Character Dining

If you’re like me and you love seeing the characters and getting pictures with them, then character dining is for you! It also saves you a lot of time waiting in lines for a good amount of the characters.


Character dining is having a meal and the character makes the rounds around the room and stops at each table for photo and signature ops. Disney has all kinds of character dining! My favorites are any meal with Mickey Mouse or the princesses.



I have two preferences for dining with Mickey. The first one is Chef Mickey’s which is in the Contemporary. Mickey and friends are dressed in chef and waiter/waitress uniforms. You need to make reservations well in advance as reservations book up fast!!






The other is the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.

Mickey and friends are dressed in their safari best. This is an excellent second option if you can’t get reservations at Chef Mickey’s. There is also the Cape May Café in the Beach Club Resort where Mickey and friends are in their beachwear. These are the ones I have dined at. All are buffets. Tip: If you see the characters getting close to your table, you may want to wait for that next trip to the buffet or the bathroom because there is a chance they will pass by your table if no one is there. You can speak to the cast member that is with Mickey or the other characters to make sure that your table is not missed.

When it comes to dining with the princesses, Cinderella’s Royal Table in the castle at Magic Kingdom is the best!

 And also the hardest to get a reservation for! I have had the privilege of dining inside the castle for breakfast on a few different occasions. If you have the Disney Dining plan it will cost you 2 table services, but I would recommend doing it at least once just for the experience! The experience comes with a Photo of you and Cinderella. You actually meet her before you head up to the dining area to be seated.  (this photo will be included in the Memory Maker package if you choose to purchase the memory maker)

Once seated you have a few different breakfast food options to choose from. It is a seated meal. As you eat your breakfast, each princess is formally announced as they enter the dining area and begin making their rounds. The princesses I have met have been Cinderella, of course, Belle, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Jasmine, and Snow White.

Of course, let's not forget the newest dining experience in Magic Kingdom, Be Our Guest, this now offers Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, unfortunately, Dinner is the only time you get a chance to have your picture taken with the Beast. (This will be the hardest reservation to get)

There is another dining experience for the princesses. In EPCOT’s Norway pavilion the Akershus Royal Banquet is a buffet in which you can meet the princesses.

There is also the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom for Winnie the Pooh and his 100 Acre Woods friends. This is also a buffet.

There are other character experiences as well, such as breakfast with Mary Poppins or tea time with Alice in Wonderland at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian; breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana in the Polynesian Resort; Disney Jr. characters in Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios; among others.

Regardless of which character dining experience you want, I would highly recommend calling for reservations! You can try online reservations first and if unsuccessful, don’t give up…Call!

Also, menus are always available online so you can see if the food options are something that you would like. If you go to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/ and select a restaurant link, there is a link to the right that says "Show Menu". At the top of the menu page, you can select which meal menu you would like to view (breakfast, lunch, or dinner)