I got this in my email this morning:
Yay!!! Our trip is getting close! The only problem is my laptop won’t connect to the internet, so I can’t go look at the site and start check in, fastpass +, etc! Ugh! Of all days for it to stop working :p (I am typing this in my
Phone… Not so easy :p)
The countdown is officially on!!! 🙂
We ate at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for breakfast. I am not sure why I went for Breakfast, as I usually prefer lunch or dinner. I am assuming that it was either not being offered at the time, or there are so many options at Epcot for lunch and dinner, I wanted to leave that open to eat at other restaurants.
Breakfast was served both family and buffet style. They bring you eggs, meats, and potatoes family style, and then you also have a buffer full of pastries, and various Norwegian dishes. None of us were too keen on most of the Norwegian offerings… Come to think of it, maybe that is why I booked breakfast. I had a friend tell us her kids did not really enjoy the Norwegian lunch offerings they had when they were there.
We went to this meal the morning after eating dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, so I have to admit that this meal was a bit of a let down after that amazing, once in a lifetime dinner. If you have the money, and can get a reservation, I would choose Cinderella’s Royal Table over Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in a heartbeat. However, if money is a question (and frankly, when is it not?!?!) or you can not get a reservation, then this place is a great second choice for anyone wanting a Princess Character Meal!
For some reason, I am not sure we took pictures of all the Princesses (maybe because we ate with some of them the night before?) We did see Jasmine – which was a new one for us! We also saw Cinderella, Ariel, and I believe we took a picture with Sleeping Beauty on the way into our meal – that picture was included with our meal (maybe that is why I couldn’t find the picture?).
The food was good. The kids were fine with the regular breakfast foods, and the Norwegian food was fun to try, but I was glad I didn’t have an entire meal of it. I would suggest breakfast for any picky eaters. This is a great choice for a cheaper Princess Meal, especially since it is easier to get reservations at! Plus it is only one table service meal credit, instead of the 2 the Cinderella’s takes (but worth it, in my option – at least once, that is… maybe not every trip!).
Your Disney Princess fan will be very happy at this Character Meal. However, if you have no desire to see the Princess’s, I would probably save myself the money, and eat at one of the other, many delicious restaurants in Epcot… but really, this place is all about the Princesses, and NOT having to stand in line to see them! Which is worth quite a bit in my book!
Ariel at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Jasmine at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
If you have a Winnie the Pooh fan in your family, then the Crystal Palace Character meal is a must do for you! I was just getting over being really sick when we made it in, but I still enjoyed the food, and I was wishing I was feeling better so I could enjoy the great dessert bar more than I did 😛
We went for dinner, but I hear if you book a breakfast before the park opens, you get the chance to take a picture by the castle before there are tons of people around! Might be worth booking a breakfast just for that reason! The inside of the restaurant is beautiful with all the skylights and windows. There is a reason it is called the Crystal Palace! The food is typical all american, all you can eat buffet items, including carved meats, kids buffet items, pizza, shrimp, pasta, veggies, fruit, mashed potatoes, etc. The dessert bar was fabulous, and I would have eaten way more there, had I been feeling better!
You will see the whole Winnie the Pooh gang including Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet – this may be the only place I have ever seen Piglet!
The food is decent and it is a fun meal. If you have a Winnie the Pooh fan, then you should check this place out. Otherwise, the food is just good, so I am not sure I would do it again, unless my kids really wanted to see Pooh! It was a great way to use a Dining Credit on the Meal Plan, but not sure I would pay for it out-of-pocket without one of my kids REALLY wanting to see the characters. Overall though, you won’t be disappointed in the food, the beautiful building and atmosphere, or the fun characters!
Decor at Crystal Palace Character Meal
My baby is apparently not a fan of Piglet
Eeyore at Crystal Palace Character Meal
Pooh at Crystal Palace Character Meal
Tigger is quite entertaining!
Tigger at the Crystal Palace Character Meal
Donald Safari Breakfast is both fun and has great food. I am not big on breakfast buffets, because I am never very hungry in the morning. However, this was a great way to start my day, simply because the food was great and we had a really good time 🙂 The Character Meal is located at the Tusker House restaurant in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom. My biggest complaint is that our server took FOREVER to get us our check and was really slow at getting us things like drinks, and then was VERY insistent on her tip 😛 (probably because we were on the dining plan). I am sure it was just our specific server, so that would not scare me off from eating there again.
You get to the restaurant, and you take a picture with Donald right away. You are then taken to your table. You stay put if the characters are nearby, or if they are not, you can head to the buffet. It has the standard Disney Breakfast fare, like mickey waffles, eggs, pastries, meats, fruits, cereal, plus many various African items that are delicious and fun to try! The buffet changes often, so what you get may be different. Your server will also bring you Jungle Juice – I was skeptical at first, but it is DELICIOUS! In fact, I wish I had some RIGHT now!! Drink it up and enjoy!
