests over 21. Characters are subject to change but normally this character meal includes Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Chip and Dale.
I made the rule our last trip that we had to try some new experiences and the only character meal my kids insisted we did not eliminate was Donald’s safari at Tusker House restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This is a must for us. Even on our last with dining my 10-year-old still paraded around the restaurant with the characters and an instrument. If you do have picky eaters beware. The food for lunch and dinner have a definite African flare to it. We have found that the best option for us and our picky eaters (my son and my husband) is breakfast. For breakfast there is eggs, Mickey waffles, bacon, pastries and some other things that are regular breakfast foods. It works well for us to do breakfast because it starts our day out right and we just grab a snack that holds us to dinner. That also means a cost savings because breakfast is a less expensive character meal and then we do not need a big lunch either.
My son is obsessed with Stitch. I don’t know where this obsession came from. In fact we did not see Lilo and Stitch until after his obsession began after a trip to Disney World several years ago. In my quest to make my family have different character meal experiences we decided to try breakfast with Stitch and friends. It was our best character meal experience ever! Stitch was hysterically funny and spent a lot of time at our table. It felt like a more relaxed atmosphere and the food was excellent. This is a family style meal and there was a little something for everyone in my family. Watching Stitch kid around with my children and let my son take several selfies was the highlight of our last trip. Of course we are going back on our next trip in August and can’t wait to share this experience with our friends who we are traveling with.
Written by Lori Wall: Lori is a lifelong fan and visitor of Walt Disney World! Her love of Disney World has grown through visits with her own family as well as through planning magical vacations for others! Lori is an expert in maximizing vacations while sticking to a travel budget. Contact her about saving an extra 5% off your Disney vacation with an insider tip! Book your vacation with Lori at (845) 698- 0102 or request a price online.