food IS a theme park
Here at DFB, we’ve eaten at EVERY Disney World restaurant.
Magic Kingdom
And over hundreds (probably thousands) of restaurant visits, we’ve had some good experiences, and we’ve had some not-so-good ones. Among those not-so-good ones, we’ve had a few rather stressful restaurant visits…including one at a popular character meal.
Character dining is a big draw for many families in Disney World.
Grumpy at Storybook Dining
While it’s more expensive than many other table service restaurants in Disney World (but not all!), the meet-and-greet opportunities you get with some of your favorite Disney characters make the cost worth it for many. However, we’re sorry to say that price increases have struck again in the parks, and several character dining experiences have increased around Disney World.
I’m here to tell you about my FAVORITE character meal, and my favorite character meal HACK in Magic Kingdom!
Let’s go!
Yep, I’m talking about Crystal Palace! This Magic Kingdom restaurant is home to a delightful character buffet during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But if you can’t decide between breakfast or lunch? You don’t have to! I recently made a trip to Crystal Palace where I got to experience TWO meals. And today, I’m bringing my full review of the experience and telling you how I did it!
Disney World’s character meals are some of our favorite dining experiences!
Hollywood & Vine
There are lots of restaurants for adults to enjoy by themselves like California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Narcoosee’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, and many more. But character meals offer a special kid-approved dining option that we adults love just as much. They are great places to interact with the characters one-on-one and get some special entertainment, too, while enjoying your meal. We recently headed over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to enjoy a special a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine!
As part of my job, I spend a lot of time alone in Disney World restaurants, including character meals!
Magic Kingdom
Character meals can be pretty challenging to review, because there’s a lot of content to capture (especially if they’re buffet meals!), but they’re generally a lot of fun. They’ve even made me a lot better at interacting with characters! However, what happens when the characters don’t actually show up? That happened to me recently and it was a WILD ride.
It’s finally BACK, and we’re so excited to share our experience!
Let’s try out the new dinner at 1900 Park Fare!
What’s back, you may ask? Why, it’s 1900 Park Fare of course! We visited the Grand Floridian Resort restaurant on its official reopening day of April 10th, 2024, more than four years after it closed due to the 2020 pandemic. With the reopening, you can now grab breakfast and dinner here once again, and we’re taking you along with us to experience our meal. Let’s dive in!
We have three words for you — returning character breakfast.
©Disney
Character meals are some of the most fun dining experiences you can have at a Disney location. You get quality face time with some of your most beloved characters and get a delicious meal while you’re at. It’s a win-win, CHARACTERS and FOOD! While you can find several locations in the Disney World parks and resorts, you don’t necessarily have to visit Disney World to take part in one of these entertaining breakfasts.
Several huge changes are coming to Disney World!
EPCOT
We’re watching construction progress on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom and seeing things move along at the new Disney Vacation Club tower coming to the Polynesian Village Resort. But on top of that, there are several changes coming soon that nobody seems to be talking about!
It’s been nearly four years since Disney World closed down for the global pandemic, and things are still returning to normal in the parks.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
For a while, we watched as Disney World hotels and restaurants reopened one by one. Eventually, we got the return of popular entertainment offerings and character meet and greets. But through it all, one restaurant has remained closed, and we get questions about it ALL the time!
We all love character dining, right?
Goofy at Ravello
There are many great places to have a character meal in Disney World. Sure you can go to places like Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in EPCOT, Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom, Tusker House Restaurant in Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood & Vine Restaurant at Hollywood Studios, but there are also spots in the resorts you should check out! We’ve talked about the character dining at Ravello Italian Restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando, but we learned about another dining experience at the resort that had our jaws drop. Let’s talk about it!
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