You will see Donald (duh!), Mickey, Goofy, and the ever elusive Daisy (she is VERY difficult to find in the theme parks!). There is dancing with the characters at various times through the meal. They hand out instruments and the kids have a great time doing some African Dancing with their favorite characters.
All in all, I would love to do this meal again. It is fun, the food is good, and you get great characters. I just wish they had a lunch or dinner, as I am not a big fan of breakfast buffets (I can eat breakfast cheap in my room! So I have a hard time paying money for an expensive breakfast, when a big lunch will fill me up for most of the day!) and I would be back in a heartbeat! Heck, the jungle juice alone is worth going back for! If you are a breakfast fan, definitely check this Character Meal out!
Mickey at Donald Safari Breakfast
Donald at Donald Safari Breakfast
Since our breakfast was before the park opened, we got some great photos of the Tree of Life before there were lots of people around!
Goofy at Donald Safari Breakfast
Dancing with Daisy and instruments at Donald Safari Breakfast
Daisy at Donald Safari Breakfast
Dancing around with Daisy and instruments at Donald Safari Breakfast
We’ve actually done the Garden Grill character meal a few times. It is one of the more affordable meals, it serves DELICIOUS food, and it’s fun. The restaurants is unique due to the fact that it rotates! Yes the entire restaurant slowly rotates. As is rotates, you will be viewing the scenes from the Living on the Land ride which is located directly downstairs from this restaurant. It seems like it makes almost an entire rotation by the time you have finished your meal. (I have heard it does not rotate any more? is that true?)
The food is served family style. Which means they bring a bunch of each of the food choices right to your table. No need to go back and forth to a buffet. You can then ask for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. on any of the food that you enjoyed or want more of! I really enjoy not having to go back and forth to a buffet with the kids! I believe the menu changes, but both times we got a few different types of meat, fish, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, and salad. The kids get separate food fare like fried chicken and mac and cheese. The kids get dirt cups for dessert and adults get a delicious berry cobbler and bread pudding.
We have really enjoyed this meal. The food is good and the rotating restaurant is fun. You get to see Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale during your meal. There is no music or dancing, so it is a much quieter Character Meal than most available. We were there both times when it wasn’t very busy, and saw each character like 3-4 times! Plus, they brought my kids Birthday Cards signed by the characters for their birthday’s – since we were celebrating them! Pretty cool souvenir!! It is an enjoyable meal if you want a low-key meal that has good food and Characters – plus a cool rotating restaurant!! We have been a few times and will probably go back again 🙂
Dale at Garden Grill
My baby really likes Chip!
ohhhh… Mickey’s Nose!!
Mickey at Garden Grill Character Meal
Must touch chip….
Can’t take his eyes off him!
Pluto at Garden Grill
Birthday cupcake at Garden Grill character meal
Birthday card at Garden Grill character meal
Birthday card
Mickey loving on the baby 🙂
I get the emails for the restaurant Claim Jumper, and got an email today that they are offering a $10 free gift reward card when you buy a $50 gift card! That is like getting 20% off your meal! I love getting 20% off gift cards!
Now Claim Jumper is in the same family of restaurants as Rainforest Cafe! You can use the gift cards at any of Landry’s 500 restaurants!! So you can use this at Rainforest Cafe if you are planning a trip to Disneyland or Disneyworld or T-Rex at DisneyWorld! (we are eating at T-Rex for my son’s birthday in a few months!!) And you’ll be saving an automatic 20% off your meal. The BEST thing about gift card deals, is you can mix them with coupons for an even sweeter deal!
Head here to see the details. I can’t find anything that says whether the $10 gift reward is only good at Claim Jumper or any of the 500 restaurants like the gift card is. However, you can always use it at Claim Jumper if you have one nearby. We personally really enjoy Claim Jumper – delicious food and great for kids!
Cinderella’s Royal Table Character Meal is simply awesome. Really it doesn’t matter who the characters you see are, because you get to eat in the CASTLE!!! I was so VERY excited to get to eat inside Cinderella’s castle. I am not a big Princess fan, but at the time, my daughter was, so we booked the restaurant. However, I would still book this restaurant simply for the experience of getting to eat in Cinderella’s castle!
If you want to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table, you MUST make reservations 180 days in advance. It books up quickly, and is the fastest of all character meals to fill up, often on the 180 day mark! I was able to easily book it at the 180 mark using our free dining with our hotel package!
We were able to see all the main princesses at our Cinderella’s Royal Table dinner – Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel
You arrive at Cinderella’s Royal Table and check in. You are then taken to get a picture with Cinderella. This picture is included in the price of your dinner, which is good, because you are paying through the nose for this meal (unless you got it included with your free dining, like we did!).
