Disney World Character Dining Reservations 2022
We strongly recommend that you make a reservation for Disney character meals exactly 60 days outas they are extremely popular and book out quickly. The guidelines for booking character meals at Disney World, allow you to make ADRs 60-days prior to your arrival date. Thinking of planning ahead? Check out our guide on how far in advance you can book Disney.
The best option to make Disney dining reservations is to log onto the WDW website , where you can search all the restaurants available for specific dates and times.
List Of All The Character Meals At Disney World 2022
- Chef Mickeys
- Cape May Cafe
- Trattoria al Forno
These are all restaurants that have returned for guests to book meals, but have not brought the characters back for a meet n greet. The prices are a bit cheaper than they were when characters joined guests, so if youre looking for a cheaper Disney breakfast, these may be the best option.
How Many Full Service Meals Should We Plan On
Keep in mind that these dining experiences often take up a good amount of time so build eating times in to your trip. In my own experience, I only book one Disney World Advanced Dining Reservations per day, usually for lunch. This allows my family to eat a light breakfast in our hotel room.
We enjoy our fancy ADR meal at lunch time. I like to book an indoor dining location for lunch in an effort to avoid the near-daily rain storms in Orlando! Then we grab a quick service dinner whenever hunger strikes. Or if Im being honest, sometimes we just have ice cream cones for dinner!
So how can you get that Disney World Advanced Dining Reservations for the meal you really want? These are basic tips for newbies looking to grab a few ADR for their trip.
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Mickeys Backyard Bbq Character Dining
Where? The Campsites at Disneys Fort Wilderness Resort, Magic Kingdom Resort Area
What meals do they serve? Dinner
What do they serve? This all-you-can eat picnic includes everything from barbecue ribs to hot dogs to corn on the cob to smoked chicken and more. Wine and beer is also complimentary for guests with proper ID.
What characters are here? Youll meet classic Disney Characters, like Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, Chip n’ Dale, and more.
Who should go? Those who are looking for dinner and a show or a more interactive experience will love this unique choice. Enjoy a live country-western band and other entertainment while you eat. It’s also a do-not-miss for barbecue lovers.
Any drawbacks? Prepayment is required, which may or may not be an issue for your family. Additionally, reserved seating isnt offered for category two guests, so if you dont arrive early enough you may not be able to find seats together.
What costs are involved? Entrance to the meal and show is broken down into two cost levels. For Category One tickets which feature closer seating, a character getting prior to the show, and early access to all the seating and food, you’ll pay $72 for adults and $47 for children. For Category Two which features general unreserved seating, youll pay $62 for adults and $37 for children.
Pro tip: Bring your dancing shoes! Line dancing will be taught for all those who want to participate.
Yak & Yeti Restaurant
Yak & Yeti is both a sit-down and quick-service venue in Animal Kingdom. The quick-service window is a stripped-down version of the menu offered inside. Yak & Yeti isnt cheap, but the pan-Asian cuisine is quite good making it one of our favorites at Animal Kingdom. The decor will give you a bit of the feel of eating in a Nepalese market.
One way to keep your total check affordable is to order one of the shareable plates . The portion size is plenty for two or more. Skip the barbecue and burger in favor of the duck or one of the bowls. Make sure you finish with the dessert wontons youll be glad you did.
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Top 5 Best Disney Character Dining Locations
Which Disney World Character Dining Experiences are Worth the Money?
Character dining is one of the most unique experiences your family can do on a Disney World vacation. Not only do you get to eat at some of the parks best dining locations, but your kids are guaranteed to meet and interact with some of their favorite Disney characters. Sure, it does cost extra and you must book your reservations well in advance but this is one of those wonderful purely Disney experiences that you will cherish forever. Lets take a closer look at what you need to know about this type of experience and then review the top 5 best Disney character dining locations you should consider booking for your next trip.
Best Character Meal For Tweens And Teens: Storybook Dining At Artist Point
One of the newest character meals at Disney World before the pandemic was also one of the best and most unique.
Located inside Disneys Wilderness Lodge , the full three-course meal at Artist Point went well beyond burgers and fries with offerings such as a shrimp cocktail starter and main dishes that include butter-poached snapper and a truly amazing vegetarian dish that features butternut squash, arugula and gnocchi. Theres a trio of included desserts and, best of all, a visit with the Evil Queen herself.
This restaurant hasnt yet made a comeback, but mark it down for a visit when it does reopen.
Related: What it is like at reopened Disney character meals?
