Character meals at Disney World are some of the most popular dining experiences, but some might better suit your needs than others. Whether you are choosing your meal based on price, characters, food quality, or location makes a difference in what’s important to you and what you should avoid. Good news! We’ve got some advice for you. Here are our picks for the five worst character meals at Disney World.

What is Character Dining?

Character meals at Disney World allow guests to dine with some of their favorite characters for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The characters you dine with change depending on the location and even by the meal. How it works is that, while you eat, characters come to the table, interact with guests, take pictures, and even sign autographs!

Character dining has grown tremendously over the years and has become an attraction in itself! There are currently three types of character dining experiences including:

• Buffet: A traditional buffet, all you care to enjoy; guests walk up and fill their own plates
• Family Style: All you care to enjoy, but food skillets or platters are brought to the table
• Prix-Fixe: Guests will have a set menu with options to choose from

You can find these both inside the parks and outside of the parks at select Walt Disney World Resorts. So you don’t even need a park ticket to eat with your favorite characters anymore!

Reservations For Character Meals In Disney World

If you want a character dining experience, reservations are required, and we recommend making them sooner rather than later. Reservations can be made up to 60 days prior to your check-in date, and these restaurants are popular. So, make these a priority when you’re booking!

If you’re unable to find a reservation at your preferred restaurant and time, fear not! We’ve had plenty of luck getting last-minute reservations, even some on the same day! People’s plans change constantly, requiring them to drop reservations, making it your lucky day! And if you can’t quite snag a reservation in advance, check to see if there is any walk-up availability on the day of. You never know—you might get lucky!

When choosing a character dining experience, guests must decide what they value the most. Is it time? A specific character? The price? All of these can play a factor in what’s best for you. But if you’re looking to avoid the worst ones, here are the character dining restaurants we recommend skipping on your next trip.

Worst Character Meals at Disney World

While there isn’t necessarily a “bad” character meal at Disney World, some are better than others! Whether it’s food that isn’t worth the price, character interactions that just don’t deliver compared to others, or crowds that get in the way of having meaningful interactions with characters, here are the 5 worst character meals at Disney World, according to us!

Garden Grill – EPCOT

• Meals Served: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Type of Meal: Family Style
• Characters: Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto

At Garden Grill, you’ll see Chip ‘n’ Dale, Farmer Mickey, and Pluto as you dig into family-style dining and revolve around vibrant views from Living with the Land. That’s right, this restaurant actually rotates very slowly while you’re eating, and many of the veggies served at Garden Grill are actually grown right there in the Living with the Land greenhouses!

Serving American-style classics, breakfast guests can enjoy fruit, eggs, Mickey waffles, steak and eggs, and more. For lunch and dinner, guests will be served shareable salads and breads, with platters of mac and cheese, BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, chimichurri beef, and veggies.

That all sounds great, but here’s the deal: The atmosphere can be cool. A rotating restaurant? Who wouldn’t be intrigued? But, with the unique and delicious food offerings at EPCOT, I can’t justify recommending a restaurant that serves lukewarm food and costs nearly $60+ per person. Plus, the line to meet Mickey and Friends at CommuniCore Hall isn’t usually too long, so you don’t really save much time by meeting them over a meal instead.

That being said, this is currently the only character meal where you can meet Chip ‘n’ Dale, and finding them greeting guests in the park can be difficult. Additionally, this restaurant tends to be less crowded, and it’s easier to get a reservation here, even day-of. So, if meeting Chip ‘n’ Dale or having a nice sit-down meal away from the crowds is what you’re looking for, this may actually be a great place to eat. It’s just not our first choice.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – EPCOT

• Meals Served: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Type of Meal: Family Style
• Characters: Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mary Poppins, Mulan, Princess Aurora, and Tiana (on a rotating schedule)

At Akershus, join Disney Princesses for Storybook Dining inside a medieval castle with soaring archways and cathedral ceilings!

For breakfast, this Norwegian-inspired menu includes Norwegian pastries, potato casserole, Norwegian waffles, and classics such as scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. For lunch and dinner, guests can indulge in traditional KjØttkake (Norwegian meatballs), chicken and dumplings, salads, salmon, and kid-friendly items such as macaroni and cheese.