You are then taken to your seat. There are no bad seats in this place. You can see out the windows into the park. There are banners hanging from the ceiling. We got a really nice booth. Each girl is given a wand, and each boy a sword. My son then fell in love with this place! He got a sword! Now he still talks about it and wants to go back, even though it is a Princess Meal, simply for the sword!
They sprinkle pixie dust, and take your order. The princesses come to your table. My son HAD to go to the bathroom while Snow White was making her rounds. She noticed that not all of us were at our table, and kindly came back once we were all back 🙂
The meal was very fancy, and delicious. The menu changes often, I think his was duck confi and mine was some sort of beef tenderloin. The dessert was pretty delicious as well!
All in all, it was a GREAT meal. Not sure I would pay the 100s of dollars it actually would have cost us to eat there. However, I think it is worth the once in a lifetime experience of eating there at least once! 🙂 I think that was the most expensive meal my kids have ever eaten (well, me too for that matter)
So if you want a splurge, it is worth it just for the experience. I would not pay for it every trip, but I think it is worth it… once at least 🙂
Oh, and my son left the restaurant, and promptly broke his sword. Surprised? Neither were we. We went back to the restaurant, and they kindly gave him a new sword! How great is that?!?!
Cinderella’s Royal Table – their wand and sword!
wands and swords = happy kids
Cinderella’s Royal Table – Dessert Trio
I thought I would focus this week on reviewing the Character Meals at Disneyworld. Since there are so many more at Disneyworld than Disneyland, I am going to break it up per restaurant, instead of one large post!
First up! My favorite – Chef Mickey!
If I were to only do one Character Meal at Disneyworld, it would be Chef Mickey. In fact, when I went for just one night, to run the Half Marathon, I still went to Chef Mickey!
I’ve only been for dinner, so I can’t speak for breakfast, but the dinner is FANTASTIC!
There is a buffet full of delicious food. Complete with a carving station of roast meats (usually ham, turkey, and roast beef/prime rib when I’ve been there). There is a salad bar and your choice of soups, Chicken, Ribs, Salmon, Pastas, Parmesan Mashed Potatoes (MUST try these!! They are soooo good!!), Mickey Ravioli, Red Bean and Rice, Green beans, broccoli in cheese sauce… It has always been fantastic every time we’ve been!
My kids loved the kids buffet! It was at their level and had great food as well. Mac and cheese, cheese pizza, chicken nuggets, Pluto’s chicken, etc.
Plus, you MUST leave LOTS of room for the dessert bar!! My favorite part! They had all sorts of cakes, brownies, pies, cheesecake, bread pudding, cobblers, fruits, Rice Krispy Treats, Make your own Ice Cream Sundae, etc. All fantastic!
*Sigh* talking about all this delicious food makes me wish I was there right now 😛
One of my favorite thing about Chef Mickey, was they had a baby car seat, hooked to a rolling cart, so we could wheel the baby through the buffet with us!!! Genius!! No more taking turns to and from the buffet! We asked for this at every other restaurant, and none of the others had this awesome feature. Seriously may be why this place is my favorite 😉
Now other than the food, the other reason to come is to see the Fab 5 – Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy. All come to your table while you eat – no waiting in line!!
There is singing and dancing. My kids loved getting up and dancing with the characters. It is just so interactive and fun for them. Even when I went for the Half Marathon, without kids, I still got into it and had so much fun!
Seriously, you can’t go wrong with this restaurant. That is why it is so popular and can be difficult to get a reservation. I booked at 180 days out, and if you really want to eat here, I highly recommend reserving as soon as you know you are going (or up to 180 days in advance)
Chef Mickey Dessert Bar offerings – Carrot Cake, Brownie, Mini Key lime Pie, Mousse Oreos Mickey, Mini Cheesecake
Squeeeeee!!!!
It is FINALLY official! I had heard rumors of this for a while, but Run Disney made it official this morning! Star Wars Half Marathon is happening at Disneyland. All the info is here.
The newest race weekend comes to Disneyland Resort, January 15-18, 2015! In addition to the Half Marathon, the event will include a 10K, 5K, Kids Races, Wookiee Welcome Party and an Expo. Wield your lightsabers in the Rebel Challenge and you’ll be rewarded for completing both the Half Marathon and the 10K.
I think it is time for my Husband to get his Coast to Coast medal now 🙂 Maybe it can be his 40th Birthday celebration?!?! I’d run it with him…. if we had someone to watch out kids there – Any volunteers?? I would do the Rebel Challenge too – I wish they had the 10k when I did my Half Marathon’s! They added them the year after I did mine 😛
I think he also needs to do the Avengers Half Marathon 😉
I love that they are adding so many AWESOME Half Marathons. They are so much fun and they sell out QUICK – especially the ones at Disneyland! They have been known to sell out within hours. Adding more races should make it easier for more people to participate.
