Top 5 Character Dining Experiences

Food and Characters – whats better?

Since going to Disney with our daughter who was 2 at the time, we have always enjoyed going to Character Dining experiences. There is nothing I maybe have enjoyed more than watching my kids get their autograph books out and wait for the next character to come by.

Most of these dining experiences are buffets, so it is important to understand what foods you and your family will enjoy better when making a decision on what experiences to reserve and what meal to attend.

Because of this, most of character experiences that we do attend are breakfast meals. I am not sure I have ever had a bad breakfast at WDW.

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When deciding that you are going to reserve a spot at some of these places, having a Disney dining plan is beneficial as some of these meals are a little pricey due to most of them being buffets and the extra benefit of seeing the characters.

There are 15 total character dining destinations that you can chose from. We have experienced 8 of the 15.

For all of these dining experiences, one thing is clear…Bring Your Autograph Books!

Here are our Top Five, in no particular order;

Crystal Palace

Located at the Magic Kingdom just off of Main Street USA, The Crystal Palace resembles England’s Crystal Palace, which was erected in Hyde Park. The restaurant’s white steel supports, arched ceilings, and glass roof (especially the atrium) are tributes to its namesake, built to house London’s 1851 Great Exhibition—the first world’s fair—and among the first structures to use plate glass in large quantities.

Crystal Palace

Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Crystal Palace offers some of the best buffet food on property. It’s a great place to start your day in the Magic Kingdom or close out a wonderful day of rides and fun. While we normally eat here for Breakfast, the dinner here is also really good.

The food is consistently good, but eating seems secondary to the desire to get lots of photos with Pooh and his pals. If you time dinner right and can snag a table away from like-minded diners, there is a great view of Main Street parades in the conservatory.

Breakfast prices are average for WDW standards, breakfast is cheaper to visit if you do not have a Disney Dining Plan (DDP).

Who to Meet:

  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Tigger
  • Piglet
  • Eeyore

Tusker House

Tusker House is located in Animal Kingdom inside the Harambe Village square— is plainer than Disney’s promotional photos would indicate, especially after dark. The food is surprisingly good, with spices and taste combinations you won’t find at other spots.

Tusker House

This buffet style meal is inspired by African and Indian dishes with the classic American dishes as well.

One of the highlights of the meal is the Jungle Juice that is served. It is a mixture of orange juice, guava juice, and passionfruit juice. It is one of those things that you either love it of hate it, I think it’s really good.

The food is priced very reasonable for the quality

Who to Meet: (all dressed in expedition gear)

  • Mickey Mouse
  • Goofy
  • Donald Duck
  • Daisy

Chef Mickey’s

Chef Mickey’s is located at the Contemporary Resort in an open air restaurant. The food take a back seat to the atmosphere that is created by the characters and the resort. Before you are even seated, a picture with the Chef Mickey statue is a must.

Chef Mickey’s

In all of our experiences at Chef Mickey’s, the place has been a zoo, but that’s absolutely to be expected of a restaurant like this. Kids get excited, parents let them run around…it happens. Don’t eat here if you’re not keen on the idea of someone else’s rugrat jumping around your table.

The food is pricier than most on this list but the experience is well worth it.

The food is all American comfort food. While this is not the most exciting, the food tastes really good too. Anyone can find something to eat on this buffet.

The layout of the restaurant and the whole resort level creates a loud, busy experience. The monorail can be heard whirring into the resort overhead.

This is a must visit for every WDW trip.

Who to Meet: (all in chef attire)

  • Mickey Mouse
  • Minnie Mouse
  • Donald Duck
  • Goofy
  • Pluto

1900 Park Fare

This restaurant, located at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa that has 2 separate character meals. The Supercalifragilistic Breakfast and the Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner gives you a chance to meet some characters that it is tough to find elsewhere.

This is another one of those dining experiences where the atmosphere overshadows the food and decor. The characters play their part fantastically from the Mad Hatter to Cinderella’s Stepsisters. The interaction that you can have with the characters is much more personal due to them actually being allowed to talk to you.

The food is much better at breakfast than dinner but still a solid buffet. It is also reasonably priced for being in an extravagant hotel like the Grand Floridian.

Who to Meet:

Breakfast

  • Mary Poppins
  • Alice (Alice in Wonderland)
  • Mad Hatter
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Tigger

Dinner

  • Cinderella
  • Prince Charming
  • Lady Tremaine
  • Anastasia
  • Drisella

Cinderella’s Royal Table

The only character dining experience on this list that is not a buffet, this is located in Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom.

Cinderella’s Castle

Although the food is decent, this experience is all about the nostalgia.

The atmosphere is all castle and royalty. When you are allowed in, the initial picture with Cinderella feels like you are in a real life castle. Once the photo session is complete, you are called upstairs to your table.

If you don’t take the elevator, the winding staircase up to the dining hall just adds to the castle like feel.

Once at your table, all “princes” are given swords and all “princesses” are given fairy wands

Music introduces each Princess and they begin to make their rounds to each table. One of my favorite Disney memories was when our daughter was 2 and we experienced this for the first time on Christmas morning. All of the Disney Princesses took time with our daughter and you could tell she loved the experience.

This meal is probably pricey but it is so worth it if you have little kids or simply love nostalgia.

Who to Meet:

  • Cinderella
  • Princess Jasmine (lunch & dinner)
  • Snow White
  • Princess Aurora (breakfast)
  • Ariel (breakfast)

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Moderate vs Value vs Deluxe Resort – Which is Best for YOU?

