For those impatient people: Akershus (Epcot) Mickey’s Backyard Barbecue (Fort Wilderness) Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary) Hollywood & Vine (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Sadly I think that Disney is taking advantage of families for the character interactions with not good, inconsistent food. We had Chef Mickeys reservations for our upcoming trip and decided we'd rather do 1900 Park for dinner and Ohana Breakfast. We are also doing Crystal Palace for dinner, not because we love Winnie, but it's more my memories, I remember eating there as a kid and I loved it. It may stink but that will be on me ;0 Disney knows and banks on guests having amazing, happy family memories and therefore thinks we will forget how bad the food is- but we don't!!!
Dana Lamb I hope you have a good trip! Personally, the reservations you switched them out for are our three favorite restaurants! Also, Crystal Palace isn't bad. Since you don't love Pooh it probably won't be on your best or worst list. Without the characters the food isn't horrible but isn't for the most adventurous people. :)
Wow, I totally couldn't do that. I'm way too much of a foodie, that pays for high class meals, to sacrifice taste over seeing Winnie the Pooh. When I go on a cruise I always pay extra to eat at the premium restaurants than eat at the free "trough" buffets. I'm going on another cruise next week. I can never forget a bad food experience. But hey, more power to you.
Akershus is my favorite; but then again, I'm in love with the type of food they serve. The appetizer bar could be my entire meal and I'd be satisfied, I always love the cheeses, vegetables, smoked fish, etcetera. For dinner, I order the brassert bif, which is always cooked exactly the way I like it! The vinegarette and arugula make it, truly!! Then the bottomless desserts come in, and I'm just in LOVE with the apple cake and chocolate mousse. Character interactions are also fantastic, I love meeting Belle in her yellow dress, and the past time I went, we even got to see Jasmine!
I worked at Hollywood and Slime and I agree with you 100%. That restaurant needs so much help. It's outdated and the food is not good. The staff that I worked with was very kind but they even said that for years they've tried to get disney to fix it up and make it more appealing. Disney also does the fantasmic package with HAV so a lot of people go there for that. Talk about needing an update WDWs Fantasmic could use some work as well. They should make it like DLs. This is where disney chooses to be cheap and doesn't care to put the money into it. Such a shame :(
I love Akershus. Character interactions are some of the best. The setting is beautiful, and I love the food. However, some in my party do really dislike the types of food. We often try to get an early lunch seating, as it tends to have leftover breakfast items (ie donuts, etc) that my kids will like
Chef Mickey's was absolutely my childhood have several memories and photographs that happened there. One funny experience with my Dad lost in conversation and Goofy mischievously listening with his hand to his chin behind my Dad. So funny!
I was lucky enough to get a reservation at crystal palace before mk opened but I was absolutely thrilled with crystal palace. The food was really good (not boma good but thoroughly enjoyable) especially pooh's breakfast lasagna and eeyore was so precious and memorable and it made my whole morning.
I agree! We went September 2017. Very disorganized, very expensive, terrible food, blah. I did enjoy our conversation with the server from Norway very sweet and the princesses were wonderful.
You guys are great! We are totally addicted to your videos. Pete is a hoot and the rest of the crew is great. We look forward to our visit to WDW during the food and wine fest in September.
I had been considering Hollywood & Vine for our trip next year because my kids love the Disney Junior characters, but I would rather wait in line to meet them all than endure the food at this restaurant. Thank you for saving me from this experience!
I think some of the appeal for Akershus is the early access to the park and the close proximity to the Frozen ride. Although I have heard mixed reviews about the food, the character interaction, early admission, and location are the draw for me; maybe others as well?
I know Tusker House is popular but we had my daughter's birthday there when we were down in December. Our sitting was near the end of the evening and the character interaction was not great (maybe they were tired and just wanted to finish up). The food was great though.
Totally agree about Hollywood and Vine. None of us liked the food, and we ended up sitting waiting for the characters to rotate around to us.... with an empty table. The CM's kept trying to politely push us out, but we made it clear: We are not leaving until all the characters make our table.
I agree with the Hollywood & Vine being low quality high carb entries. The Crystal Palace I feel offers great smoked meats and excellent salmon. Chef Mickey is a icon where else can you dine and view the monorail? I think like Pete stated its personal preference. I no longer have children in my party but still continue to book Character dining for the experience and choices offered at the buffets . The variety of the fruits & salads are good and we usually find a late morning meal or early evening meal takes the place of two counter service meals with more variety.
