Thoughts about my character dining selections?

[phdmommy]

Hi, I'm planning our first ever (and potentially once in a lifetime) trip. I have made my reservations and am thinking of adding more if possible. But I certainly don't want to overdo this and would definitely be happy to save some money if deemed appropriate. I have a 6 y.o. and a 2 y.o. Any thoughts on my selections so far?

1. 1900 Park Fare (Dinner)
2. Garden Grove (Dinner)
3. Cape May (Breakfast)
4. Chef Mickey (Breakfast)
5. Tusker House (Breakfast)
6. Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
7. Cinderella Royal Table (Breakfast)
8. Garden Grill (Breakfast)
9. Akershus Banquet (Breakfast)

To be honest, I made these selections based on reading people's recommendations with hopes that we will get to eat AND have a good experience with characters and all that... Are there any on this list that I could do away with for having the same characters+extremely terrible food? I don't currently have reservation for Cape May, but I have read good things about it, and would like to add in a breakfast or dinner, anyone has experienced either breakfast or dinner there?

I am only doing one reservation per day over the course of 9 days. I am trying to get dinner at Be Our Guess (which currently is not reserve-able apparently) and I just starting looking at one of those dessert event for firework nights. Which means, I will end up with 2 reservations on the 2 days that we will be in Magic Kingdom. Anyone has experiences with the dessert events? Is it worth the cost?

New updated list Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences!
1. Trattoria al Forno (Breakfast) and 1900 Park Fare (Dinner)
2. Garden Grove (Dinner)
3. Cape May (Breakfast)
4. [Park day]Hollywood & Vines (Breakfast) and Sci-Fi (late lunch)
5. [Park day]Tusker House (Breakfast)
6. [Park day]Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
7. [Park day]Cinderella Royal Table (Breakfast)
8. [Park day]Garden Grill (Breakfast) and Coral Reef (late lunch)
9. [Park day]Akershus Banquet (Breakfast)
Added a 10th day 10. Chef Mickey (Breakfast)

 

[POTCfan]

If it is a once in a lifetime trip, I'd say go for it. If you plan on ever coming back, I would say scale back a few of the character reservations.

Edited: I would probably even scale back if this a once in a lifetime. While all of the reservations will have people that say that specific one is great, ultimately they will be similar. I would say add dinners that aren't necessarily character meals, but add something different. For example: 'Ohana (coconut races), Hoop Dee Doo (a hoe down type show), 50's Prime Time (the waitresses take on the role of a bossy aunt or uncle, and give everyone, parents included, a hard time for putting elbows on the table or not eating vegetables - our daughters favorite in that my wife got sent to the corner during dinner), Sci-Fi (sitting in "cars" at a drive in), Sanaa (live animals outside the window), Coral Reef (eating next to a giant aquarium), etc.. I would not say get rid of all the character meals, just mix them up with other types of experiences.

 

[JZCubed]

Hi, I'm planning our first ever (and potentially once in a lifetime) trip. I have made my reservations and am thinking of adding more if possible. But I certainly don't want to overdo this and would definitely be happy to save some money if deemed appropriate. I have a 6 y.o. and a 2 y.o. Any thoughts on my selections so far?

1. 1900 Park Fare (Dinner)
2. Garden Grove (Dinner)
3. Considering Cape May for breakfast or dinner
4. Chef Mickey (Breakfast)
5. Tusker House (Breakfast)
6. Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
7. Cinderella Royal Table (Breakfast)
8. Garden Grill (Breakfast)
9. Akershus Banquet (Breakfast)

To be honest, I made these selections based on reading people's recommendations with hopes that we will get to eat AND have a good experience with characters and all that... Are there any on this list that I could do away with for having the same characters+extremely terrible food? I don't currently have reservation for Cape May, but I have read good things about it, and would like to add in a breakfast or dinner, anyone has experienced either breakfast or dinner there?

I am only doing one reservation per day over the course of 9 days. I am trying to get dinner at Be Our Guess (which currently is not reserve-able apparently) and I just starting looking at one of those dessert event for firework nights. Which means, I will end up with 2 reservations on the 2 days that we will be in Magic Kingdom. Anyone has experiences with the dessert events? Is it worth the cost?

