We are going to Disney World next month and I wanted to treat my daughter to a character dining experience. She is not yet 3 and is more into Mickey than princesses, but the only availability for character dining on the date we need is at the princess banquet hall in Epcot. (Akershus in Norway.) Has anyone eaten here? I am reading a LOT of mixed reviews, and a few people have complained about food poisoning recently. I know the people who had horrible experiences feel more compelled to write reviews, so maybe the bad food is not a regular thing???
If you have been there before, can you tell me if you and/or your children loved it? Was it worth the $$$? Should we skip it and spend our money on something else? We are traveling with a group so our itinerary is set as far as what days we are in which parks, and unfortunately there is no availability to dine with Mickey Mouse or Cinderella. (And she pretty much doesn't even know who Pooh and Tigger are.)
I kept our reservations for the princess breakfast and my daughter LOVED it! She loved the little parade, couldn't wait for the princesses to come to our table, and the food was surprisingly good- tons of choices! This was our first event of the whole trip so she was pretty shy, but she hasn't stopped talking about it and the pictures we took are priceless. Thanks everyone for your advice!
The best part was that only the "front" area of Epcot was open at 9, and nothing beyond Norway was open until 11 except for the princess breakfast. So our 10:30 reservation ended up working out perfectly!!! We didn't have a choice on the time since everything else was booked, but it ended up working out perfectly and I'm glad we spent the $$$. And no one got sick! :)
Have you tried Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort, or Donald's breakfast at Animal Kingdom (I think Mickey makes an appearance at this one)? Don't stress if it doesn't work out. There is so much to enjoy at Disney, you will have a great time no matter if you do the character dining or not.
We've gone to Akershus twice - once when DD was 3, the next when she was 5 1/2. (The first time we also took our older daughter and her friend, both 16). We love Akershus, and have gone for breakfast both times. The food is pretty good and VERY plentiful. The have a "parade" to start, and walk tthe kids around dining room so they can wave at everyone. Then, each princess (usually 6 or so) visit the table, and talk to the children. (When you go in, you get your picture taken with Belle - she doesn't walk around due to her elaborate costume). Each princess spends a few minutes, and very patiently poses for pictures. We were stunned when Snow White recognized our daughter from the day before at Magic Kingdom!
Overall, we think this is great - it's certainly a little pricey, but not as bad as the castle dining. if she loves princesses, definitely go for it.
Another tip - if you get a time just as the park is opening, or just after it opens, you can get in to the park early. Although the countries aren't open, you can take your time walking around and take pictures while no one is there.
I wouldn't give up on going someplace else. You may not get an ADR but you could always try at really off times to get in. Sometimes people make several ADRs and then use the one they want that day and let the others go.( Now if you are going over Easter then I am not sure-one of the busiest times of the year. )Also-hopefully you are willing to seperate from your group-obviously large parties are going to be tough to seat. Also-keep in mind you can always pop over on the monorail to the contemporary/poly or Floridian while your group is at the MK.
I wouldn't book the princess one if you are not sure. They are expensive and the food is always bad.
We had breakfast there and the food was good, but if you're daughter is not into the princesses, then I would not waste the money. I would wait and do a character dining that she would enjoy on a future trip, if you go back.
My daughter was 3 when we went there, and she was just starting to get into the princesses, but she wasn't that impressed. She is 4 now and would love it now, but we could have skipped it at 3.
If the Crystal Palace, where Pooh and Tigger are, has room, my daughter has enjoyed that each time we went there.
I would spend the time waiting in line to see Mickey -- she'll probably enjoy that better and you'll save a lot of money.
We've been about 8 times. Our daughter is 16 now.
Her favorites (and ours) were Character Breakfast at the Polynesian, Chef Mickey at the Contemporary
We LOVE the Polynesian and would not stay anywhere else. It is the best (in our opinion).
If you are not dead set on the Character Meal, all the characters are at all the parks and you can gets pics and autographs.