Chef Mickeys should be a best! I feel it has one of the better buffets with a larger selection than other places. Also, easy to see the FAB 5 here and bypass the waits in the parks. It does provide a certain ambiance as Pete alludes to that really makes you settle into the Disney World Experience.
The story about Pete’s nephews daughter checking to see if Cinderella had glass slippers on was so cute. I wouldn’t have been smart enough to check to see if she really had glass slippers on when I was little, lol
We went to Hollywood and vine in our May trip and we did breakfast and dinner! We actually really liked it and thought the food was good . And the character interaction was great for us
Loved Pete's rant on Hollywood & Vine. I agree with Craig on Akershus though. We like the food but I can see why if you don't like the cold bar why it is not for you. My kids gobble up smoked salmon so it was worth it to us. Definitely a personal preference thing.
Pete your right! Its everything you said it is and I wasnt sure which character breakfast to do but now you helped me decide. Its great for many reasons. They are wrong.
Pete keeps referring to Chef Mickeys at breakfast but they also serve dinner which maybe is also what people voted on. Back in the day when part of the restaurant was the Pueblo Room, breakfast there was amazing.
I suspect one major reason, if not the major reason, that people do breakfast at Hollywood & Vine is to get early admittance to the line for Jedi Training (before the park opens). I have come close to booking breakfast there for that reason, but not even going to the meal - the Jedi Training is the single "must do" for our trip(s), as each new child (of 4)comes "of age." It is such a shame Disney has that leverage to "force" reservations at H&V...
We went in March this year first time in Disney we only did 2 character meals the Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine we found both of them really enjoyable it may be because we haven't done the rest but would definitely go back to them.
We have sacrificed for the character meals. The first time we went to Akershus we didn't realize you could order off the menu. We thought the cold buffet was all there was to eat. We felt cheated. Then we found out we could order from the menu. It was good, not our favorite. We are eating at Chrystal Palace again, because all my grandchildren will be with us. A few years ago we sent a pic of us with Piglet. My grandson said, "I want a picture with that cute little piggy." You can find something to satisfy you. I love not having to use a fastpass or wait in line. We have not eaten at Hollywood and Vine. I guess we never will. Thank you for the video. Have a magical day sprinkled with pixie dust.
You are completely correct on the top pick! We went there for our kids for Disney Junior...they didn't eat hardly anything. They had some mix like macaroni and seafood. What 3 and 7 year old eats that!?!. AND some of the Characters really sucked. It was too expensive for what we got.
I agree with Craig and Steve, it is VERY noisy at Chef Mickey's. For anyone with a child (or adult guest) that is autistic or has problem with noise, it is an awful experience. Too much stimuli between being in the atrium that extends up and echoes, no true wall between it and other quick service restaurant, monorail, and just other lobby noises... We do Cape May and Garden Grill to get the Fab 5 plus you get a bonus with Chip n Dale (and at both we get to interact with characters at least 2 times during a meal)
I agree with the list except Crystal Palace is a must do for me first morning in the Magic Kingdom. I love the Pooh characters and find some of the best interaction there with them. Chef Mickeys grew too popular too fast for its own good, Disney responded by doubling the prices, lowering the quality of food and expanding the seating to rake in more bucks while making the character interaction a frustrating experience for everyone from the characters themselves to the guests and the wait staff. No one working there is happy there and it shows. Hollywood and Vine is so bad that I forgot it even existed.
Have you guys tried the new Bon Voyage breakfast with Ariel Eric and Flynn and Rapunzel over at Boardwalk yet? That food. Oh my gosh. SO SO SO GOOD. You need to check it out! And I'm obsessed with Eric and Ariel so that was also a plus!!!!!
Agreed! Hollywood & Vine is all around the pits! But... The food at Chef Mickey's is horrid too! The location and character interaction at Chef Mickey is what saves it.
I definitely remember eating at Akershus when I went to Disney World at Epcot for my 12th birthday four years ago. I went with my dad, stepmom, aunt, uncle, and younger cousins. I've had a great experience there. This, and Crystal Palace are the only ones I disagree with. The others I've never eaten there.
