Introduction
Where else but Walt
Disney World can you dine with your favorite characters! The
popularity of character meals has grown so much that you can eat breakfast,
lunch and dinner with the characters.
The meals are served several
ways.
- Traditional buffet-style
-- available at most of the participating restaurants.
- Family-style -- the server
brings large bowls/plates/skillets of food that you serve yourself
and pass around the table.
- Pre-plated meals --These
meals are served to each guest and each plate includes the same
meal.
Most options are all-you-care-to-eat
and have one fixed price for the meal. At the family-style and pre-plated
meals you need only ask to have seconds of anything.
As a rule, you need to
make Advance Reservations for character meals. However, during
slow seasons it is sometimes possible to attend a Character
Meal without an Advance Reservation. Advance Reservations
are available for all character meals and can be arranged by calling
407-WDW-DINE (939-3463).
For all of the Character
Meals -- the characters make their way around the room, stopping at
each table. You don't have to run after the character or wait
in a special line. In fact, the characters generally will not stop for
you if you chase them. If you stay seated and them visit you, it
lends a great deal of order to the fun.
After
each listing you will see prices for each meal with an A (for adult)
or a C (for child). Walt Disney World offers the children's price
to those aged 3-9. Children under 3 will be allowed to dine free while
those over 9 will be required to pay the adult price. Prices do
NOT include tax or gratuity.
Magic
Kingdom
Crystal
Palace - Head down Main Street, USA and make a left at
Casey's Corner! This restaurant serves three meals per day with
Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Meals are served
buffet-style with a separate buffet for kids called "Pooh Corner."
Breakfast items include eggs, pancakes, breakfast meats, breads, fruit
and more. Lunch offers a variety of hot and cold entrees and sides along
with a dessert bar. At dinner carved meats and peel-and-eat shrimp are
added. Advance Reservations strongly
recommended!
Cinderella's
Royal Table - Located on the second floor of Cinderella Castle
this restaurant serves the Once Upon A Breakfast character
breakfast every morning. Characters vary, but almost always include
Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother and may include
Belle, Jasmine and Snow White.
--
Breakfast and Lunch are Disney Princess-themed character meals. When
you arrive at Cinderella Castle for your reservation, a photographer
will be on hand to take pictures of your group in the lobby, before
you are seated in the dining room. A package with four 4x6 prints
and one 6x8 print of your photo, as well as one 6x8 print of Cinderella
Castle, in a Cinderella photo holder (valued at $29.95 plus tax) will
be delivered to you during your meal, which will be from a fixed-price,
set menu. (Additional photos may be purchased.)
--
Dinner is a fixed-price, set meal, also, hosted by the Fairy Godmother,
who will lead the observance of special occasions like birthdays and
anniversaries. You will also have the chance to have your photo taken
before dining, with a photo package similar to that mentioned above
offered to you during the meal.
NOTE:
Payment in full with a credit card will be required at the time of
booking for all meals at Cinderella's Royal Table. If you do not have
a credit card, the reservation cannot be made.
Magic
Your Way Plus Dining Plan WILL be accepted at Cinderella's Royal Table
meals, requiring TWO table service credits.
Advance Reservation
is a must. This is the hardest Character Meal to get a Reservation
for!
If you want to see Cinderella and can't get in here or want a less expensive
meal, try her Royal Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand
Floridian.
Liberty
Tree Tavern - This Liberty Square
restaurant features a family-style dinner with several characters
(Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and friends). Dinner includes ham, turkey, flank
steak, vegetables, salads and more. Children also receive a serving
of macaroni and cheese. Reservations
are recommended. While the Tavern also serves Lunch, you will
not find characters at that time.
Epcot
The Garden
Grill - Chip and Dale's Harvest
Feast - Located in the Land Pavilion in the Future World section
of Epcot this restaurant features lunch and dinner with Mickey,
Chip and Dale, and Pluto, all attired "farmer-style".
Kids' menu includes chicken tenders, mac and cheese. Reservations are recommended.
Princess
Storybook Dining - A
family style American breakfast is served at the Akershus Royal Banquet
Hall in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot and features Disney Princesses
and Friends. Hours are: 8:30am to 10:10am Most likely characters: Belle, Jasmine,
Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins. Lunch and Dinner are Norwegian
style dining with characters (including the occasional visit from Ariel
in her gown).
Disney's Hollywood
Studios
"Playhouse Disney's
Play 'N Dine at Hollywood & Vine" with Jo Jo and Goliath
from "Jo Jo's Circus" and June and Leo from "The
Little Einsteins". Breakfast and lunch feature the characters singing
and dancing to favorite Playhouse Disney songs. The buffet
breakfast, 8-11:20 a.m., features Mickey waffles, frittatas
and fresh fruits and pastries. Lunch
hours 11:40 a.m.-2:25 p.m. Among the buffet selections are baked salmon
with citrus butter, multigrain pasta and salads, as well as a dessert
and sundae station. For reservations, call 407-WDW-DINE.
