Disney World Dining - How To Dine With A Princess or Eat With A Mouse

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Who would you like to dine with on your Walt Disney World vacation? Mickey Mouse, a Disney Princess or perhaps Alice in Wonderland? Disney World character dining is a very popular choice. But is it for you?

A Walt Disney World character meal is a unique experience for you and your family. There is simply no other place to dine with Cinderella and Mickey Mouse! It is a great chance for you to get plenty of time with your favorite Disney World characters and it is an experience that all the family, whatever their age, will remember for a long time as one of the highlights of their Disney World vacation.

There is a great variety of Disney World character dining choices. From breakfast to brunch, dinner to lunch. Disney character meals are buffet, menu or family style ( where all you can eat choices are brought to your table). The quality of the food is generally high. It is often more expensive to dine in a Disney World character restaurant than elsewhere in the theme park for comparable food - but you are paying for the unique experience too. After all it isn't every day you get to dine with a Disney Princess.

Decide which Disney characters you would like to see. A very popular choice is the Disney Princess dining at Cinderella's Royal Table. Here you will get to dine in Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. An amazing experience but remember to book as early as you can as it is very popular. Another way to see your favorite Disney Princess is to go to the Akershus Princess Royal Dining in the EPCOT theme park. Here you will usually find at least four or five of your favorite Disney Princesses at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Perhaps Mickey Mouse is more your style. A great place to find him is Chef Mickey's in the Disney World Contemporary Resort on your way to Magic Kingdom.

If your want to see a particular character always check before you go to see that they are appearing that particular time - a lot of the restaurants do have a fixed schedule of characters, but they do sometimes change. Try not to make a promise to your child that they will see a particular Disney character as they may be disappointed if it is Cinderella's day off!

Remember that sometimes actually meeting a Disney character can be a little overwhelming for your child. All the Disney characters are excellent at winning over a nervous child and also knowing when it is time to leave, but be sensitive to your child's feelings about this. Meeting a life size Winnie The Pooh for the first time can be too much for your toddler!

To go ahead and book a Disney World character dining experience it is advisable to book ahead by calling 407 WDW DINE to make an Advance Dining Reservation. You can call up to 180 days ahead and for some experiences such as Cinderella's Royal Table it really is advisable to call as far ahead as you possibly can. Disney World character dining is a great experience and it is very popular!

Whichever Disney World character dining experience you choose have a magical time!

Disney Dining - Which Character Meal is the Best at Disney World?

Currently, there are 13 different restaurants at Walt Disney World that offer character dining experiences. So trying to decide which character meal is the best at Disney World is a little difficult. A lot of the answer to that question really depends on which characters you and your children would like to see.

Dining with the Disney Princesses

One of the most popular choices is to dine with the Disney princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table. Located in Cinderella's castle inside Fantasyland, Cinderella's Table offers a prix fixe menu. So you will be served your meal at the table. You can book reservations for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the princesses come to visit at all three meals. Breakfast is by far the most desired reservation at Cinderella's table as you will be sitting down to enjoy your breakfast before the Magic Kingdom even opens.

Either Cinderella's Royal Table or the Princess Storybook Dining buffet at the Norwegian restaurant in Epcot may be the best choices if you have little girls who just love the Disney princesses, but if you have little boys or older children who think princesses are for baby (so says my 8 year old niece!), then they might not be the best character meal for you.

So really, it is best to decide what Disney characters you enjoy and make plans accordingly.

Dining with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Winnie the Pooh and Friends

You will find Winnie the Pooh and his friends at The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. Donald Duck will be at Donald's Safari Breakfast at the Tusker House restaurant in Animal Kingdom. Mickey Mouse and Goofy hold court at either the Cape May Cafe in Disney's Beach Club Resort, or you can find them at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort.

Chip & Dale usually show up at Chef Mickey's too, but you can also find them at the Garden Grill Restaurant in Epcot. Love Lilo & Stitch? They host the character breakfast at the 'Ohana restaurant in the Polynesian resort.

Your choice may also depend on what type of food you would like to eat. But for most options, this may be the easiest choice to make. Many of the character meals at Disney World are served buffet style. The most common cuisine is just standard American. In fact, of the 13 restaurants that offer character dining, they all offer standard American fare. So any picky eaters in your family should be just fine. Restaurants like 'Ohana's and Tusker House serve regional cuisines (Polynesian and African, respectively) at other times of day, but for their breakfast buffets, the menu is pretty much what you would expect for breakfast.

If you want to have a character meal that goes beyond the standard American menu, your best bet may be the Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Located at the Norway pavilion in Epcot, the buffet features some Norwegian specialties that will likely be new to you. And the picky folks will still have the American options too.

2008 Disney Dining Plan Details Revealed!

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Details of the 2008 Disney Dining Plan for Walt Disney World have recently been released. The Dining Plan will cost $37.99/day for those aged 10 and above and $9.99/day for children ages 3-9 (which is a dollar less per day than the 2007 plan.) The DELUXE Dining Plan will cost $69.99 for those aged 10 and above and $19.99 for children ages 3-9.

For the regular Dining Plan in 2008 you'll receive the following:

2 Meals Per Day: For the regular Dining Plan you'll receive one table service meal and one quick service meal each day of your stay.


1 Snack Per Day: In addition to the 2 meals you'll also receive 1 snack every day. A snack includes one of the following: frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single serving box), single serving grab bag of chips, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, medium fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea.

Here are some of the key differences between the 2007 and 2008 REGULAR Dining Plans:

Gratuity No Longer Included: Beginning in 2008, the Disney Dining Plan will no longer include gratuity (tips.) This means you'll need to bring some cash along with you to leave a tip for your table service meals. For parties of 6 or more people an 18% gratuity will be added to your check automatically.


Appetizers No Longer Included with Table Service Meals: In 2008 the table service meal will only include an entree, non-alcoholic beverage and dessert (or full buffet meal if applicable.) This is different from 2007 where you received an appetizer with your meal as well.


Wine and Dine Option: For an extra $39.99/day you can add a daily bottle of wine to your package.

Disney has also added a new dining plan for 2007 called the DELUXE Dining Plan. This is a more flexible (and more expensive) option for diners where you'll receive the following:

3 Meals: On the new Deluxe Dining Plan in 2008 you'll receive 3 meals each day of your stay. The 3 meals can be any combination of sit down or counter service so you have the choice of eating at any Disney restaurant on the list. If you choose a table service meal that will include one appetizer, one entree, one dessert (lunch and dinner only) and one non-alcoholic beverage OR one Full Buffet. If you choose a counter service meal that will include one entree (or complete combo meal), one dessert (lunch or dinner only), one juice (breakfast only) and one non-alcoholic beverage.


2 Snacks: In addition to the 3 meals you'll also receive 2 snacks every day. A snack includes one of the following: frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single serving box), single serving grab bag of chips, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, medium fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea.


Wine and Dine Option: For an extra $39.99/day you can add a daily bottle of wine to your package.

For the DELUXE Dining Plan the same rules will apply as the regular plan when it comes to gratuity. It's not included.

On the surface my initial reaction is that I'm not really happy with the changes in the regular Dining Plan. With the loss of the appetizer on the table service meal and the added expense of paying for gratuity out of my pocket it starts to make more sense to pay-as-you-go. And when it comes to the DELUXE Dining Plan it just seems like a lot of money on a daily basis unless you plan on eating at a lot of table service restaurants. That option could be the better option however I'll have to play with the numbers a bit more to see what is the best way to go so look for future articles regarding this subject. No matter what you're still in for a thrill the next time you dine in Disney so have fun!