I loved the kjottkake at Akershus and the gjetist and smoked salmon among other things on the cold buffet. It's only for people with adventurous palates or who grew up with Norwegian foods. Don't count it out!
I didn't know Norwegian food was a fatty gristly piece of meat they try to pass off as food. Meat is not the best word as there was no meat on it. I was horrified at the food we were served.
I am of Norwegian descent and I loved this place! I was so happy to see gjetist too! My grandkids loved the Princesses and they did not complain about their food !!
you guys are great! love all the shows you put together. are you going to be doing reviews of the food and wine festival? or hopefully even a best and worst of the countries?
Nailed it with Hollywood and Vine. Back in the day, and I'm talking many, many years ago, the food there was pretty good. Definitely not the case for the last 10 years at least. Thanks for sharing.
I'd do Backyard BBQ just to go in River Country's bathrooms again. I have many happy memories at that water park, and it makes me sad to see all of it abandoned.
the problem with good queue lines is that no one moves in the good queue lines. I love the Winnie the Pooh ride but I hate going through the stand by line because the line never moves because kids a buzzing bees or playing with honey. Now Haunted Mansion is a different story.
I agree with Hollywood and Vine, we went last December for breakfast because the Disney Junior characters were a must with my kids but I could have made a better breakfast at home. It was cold and bland. The characters were the only reason it was worth going and when we go back to Disney we definitely will not be going to Hollywood. We've met the characters so there is no reason to go back
I like Pete, I thinks he's straight up, I like his personality. He's not a cast member so you won't see butterflies hovering around him or molasses dripping from his mouth. I watch this play list mainly for him. Nothing against the other guys.
We all got food poisoning at Hollywood and Vine about 6 years ago it completely ruined the rest of our vacation when we complained we were told it was an animal kingdom flu that was going around we will with another family that went maybe two hours after we did and they also got sick
I've gone to Hollywood and Vine for the past few years for lunch, and while I won't argue it's better than any of the other character dining experiences I definitely wouldn't rank it the worst Food tastes aside I've actually had fun experiences with the characters there Since its shunned so much (and don't have to stop at half as many tables as, say, Chef Mickey's) they're looking for fun and every time I've gone the Disney Junior characters all interact with us more than most other character dining experiences After we explain we have no idea who they are they stick around and just kinda mess with us and then come back around a few more times It creates a narrative of sorts thats almost a bond between us I'd be sad but not completely heartbroken to see it go
I still really like the Akershus and the character experiences you get there. But I get it....I really like fish and the cold bar while some others probably don't get into it. It's like when my friends want to go to the German Pavillion to eat and to me that's not a great meal.
We loved H&V!!! We ate breakfast and it was way better than I was expecting. The food was good, service was good, and character interaction was good. We did have better food at other locations but no way would I rate it that low!
Hollywood and vine is the only place you can get Disney Junior Characters as far I know. So I took my kiddo last year and was very disappointed not only with the food but with the servers. The restaurant was actual almost empty. He was happy though so mission accomplished.
Having never been to Disney World, I can't judge, but Akershus looks like a cool place. My only complaint is that for a Disney Princess themed Character Dining located in the Norway Pavilion, I can easily see so many customers being disappointed that A&E never showed up. Come to think of it, I don't think that they exist at ANY Character Dining location, Walt Disney World or elsewhere.
I guessed the number 1 before you guys said it. It truly is a no brainer! 100% completely agree that it is terrible. My first experience there was with my wife during Star Wars Weekends because we wanted to meet the Fab 5 as Star Wars characters and we had no idea how the good was. Absolutely terrible food. We love Disney and Star Wars so we loved the character interaction. But the food was awful. Haven't been back since and don't plan on going back until a change is made.
Aw, I loved Crystal Palace! Granted, it was my first character dining experience at WDW (I had previously done all of the Disneyland ones) and my group and I LOVE Winnie the Pooh, but it was such a fun and pleasant experience! I love the location (we were able to see Festival of Fantasy from our table) and the restaurant itself is gorgeous on the inside! The food wasn't anything to rave about, but it was yummy and what I expect from a typical Disney character buffet, so no complaints. And I don't know if this has anything to do with us being there in January or the time of day we ate, but it was the most calm Disney character dining experience I've ever had. It was mostly quiet and the ambiance was calm. Other dining experiences, even ones I love like Tusker House or Goofy's Kitchen are just so noisy, hectic, and bustling with kids and cast members, and just people and noise everywhere. But we had such a nice and calm little lunch with some lovely character interactions placed perfectly by the glass-paneled wall and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better first meal at WDW.
