Character Meals at Disney!

Both times we've gone to Disney, we have enjoyed the free dining plan, which means that each day, we get to eat one sit down meal (for us, this was most always a character meal), one quick service meal, and one snack.  Needless to say, we didn't go hungry at Disney! 

 Our very first meal was at Chef Mickey's, and that was the perfect way to begin our week at Disney! Here we are, all bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for an amazing week! 

 All of my favorites! 

 Breakfast at Chef Mickey's is good.  You get to see lots of characters: Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto.  The food is okay, not my favorite for breakfast, but definitely not bad.  The characters totally make this one worth it because you get to meet so many! 

 The next morning, we ate breakfast at Hollywood and Vine with the characters from Disney Junior.  This food again isn't great, but the characters are wonderful, especially if you have younger children.  I would say mine probably wouldn't enjoy this one as much in next couple of years because they are sadly outgrowing Disney Junior, sigh.  

 For now though, we are loving Princess Sofia and Doc.  

 And, Jake, too.  

 The girls were especially excited about Princess Sofia.  I am thinking she was not one of the ones we met the last time we went, but I cannot remember for sure.  We definitely enjoy watching her on TV!

 The next day, we enjoyed breakfast at the Tusker House.  We had never done this one before, and it was so good.  

 A big group shot before going inside!

 This is another meal where you get to meet lots of characters: Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy.  

 All of the characters are dressed in their safari clothes, perfect for Animal Kingdom.  

 The food here was really good, I would say better than Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine.  

 So Goofy! 

 Animal Kingdom closes early, so for supper that night, we went back to our hotel and enjoyed our quick service meal there.  It was pretty good.  I adore this picture of Story and Emery sharing cake! 

 Our next character meal was at Akershus.  This is probably one of my very favorites.  You get to meet so many princesses, and they do a really great job of interacting with the children.  

 In addition to meeting Belle, we met Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).  

 Ariel.  

 Cinderella. 

 And Snow White.  We love some Snow White at our house in case you can't tell! 

 So sweet! While you are eating at Akershus, the princesses parade around the room with the children.  It is so fun to see!  

 I adore this picture of Tilly with Snow White taken by my SIL.  

 Our first night meal was at Crystal Palace.  We had never eaten there before, so it was fun to try something new.  The food was pretty good as far as evening meals go.  In the past, we did not enjoy the food so much for lunch and supper, but this meal was good.  We did have to wait a really long time to be seated, and I think it was a mistake on their part.  

 Other than that, we really enjoyed it.  We got to meet a lot of the characters from the Hundred Acre Woods.  

 So sweet!  One thing I did love about this meal, is that I didn't feel we were right on top of the other patrons like I did at some of the meals.  I felt like we had more room for our family to wiggle around without worrying about bumping someone else.  

 Tigger! 

 Summer missed out on Piglet, so she got to meet him just before we left.  

 By far, our favorite meal for supper is Ohana.  So, so good! 

 However, we went on Thursday night before the rest of the crew left on Friday, and the children were so tired.  By the end of the meal, four of six children had fallen asleep in their chairs! I'm wondering if this would be a better meal to do earlier in the week?  Like maybe your first night?  The food is amazing, but we were almost too tired to enjoy it, ha! 

 There's always room for bread pudding, right? 

 Friday morning, we went to Cape May Cafe, and it was very good! The food was great, the dining room wasn't too crowded where we sat, and the characters were great! We met Goofy, Minnie, and Donald, I believe.  They were all in their beach clothes for this meal! 

 One word of advice, don't touch the characters' noses, whew!  Minnie got  very mad at Carter for touching her nose! I felt so badly for him! 

 A big group picture with Minnie.  

 Saturday morning, it was just our party of six, and we enjoyed our last meal at 1900 Park Fare.  There are a lot of characters at this meal, so it is a great choice.  The food is ok, not the best, but not bad either.  It's a lot like the food at Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine.  

 We met Tigger and Pooh.  

 Mary Poppins, whom we just love.  

 As you can clearly see.  

 She took a lot of time talking to the children, and it was really sweet!  She even wrote supercalifragilisticxpialidocious in our autograph books, which was so fun! 

 We also met Alice in Wonderland.  

And the Mad Hatter! We had never met him before, and he was so very funny! 

And there you have our character meals and dining for the week.  We talked a lot about when is the best time to do character meals.  They all seem to take away from park time, but we decided breakfast is the best.  The food is better than lunch and supper at these places, and you get pretty full so you aren't hungry until much later in the day.  I really can't think of anything I wish we had changed or done differently as far as dining while at Disney.  Cinderella's castle was under construction, so I would like to eat there next visit.  I would also enjoy going back to Be Our Guest, maybe at supper so we can meet the Beast.  There are so many great choices, it's hard to narrow them down.  I am curious to hear of good quick service meals.  Except for our time at Epcot, I did not really find the quick service meals to be very good.  I'd love to hear any good suggestions.  We loved our time at Disney so much, I believe we are already looking forward to the next visit!