Any of you out there planning on running the new Star Wars Half Marathon Races? Maybe the new Avenger’s Races?? (the Avengers is already sold out!)
Wonder if I can convince my husband we NEED annual passes again and run all the new Disneyland races…. 🙂
When I talk to people about Disneyworld, I always recommend staying on site, because there are so many options and the amenities included make it worth it to stay on site.
However, Disneyland is a completely different story. The hotels are expensive and out of the budget of most families. Which leaves you with Disneyland Area Hotels.
We have stayed at many of the hotels within walking distance of Disneyland, some much better than others. Most are only so-so with some downright scary. If you don’t really care about your hotel, and just want a place to lay your head, then any of the Disneyland Area Hotels will work. Just find one in your price range and amenities, and you’ll be fine. If you want to be able to walk to the parks, be sure that the hotel is across from the ENTRANCE of Disneyland. Many Disneyland Area Hotels will advertise that they are right next to or across the street from Disneyland – BEWARE that does not mean that the entrance is within walking distance of the hotel!!! The actual entrance may be very far from your hotel, even if Disneyland is right across the street!
I always like to stay in hotels within walking distance. No need to park or deal with shuttles. The ART shuttles charges a daily fee, and parking is expensive, adding to the daily cost of your trip. However, if you have been to the Disneyland area, then you know that several of the hotels within walking distance are not the nicest. I am a bit picky about hotels, and we have stayed in several of them and we have narrowed it down to our favorites.
My #1 Choice in Hotels is the Howard Johnson Anaheim.
I am not actually a fan of most Howard Johnson‘s – I am more of a Hilton/Marriott person. This is a nice Howard Johnson though! There is a reason they get consistently good reviews and Traveler’s Family Choice Awards from Tripadvisor! They are the highest rated hotel in Anaheim, just behind the 3 Disney hotels!! The rooms are large, the beds are soft and comfortable. The rooms have refrigerators and microwaves. They offer family suites. It is an 8 minute walk to the Disneyland front gates. My kids favorite part? They have a kids waterpark! Waterslides, pirate ship, water features, dump bucket, etc. They LOVE it!! It is one of the favorite parts of their trip! We almost exclusively stay at this hotel now. My kids would be disappointed not to stay here when we visit Disneyland!
The reservation staff at this hotel are excellent. Call them up and they will give you the BEST prices available. Sign up on their website for their deals email and they will send out emails with promotions worth up to 30 – 50% off their room rates – exclusive to email subscribers. We almost always have been able to stay there at 50% off! SWEET!!
Great hotel deals and discounts are always available at Howard Johnson. Check them out today!
Another great hotel within walking distance is the Anaheim Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. If this hotel had the Waterpark, it would probably be my favorite. So if you don’t have kids tagging along, then this hotel is an excellent choice, however, the rooms at the HOJO Anaheim are often cheaper, especially with their awesome deals they run. The two hotels are right next to each other. This hotel runs a close second, especially when it comes to quality. The rooms are very nice and the beds are comfortable. Everything you would expect from a quality Marriott hotel!
*UPDATE* – Sounds like Marriott listened to me. They have built a new Courtyard Theme Park entrance, right next to the Fairfield Inn and it has a WATERPARK!! Not only that, but the rooms hold 6 people – with bunkbeds in each room! We are VERY excited about this new brand-new hotel! We shall be staying there at lease one night on our next trip, so I will be giving you a review then 🙂 But this seems like a great hotel for families – waterpark, walking distance to Disneyland, and the rooms are big enough for large families – big score in my book!
The third and last hotel that I can recommend within walking distance is the Carousel Inn and Suites. They are the closest of the 3 hotels to the entrance, so if walking is a problem, consider this hotel. (though, they are all REALLY close together and close to the entrance – this hotel is just a 5 minute walk instead of 8). The rooms are nice, comfortable, and clean. They are more upscale than many of the hotels next to them. They give you more of a boutique hotel experience. I would easily stay here again in the future!
*Update* Disney recently purchased this property. It has not become a “Disney hotel.” Yet. I don’t think they will be doing anything with it right now, but it is an interesting turn of events!
We have stayed in other Disneyland Area Hotels within walking distance and I cannot really recommend them. We simply go with the Howard Johnson Anaheim for our trips now, because it is nice, and my kids love the waterpark. Plain and simple, none of the hotels can beat the rates they offer in their emails that include the amenities that they do for that price.
Regardless of where you stay, you are at the Happiest Place on Earth! Have fun and enjoy your time! What are your favorite Disneyland Area Hotels?