Could you do an updated top 5 or Best/ Worst Restaurants and character meals, please? Also, if you do an update for the character meals please mention if one meal, (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is better than another. There has been so many new restaurants and character meals, I'm not sure if these are still Best/ Worst. Thank you.
We have just started planning WDW visit for next spring with our grandson. Hubby has T2 diabetes, so most breakfast items are off his menu (NO flour, no sugar). We are both adventurous eaters, so my question: would Akershus be a good brkfst for us? We typically *prefer* cold meats anyway (at least wkdys - who has time to make full hot brkfst before work?).
I think Akershus is the only one I wouldn't put on here, but it's impossible for me to go without doing a few character dining experiences. For my latest trip, it was harder to get a reservation at Akershus than Cinderella's Royal Table. It is a fraction of the cost of CRT with a good number of princesses and okay food. Not great, but okay. My Ariel was a little off the last time I went but the other Character interactions have been great.
I agree with Craig about Chef Mickey. As a mother who has been taking her two kids (now 14 and 19) to WDW every other year since 2004, we've never eaten at Chef Mickey due to the location, noise, and hype. Even my kids, as small children, have never shown interest in that dining experience! Pete, just because you had one great moment a decade ago doesn't make it "wrong" for everyone else to dislike. Please get off your high horse.
My fiance and I are going to disney world for our honeymoon in december - were huge fans of the show and have been to disney several times. Is there any chance that you could incorporate unique things to do on your disney honeymoon in a show? Its a long shot, but i figured it couldnt hurt to ask! :) great video as per usual, guys!
I liked Chef Mickey's. And a few reasons why. First, when arriving from Toronto, Canada, we arrive around mid-day on Saturday. and it's around 3pm once we get to the hotel. I like booking Chef Mickey's for around 6pm because it allows us to do the monorail rides, and a character experience, without using one of our park passes. Like an "appetizer" of characters and Disney experience for the kid without going in a park. Then the next day we tackle one of the parks and start our Disney experience. Tusker sounds great, but it's in the Animal Kingdom park, so we'd have to use one of our park passes for essentially a half a day, assuming it was the first thing we did onsite. I think I'll be repeating this experience with my son in 2019.
I've eaten at Hollywood and Vine twice, before and after characters to get the fantasmic fast pass and I didn't find the food too bad actually. Yes it was way overpriced.
I have been to Hollywood and Vine 3 times in 3 different Fall seasons. The food is not great but it's ok. It's a buffet so you won't go away hungry. It is not cheap but all of Disney is not cheap. The reason you go is for the Fav Five characters (in the fall with Halloween costumes) and with a special limited reservation you get a VIP seat pass (for no extra charge. Bonus!) to see Fantasmic, the end of night live action water show and fireworks. These VIP passes are also available with special reservations at the Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano but without the characters. The VIP passes get first entrance to the amphitheater but this line will shut down if you arrive late, passes or not. You will get a seat. Bottom line, if you don't want better seating for Fantasmic or don't want to see the show at all and not seeing the Fav Five characters, you can miss Hollywood and Vine. If you want better seats and characters it is worth it for the extras.
There's sort of a level of status I think when it comes to these. Your first trip may only have one or two. You might only be able to do one breakfast and one dinner. So by word of mouth and availability is why I think some folks go with the more "over rated" ones in that list. Personally the Crystal Palace's food was a few steps above cafeteria grade. But the Pooh character interactions we're fun. So it might not make the top five for myself, but it might be on the bubble. For Chef Mickey's when I was a kid I was pretty envious coming in on the monorail and seeing the folks eating in there! I thought you had to be in a different tax bracket to eat there haha! It just looks so marvelous and I will agree with Pete that it's in a great location. Now, it might not be the best place for a eat and greet. But it just add's to the overall charm of it (I still have not eaten there yet!).
Akershus really isn’t that bad actually. The food was good. The princesses made frequent visits and my daughter got to walk around the restaurant with Ariel. Then again this video was uploaded two years ago. Disney restaurants change a lot!
