Happy Day! It’s the first Thursday of June, which means we get to talk about my favorite topic ever.. Disney! Wooho!

Find all of our Disney 101 posts here!

Today’s topic is all about Walt Disney’s Character Meals! Or what I would say, the must stop for every vacation. Growing up, we did a few breakfasts but stopped as we got older. During our last trip in January, we planned a character meal at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Tusker House Restaurant.

Pro Tip: If you book a character meal within the park, you will be able to get in early!

Our reservations were at 8:10am and the park did not open until 9am. They did have early buses, so no problem with getting to the park. Once we arrived, we went to the front gates, they scanned our magic bands {to make sure we had a valid admission and to see our reservations} to pull up our reservations and took our name. After that, they let us in and we headed back to the restaurant. Besides the restaurant, nothing is open, however it did give us the option to have an early fastpass since we were already in the park. The only thing I did not like about our character meal was how they did not have ANY PhotoPass photographers with the characters! This was a big miss by Disney. I did later find out that some experiences do in fact have the PhotoPass photographers with them, ours did not. Maybe because it was so early? Not sure. Therefore, make sure to have your camera ready for some very happy faces!

Let’s start with explaining the character experience..

Each character meal is different. This is the biggest thing. We wanted Mickey & his friends, so that’s what we picked. However, if you want Princess, book at Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is located in Magic Kingdom! At each experience, you will probably see around four friends. At our meal we saw Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy!

Pro Tip: Make sure to have all autograph books ready, stacked, and opened for them when they come to the table each time!

Each character comes to your table for about 5ish minutes. They interact with the littles {and bigs! 🙂} and it is SO MUCH FUN! The smiles and excitement on my nephews faces were endless. Minus little Leo, who would only take a picture with the main man, Mickey Mouse! Really though, he has no interest in any other characters except his Mickey.

Character Meal Locations

Throughout the parks and resorts, there are 16 restaurants that offer character meals. We normally go for breakfast, however you are able to visit them during lunch and dinner too! First of all, all Disney character meals are delicious. You cannot really go wrong with any of these restaurants! When deciding, it really just depends on who you want to see and where.

Find the top 10 Disney World Character Meals by Babble, here!

Here are all of the locations and which characters you can meet at each! Information from Disney website, find it here.

Restaurants in the Parks

Cinderella’s Royal Table ~ Disney Princesses await you at the castle in Magic Kingdom

Tiana’s Riverboat Party, Ice Cream Social & Viewing Party ~ Dessert and riverboat cruise with a viewing of the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade

The Crystal Palace ~ Visit your favorite bear, Pooh and his friends in Magic Kingdom

The Garden Grill ~ Hangout with Chip ‘n’ Dale and other Disney Characters in Epcot

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall ~ Located in Norway in Epcot, visit your favorite Disney princesses in a medieval castle.

Hollywood & Vine ~ See Disney Junior Characters here for breakfast or lunch / Visit Minnie Mouse and friends for dinner at Hollywood Studios.

Tusker House Restaurant ~ Hangout in the safari with Donald Duck and his plucky pals in Animal Kingdom.

Restaurants on Resort

1900 Park Flare ~ Breakfast or Dinner buffet – or afternoon tea – hosted by whimsical characters {Princesses!} at the Grand Floridan Resort & Spa!

Disney’s Perfectly Princess Tea ~ Tea party featuring many princesses, music, dancing, and more! Located at the Grand Floridan Resort & Spa.

Chef Mickey’s ~ The main mouse is joined by his loyal sous-chefs, available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Contemporary Resort!

‘Ohana ~ Hang ten with Stitch and his friends with an American style breakfast with a Hawaiian twist at the Polynesian Village Resort.

Cape May Cafe ~ Visit Minnie Mouse and her first mates at Disney’s Beach Club Resort for a breakfast that’s shore to tide you over!

Mickey’s Backyard BBQ ~ Head over to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort to russel up some evening eats with Mickey and his friends. BBQ with live music and dancing.

Garden Grove ~ Located in the Disney World Swan Hotel, retreat to the gardens of New York’s Central Park with Disney’s dynamic duo!

Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy and His Pals ~ Start the day off with Goofy and pals at Ravello, located in Four Seasons, with a delightful breakfast including downloads of your photos.

Trattoria al Forno ~ Set sail to Disney’s Boardwalk Resort for an adventurous breakfast that may include Ariel, Prince Eric, Rapunzel, and Flynn Rider!

Please note: You are able to visit any resort, even if you are not staying there. However, plan for extra travel time since the buses do not travel resort to resort. You will have to either transfer from a park or take the Minnie Vans! Find more about Disney transportation, here!