Disney's Animal
Kingdom
Tusker House - The Animal Kingdom
features a character breakfast, called Donald's Safari Breakfast located
at the Tusker House in Africa. Characters include Donald,
Daisy, Goofy, Mickey. All you can eat buffet from 8:00am - 10:30am. (Same
day reservations may be available)
RESORTS
Cape
May Cafe - Beach Club Buffet breakfast
is served here every morning. Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale are
on hand and the meal is served buffet-style. Offerings include eggs,
pancakes, meats, breads, fresh fruit and more.
Chef Mickey's -
Contemporary Resort - Relocated (from Downtown Diseney)
1996 to the Contemporary, Chef Mickey's serves breakfast
and dinner with Chef Mickey, Chip, Dale and
Chef Goofy. The breakfast buffet offers the usual items
- eggs, breads, meats, fresh fruit, etc. At dinner there is a salad
bar, peel and eat shrimp, soups, hot entrees, breads, carved meats,
vegetables, desserts and an ice cream bar with a great variety of toppings.
All characters visit guests tables except Goofy who seems to
holds court in the waiting area. Breakfast
Menu ; Dinner
Menu. Advance Reservations strongly recommended.
1900 Park Fare -
Grand Floridian
Breakfast - Supercalifragilistic
Breakfast with a variety of
characters. Currently there are Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland,
and the Mad Hatter. Breakfast items include omelet bar, pancakes,
fruit, breads, meats, etc.
Dinner - Cinderella's
Gala Feast - Regulars include Cinderella and Prince Charming,
Suzy and Perla, and the Fairy Godmother (some characters may only
be in the lobby for photos). Price includes dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage.
Polynesian -- 'Ohana
Character Breakfast - every morning. Characters include Lilo
and Stitch, Pluto and Mickey. The meal is served family-style and
features eggs, waffles, meats, breads, fruit and more.
Advance Reservations are strongly recommended.
Garden
Grove Cafe Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday! -
in the WDW Swan; features Goofy and Pluto. Usually
not crowded and a good choice for a last minute decision to dine with
the characters. Both a la carte and buffet
are available.
Gulliver's
Grill Dinner in the Swan Hotel opens
at 5:30 pm nightly and has the following character entertainment: Monday
and Friday - Timon and Rafiki; All other nights Goofy and Pluto.
INSIDER
TIPS & COMMENTS
Try
to go to a character breakfast in one of the parks for the first 8 a.m.
seating before the park opens. You get to enter the park around 7:45
a.m., get your stroller/wheelchairs, eat a great breakfast and be in
the back of the park riding the rides at opening time while everybody
else is waiting in lines and just starting to come into the park. For
a great photo opportunity, eat at the Crystal Palace and on your way
there take a picture of your family in front of the castle -- since
the park isn't open yet, your family will be the only ones in the picture.
It's the only time you can ever do that! (Elizabeth Donoho )
Make sure you pick up autograph
books for the kids before your meal. They are not available at the restaurants
themselves. (Michele)
A small disposable camera
for the kids can be a lot of fun. The characters tend to ham it up when
they see the kids taking their pictures. (Michele)
We
just got back from our vacation. I was disappointed to get an 11:15
seating. I thought it was too late...boy was I wrong...we had the BEST
time. My daughter (2) had all the characters to herself!!! She got to
dance with Mickey all by herself!!! So, anyone who is thinking of going...make
the seating as late as possible, it is well worth it!! (Jennifer Rosner)
We
did several character meals. At first we would only use our cameras
to take pictures of our children with the characters after they had
signed the autograph books and were posing with them. But after the
second meal we started snapping away as soon as the characters approached
our table. We are so glad we did this because we captured a very funny
sequence of events while at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. These
candid shots tell a funny story, showing the playful interaction between
my sons and the characters. After that, we started snapping away at
all of the character meals, and now that we're back, we see that the
candid shots usually gave us better pictures than the posed ones! So
my tip is, start taking pictures as soon as the characters approach
your table and start interacting with your children. Of course you want
the posed pictures, but the candid ones just might end up being your
favorite memories of the meals! :) Theresa Brown
If you make your arrangements
for off-peak times you will get more attention from the characters as
the restaurants will be less crowded. (Michele)
Don't shy away from character
meals if you don't have kids. They can be a lot of fun for everyone
and the characters will interact as much with you as parties with children.