It unfortunately doesn't surprise me that Hollywood and Vine (never been there myself) would not make Disney prioritize an improvement to the food. Tony's has sucked forever and they put it in a prime spot in the MK! In fact, I think Tony's is the worst restaurant at WDW.
Talk about a bunch of drama queens. Hollywood and Vine is fine. The character interaction is great, the food is above average for a buffet and the VIP seating for Fantasmic is great. Everything has value, add it all up and you get your moneys worth.
I love the food at Akershus. In March I went to a ton of character meals. The service at Akershus was the best in any of the restaurants I ate at the 10 days I was there. Agree the food sucks at Crystal Palace. The food is really awful at Chef Mickey's! Worst breakfast I've had in a long time. Totally noisy and crowded. Hated it. Food is so much better for breakfast at 1900 Park Fair is much better. Thanks for the info about Hollywood & Vine. Going to Disney at Christmas and was thinking about doing Minnie's Holiday Dine. Planning to do all things Christmas, so thought this would be a holiday thing. I hated Tusker House. The character interaction was very poor. Lighting so bad all my pic were blurry and the food sucked.
Good Show Guys as Always I heard you guys make a Reference to River Country.. u guys should do a Show on River Country I find that Topic Very Interesting!!! I was on a River country kick for awhile and watched tones of Videos and Blogs about the Place and would love to hear your take on it!!!! Just a thought!!!!
Akershus was awful when we went in March. The character portion was decent and kids can see a bunch of princesses, but the food options were terrible and absolutely NOT worth the cost. I disagree with Crystal Palace though (although if you don't WTP I get it). The food is great and the characters were so good with the little ones with us.
Jamie Koser Arena Absolutely agree! Crystal Palace was amazing and we still go to it every trip. I hope they never take WTP out but I'd understand if the characters are why some people don't want to go.
They used to have decent ravioli on the lunch menu, but last time I went, the menu had changed. The waiter recommended the Norwegian meatballs. I thought they were *awful*. The cold fish salad bar was the best part, and they had done away with the peel and eat shrimp. I was less than impressed! I haven't tried Crystal Palace yet. We did reserve it for lunch this December. My husband's suggestion. I'll see for myself!
I agree best way to get in the park early. The food is light years beyond crt ( in my experience) also for a breakfast buffet the food is very good. Love the pooh bear French toast.
Yes! Food and service were TERRIBLE at Akershus. I'm always a really good tipper but I think we left $5 for 4 of us on $100ish bill. It was that bad. (We were there for breakfast.)
Erin Bailey OMG yes how could I forget about the service. We were there for breakfast too and it was awful. I mean looks like how dare you burden me with your request for more potatoes bad. Then we were stalked and stared at by the server and supervisor the entire time we were finishing. I'm sorry we didn't meet your time but we had my 3 month old and a friends toddler to finish up with! Ugh. 🤦🏻♀️
We just ate dinner at Hollywood & Vine in June. While not all of the food was great, there were some good selections, and I thought the desserts were very good as well. We also had good character interactions there. With that said, I will admit, that I have not eaten extensively at Disney restaurants. We have done three character meals over the years: Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Hollywood & Vine. while the food quality varied among the three, we had good character experiences at all of them. Out of the three, the food at Tusker House was far superior. The food there was outstanding! But of the remaining two experiences I would say that my meal at Hollywood & Vine edged out what I had at Crystal Palace. I will agree that it might be disappointing because we know Disney can do better, but while Hollywood & Vine is a loooong way from the quality of Tusker House, I have had far worse meals in my lifetime.
Part of the reason Hollywood & Vine is popular is because they offer dining packages for Fantasmic. I wish 50's Prime Time or Sifi Dine In were part of the Dining Package instead of the horrible Hollywood & Vine
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
Peter's rant on Hollywood & Vine was amazing. Best part of the episode by far lol.
You guys should do a list of best queue lines at Disney
Dean Coburn yes definitely
Yes yes yes
Yep. This definitely should happen....
Yes! I would love it if they did that
I'm actually planning on doing that lol
For those impatient people:
Akershus (Epcot)
Mickey’s Backyard Barbecue (Fort Wilderness)
Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom)
Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary)
Hollywood & Vine (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Sadly I think that Disney is taking advantage of families for the character interactions with not good, inconsistent food. We had Chef Mickeys reservations for our upcoming trip and decided we'd rather do 1900 Park for dinner and Ohana Breakfast. We are also doing Crystal Palace for dinner, not because we love Winnie, but it's more my memories, I remember eating there as a kid and I loved it. It may stink but that will be on me ;0 Disney knows and banks on guests having amazing, happy family memories and therefore thinks we will forget how bad the food is- but we don't!!!
