What’s your favorite dining experience?

[TheMacys]

It’s been a long time since we’ve been to WDW and we are headed back with our 4 year old daughter.
What is your favorite, most fun, interactive restaurant for a memorable experience?

 

[Bjkandma]

We actually have two that we have enjoyed. Crystal Palace inside MK (park ticket required). Buffet with characters from Winnie the Pooh and gang. The characters are available all day, but we prefer a late breakfast ( time it just right, and they start serving lunch items on buffet line - reservation 10:15 ish.

1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian resort. Dinner is a buffet with Cinderella, Prince Charming, step sisters and step mother.

Both restaurants reservations can be made 180 days out and if using dining plan (the regular one\middle one or deluxe) is one table service credit.

 

[sparkle.castle]

I second Crystal Palace for breakfast!

 

[GoingSince1990]

Chef Mickeys is a must for us.

 

[Lizgistix]

Cape May character breakfast. Yeah it's a typical buffet, but we saw all 4 characters once, and two of them twice. It was our first character meal and we enjoyed it and enjoyed seeing kids at other tables having a good time with the characters.

 

[DrunkJam]

My 4 year old (then) loved Crystal Palace for Breakfast, I hope piglet didn't mind being hugged so much!
As a family, we loved Tusker House breakfast, too!

 

[seggerman]

Dinner at Columbia House Restaurant with boyfriend and his CM niece. I hardly knew I was in WDW - upstairs it was quiet and the food was good at a reasonable price. The stuff on the wall looked real, acquired not Disney faked.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

If she likes princesses either Cinderella's Royal Table or Akershaus. My kids enjoyed them at that age. CP is great for the Pooh characters but I've never liked the food much (we haven't done breakfast though so maybe that's the way to go). Coral Reef in Epcot was fun for our kids too.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Our favorite character meal for both interaction and food for the entire family is by far Tusker House. Breakfast, lunch or dinner is great.
Garden Grill is another good food option with characters.

 

[Orionreplay]

Garden Grill is our one must-do restaurant for years now. We've seen the menu change in those years and always return, never leaving unsatisfied. To us, its always a solid bet we will love it. So it's always my first ADR booking and everything else is after.

While we did not do Tusker House this past trip, it is a favorite for breakfast in my family.

 

[KMarston]

We leave shortly with our 4 yo DGS. We love Garden Grill breakfast before the park opens! The breakfast is family style so they bring it to your table. No having to stand in line for a buffet! The characters here seem to have more time to visit and we will see them at least twice.

We also like Ohana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch because it’s family style. We don’t really enjoy the food at the Crystal Palace but he loves the characters so we always go. We’re trying breakfast this time. We’re also adding Chef Mickeys because he hasn’t been there before but it’s another one we don’t care for as much. We did 1900 Park Fare last year and the character interaction was amazing!

Hollywood and Vine has Disney Jr for breakfast and the Fab Five for lunch and dinner. This has been on our plan for the last two years but we always ended up canceling. Good luck, we seem to enjoy the breakfast more. Our grandson isn’t tired or cranky and he likes more breakfast foods than other foods and it’s less expensive usually than lunch or dinner.

Edited to add: Tusker House breakfast is one of the better buffets. We always go before the park opens on our AK day!

 

[NotANewbie]

You're going to laugh, but it is having age appropriate beverages and splitting several appetizers on the all-ages deck as night falls at Trader Sam's at the Polynesian resort. There is a ukulele player, a slight breeze, and then you get to see the Electric Water Pageant go by before seeing the Magic Kingdom fireworks across the lagoon. Only downside is not seeing the castle projections. They pipe in the accompanying music. For this mother/daughter team who have crowd anxiety, it is just lovely.

 

[mkla2015]

Tusker House breakfast is a must do for our family on every trip- the food is always hot and fresh, service is great, and the character interactions are lots of fun. They also do a little parade through the restaurant with the kids. We've been going since my oldest was 3 and it's always been a favorite of ours.

1900PF dinner is a lot of fun too- the food is ok but the character interactions are the best!

 

[Pumbaa_]

We love garden grill for character interaction. Plus it’s family style so no one stuck their finger in my cinnamon bun or licked the serving spoon.

 

[WawaCoffee]

Dinner at Be our Guest. If you're a fan of Beauty and the Beast, stepping into the dining hall during dinner service is a jaw-dropping experience.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Our favorite of all time was Mickey's Backyard BBQ. The characters were out for so long. They danced with the kids forever and made sure that every picture was taken we wanted. The food was good and plentiful. The music was our speed and it was in a venue that let the kids cut loose a bit instead of being stuffy in a restaurant (flashbacks to Chef Mickey's).

With Reflections construction stomping on the BBQ, we're hoping Hoop-de-doo-Revue will fill that hole in our trip.

 

[Micca]

Sci-Fi at DHS is a ton of fun and the burgers are good there. If I'm eating with kids inside a park it's Tusker House for lunch or dinner.

 

[KathyTbell]

Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge - fun/great food (AYCTE), 50s Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios - fun/comfort food, Akershus at EPCOT - princesses character meal (part buffet/main course ordered), Tusker House at Animal Kingdom - character meal/great buffet, Chef Mickeys at Contemporary - classic character meal, Biergarten at EPCOT - good buffet/great atmosphere/music (seating is family style - which some love/some don't), Cinderellas Royal Table at Magic Kingdom - classic princess character meal IN the castle/great atmosphere (2 dining credits), Ohana at Polynesian - Lilo and Stitch character breakfast with interactive fun.

 

[tzeitel]

HDD is the most fun/memorable meal we've had at WDW (DD was 6 the first time we went and she loved it). We have done 50's, Tusker, CP, CRT, Luau, 'Ohana (bfast & dinner), WCC, BoG - all were good and we liked them (to varying degrees) but nothing like HDD. We also like the atmosphere in Sci-Fi but I don't think a 4 year old would enjoy it much.

It really does depend on what your little one likes, if she likes specific characters then one of the buffets would be better. But if she (and you) like more of a (Disney) party atmosphere with music, dancing and comedy then HDD would be a good one. The food is good too!

 

[tuckymom]

Tusker House at AK and/or Hoop De Doo Review. Both the whole family truly enjoys.