Have fun!
I'd skip the princess dining at Epcot. I don't think the food was good enough to justify the money if she doesn't like the princesses. I would keep checking the places you want to go though. I wanted to get into Chef Mickey and it was never available when it would work into our schedule. One day our girls woke up crazy early and I checked to see if there were spots - and a 7am one had opened up over night. It was perfect! My girls are 4 and 2.5 and were a little freaked out by the characters when we first got to Disney so I'd take that into consideration too...
We went for lunch there in August and it was amazing! So much fun! The food was great, my kids LOVED meeting the princesses, and of course the pictures you get are great, too. It was a wonderful experience. We chose lunch because my kids wouldn't eat anything on the breakfast menu so it wasn't worth it, and for just a couple bucks more they got something they WOULD eat. The only thing I would say is that your daughter is VERY young and will probably not remember much. My son was 2 and a half and my daughter was 4...she remembers it and asks when we are going back. My son didn't want to be in the pictures without daddy, he didn't want to hug the princesses or anything...he was a bit timid. And I don't think he really remembers a whole lot. He looks at the pictures and knows we met the characters, etc, but that's about it. And you don't have to do Character dining to meet the characters. There are set times and places each day where you can meet the characters and get your picture taken with them. And the princesses aren't sitting at your table the whole time in the dining room...they move to each of the tables and do pictures and autographs with each group. So it's not a whole lot different than just meeting them at the designated spot in the park, other than getting the professional photo package. For my family, it was worth the money, but if you don't like what's on the menu (you can look it up on the Disney site) or you don't think your daughter will remember it, then it may not be worth it for your family. There is plenty to do in the parks whether you do character dining or not.
We just came back from Disney World and did a few different character meals. Since we went off season we were able to take advantage of the Disney Dining Plan which just let us use our credits so we did not have to worry about costs. That being said I don't know if it would have been worth it if we were paying for it. My DD just turned 3 and loved Chef Mickey and the Crystal Palace. The food was just okay. However, she had just as much fun meeting the characters in their designated locations. Epcot had the character spot and Mickey along with 4 othr characters were there for pictures.
We did the character breakfasts in Disneyland and it was great! Totally worth it and among our strongest memories of the trip (my kid was 4 when we went). It was a chance to see a variety of characters in a more controlled situation than finding them in the park.
If there truly was food poisoning, I would think that Disney would address it immediately. In my experience, their service and quality control is top notch.
We had a great time, I hope you do to!
We have only done the "Princess" meal at Magic Kingdom in the castle. It was GREAT! But ONLY because our daughter LOVES the princesses. The smile on her face was priceless! She didn't stop smiling the whole entire time. And we had a Cinderella dress made for her and I did her hair fancy and the whole bit. If your daughter is not really into them, I"d just skip it..... The food was good but not worth the ticket price....... We'd do it again in a heartbeat but only because of the joy we saw through our daughter that day.
We also had our 2 1/2 year old son with but he isn't into any characters. He acted shy the whole time.
When we went, my daughter was just a few months over 2. She wanted Johnny & the Sprites but they were not an option ANYWHERE. We did Little Einsteins and JoJo & Goliath (which were at the same place). Food was good but the meal plan made it affordable. We didn't do the princesses because she wasn't as into them but now wish we had. I heard that the breakfast in Epcot's Norway was great, lunch was ok. Otherwise, I heard that breakfast at Cinderella's was the best place to meet the princesses. I wish I had done it while there.
The breakfast is great . You will get your picture taken with a princess before you enter. It is complementary. Then at your table you will be visited by 4 different princesses. it is super fun. I can't recommend lunch or dinner because the food is quite different. Go to the website allears.com and look at the menus. Another favorite is 1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridan. It is a dinner with Cinderella,Prince Charming,The wicked stepmother and the stepsisters(they aren't scary but funny actually). Great food and really fun . You can take the monorail to Epcot if that is the park you will be at for the day.Have a great time!
