When you are planning your dining options at Walt Disney World, do not overlook the character dining. It is one of our favourite ways to meet the characters. Rather than spending hours queuing in the Florida sun for a few seconds with one character, you sit down to a proper meal and they come to you, table by table, while you eat. You get out of the heat, you refuel in the middle of a busy day, and you often meet several characters in one sitting.
In this guide we have shared the character meals we have dined at ourselves, park by park, with our honest take on each one. At the end we have also rounded up a few more that are on our list but we have not yet tried, in case they suit your trip.
Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace was the very first place we ate on our 2023 Walt Disney World trip, so it will always have a soft spot for us. You will find it at the bottom of Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, in a bright glass conservatory, and the characters are the Winnie the Pooh gang: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger, who all come round to the table while you eat. It is buffet-style dining, so you help yourself, and the characters work their way around between courses. Every so often they put on a small Friendship Day parade around the restaurant while you are dining, which is a lovely touch and something a bit different from the usual table visits. The character interaction is great fun. The food is a mix of continental options alongside the classic Mickey waffles, so there is plenty to suit everyone. One thing worth knowing: there are no PhotoPass photographers at Crystal Palace, so your photos here are not part of your Memory Maker. The cast members will happily take pictures for you on your own phone or camera, so you still come away with the shots, just bring your own device. Crystal Palace suits children of all ages, and grown-ups too, because you are never too old for characters.
'Ohana (Disney's Polynesian Village Resort)
We have dined at 'Ohana twice, and it is a family-style, all-you-can-eat breakfast over at the Polynesian. This is where you get to meet Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Lilo and of course Stitch himself, in fact it is the only place at Walt Disney World where you can meet Lilo. This is one dining experience that can be great fun, as Stitch loves to interact with you during the meal. The food is brought to your table in big sharing dishes, and includes fresh fruit and a proper cooked breakfast featuring the Stitch waffle. You also get 'Ohana's signature pineapple bread, and of course the famous POG juice to wash it all down, that is passionfruit, orange and guava, often referred to as jungle juice.
1900 Park Fare (Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa)
The character line-up at 1900 Park Fare, over at the Grand Floridian, is a real treat: Tiana, in her Bayou outfit rather than her classic dress, Mirabel, Cinderella and Aladdin. During the meal you are given a card to write a wish on, which they then ask you to hold up during the wishing ceremony, a lovely bit of theatre that makes this one feel special. The restaurant itself is beautifully themed, with portraits of princesses all around and even a pipe organ as part of the decor. The food is buffet-style, with the usual Disney favourites including Mickey waffles, and you will find POG juice here too. Their signature strawberry soup is divine, and it is one of the reasons we really like 1900 Park Fare and keep going back. We like to have breakfast here, as its location is ideal being so close to the Magic Kingdom.
Chef Mickey's (Disney's Contemporary Resort)
Chef Mickey's is over at the Contemporary Resort, and it is a buffet where you meet the Fab Five: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. The big draw here is the setting, with the resort's monorail gliding right through the building above you while you eat. We will be honest, though, and this is based purely on our own experience, this one was our least favourite of the character meals we have done. It was very noisy, even by busy-buffet standards, and the layout felt a little mismatched, almost as though we were dining in a food court in a shopping mall. The food was okay but not the best buffet we have had at Disney World, although you will be glad to know they do have POG juice here too. The characters and the energy are good fun, so plenty of families love it, but for us it did not quite live up to the others.
Topolino's Terrace (Disney's Riviera Resort)
Topolino's Terrace is our favourite of all the character meals we have done, and it has a special place for us because the Riviera is our home DVC resort. You will find it up on the rooftop, with lovely views right across Walt Disney World, which makes the whole breakfast feel like a bit of an occasion. The characters here are Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy, all dressed for the artist theme. Mickey and Donald come round in their artist aprons, Daisy in her ballerina outfit, and Minnie in a sophisticated dress made up of printed pages, finished off with a red beret. It is table service rather than a buffet, and we would recommend the Mickey waffles or the steak and eggs, both are excellent. You also get an artist's pot of pastries brought to your table, which is a lovely touch, and POG juice to drink. For us, it is the setting, the food and the personal connection to the resort that lift Topolino's above the rest. It is the one we go back to again and again.
Garden Grill (Epcot, The Land Pavilion)
The fun of Garden Grill, up in The Land pavilion at Epcot, is that the restaurant slowly rotates as you dine, looking down over the Living with the Land boat ride below, although in all honesty you barely notice the movement once you are tucking in. The characters here are Farmer Mickey in his dungarees, along with Pluto, Chip and Dale, and one of the nice things about Garden Grill is that they come round more than once during your meal, so there is no rush to get your photos. It is family-style dining, with the food brought to your table in big sharing dishes, and there is POG juice to drink as well. We have eaten here at both breakfast and dinner, and we prefer the breakfast ourselves.
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Epcot, Norway Pavilion)
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is tucked inside the Norway pavilion at Epcot, done out like a medieval Norwegian castle, and it is a lovely spot to meet a whole host of Disney princesses in one sitting. We have dined here three times now, and across those visits we have met Aurora, Belle, Tiana, Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella and Mulan. The line-up does vary from visit to visit, so you may meet a different mix, but it is always a real treat if you have little princes or princesses in tow. It is an all-you-can-eat meal, and there is POG juice to drink as well. We have dined here at both breakfast and dinner, and as with Garden Grill, it is the breakfast we prefer.
Hollywood & Vine - Hollywood Studios
Hollywood & Vine is over at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and it was one of the meals we did on our first trip back in 2023. The characters we met were Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto, in their everyday outfits rather than anything themed. It is worth knowing that at Halloween and Christmas the characters dress up in seasonal costumes, so if your trip falls around those times of year it would be a lovely one to book. It is a buffet, with a reasonable amount of choice, and the food was perfectly fine. The character interactions were okay, although they did feel a little rushed compared to some of the others we have done. Hollywood & Vine is also part of the Fantasmic dining package, so if you book it you also get reserved seating for the Fantasmic nighttime show, which is a handy way to guarantee a good spot for one of the busiest evening shows at Hollywood Studios. It is an ok place to eat, but in all honesty it is not one of our top three. If you are at Hollywood Studios and fancy a character meal it does the job, just do not expect it to be the highlight of your trip.
Other character meals worth knowing about
There are several more character meals at Walt Disney World that we have not dined at ourselves yet, but they are well worth knowing about when you are planning.
Be Our Guest sits in Fantasyland, towards the rear of the Magic Kingdom, themed around Beauty and the Beast, and it is the only place in the Magic Kingdom where you can see the Beast himself. It is a sit-down, fine-dining restaurant split across three rooms, the Grand Ballroom, the West Wing and the Rose Gallery, and the menu leans towards classic cuisine, with the famous "grey stuff" on the dessert menu.
Cinderella's Royal Table is right in the heart of Cinderella Castle. You are greeted by Cinderella down in the Grand Hall, then taken up to the banquet room above to dine with the princesses. Unlike the other signature character restaurants, you pay in advance when you book, and it is even possible to dine during Happily Ever After, watching the fireworks through the windows.
Tusker House over at Animal Kingdom is Donald's safari-themed buffet, with the characters dressed in their safari best.
Storybook Dining at Artist Point, in Disney's Wilderness Lodge, is a Snow White themed dinner where you meet characters from the film, including the Evil Queen.
Cape May Cafe, at Disney's Beach Club, is a relaxed character meal with Minnie and friends.
These are all on our list for future trips, and we will report back properly once we have visited.