If you are staying on Disney property, deciding which resort to stay at can have a huge impact on your stay. Each resort has its own unique qualities that you need to take into account and factors which must be looked into to ensure you have the best time possible. Some of those factors are

  • cost
  • location
  • dining options
  • transportation options
  • party size/room size
  • amenities

Disney offers 3 types of resorts that while they have their own uniqueness, they are similar in a lot of ways.

Deluxe Resorts

The Disney World Deluxe Resort Hotels are the highest tier of on-site Disney hotels, and understandably so.

Aside from the luxury of the resorts themselves, distance to parks and ease in transportation is a huge benefit of the Disney deluxe resorts. A majority of them are significantly closer to one or more of the Disney parks. Also, there’s a wider variety of transportation options, from boats to monorails.

Contemporary Resort

Disney’s Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian Hotels are all just a monorail ride away to Magic Kingdom. The Polynesian and Grand Floridian also offer boat access to Magic Kingdom (Disney’s Wilderness Lodge too).

Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts and Disney’s Boardwalk Inn are within walking distance (or a boat ride) to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is the closest deluxe hotel to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Another great perk of the Disney deluxe resorts is that they offer both quick-service and table-service dining options. Many of the Disney World deluxe resorts even have character dining. For example, The Contemporary has Chef Mickey’s and the Grand Floridian has 1900 Park Fare where characters are constant.

The Disney deluxe resort hotels offer the most recreation options. 

At the Magic Kingdom and Boardwalk hotels, boat rentals are a fun option for a relaxing day around the resort. Depending on which you choose, you’ll have a basketball, volleyball or tennis courts to play on — or a combination of the three!

Each of the Deluxe hotels has multiple, gorgeous pools and a hot tub for you to enjoy.

There are 8 Deluxe resorts;

  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
  • Disney’s Beach Club Resort
  • Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
  • Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  • Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
  • Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
  • Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
  • Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

There are also 12 Deluxe Villa resorts;

  • Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  • Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
  • Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
  • Disney’s Beach Club Villas
  • Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
  • Disney’s Old Key West Resort
  • Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
  • Disney’s Riviera Resort
  • Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
  • The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Moderate Resorts

Moderate Resorts tends to have more variety in terms of amenities, layout, dining, and transportation options in comparison to Value resorts, but certainly, don’t have all the bells and whistles of Deluxe resorts.

As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” Moderates resorts are a great middle-ground. 

All Moderate resorts offer bus transportation to and from the theme parks. Unlike Value resorts, Moderates have multiple bus stops throughout each resort (with the exception of Port Orleans – French Quarter).  This means that you won’t have to walk too far to catch a bus.

Port Orleans Riverside

Boat transportation is available at the following resorts: Fort Wilderness has a ferry to Magic Kingdom, while French Quarter and Riverside share ferry service to Disney Springs.

Moderates are some of the largest resorts at Disney World. Port Orleans – French Quarter is the one exception, as it is a relatively small resort by Disney World standards.

Each resort feels like its own world, spread out and away from the bustle of the park. It feels as though you are staying in an all-inclusive resort island; buildings/areas are separated from one other with walking trails and water features are found throughout the properties. Unlike most Disney World properties, you get more of a sense of tranquil isolation.

Cabins @ Fort Wilderness

One downside to the larger, spread-out Moderate resorts is that choosing a room location becomes an important factor. Rooms closer to the lobby, main pool, and dining areas are often more expensive and in higher demand. However, securing a better location means that you won’t have to walk as far to dine after a long day at the park.

Caribbean Beach

All Moderates have both a quick-service restaurant and a table-service restaurant. The one exception is Port Orleans French Quarter (no table service option). However, this isn’t really a problem because guests can easily walk to Boatwright’s Dining Hall (Port Orleans – Riverside).

Moderate resorts have a great selection of pools. Moderates have additional features like water slides and hot tubs.

There are 5 Moderate resorts;

  • Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
  • Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
  • Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
  • Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
  • The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

Value Resorts

Disney Value resorts are the most affordable, budget-friendly lodging on Disney World property. 

Value Resorts are some of the furthest Walt Disney resorts from the parks.

All-Star Movies

The good news is the guests at Value resorts can easily access all of the Disney World theme parks via free Disney transportation. The downside is that the only transportation option available to Value resort guests is bus service (ie, no direct monorail or boat access).

However, buses operate through the day and transport guests directly to and from every Disney World theme park. Bus stops are conveniently located in the front of each resort.

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As far as Disney World resorts go, Value Resorts are the most “Disney-ish,” kid-friendly resorts in the park. Each resort has its own overall theme, with each building/wing of a resort themed around a Disney movie, musical style, sport, decade, or some other specific element.

For example, All-Star Sports has a “surfing” wing, All-Star Movies has a “Toy Story” wing, and Art of Animation has a section of family suites themed after “Finding Nemo.” These themed areas and elements are lots of fun – for kids and adults alike!

Art of Animation Big Blue Pool

While the exterior of each building exudes a lot of character with fun themes and icons of Disney personalities, the interiors have minimal decor. For the most part, the rooms are basic and no-frills. 

Standard room size at Pop Century and the 3 All-Star resorts are 260 square feet, while Art of Animation is 277 square feet. This compares with roughly 314 square feet at moderate resorts. Maximum occupancy is 4 people (plus one baby under age 3 in a crib).

While none of the Disney Value resorts have water slides, each has their own themed-pools.

Pools at Value resorts tend to be a little smaller than the pools at Moderate and Deluxe resorts. However, there is one notable exception: Art of Animation’s Big Blue Pool is the largest pool at Disney World.

Each of the 5 Disney Value resorts has their own food court. These meals count as Quick Service meals.

None of the Disney Value resorts offer Table Service meals.

There are currently 6 Value resorts;

  • Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
  • Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
  • Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
  • Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
  • Disney’s Pop Century Resort
  • The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

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