Character meals are a must for those with little ones…or in my case, without little ones. While visiting Disney, you can make a dining reservation at a number of locations, both in the parks and at some of the resorts, to eat and meet some of your favorite characters. This does take some advanced planning as reservations tend to book up very quickly.

I have never experienced a character meal, mainly because I thought I needed a child to experience it. I was wrong. Tim and I spent a few days at Disney World and I wanted to experience a few of my most booked character meals.

Hollywood and Vine- Hollywood Studios

Hollywood and Vine has Character meals all day long. The Disney Junior Play n’ Dine is for breakfast and you can meet characters like Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, or Roadster Goofy. Lunch and dinner is reserved for Minnie’s Seasonal Party with visits from Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Pluto or Goofy.

We had a lunch reservation and were quickly notified our table was ready after checking in with the cast member. You can also check in on the app 20 minutes before your reservation when you are close enough to the restaurant and they will message you when your table is ready.

This restaurant is perfectly themed as an old school diner from the décor to the waitstaff. The menu is set priced meaning for one price you get a salad, entrée, dessert and drink (soda/tea) of your choice (breakfast is family style meal). They also have a drink menu should you want to purchase an adult beverage.

The menu is full of comfort food as you would expect at a diner. I was unimpressed with the salad but we were both blown away by our meals. I wasn’t expecting the quality food we received. My turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy was excellent. Tim was pretty excited about his salmon.

Our waitress knew I was struggling to decide between the Vanilla Crème Brulee and the Chocolate S’mores Pie for dessert. We talked it through and she convinced me I would not be upset with the Chocolate S’mores Pie. She was sweet enough to get me both desserts so I wouldn’t be disappointed. Both were delicious.

Tim of course did not hesitate with his selection of the White Chocolate Cheesecake. He even made Mickey jealous!

While we ate the characters paraded around the restaurant in 20 minute intervals. During our dining experience we had two full character sessions and a third one starting just as we got up to leave. There is plenty of opportunities to interact with each character. They give you time to take pictures and have a short interaction with you like Minnie showing off her dress or getting a wave from Mickey. We also interacted with Goofy and Pluto but failed to take any pictures.

I really enjoyed this experience. Even though character meals are a bit different right now and you can’t approach them, you still have the magic. The characters do an amazing job of making every guest, child and adult, feel special with attention.

Meal Pricing – $$$ ($35 to $59.99 per adult)

Cinderella’s Royal Table- Magic Kingdom

I was really excited about this character meal. Lunch in Cinderella’s Castle?!?! Of course I was excited. When you check in with the cast member you are lead into the Grand Hall where you wait until your Royal Party is called to be seated.

Once it was our turn we headed up the beautiful spiral staircase to the dining room (there is an elevator too). Once inside I realized why this was one of the hardest reservations to get for clients. There were only about 20 or so tables in the whole restaurant. You might think the best seats are the ones closest to the windows, but you are actually better off closer to the center of the restaurant for a better view and interaction with Cinderella when she arrives. We interacted with her during three sessions of her appearances.

The menu here is set up similar to Hollywood and Vine. You pay one price and get an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. This meal is also one of the few that must be pre paid when making the reservation. It is fully refundable 5 days in advance.

We both started off with champagne flights. I had the Royal 50th Celebration flight (real gold flakes in one) and Tim went with the McBride Sisters Sparking Rose flight. We felt pretty Royal. My mushroom soup was perfect but not nearly as perfect as the beef tenderloin. This was my favorite entrée of the week.

I had no issues this time picking out the Coffee Pot’s de Crème dessert and Tim of course picked the cheesecake. While we were eating dessert the family next to us recommended we ask for the kids’ Sword in the sweet dessert with cookies and cream cheesecake mousse. The waitress was nice enough to bring us some. I liked the adults desserts better.

I really loved this character meal. It was pure magic! The food was some of the best I had all week. Your little ones will love being in a real castle.

Breakfast – $$$ ($35 to $59.99 per adult)
Lunch and Dinner– $$$$ (over $60 per adult)

There are other popular character meals through out the parks and resorts, and a few that have not come back yet. I would also recommend Chef Mickey at the Contemporary resort, Topolino's Terrace at the Riviera, and Tusker House at Animal Kingdom to see traditional Disney Characters. If you want to see other characters I would suggest Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White at the Wilderness Lodge or Garden Grill with Chip and Dale at Epcot . I would expect the Mary Poppins, Allice Wonderland, and the Royal Banquet Hall to return by the end of this year.

Character meals are so much fun for any age but seeing the magic in a child’s eye is something else. Disney releases dining reservations 60 days prior to arrival. Because of this timeline you will want to have your ticket and resort packaged purchase, My Disney Experience set up, park passes made, and a plan for where you want to dine prior to the 60 days. I am happy to help from start to finish to help ensure you get some of these magical experiences as part of your trip.

*Specific Disney characters are not guaranteed at meals.

*Park tickets and park reservations are needed to experience both of these character meals.