Dana Lamb
I hope you have a good trip! Personally, the reservations you switched them out for are our three favorite restaurants! Also, Crystal Palace isn't bad. Since you don't love Pooh it probably won't be on your best or worst list. Without the characters the food isn't horrible but isn't for the most adventurous people. :)
Wow, I totally couldn't do that. I'm way too much of a foodie, that pays for high class meals, to sacrifice taste over seeing Winnie the Pooh. When I go on a cruise I always pay extra to eat at the premium restaurants than eat at the free "trough" buffets. I'm going on another cruise next week. I can never forget a bad food experience. But hey, more power to you.
Akershus is my favorite; but then again, I'm in love with the type of food they serve. The appetizer bar could be my entire meal and I'd be satisfied, I always love the cheeses, vegetables, smoked fish, etcetera. For dinner, I order the brassert bif, which is always cooked exactly the way I like it! The vinegarette and arugula make it, truly!! Then the bottomless desserts come in, and I'm just in LOVE with the apple cake and chocolate mousse. Character interactions are also fantastic, I love meeting Belle in her yellow dress, and the past time I went, we even got to see Jasmine!
I worked at Hollywood and Slime and I agree with you 100%. That restaurant needs so much help. It's outdated and the food is not good. The staff that I worked with was very kind but they even said that for years they've tried to get disney to fix it up and make it more appealing. Disney also does the fantasmic package with HAV so a lot of people go there for that. Talk about needing an update WDWs Fantasmic could use some work as well. They should make it like DLs. This is where disney chooses to be cheap and doesn't care to put the money into it. Such a shame :(
I've only eaten breakfast there once but I remember preferring that food to Chef Mickey's. I've never had dinner there so I can't comment.
Thank you for doing the 2 separate polls. I think that makes the results much more "accurate"
"It's for people without taste buds." Hilarious. 😹😹😹
I love Akershus. Character interactions are some of the best. The setting is beautiful, and I love the food. However, some in my party do really dislike the types of food. We often try to get an early lunch seating, as it tends to have leftover breakfast items (ie donuts, etc) that my kids will like
Chef Mickey's was absolutely my childhood have several memories and photographs that happened there. One funny experience with my Dad lost in conversation and Goofy mischievously listening with his hand to his chin behind my Dad. So funny!
I was lucky enough to get a reservation at crystal palace before mk opened but I was absolutely thrilled with crystal palace. The food was really good (not boma good but thoroughly enjoyable) especially pooh's breakfast lasagna and eeyore was so precious and memorable and it made my whole morning.
I agree! We went September 2017. Very disorganized, very expensive, terrible food, blah. I did enjoy our conversation with the server from Norway very sweet and the princesses were wonderful.
You guys are great! We are totally addicted to your videos. Pete is a hoot and the rest of the crew is great. We look forward to our visit to WDW during the food and wine fest in September.
I had been considering Hollywood & Vine for our trip next year because my kids love the Disney Junior characters, but I would rather wait in line to meet them all than endure the food at this restaurant. Thank you for saving me from this experience!
I think some of the appeal for Akershus is the early access to the park and the close proximity to the Frozen ride. Although I have heard mixed reviews about the food, the character interaction, early admission, and location are the draw for me; maybe others as well?
Love the best and worst, one of my favorite things on the channel! I'd love to see more current vs classics too! Keep up the great work!
where do you post these polls? i'd love to participate
Corinne E they usually show up on the Facebook page
I know Tusker House is popular but we had my daughter's birthday there when we were down in December. Our sitting was near the end of the evening and the character interaction was not great (maybe they were tired and just wanted to finish up). The food was great though.
Totally agree about Hollywood and Vine. None of us liked the food, and we ended up sitting waiting for the characters to rotate around to us.... with an empty table. The CM's kept trying to politely push us out, but we made it clear: We are not leaving until all the characters make our table.