Following along the same lines as Garden Grill, this restaurant has its pros and cons. On one hand, if EPCOT is the only park you go to during your Disney World trip and your little ones love the princesses, this is a must-do, regardless of the price or the food quality. On the other hand, if you don’t care about the princess interaction, skip it. There are little to no “kid-friendly” dining options here, the food is sub-par, and it is a long dining experience. On top of that, EPCOT has so many good restaurants that this isn’t worth your time for $70+ per person unless princesses are a priority. If I had to choose one meal here, I’d choose breakfast.

Hollywood and Vine Breakfast – Hollywood Studios

• Meals Served: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Type of Meal: Buffet
• Characters: Disney Junior Breakfast featuring Doc McStuffins, Fancy Nancy, Vampirina, and Roadster Goofy. Lunch and Dinner features Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy in seasonal outfits throughout the year

At Hollywood and Vine, guests can eat breakfast with Disney Junior Stars or enjoy lunch and dinner with Minnie and friends at seasonal dining parties. For breakfast, guests can enjoy pastries, waffles, bacon, sausage, omelets, and more. During lunch and dinner, offerings switch to breads, salads, peel-n-eat shrimp, herbed chicken, potatoes, and more.

While dinner may be worthwhile for the “Fab 5” experience and unique outfits, the breakfast is not in our experience. If you have children over the age of 4 or 5, they probably won’t care about Fancy Nancy or Doc McStuffins. Further, children who want to interact with these character options will likely not eat $30+ worth of food. Outside the Disney Junior Dance Party are meet-and-greet experiences with Doc McStuffins, Vampirina, and Fancy Nancy, which are free!

Unless you really want a sit-down dining experience for breakfast, skip this experience and spend your money elsewhere since this is the only option at Hollywood Studios for table service breakfast.

‘Ohana Breakfast – Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

• Meals Served: Character Appearances at Breakfast Only
• Type of Meal: Family Style
• Characters: Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto

At ‘Ohana, Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto invite you and your ʻohana to an American breakfast influenced by Polynesian flavors.

Served family style, guests can enjoy starters, including fresh fruit and pineapple-coconut bread, followed by all you care to enjoy breakfast skillets, including traditional eggs, sausage, Hawaiian-inspired ham and potatoes, Mickey waffles, and biscuits.

While you can meet Stitch at Magic Kingdom, ‘Ohana breakfast is currently the only place you can meet Lilo. So, if you have a Lilo lover in your party, snag a reservation! But don’t expect a high-quality meal.

For over $50 a person, guests are served the same Mickey waffles, eggs, and sausage as at Capt. Cooks, the quick service dining location just downstairs from ‘Ohana.

Additionally, while you get to meet Lilo here (which is a unique and positive perk), the character experiences are rushed and chaotic, as this is one of the most popular breakfast reservations and they have to move a lot of people through in the morning.

Chef Mickey’s – Disney’s Contemporary Resort

• Meals Served: Breakfast, Dinner
• Type of Meal: Buffet
• Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy

Chef Mickey’s is one of the most popular and well-known character meals at Disney World. When you dine here, guests enjoy American-style offerings in the main lobby of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Guests can meet Mickey and friends while watching the Monorail pass by overhead.

Breakfast includes your standard breakfast fare, plus a carving station with rotations such as ham and brisket. Dinner offers salads, peel-and-eat shrimp, strip lions, orange chicken, mac and cheese, and more.

The idea of eating inside the famous Contemporary Resort with the monorails passing may seem iconic, but, unfortunately, the food is quite forgettable. Common reviews of this buffet describe it as messy, loud, rushed, flavorless, and having limited time with characters. From personal experience, I agree.

The only time I would recommend dining at Chef Mickey’s is if you don’t plan to visit any parks during your stay, as this is a one-stop shop to meet all the classic characters. Otherwise, save your money and meet Mickey, Minnie, and the gang inside the theme parks included in your park ticket.

Comments

What do you think is the worst character meal at Disney World? Let us know in the comments if you would add any other dining options to our list!