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What About Character Breakfasts
Character meals for breakfasts are a popular way to start a day, but here are some things to keep in mind:
- If you want to maximize your park touring, youll definitely want to have the earliest reservation possible .
- Park hours can change, which means that pre-park opening breakfast might wind up not being before the park opens, which can throw off your touring plans for the entire day.
- Breakfasts are generally the least expensive character meals, so while they arent always a good value on the Disney Dining Plan they are a great way to save a few bucks if youre planning to pay for your meal out-of-pocket.
- Some character breakfasts put you in a good position to be at the front of the line for a popular nearby attraction, so that is something to consider as well.
Current Character Dining Options At Walt Disney World
by Professor Heather Adamczak | Nov 29, 2021 | Dining, Guide, Homepage Featured, How To, Walt Disney World |
More dining options have begun to open at Walt Disney World and we want to make sure you are up to date on where you can find your favorite friends! This page will be a regularly updated list of current character dining options at Walt Disney World.
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Storybook Dining At Artist Point With Snow White At Disneys Wilderness Lodge
If youre looking for an immersive, entertaining Disney character dining experience, then youre definitely going to want to check out Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White. Located at Disneys Wilderness Lodge, the restaurant is themed like the Enchanted Forest. With towering trees twinkling with fairy lights above you, it truly is a magical setting. To top it all off, not only do you get to meet the Evil Queen, Snow White, and a couple of her dwarf friends, theyll also treat you to a few choreographed dances to some songs from the movie.
As you might expect, the dishes are just as charming as the characters and atmosphere. From hearty mains like prime rib and braised pork shank to an assortment of desserts thats as pleasing to the eye as they are to the stomach, the entire meal is a cut above what youll typically find at a Disney character dinner. An enchanting experience from beginning to end.
Characters at: Dinner
Characters : Snow White, Evil Queen, Grumpy, and Dopey
A Couple Of Days Beforehand Check Again
Disney World has recently adopted a new cancellation policy that requires a credit card to secure any Table Service reservation. If you dont cancel by the day before your scheduled reservation, youll automatically be charged $10/person.
The good thing about this policy is that it keeps people from stockpiling reservations that they arent going to use, and it means that openings come up the day or two beforehand that people can snag for their trip.
Use this to your advantage and try checking again, even up until the day before, to see if you can get what you want.
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Character Dining Options At Disneyland
9. There are five different Character Dining options to choose from at the Disneyland Resort. Breakfast with Minnie & Friends is located inside Disneyland and you’ll need a valid theme park admission to get in, even with a reservation. Each of the hotels offer a Character Dining experience as well, so if you don’t have a park ticket for your last morning, you could plan a Character Breakfast at one of the hotels to extend that vacation magic just a little bit longer. You can make reservations at the following hotels:
Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures At Disney’s Grand Californian
Where? Napa Rose at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.
The morning begins with a three course breakfast in the fine dining option of Napa Rose. During breakfast Princesses such as Belle, Tiana, Ariel, Jasmine and others arrive to greet and make memories with families.
After breakfast, Princesses will share storytelling moments featuring tales of empowerment out on the patio. Mulan may encourage children to strike a pose to discover their own inner warrior, while Rapunzel may share how she felt when she found the courage to explore the world outside her tower, showing little ones how to spin joyfully and shout, Best day ever!
The experience concludes with a photo portrait opportunity with the Princesses and premium keepsakes for guests to remember this inspirational day. Children will receive character autograph books and pens along with a choice of princess crown necklace or sword. Adults will get the gift of chocolates to take home.
What do they serve? This will be a three-course breakfast option featuring cold starters, hot offerings for kids like house made mac & cheese or Princess waffles, hot offerings for adults like shephard’s pie or slow braised short ribs, and side dishes such as roasted seasonal vegetables, heirloom potatoes, artisan breakfast sausage, bangers, and more. Also includes is a large dessert menu featuring chocolate princess cake pops, white chocolate slipper with strawberry ganache, petite fruit tarts, and more.
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Be Prepared With A Few Other Table
Disney does offer paper and crayons to colour with but after a handful of restaurants, this same image gets a little boring. Even the act of colouring itself can cause tension with the children. Have a game, a book to read, a tablet or fully charged and loaded cell phone. Anything to distract the little ones while they wait for their food to be served, or for everyone else to finish eating.
We have created our own set of pages and word search/cross word puzzles for your Disney vacation. Check it out.
