Best Character meal for a large group?

[tlmadden73]

What's everyone's opinion on the best characters meal for a large multi-family group in end of March? I am talking probably 15-20 people .. potentially 4 families and maybe a few grandparents.

My group of friends are planning a Orlando trip and they invite other families to go with them and split the cost of staying in a large house. We know that trying to plan a whole trip with multiple families would be a nightmare, but we hope to have at least one or two big meals together for fun on one of the days. We did Tusker House last time with 12 people and we enjoyed it thoroughly (so we would probably want something different).

I understand that getting a reservation that large may be difficult but I plan on making it at the 180 mark (we will be staying offsite).

The kid makeup will be a vast majority of boys (ages newborn to 10) (so probably no Princess character meals).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would suggest Ohana breakfast. Reasoning is simple:

1. Large group.

2. It's not in a park.

3. They have decent sized tables.

4. Served family-style.

If the season is right, Mickey's Backyard BBQ would be the other suggestion I'd have; it's more expensive.

But with a large posse and a bunch of kids, not-a-buffet wins the day on Planet Aurora, and the setup at Garden Grill is suboptimal for being seated together.

 

[Lesverts]

You've already done the one I would suggest. I saw a large group of British families there when I was there. Tusker looked to take great care of them.

 

[TXMemaw]

We did a big family reunion trip (27 of us) over Thanksgiving last year. Our groups ages went from 2 to 81. We were able to all eat together at one meal each day. We did both Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace as character meals as well as Akershus with a smaller group of 12. I think that Crystal Palace was easier only because it was in the park. For Chef Mickey's, we took the bus from our resort to the MK then walked over to the Contemporary. We weren't quite as spread out at Chef Mickey's as we were at the Crystal Palace (all the tables were together at both places, just bigger tables at Chef Mickey's). Character interaction was great at both.

 

[fairy oma]

Tusker House would definitely be an option. It is one of our family's favorites and they took really great care of a 3 family group.
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[butterfly71076]

We had a great experience at Crystal Palace with a large group. Celebrating my niece's 5th birthday, we had 17 people, ages 5-70. They put us at the half booth half tables along the wall. It worked great!

 

[tlmadden73]

Thanks for the advice all.

We like the looks of Ohana breakfast. The family style and location (outside a park) is appealing. While that means an early morning for the group (considering we are staying offsite), it does give us some options as everyone can then go their separate ways and go to the park of their choice after breakfast.

Plus, the character selection is better (for our group) there than say Crystal Palace (which some of us already have done anyway on our trip 2 years ago).

We also were looking at Garden Grill. How is that meal? I assume you can potentially get on Soaring early (or be near front of the line) if you have an early breakfast there?

 

[poppinspal]

My group was not as large (10 people) but we did both Crystal Palace and Ohana last year. We LOVED the set up for Ohana. There was plenty of room at the tables, the character interaction for my nieces was amazing and the food was yummy. My niece still talks about how Lilo danced with her and how Pluto was trying to lick her head. It was one of her top moments of that trip. While I like Crystal Palace I'd highly recommend Ohana.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We also were looking at Garden Grill. How is that meal? I assume you can potentially get on Soaring early (or be near front of the line) if you have an early breakfast there?

Garden Grill is very good, but I think your group will be split into multiple tables. The shape of GG is such that I don't know if they have anything that can seat 12+.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

Garden Grill has great food, but because the way the tables are set up on the moving platform you are more likely to be more spread out there

 

[LSUfan4444]

Tusker House Lunch...not breakfast.

if you get everyone awake that early, spend that time in the park with low crowds. You'll get better value for the cost with lunch and by mid day, most people could use a break and a chance to get off of their feet. Use the early morning energy and freshness to hit attractions that will have higher standby times later in the day.

 

[tlmadden73]

Tusker House Lunch...not breakfast.

if you get everyone awake that early, spend that time in the park with low crowds. You'll get better value for the cost with lunch and by mid day, most people could use a break and a chance to get off of their feet. Use the early morning energy and freshness to hit attractions that will have higher standby times later in the day.

Ya, I am not a fan of doing a big breakfast for that very reason. I want to be using that time and energy for walking around and use the lunch for a break.

That is what we did 2 years ago when we hit Tusker House for a LATE lunch at AK. It was a great break/stopping point after a busy morning.

So I think (after discussing with the other planner) we will do Garden Grill for lunch (since we already did Tusker House lunch last time).
My son (will be 4 1/2) is old enough now to actually go on a lot of the attractions at Epcot so we are adding that into the mix this time. Sitting at multiple tables is fine if we have a group that large. (It could be as large as 25!)

I think we will do an Ohana dinner (no characters, I know) just for the family style and proximity to MK and stick to that as the only two meals we will attempt to get all of us at.

Our plan is to let every family do their own thing and just meet in passing or at the planned big meals or at the pool on off days.