This might not be a plan my family would enjoy (too many buffets), but you know your family best and seem delighted by your choices - go for it!

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Hi! Personally, I am always a fan of character meals so I say go for it...mostly! I think it highly depends on where you are staying. For example, I wouldn't book Garden Grove unless I was actually staying at Swan and Dolphin (and maybe not even then because you can get those characters elsewhere). I love 1900 Park Fare for dinner, but the characters are also different and super kid friendly at breakfast so you could even do 2 meals there and get different experiences if you're staying somewhere convenient to the Grand Floridian. I would also recommend Cape May Café for breakfast as I believe they do NOT have characters at dinner. Love love love Tusker House. I just feel you have a lot of breakfasts so think over your times carefully. If I had a 2 yr old, I might not want an early meal every day, on vacation, but you know your family. I might suggest a few lunches to give your family some park breaks or some early dinners. I would also recommend Sci Fi Dine In as an earlier poster did; no characters, but super memorable. Have fun!

 

[phdmommy]

If it is a once in a lifetime trip, I'd say go for it. If you plan on ever coming back, I would say scale back a few of the character reservations.

Edited: I would probably even scale back if this a once in a lifetime. While all of the reservations will have people that say that specific one is great, ultimately they will be similar. I would say add dinners that aren't necessarily character meals, but add something different. For example: 'Ohana (coconut races), Hoop Dee Doo (a hoe down type show), 50's Prime Time (the waitresses take on the role of a bossy aunt or uncle, and give everyone, parents included, a hard time for putting elbows on the table or not eating vegetables - our daughters favorite in that my wife got sent to the corner during dinner), Sci-Fi (sitting in "cars" at a drive in), Sanaa (live animals outside the window), Coral Reef (eating next to a giant aquarium), etc.. I would not say get rid of all the character meals, just mix them up with other types of experiences.

Thanks for the info! I didn't know that there are other types of dining experiences! What are those called on the disney site if I want to filter the restaurants? Are the experiences at those restaurants the same for breakfast/lunch/dinner? Do you have suggestions as to which of my character dining might somewhat be similar?

 

[CynBeth]

We love the breakfast at Cape May and we don’t have kids so only do a few character breakfasts a trip and TH and CP are favorites.

 

[My3SweetSuns]

Trattoria Al Forno - we just left there for the Bon Voyage breakfast...
BEST EXPERIENCE EVER.
And I loved the poached eggs!

 

[phdmommy]

This might not be a plan my family would enjoy (too many buffets), but you know your family best and seem delighted by your choices - go for it!

Err.... I didn't realize that I don't mind the buffet, but it wasn't something I took into consideration when making these selections. Disney World is overwhelming! Are all of the ones on my list buffets?

 

[phdmommy]

Hi! Personally, I am always a fan of character meals so I say go for it...mostly! I think it highly depends on where you are staying. For example, I wouldn't book Garden Grove unless I was actually staying at Swan and Dolphin (and maybe not even then because you can get those characters elsewhere). I love 1900 Park Fare for dinner, but the characters are also different and super kid friendly at breakfast so you could even do 2 meals there and get different experiences if you're staying somewhere convenient to the Grand Floridian. I would also recommend Cape May Café for breakfast as I believe they do NOT have characters at dinner. Love love love Tusker House. I just feel you have a lot of breakfasts so think over your times carefully. If I had a 2 yr old, I might not want an early meal every day, on vacation, but you know your family. I might suggest a few lunches to give your family some park breaks or some early dinners. I would also recommend Sci Fi Dine In as an earlier poster did; no characters, but super memorable. Have fun!

We aren't technically doing Disney on the first 3 days, hence I made reservations for anything outside theme parks on those first 3 days. My game plan is to start early and finish early for the day, OR maybe take mid-day breaks or early dinner, but I have not looked into the specifics of each park, so I can't seem to decide on the best times for lunch or dinner reservations on days that we are at parks.

 

[phdmommy]

We love the breakfast at Cape May and we don’t have kids so only do a few character breakfasts a trip and TH and CP are favorites.

Perfect! I just made reservation for breakfast at Cape May!

Trattoria Al Forno - we just left there for the Bon Voyage breakfast...
BEST EXPERIENCE EVER.
And I loved the poached eggs!