I agree with the Hollywood & Vine being low quality high carb entries. The Crystal Palace I feel offers great smoked meats and excellent salmon. Chef Mickey is a icon where else can you dine and view the monorail? I think like Pete stated its personal preference. I no longer have children in my party but still continue to book Character dining for the experience and choices offered at the buffets . The variety of the fruits & salads are good and we usually find a late morning meal or early evening meal takes the place of two counter service meals with more variety.
Chef Mickeys should be a best! I feel it has one of the better buffets with a larger selection than other places. Also, easy to see the FAB 5 here and bypass the waits in the parks. It does provide a certain ambiance as Pete alludes to that really makes you settle into the Disney World Experience.
In 1995 we were appalled by our experience at Hollywood and Vine . And its never changed !
The story about Pete’s nephews daughter checking to see if Cinderella had glass slippers on was so cute. I wouldn’t have been smart enough to check to see if she really had glass slippers on when I was little, lol
We went to Hollywood and vine in our May trip and we did breakfast and dinner! We actually really liked it and thought the food was good . And the character interaction was great for us
Loved Pete's rant on Hollywood & Vine. I agree with Craig on Akershus though. We like the food but I can see why if you don't like the cold bar why it is not for you. My kids gobble up smoked salmon so it was worth it to us. Definitely a personal preference thing.
Pete your right! Its everything you said it is and I wasnt sure which character breakfast to do but now you helped me decide. Its great for many reasons. They are wrong.
Maybe next time you should divide it into 2 categories, Best Character Interactions at a Character Dining Exp. vs Best food at a Character Dining Exp.
Honestly I love Pete don't care what others say
"There is some good stuff on my best list"
"Most of it being Universal"
Ouch, that has to hurt!
Pete keeps referring to Chef Mickeys at breakfast but they also serve dinner which maybe is also what people voted on. Back in the day when part of the restaurant was the Pueblo Room, breakfast there was amazing.
I suspect one major reason, if not the major reason, that people do breakfast at Hollywood & Vine is to get early admittance to the line for Jedi Training (before the park opens). I have come close to booking breakfast there for that reason, but not even going to the meal - the Jedi Training is the single "must do" for our trip(s), as each new child (of 4)comes "of age." It is such a shame Disney has that leverage to "force" reservations at H&V...
We went in March this year first time in Disney we only did 2 character meals the Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine we found both of them really enjoyable it may be because we haven't done the rest but would definitely go back to them.
We have sacrificed for the character meals. The first time we went to Akershus we didn't realize you could order off the menu. We thought the cold buffet was all there was to eat. We felt cheated. Then we found out we could order from the menu. It was good, not our favorite. We are eating at Chrystal Palace again, because all my grandchildren will be with us. A few years ago we sent a pic of us with Piglet. My grandson said, "I want a picture with that cute little piggy." You can find something to satisfy you. I love not having to use a fastpass or wait in line. We have not eaten at Hollywood and Vine. I guess we never will. Thank you for the video. Have a magical day sprinkled with pixie dust.
You are completely correct on the top pick! We went there for our kids for Disney Junior...they didn't eat hardly anything. They had some mix like macaroni and seafood. What 3 and 7 year old eats that!?!. AND some of the Characters really sucked. It was too expensive for what we got.
I like Chef Mickeys for the desert bar. Good stuff.
So glad I changed my Fantasmic Dining Package restaurant a few weeks back after watching this haha.
The best character meal, hands down, is the dinner at the Aulani... it's a full seafood and steak buffet and it's amazing
That's awesome! Been wanting to make a trip there! Although it's not on WDW property so they wouldn't bring that up in this video.
I agree with Craig and Steve, it is VERY noisy at Chef Mickey's. For anyone with a child (or adult guest) that is autistic or has problem with noise, it is an awful experience. Too much stimuli between being in the atrium that extends up and echoes, no true wall between it and other quick service restaurant, monorail, and just other lobby noises... We do Cape May and Garden Grill to get the Fab 5 plus you get a bonus with Chip n Dale (and at both we get to interact with characters at least 2 times during a meal)
I agree with the list except Crystal Palace is a must do for me first morning in the Magic Kingdom. I love the Pooh characters and find some of the best interaction there with them.
Chef Mickeys grew too popular too fast for its own good, Disney responded by doubling the prices, lowering the quality of food and expanding the seating to rake in more bucks while making the character interaction a frustrating experience for everyone from the characters themselves to the guests and the wait staff. No one working there is happy there and it shows.
