Character Dining & Autographs

In order to have my daughters (2.5 & 6) meet their favourite characters without having to endure a long wait for each character in the hot Florida sun, we made reservations at a number of restaurants with character dining.  This way the characters come to you while your are enjoying your meal in the comfort of an air conditioned restaurant!

There are a number of Character Dining locations, in order to maximize our character meet and greets, we went to the Crystal Palace at WDW with Winnie The Pooh & Friends:

Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort:

Akershus Royal Banquet at Epcot.  It is located at the Norway Pavilion.  This breakfast was a combination of a family style, where food is brought to the table and a small buffet with pastries, bagels, fruit, etc.  This is a great spot to meet most of the Princesses.  You also get a portrait taken with a princess when you arrive, which is developed and delivered to your table while you dine.  Here is a picture of my DD6 getting her autograph book signed by Sleeping Beauty.

The autograph book is a great keepsake from your vacation.  Characters sign on one side and later you can put their picture next to the autograph.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my 2.5 year old did not enjoy the characters much.  Understandable, they are quite large for a toddler.  Despite this, we thought for sure she'd enjoy her favourite Disney Junior characters, like Special Agent Oso, Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny at Play N' Dine at Disney Studios.

As you can see she is less than thrilled, and I have to be in more pictures than I would have liked!

Cinderella's Royal Table at WDW is considered a Signature Dining Experience, which means it will cost you 2 Table Service credits if you are on the Dining Plan.  It is more expensive than the other character dining restaurants, however, unlike the other restaurants, this one is not a buffet style.  You also get a family portrait with Cinderella that comes with a beautiful photo of the castle as well.  It is also very cool to eat inside the castle!  There are no guarantees for which princesses will be present, but we were not disappointed.  All the main princesses were there including, Ariel, Belle, Aurora, Snow White and Cinderella of course.

Here is a picture of the beef tenderloin dinner:

All in all, if your kids want to meet the characters, then Character Dining is a convenient way to meet all of your family's favourites!