I have heard of this but what is it actually? "Bon Voyage" gives me the impression that it's about ships and pirates-not true?

 

[My3SweetSuns]

Perfect! I just made reservation for breakfast at Cape May!



I have heard of this but what is it actually? "Bon Voyage" gives me the impression that it's about ships and pirates-not true?

It’s Ariel & Prince Eric and Rapunzel and Flynn Rider & it is SO CUTE!!

 

[Aela]

Since you are doing CRT & 1900 dinner, I would drop Akershus breakfast and rope drop Epcot that day. Then book a 11:45ish breakfast/brunch at Trattoria el Fortno (Bon Voyage). The food was excellent, and the character meet one of the best. We did Akershus this year, and Bon Voyage, but would do Garden Grill next time I think. I enjoyed GG more then Akershus. But we were unable to get a 8am GG for our trip.

 

[Aela]

Oh; I would also drop Chef Mickey. Expecally if you are doing TH and Cape May. You’ll get all the Fab 5 that way; I think? Chef Mickey has... probably the worst food for a buffet on property.

 

[phdmommy]

Oh; I would also drop Chef Mickey. Expecally if you are doing TH and Cape May. You’ll get all the Fab 5 that way; I think? Chef Mickey has... probably the worst food for a buffet on property.

I have heard this sooooo many times! I don't mind dropping that (it's on the day we will be doing Hollywood Studios). Considering their not so great food and us potentially having the opportunity to meet with all characters involved, anyone has any reason as to why I should keep the reservation for Chef Mickey?

 

[Aela]

I have heard this sooooo many times! I don't mind dropping that (it's on the day we will be doing Hollywood Studios). Considering their not so great food and us potentially having the opportunity to meet with all characters involved, anyone has any reason as to why I should keep the reservation for Chef Mickey?

Do your kids want to do Jedi Training? You’ll want breakfast at H&V for that. The food isn’t amazing, but should be better then Chef Mickey. Plus they get to meet 4 unique characters that the little ones might like.

 

[phdmommy]

Thank you for being so helpful everyone. I appreciate it. This is so overwhelming. Makes me almost want to cry and give up on planning! Then pretend that it doesn't matter and just go with the flow. But I think I will be miserable going in that way

 

[phdmommy]

Do your kids want to do Jedi Training? You’ll want breakfast at H&V for that. The food isn’t amazing, but should be better then Chef Mickey. Plus they get to meet 4 unique characters that the little ones might like.

Probably not doing that. Star Wars aren't exactly up on our list. My 6 y.o. is a princessy, sassy kinda girl. My 2 y.o. son, well he is 2 . I will consider breakfast/brunch at Hollywood & Vines if we end up dropping Chef Mickey for the list.

 

[rjrcstan]

My family loved the Chef Mickey breakfast. It's their must do on our upcoming trip. I know it gets bad reviews, but we thought the breakfast buffet was good. Plus the characters danced with my little guy. It really was one of our favorite interactions and I know we are in the minority here lol.

 

[phdmommy]

Since you are doing CRT & 1900 dinner, I would drop Akershus breakfast and rope drop Epcot that day. Then book a 11:45ish breakfast/brunch at Trattoria el Fortno (Bon Voyage). The food was excellent, and the character meet one of the best. We did Akershus this year, and Bon Voyage, but would do Garden Grill next time I think. I enjoyed GG more then Akershus. But we were unable to get a 8am GG for our trip.

I just looked at reservation for Trattoria el Fortno, it's not on a park-correct? So that reservation does not have to be on my Epcot park day or does it make more sense to have it on my Epcot day?

 

[phdmommy]

My family loved the Chef Mickey breakfast. It's their must do on our upcoming trip. I know it gets bad reviews, but we thought the breakfast buffet was good. Plus the characters danced with my little guy. It really was one of our favorite interactions and I know we are in the minority here lol.

Lol. Thanks for letting me know I haven't dropped it, but it does look like I am adding on a few more reservations. Plus my time period for making reservations is exactly now, so I don't want to drop something and end up with nothing, so I'm being a little careful about it.. I am gonna be broke after this trip certainly, not that I am not already