Walt Disney World Character Meals

One of the coolest parts of a Disney vacation is getting to meet your favorite Disney characters in real life! It’s great for kids, but it also great for kids at heart as well. Before Christian was born we got our pictures taken with plenty of characters. Now, though it’s about Christian, or all of us being in photos with characters. Christian loves them all, especially a certain mouse.

At the Disney Parks and on the cruise ships characters are everywhere! For the purpose of this post, though, we’re going to talk about Disney World. There are some characters, like Baymax, Tiana and Pocahontas that you can only meet in one location, which normally makes the wait times for these meet and greets longer than for others. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some characters, like Mickey and Winne the Pooh that you can meet in multiple locations. These can still have lengthy wait times on occasion, though. If you want to meet your, or your child’s, favorite characters without having to wait in line, the best way to do so is to book a character dining experience! These meals are located at the parks and at various resorts. We’ve experienced quite a few of them for ourselves, and we approve! There’s nothing better than food and no wait times for characters!

Resorts

1900 Park Fare

Tucked away near the main entrance of the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa you’ll find 1900 Park Fare. The restaurant, as well as the Resort, has a Victorian theme, complete with carousel horse decorations. Breakfast and dinner are served here and both are buffet style meals, allowing you to start or end your day right! Delicious hot and cold breakfast items like fruit, bagels, eggs and more and carved beefs, salads and sides, as well as desserts, at dinner will satisfy any taste-buds. This is one character meal you’ll have to experience at least twice, once for breakfast and once for dinner because the characters are not the same at both meals! At the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast guests dine with Tigger, Pooh, Alice and the Mad Hatter and of course Mary Poppins! Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner transports guests to a royal feast with Cinderella and Prince Charming! When we dined here for dinner we had the pleasure of meeting Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella as well.

Ohana

The Polynesian Village Resort offers a relaxing feel and so does breakfast at Ohana! Located on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House this restaurant offers some great views if you get a seat by the window! Start your morning off with breakfast favorites like eggs, bacon, fresh fruit and Mickey waffles – all served family style! And don’t forget about the characters! The last time we were there Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch joined us! This character meal is only available at breakfast.

Chef Mickey’s

At Chef Mickey’s everyone gets to meet the chef! Guests can enjoy breakfast, brunch or dinner in this unique restaurant. Located inside the Contemporary Resort, the monorail whizzes over ahead every now and then – something you’re not going to experience during your meal anywhere else! This buffet has something for everyone – my favorites are the breakfast pizza and the entire dessert buffet! Throughout the meal guests are joined by some of their Disney favorites, all in chef gear! This meal has a lot of characters with lots of great interaction! Guests can meet Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and of course, Chef Mickey!

Mickey’s Backyard BBQ

Join Mickey and the gang for a good time at the Fort Wilderness Resort! Guests can enjoy an All-American barbecue dinner and a show. Throughout the show guest will also have a chance to meet characters like Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip and Dale. This meal is offered seasonally because it is outside!

Cape May Café

Guests can travel to the Beach Club Resort for a character breakfast that many may not know about. Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast offers guests a breakfast buffet that is sure to please at the chance to meet characters like Minnie, Goofy, and Donald in their beach gear!

Parks

Magic Kingdom

Cinderella’s Royal Table

This one is truly a special experience – guests get to eat inside of Cinderella Castle! We ate here for breakfast before the park opened and loved it! The inside of the castle is stunning, the views are amazing and the food was delicious. Guests can enjoy a character meal at breakfast, lunch or dinner and while it is not clearly stated, you may enjoy more than one entrée here if you wish too! As you would expect, this meal is all about princesses! Characters are subject to change, however you are guaranteed to meet Cinderella. On our visit a few years ago we also met Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel.

Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace offers a buffet with character! Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served here and offer a variety of eats to please every palate. Break includes favorites like eggs, breakfast meats, fresh fruit and breakfast lasagna! Lunch and dinner feature salads, soups, carved meats, sweets and more! Throughout their meal guests can mingle with friends from the Hundred Acre Wood - Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger!

Epcot

Garden Grill

This restaurant is one of my favorites! Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served family style which means you won’t walk away hungry! You’ll find the Garden Grill on the second floor of the Land Pavilion and it is truly unique. The restaurant looks over the Living with the Land attraction and it slowly spins so that everyone has a chance to see everything! You will most likely have made one full rotation by the time that your meal has ended. Here you can meet Pluto, Chip, Dale and farmer Mickey! We highly recommend dining here!

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

If you want to dine with princesses, but you are able to get into Cinderella’s Royal Table, this is your best bet. Found in the Norway Pavilion, Akershus has a bit of Norwegian flair. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served here – breakfast is served family style with a small buffet of Norwegian delights, lunch and dinner have a menu to choose from as well as the buffet. Princesses at the meal may include Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel and although not a princess, she is practically perfect, Mary Poppins.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood and Vine

Here breakfast and lunch feature Disney Junior characters at the Disney Junior Play and Dine meals and dinner is all about Minnie Mouse and her seasonal parties! The buffet is sure to satisfy everyone with breakfast favorites in the morning and salads, meats and more, later in the day. At breakfast and lunch little ones will enjoy meeting their on-screen favorites like Jake, Sofia, Manny and Doc! Throughout the year the theme for dinner changes with the season – now through January 6 it is Minnie’s Holiday Dine! Join Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey and of course Minnie for a delicious meal with seasonal flair.

Animal Kingdom

Tusker House

Travel to Africa and join Donald on safari at Tusker House Restaurant. Here guests can enjoy breakfast favorites as well as African eats for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is great, but we LOVE lunch here (we haven’t done dinner). Curried Rice, Couscous Salad, Kenyan Coffee BBQ Pork Loin and Spiced Vegetable Tofu are just some of the tasty options. The restaurant is set in an African marketplace and it is amazing! The characters fit right in with their safari gear.

We have loved all of the character meals that we have tried, the meals themselves and the characters. We have dined at 9 of the 11 restaurants, and will be dining at 6 of them on our upcoming January trip! We love the ability to meet characters without having to stand in line and get a meal at the same time!

Do you like character meals? Which is your favorite?

Want or need help planning your next Disney vacation? I’d be happy to help! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote!