Character Dining 101

Character dining at Walt Disney World is incredibly popular and for good reason.  The characters make their way around the room and stop at each table to mingle with the guests.  The whole family can take pictures with the characters, get an autograph or just chat it up with their favorite characters.  It’s a great way to meet characters without having to stand in line and you get to enjoy a meal while you do it!  Talk about an excellent use of multitasking!

Below is a list of all of the character dining restaurants, their locations, type of food offered, which meals offer a character dining experience, and which characters you can expect to see at the restaurant.  Please note that this list was accurate at the time of posting but character appearances are subject to change.

Tigger at the Crystal Palace

Magic Kingdom 

The Crystal Palace
Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore
Tip: Book a reservation before the Magic Kingdom opens so you can get some photos of a fairly empty park!
 

Cinderella’s Royal Table
Type of Food: American, A la carte
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, and Belle
Tip: This is a very popular restaurant! Make sure to call for reservations right at the 180 day mark. 

Breakfast buffet at the Crystal Palace

Epcot

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Type of Food: Breakfast - American, Family Style/Buffet
Lunch and Dinner – Norwegian, Family Style
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan and/or Mary Poppins (Princesses are on a rotating schedule)
 
The Garden Grill
Type of Food: American, Family Style
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale
Fun Fact: The restaurant rotates! As the restaurant rotates, guests can enjoy different views of the Living with the Land attraction. Pretty neat, huh?!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Hollywood & Vine
Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Breakfast and Lunch - Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Jake from Jake and the Never Land Pirates, and Handy Manny
Dinner - Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Tusker House Restaurant
Type of Food: African, American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Characters: Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy

Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Cape May Café

Minnie at Cape May Cafe

Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast
Characters: Minnie, Goofy and Donald
Fun Fact: If you love seeing the characters in different outfits, visit Cape May Café to see them in their beach apparel.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Donald at Chef Mickey's

Chef Mickey’s
Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast, Brunch and Dinner
Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald
Tip: This is a very popular restaurant! Make sure to call for reservations right at the 180 day mark.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

1900 Park Fare
Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast and Dinner
Characters: Breakfast – Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
Dinner – Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella
Specialties: Strawberry soup (It sounds odd, but give it a try!)

Disney’s Polynesian Resort

Pog juice. Mmmm

‘Ohana  
Type of Food: American, Polynesian, Family Style  
Meals with characters: Breakfast
Characters: Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch
Specialties: Pog juice

Lilo at 'Ohana

 

The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
Type of Food: American BBQ, Family Style, Dinner Show
Meals with characters: Dinner
Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale
Important Info: This dinner show operates seasonally from March through December on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

Garden Grove Type of Food: American, Buffet
Meals with characters: Breakfast (on Saturdays and Sundays), Dinner (Fridays)
Characters: Chip and Dale, Goofy, and Pluto
Important Info: The Swan is not a Disney Resort so you can not charge the meal to your room or use the Disney Dining Plan.

Should you make reservations in advance?  Yes!  Absolutely, yes!  Advance reservations can be made 180 days in advance and are highly recommended.  During slow times it is possible to get a table without advance reservations but I don’t recommend risking it.  Make those reservations at the 180 day mark to give yourself the best chance to book those hard to get character dining reservations. Remember, we offer the complimentary service of booking dining reservations for you.  Contact your Kingdom Konsultant agent to help with all of your reservation needs.



Ashley