This Mom's Opinion of Disney's Character Dining...

Ok, so It's no secret if you have read any other posts on this blog - we love us some Disney Character Dining.  But let's be honest.  All Character Dining is not created equal.  We have been to our fair share and I will outline them below...

Over Spring of 2010 & Spring of 2012, we visited 6 Character Dining spots - some that we loved were repeats...

Cinderella's Royal Table -

Located in Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom, this chance to dine with the Disney Princesses INSIDE the most famous castle of all time, was our favorite Character Dining!!  This was QUITE the royal experience!  They first have you come in and have your picture taken with Cinderella herself.  She talks to each child when you first arrive and hug them and take pictures.  This is your chance to see Cinderella, since she won't be joining the rest of the princesses (Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine & Arial) upstairs while you eat.  The castle is just as ornate and elaborate on the inside as it is on the outside!  Unbelievable!  After the first set of pictures, we were taken up a spiral staircase to a gorgeous dining hall complete with royal wait-staff and stained glass windows overlooking all of Fantasyland.  Everyone who came to the table called us by Lord, Lady Princess, and Young Knight.  They brought our daughter and son each a magic wand and a sword, and a wishing star.  The meals were fancy and DELICIOUS!  Maybe it was just the fact we had spent the whole morning walking, but I thought it was some of the best food I had tasted!  Each of the Princesses come around to speak to your children and hug them and take pictures.  It was the most magical lunch I have ever attended in my life.  My daughter especially could not stop smiling and it was so precious!  Then we each had desserts and at the end of the meal, they brought us a wonderful photo package of her with Cinderella which was included with the meal (which totaled $175 - but again – completely covered by our dining plan!!!).
Stats:
Character breakfast: $43 adults, $28 children;
Character lunch $46 adults, $29 children;
Character dinner, $54 adults, $33 children.
*Note that prices increase during peak periods.
**Reservations required - and highly recommended to book EARLY (up to 180 days in advance)
**Dining here uses 2 Table service meals off the Disney Dining Plan

Chef Mickey's -

Located in the Comtemporary Hotel, Chef Mickey’s allows you to eat while Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto all make their way around the room greating the children at each table, giving them hugs and taking pictures with each one.  This Mom gives Chef Mickey's a happy thumbs up! These are the MAIN Disney characters that we were here to see so this huge buffet was perfect for us!  As soon as you are seated, you can help yourself to the great variety on the buffet and then wait and watch the characters while they go around.  The food was delicious and a nice relief from the standard quick service options we faced each day in the parks.  We returned to Chef Mickey's both visits and really enjoyed it!
Stats:
Breakfast $35 (child $19),
Dinner $40 (child $20).
*Note: Prices increase during peak periods.
**Reservations required - and highly recommended to book EARLY (up to 180 days in advance)

**Dining here uses 1 Table service meal off the Disney Dining Plan

Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine

Located in Hollywood Studios, this is a buffet where we saw the Characters from Playhouse Disney (JoJo & Goliath from JoJo's Circus and Leo and June from Little Einsteins - but now host an updated cast).  After you eat and the characters visit with you, they choose children to join them and dance in a floor show which was fun to see.  I have to be honest and say that I do not remember the food at ALL... which means it wasn't so good that it made an impression, but at the same time, it was not so bad that I felt compelled to write a bad review of it.  I also have to be honest and say that we have no desire to ever go back to this character dining again.  These characters are just not as desired to see or eat with and it just did not make for that awesome of a dining experience.  This is also more for younger kids who watch these shows which feature Disney Junior characters (which are now: Jake, Handy Manny, June, and Special Agent Oso)
Stats:
Breakfast buffet $31 (child $17);
Lunch buffet $35 (child $19);
Dinner buffet $40 (child $21)  
*Note: Prices for character meals increase during peak periods.
**Reservations Recommended
**Dining here uses 1 Table service meal off the Disney Dining Plan


Donald’s Safari breakfast at the Tusker House!

Located in Animal Kingdom park, this was quite the breakfast buffet spread!! The food was VERY yummy and they had everything that you could possible imagine eating for breakfast!  Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy (all decked out in their Safari gear) were there for us to see and love on and get our pictures with.  Plus they time the breakfast perfectly so that when it's over, you are right in time to go into the park and start your day!  I would highly recommend this character dining experience.  We have not been at lunch or dinner, so I cannot comment on the food other than the breakfast options, but I know that they do serve foods with African and Indian flares.
Stats:
Breakfast $24.50 (child $11),
Lunch $21 (child $12),
Dinner $29 (child $14).
*Note: Prices for character meals increase during peak periods.
**Reservations Recommended
**Dining here uses 1 Table service meal off the Disney Dining Plan



Crystal Palace

Located in the Magic Kingdom, the Crystal Palace has a beautiful name, but don't let the name fool you!!!  Yes, it has a buffet and you will see Winnie the Pooh and his Pals there.  But this was by far my least favorite Character dining experience we have ever had!!  The food was not the best, and it was overly crowded and loud and we felt rushed.  I don't know if there had not been enough time to clean thoroughly between guests, but the floor was dirty with old food and it seemed dimly lit (we went for dinner after dark).  My kids enjoyed seeing the characters (although not their favs) but I couldn't wait for this one to end, and you really should not be feeling that way about character dining!!
Stats:
Breakfast $27 (child $15),
Lunch $29 (child $16),
Dinner $41 (child $20)  
*Note: Prices for character meals increase during peak periods.
**Reservations Recommended
**Dining here uses 1 Table service meal off the Disney Dining Plan


Garden Grill

Locate in Epcot, this was a whole kind of Character Dining for us!!  First, it was a rotating restaurant which slowly turns the whole time - half of which puts you right into a space overlooking the ride "Living with the Land."  This really gave a whole new way to enjoy dining since the scenery was always changing.  Because the floor is revolving, the staff don't like for anyone to get up and move around, to it is truly table service, not a buffet.  The one thing I didn't realize before we ate there, was that you don't order.  Everything is already planned family style.  So they bring out several large portions of that night's menu and plates for everyone to share.  This left my picky eater rather perplexed as to what they would eat...  But the characters that were there made up for any disappointments they felt over food!  Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Chip & Dale were there!!  And Chip and Dale are not easy to find in Disney World!  It was a really different and wonderful dining experience and I would recommend it to others!!
Dinner $35 (child $17);  
*Note: Prices for character meals increase during peak periods.
**Reservations Recommended
**Dining here uses 1 Table service meal off the Disney Dining Plan