We recently made our first trip to Walt Disney World as a family of three. We got married at Disney just over ten years ago, so we were very excited to introduce our toddler to our Disney obsession. We did several things differently this trip because we had a tiny human with us. In the past, we did mostly quick service meals and we had never done a character meal! This trip, we decided to try one out!
We highly enjoyed our trip the The Crystal Palace. Winnie the Pooh is Mr. Not So Crafty’s favorite fictional character. We had a hard time deciding what meal to do, but we went with breakfast. We arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation and were quickly seated. Like most character dinning experiences at Disney World, advanced reservations are highly recommended. There may or may not be day of reservations available, but we do not recommend risking it if the restaurant is on your must do list! While we were waiting, the hostess gave us a little paper that not only had allergy information on it, but it also had a list of foods that we could order from the kitchen custom made to be safe for specific allergies.
The food was delicious and the selection was amazing! Mr. Not So Crafty and our little one really enjoyed the sausage and bacon. There was a really amazing made to order omelette station with tons of choices for fillings. They had more food than we can remember to list! For the allergy safe offerings, I ordered a muffin and mickey waffles. Both these things were delicious. The muffin was Udi brand. This was not listed on the allergy menu, I am just a big fan of their muffins.
While the food was a pleasant perk, the reason we booked this meal was to meet the Winnie the Pooh characters. The characters available were Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet. Each character came by individually to each table. They did not rush and spent plenty of time with each family. Out of all the characters, Piglet spent the most time at our table. We didn’t think our daughter was ever going to let him go and he didn’t appear to mind!
We did not dislike a single thing about this dining experience! Everything from the food to the service was amazing. We can not wait to make reservations for our next trip!
What a great day for your little one! I haven’t tried a character dining experience but look forward to trying one in the future.
You will not regret it! There are so many to choose from!
Thanks for sharing your experience at Disney with us. We are due for a family vacation soon and Disney is at the top of our list! I’m definitely going to keep the character meal in mind. 🙂
Sarah
This is awesome! We are taking my boys (and my nephews) to Disney World for the first time this coming summer. There will be 13 of us total (my parents, my husband’s parents, and our families plus kids) so we have already booked our lunch at Chef Mickey’s one day. The boys all like the classic characters, so we went for that one. I can’t wait!
Chef MIckey’s is on our list to consider for our next trip! We are likely not going back until October or November of 2020 though, so we have time.
I went to Chef Mickey’s as a kid. I know we have the photo somewhere of two of my cousins, my sister, and me with Chef Mickey!
Looks so fun!! We wanted to get in to here with my kids last time we were in Disney, but we didn’t make it. We will definitely try next time now that I’ve read this 🙂
There are so many dining options! We obsessively looked at reviews for everything before we decided on which resturants to make reservations for.
I love didn’t. I would love to take my kids! I’m waiting until my daughter is old enough to fully enjoy it without so many meltdowns. I’ve wanted to do this! My kids would love it.
It can be an overwhelming experience for little ones! Our daughter has some special sensory needs. The first few days there, we started to think maybe we should have waited, but she had a great time overall!
This looks fun! Mine is still a bit young for stuff like this though.
We joke that the best time to take them is when they are little because you do not have to buy a ticket or pay for the character meals for children under three.
We love Crystal Palace! It is one of the few places that is a must during any trip! Good food and good atmosphere
Would you recommend lunch or breakfast?
We have only tried breakfast but it was amazing! We have already decided that on our 2020 trip we will be doing breakfast again.
How fun! Im looking forward to taking my toddler to Disney. I’m not sure how he’ll react to the characters. Hopefully with smiles and not tears!
We had a little bit of both. There were a few that terrified her.
This looks like a really fun place to spend the day with kids. Actually it looks fun for adults too 🙂 The omelette station sounds like a place I should visit very soon!
Looks like a fab day out. Character dining is such fun and a great family experience for sure xx
Aw, how sweet! My daughter loved piglet too, your post brought me many memories!
I am so glad that you loves this experience. It does look like it would be such a great time.
Aww, she looked like she was having a great time! We went to Disney but only spent the day, next time I’ll have to take a look into the Crystal Palace!