Please tell me about your favorite character dining experiences! I’ve been saving money for our Disney trip in February like crazy and it looks like we’ll have some extra funds. I want to “treat yo self” with some character dining. Family of 5, kids ages 7, 5, and 2
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I like Topolino’s for breakfast/brunch. The characters are adorable, and the food is brought to your table instead of a buffet which is so nice with the kids. And the food is delicious!
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We liked Garden Grill breakfast! I like that this is family style and not buffet. (Chef Mickey was our jam during Covid years but have not been back since they switched back to buffet.) Characters came by at least twice. Also since GG rotates through the Living with the Land ride it feels like killing two birds with one stone.
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Crystal Palace if you like Pooh. Characters are so cute and food is decent. If you want Mickey and Friends, Tusker House is good.
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We are for sure doing that one! That’s our traditional exit day meal. We head there after hotel check out
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Garden Grill was fun! We did it during COVID. We’ll avoid park character meals for now, since we are only doing one day in each park.
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I wanted to do Crystal Palace! I want to try their churro waffles or some churro menu thing…. I don’t remember exactly. I was going to default to Beak and Barrel, but I might make a crystal palace res just in case. My only hold up is that we o leave one day at MK
Glad you are doing Topolino’s
I really haven’t done any character meals other than that one in close to 10 years. I always did PPO breakfasts at MK and EP when that was a thing to help us be deeper in for RD. CP was so much fun for me.
I’ve always wanted to try Garden Grill. It’s on my bucket list for sure. I’d like to do 1900 Park Fare, but the current line up doesn’t resonate with me.
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I’ve been considering 1900 park fare for breakfast on our rest day and story book dining at artist point for our arrival dinner. I’ve never been to Grand Floridian so thought that might be a nice side quest, and story book dining just looks fun
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Topolinos was a fun breakfast for me and DD even as adults (she was 20 at the time). The food was good and characters came around more than once. Their interactions were funny and Donald had some great dance moves. I got the steak and eggs and it was delicious. We had an 11:30 ADR and then did a gingerbread tour of deluxe resorts afterward.
Artist Point was another good one with great character interactions. I had on a shirt with the Evil Queen’s face that said, “I’m not evil. I’m just misunderstood”. Grumpy did not like that but the Queen did! I still think about that mushroom soup too.
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Our good at Artist Point in 2019 was excellent.
It’s such a niche character set though. I often forget it’s there.
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For me with the little set it’s always going to be Tusker House! It has all of the “character” of Chef Mickey with a bit less chaos and a buffet that is a little more exciting for the adventuresome eater (while still retaining those familiar favorites for the more picky among us). A later morning ressie after you’ve enjoyed the park for a little while is ideal to me.
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And my other pick for this age group would be Crystal Palace. The caveat here will be to make sure to allow plenty of time in your touring plan as the characters do seem to move very slowly here for some reason. But the buffet is awesome (I think they have churro Mickey waffles!) and who doesn’t love Pooh and pals??!!
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We are twinning with our recommendations 
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I tend to prefer non buffets for this. Garden Grill and Topolinos are therefore top choices. Another of my faves is still not back at Trattoria Al Forno. You mentioned outside of the park is preference and you already have Topolinos….i really really also loved 1900 park fare dinner when it had the step sisters but I haven’t done it since the change and storybook is great but the evil queen might scare the children (but she’s what makes this one) so at least the adults should meet her (she’s optional and doesn’t come to the table). Cape May isn’t bad either but I think it’s only three characters but last time I went was Covid and they weren’t doing the buffet and it was less crowded. The first time I did it I didn’t like it as much when it was buffet and crowded. I’ve never done Chef Mickeys but plan to in Dec.
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I’ll look into tusker house!
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I’ve yet to do a character meal that I didn’t love 
At WDW, I’ve only done in-park ones (CRT, Akershus and Hollywood & Vine). Hollywood & Vine could be a good option if you want to watch Fantasmic, as it comes with a Fantasmic Dining Package (reserved seating/good spots) - so it feels like killing two birds with one stone. We also loved the seasonal attire of the characters (we went the week before Christmas but according to Google they’ll be in ‘Silver Screen’ season in February, meaning old Hollywood Glamour outfits), and were positively surprised by the quality of the buffet food.
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Oh that’s a good point! I did actually pick out Fantasmic as our night show this time
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I was surprised it wasn’t buffet given the prices. Do you feel like you got enough food to justify the spend?
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I adore Pooh and friends!
Crystal Palace is gorgeous and the churro flavored waffles are worth the hype! I don’t know if they are only available at breakfast. BUT you will likely need to wait 90+ minutes for the characters to come around once. Maybe because the dining room is huge. The food is just okay and it often runs late in seating.
For your children’s ages, it may work better for your family to be served rather than going to get your own food. I love GG for breakfast. The characters do come around 2-3 times in 90 minutes. But the booths are uncomfortably cramped and difficult to get up. If you prefer outside of park, I’ll give another shout out for Topolino. The characters are cute and they come around 2-3 times in 90 minutes. Storybook Dining is fun and delicious but not Classic characters. The characters do come around at least 2x.
I do love Hollywood and Vine! The buffet food is delicious; the costumes are gorgeous, and the characters are delightful. They come around 3x in the 3x I’ve been there the past 2 years! It is pricey and you can add Fantasmic! Dining Package, which I’ve done all 3 times.
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