What Characters Are A Cant Miss
Is there one character that your kids MUST see? Then your choice in character meals may be narrowed down easily. While youll probably meet 4-8 characters during any given meal, there is only one character guaranteed at each Disneyland dining location :
- Goofy at Goofys Kitchen
- Minnie Mouse at Plaza Inn
- Mickey Mouse at Storytellers Cafe
- .
Even though there is only one guaranteed character, there are some characters that make fairly regular appearances at certain locations. For example, youll almost always see Chip N Dale at Mickeys Tales of Adventure and Winnie the Pooh is a frequent guest at Plaza Inn. Minnie Mouse can regularly be seen at all character meals these days. Check out the printable below for common characters you may see at each location.
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Tips To Make The Most Of Your Disney Character Dining Experience
These are a couple of my top tips to make the most of your character dining experience.
Have Your Photo Background Sorted
The lighting is perfect, everyone is smiling and looking at the camera and the family behind you is making the stupidest face ever.
Arrange yourself and the children for a blank backdrop, as much as possible. This will mean asking the characters to stand in a specific spot and angling yourself and the camera to have the childrens bodies block anything unsightly behind them. Editing is great, but it can only do so much when it comes to unexpected photobombing.
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What Characters Will You See At Each Meal
Characters are always subject to change, but at this time, the following characters regularly appear at these venues:
Garden Grill Restaurant: Farmer Mickey, Chip, Dale), and Pluto
Hollywood & Vine: At breakfast, you will meet a variety of Disney Junior Characters, including Vampirina and Fancy Nancy. Lunch and dinner is Minnies Seasonal Dining, where you will meet Minnie and friends, possibly including Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto.
Topolinos Terrace Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy Duck
Chef Mickeys Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, and Minnie
Tusker House Restaurant Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and Goofy
Best Restaurant In Animal Kingdom: Tusker House
This was a tough call, as we have a few Animal Kingdom options we like roughly the same. But well give Tusker House the slight edge over Tiffins for the fun of the character sightings in cool costumes.
Tusker House currently has a set menu for its safari-themed character dining option. Its a bit on the pricey side , but you get a lot of food as in a too much for one person amount of food.
Youll get a salad and bread plate as starters, a large sampler of Moroccan-spiced beef, curry shrimp, split-roasted herb chicken and pork for your entree, and a dessert trio platter for dessert.
The shrimp and rice dish was easily the best of the entrees, but the entire meal was tasty. Out of the desserts, the brownie was a favorite.
You can order an assortment of cocktails , beers, wines and ciders at an additional cost.
Tusker House also offers a breakfast character dining option at a slightly discounted price compared to lunch and dinner $42 per adult and $27 per child, plus taxes and tip.
Keep in mind that character sightings at dinner are socially distanced, and guests are given a pre-printed postcard with autographs instead of having characters sign items at the restaurant.
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Cape May Cafe Dining With Characters
Moving on to my personal favorite resort, Disneys Beach Club , well take a look at their popular character breakfast, Cape May Cafe. This restaurant serves breakfast only with characters. During dinner, a seafood buffet is available. However, there are no characters at dinner.
Pricing and Menu: Here
Positives: Meet classic characters in unique costumes here. This is a great location for anyone staying in the Epcot Resorts area.
Negatives: Pricing is high as with all of the other character meals.
Characters: Minnie Mouse and Friends in Beach Attire
Cape May is now open. You can read more here on Disneys site about the modified experience with no characters.
Reserving Independent Restaurants Directly
Not all restaurants on Disney property are actually run by Disney. All the table-service restaurants at Disney Springs and the Swan & Dolphin are independent, and there are a handful of others scattered around the parks. While all of them can take reservations via the Disney Dining system, many of them also accept reservations directly . They may actually have availability even when Disney says theyre sold out, because they allocate a portion of their reservation slots to Disney and keep the rest for themselves. This is especially true for large parties many of these restaurants can easily handle a group of 12 or more, but may not bother to make those tables available through Disney you have to call to make a group reservation of that size.
One other advantage to booking directly or via OpenTable is that there is usually no credit-card guarantee or no-show fee to worry about. We dont advocate making reservations you dont intend to use, but its one less thing to worry about if something happens and you cant make your reservation. Keep in mind that while OpenTable typically allows you to cancel with no fee, if you no-show, they will send you a warning, and if you no-show repeatedly they may deactivate your account. And occasionally restaurants will have special cancel policies or will add them during popular times like Valentines Day or Christmas, but special policies, if any, will be explained when you book.
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