(Michele)
If you are depending on
the transportation to take you to a Character breakfast at one
of the resorts at an early time, make sure you book the breakfast during
an early entry day of the nearest theme park. Otherwise you won't get
there on time. Buses run 1 hour earlier on early entry days. For our
breakfast at the Polynesian Resort, the bus took us to the Magic Kingdom
during early entry day and we took the monorail to the resort.
(Steve Klodnicki)
'Ohana Restaurant at the
Polynesian Resort is well worth the money. We had a character breakfast
there. We got there for the 7:30AM seating. The characters even paraded
around the restaurant with the kids. (Steve Klodnicki)
First trip with a toddler
and the first character meal was at Garden Grill, it was empty My daughter
(then 2) is VERY shy around strangers, would never even smile or say
"Hi". Her first Disney character experience is when we give
the hostess our name at the Garden Grill. Out comes Mickey and asks
her to come over to him as he bends down. She smiles, lets go of my
hand and ran over to say, "Mickey, see my new Pooh shoes? Is Pooh
your friend?" My husband and I are STILL getting over the shock!
As soon as we sat down at our table, Mickey came back over and colored
with her for at least FIVE MINUTES and even wrote her name in her (brand
new) autograph book. We got MANY pictures of more than 1 character at
a time. It got to the point that we were wondering if we'd ever really
eat -- and I mean the grownups, not just the toddler -- we were having
too much fun with the still & video cameras. Number one important
thing for character meals -- do NOT dine at a busy time. (Michael &
Alison McGee)
My big tip would be to go
to the character lunches and dinners at odd hours. We walked into the
Garden Grill in Epcot Land Pavilion at 1:30 and were almost the only
ones there. My daughter basically spent an hour and a half playing and
talking with Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale! It was the highlight of
the trip. The meals are a little pricey, but very tasty, and it was
worth every penny to see her skipping out of the restaurant hand-in-hand
with Dale. (Doug Gleditsch)
When
my wife and I took our nieces (ages 7 and 9) to Disney World they especially
wanted to meet Cinderella. I had already made reservations for the Cinderella
breakfast in the castle, but I didn't tell the girls right away. Instead,
I said only that if we were very lucky maybe Cinderella would invite
us to meet her in her castle. In the meantime, my wife, Kathy, purchased
some invitation cards at one of the shops, with Cinderella and the castle
on the cover. She filled out the invitation from "Princess Cinderella,"
and, the day before the breakfast, secretly left them on the girls'
pillows as we left the room for the day. When we returned, the girls
found the invitations and were thrilled that Cinderella had personally
invited them to breakfast! Also, don't give up if you can't get reservations
for breakfast in the castle or for other popular character meals. If
the meal is all booked up, try calling again for reservations just a
day or two before the meal (or even the day of). Often there are cancellations.
It worked for me! ( Dennis Driggers)
Please do not bring crayons, golf pencils or small tiny pens for the
characters to sign with. Remember most characters have very large hands
(or paws) and cannot hold these small items very well. Characters LOVE
thick Sharpie pens and now they have retractable ones. These are great.
Characters
from Chef Mickey's signed postcards for our little friends back home.
The characters were more than happy to sign autographs for my nephew
and other small friends on postcards. We purchased the postcards with
a specific character on them. The postcards were a hit back home because
they got mail from Mickey and Minnie! - Diane Parker
We've
been to Disney World almost every year since my son was 4 years old
and have gone to a character meal that has Tigger each time. Of course,
pictures with the characters have been taken. Not only do they help
record the great times we've had, but I've put together a collage showing
my son going from barely waist-high on his orange-striped friend to
being a bit past Tigger's shoulder. We're going this year in December
and even though he'll be 15, my son's still game for that "Hey,
Mom!" picture! - Liz Myrato
During
our trip to WDW, we did several character meals. At first we would only
use our cameras to take pictures after the characters signed the autograph
books and were posing with the kids. But after the second meal we started
snapping away as soon as the characters approached our table. We are
so glad we did this because we captured a very funny sequence of events
while at the Villains Dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian.
These
candid shots tell a funny story, showing the playful interaction between
my sons and the characters. After that, we started snapping away at
all of the character meals, and now that we're back, we see that the
candid shots usually gave us better pictures than the posed ones! So
my tip is start taking pictures as soon as the characters approach your
table and start interacting with your children. Of course you want the
posed pictures, but the candid ones just might end up being your favorite
memories of the meals! -Theresa Brown
For
other helpful Character hints visit:
http://allearsnet.com/rta/tips.php?q=Character+Autographs+and+Photo+Tips
http://allearsnet.com/tp/fur.htm
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