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One of our family’s favorite activities in Orlando is the Disney character dining experience. You get to eat great food and hang out with some fun characters. This is also a fantastic way to see your favorite characters without the long lines of the theme parks. As the restaurant column writer for Celebrations Magazine and a local family, we have been to all of the character dining locations in Orlando. These are our top 5 character dining in Orlando.
#5 1900 Park Fare with Cinderella
At Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, you can dine with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine (evil step mother) and the step sisters, Anastasia and Drizella,. The buffet at 1900 Park Fare is an amazing meal with lots of options, including salmon, shrimp, chicken and more. We love this character dining experience, because of the interactions with the characters. It is great fun to get those autographs and pictures, but the characters will even dance with you and the step mother and step sisters are hysterical! It is truly one of our favorites in Orlando. We think it is one of those hidden gems at Disney World.
#4 SpongeBob Square Pants Breakfast at the Nickelodeon Hotel
If your kids love this crazy character, this is a fun character breakfast with SpongeBob, Mr. Crabs, Sandy, Patrick and Squidward. The breakfast is an extensive buffet, so you can pick your favorite foods. Besides getting pictures and autographs with your favorite characters, they even have a fun interactive show. It is a fun way to start the morning for the whole family.
#3 Gingerbread Decorating with Gingy
This character dining experience is only during the holiday season at Gaylord Palms. We went for the first time this year and was shocked by the cost of this dining and how much time we spend with Gingy. We were the only family in the experience and Gingy sat with us and helped decorate the cookies. My kids loved it! The cost was just $30 for a gingerbread house or $23 for a gingerbread family (with 2 parents, 2 kids, a cat and a dog). For a character dining experience that is AMAZING! This is now one of my top holiday activities with the kids.
#2 ‘Ohanas at Disney’s Polynesian Resort
One of our favorite character dining is at ‘Ohanas at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. You can have breakfast with Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Lilo, Stitch and your cousins. This character dining even includes some entertainment for the kids, besides meeting their favorite characters! The breakfast is also one of the best served family style with eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries (including Hawaiian bread), Mickey Mouse waffles and more. It is one of our favorite character dining meals, besides the fun of Mickey in a Hawaiian shirt!
#1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the Nickelodeon Hotel
We recently dined at this new character dining at the Nick Hotel. I have to say it bumped out one of my favorite Disney character dining to move into the #1 spot. The TMNT dining is themed after Antonio’s Restaurant from the show. You will not only see the 4 turtles, but you get to learn some karate moves and even see them fight during a show. You get to join in on the fun with masks for the entire family in the TMNT colors. This makes for some fun pictures!
As an adult, my surprise was the meal. I knew it was a buffet and kinda expected pizza, because it is the TMNT! However, they have an extensive buffet and dessert bar including carved ham and carved turkey along with lots of addition entrees and side dishes. I was stuffed when I left, because the food was incredible. Kudos to the Nick Hotel Chefs!
These are our top 5 Disney character dining experiences in Orlando. What is your favorite?