Hollywood and Vine is so bad that I forgot it even existed.
Have you guys tried the new Bon Voyage breakfast with Ariel Eric and Flynn and Rapunzel over at Boardwalk yet? That food. Oh my gosh. SO SO SO GOOD. You need to check it out! And I'm obsessed with Eric and Ariel so that was also a plus!!!!!
I figured the showers, and the fence hiding the now filled in pool plus the ticket both at the front gave away that is is river country bathrooms lol
Agreed! Hollywood & Vine is all around the pits! But... The food at Chef Mickey's is horrid too! The location and character interaction at Chef Mickey is what saves it.
We actually had a good breakfast at Hollywood and vine recently. The food was good and our daughter loved Disney junior friends. We got lucky.
I definitely remember eating at Akershus when I went to Disney World at Epcot for my 12th birthday four years ago. I went with my dad, stepmom, aunt, uncle, and younger cousins. I've had a great experience there. This, and Crystal Palace are the only ones I disagree with. The others I've never eaten there.
I loved the kjottkake at Akershus and the gjetist and smoked salmon among other things on the cold buffet. It's only for people with adventurous palates or who grew up with Norwegian foods. Don't count it out!
Halyce Ox I have no adventure basically but I love love love lunch and dinner there! We always go!
I didn't know Norwegian food was a fatty gristly piece of meat they try to pass off as food. Meat is not the best word as there was no meat on it. I was horrified at the food we were served.
I am of Norwegian descent and I loved this place! I was so happy to see gjetist too! My grandkids loved the Princesses and they did not complain about their food !!
you guys are great! love all the shows you put together. are you going to be doing reviews of the food and wine festival? or hopefully even a best and worst of the countries?
Nailed it with Hollywood and Vine. Back in the day, and I'm talking many, many years ago, the food there was pretty good. Definitely not the case for the last 10 years at least. Thanks for sharing.
Jack G. 18 years ago I worked there and the food was great. It's sad that it seems to have gone downhill so much.
Michael Acton Yes it is sad. If I remember correctly it started going down hill when they started the character meals. My timing could be off though.
I'd do Backyard BBQ just to go in River Country's bathrooms again. I have many happy memories at that water park, and it makes me sad to see all of it abandoned.
I've had both breakfast and lunch at Crystal Palace and both were fantastic for both food and Characters! Crystal Palace is one of my favs!
the problem with good queue lines is that no one moves in the good queue lines. I love the Winnie the Pooh ride but I hate going through the stand by line because the line never moves because kids a buzzing bees or playing with honey. Now Haunted Mansion is a different story.
I agree with Hollywood and Vine, we went last December for breakfast because the Disney Junior characters were a must with my kids but I could have made a better breakfast at home. It was cold and bland. The characters were the only reason it was worth going and when we go back to Disney we definitely will not be going to Hollywood. We've met the characters so there is no reason to go back
I love Pete’s passion
I like Pete, I thinks he's straight up, I like his personality. He's not a cast member so you won't see butterflies hovering around him or molasses dripping from his mouth. I watch this play list mainly for him. Nothing against the other guys.
lovely, I'm going to Hollywood and vine because of my kids and the show package. I hope I don't get food poisoning!
We all got food poisoning at Hollywood and Vine about 6 years ago it completely ruined the rest of our vacation when we complained we were told it was an animal kingdom flu that was going around we will with another family that went maybe two hours after we did and they also got sick
I've gone to Hollywood and Vine for the past few years for lunch, and while I won't argue it's better than any of the other character dining experiences I definitely wouldn't rank it the worst
Food tastes aside I've actually had fun experiences with the characters there
Since its shunned so much (and don't have to stop at half as many tables as, say, Chef Mickey's) they're looking for fun and every time I've gone the Disney Junior characters all interact with us more than most other character dining experiences
After we explain we have no idea who they are they stick around and just kinda mess with us and then come back around a few more times
It creates a narrative of sorts thats almost a bond between us
I'd be sad but not completely heartbroken to see it go
I still really like the Akershus and the character experiences you get there. But I get it....I really like fish and the cold bar while some others probably don't get into it. It's like when my friends want to go to the German Pavillion to eat and to me that's not a great meal.
We loved H&V!!! We ate breakfast and it was way better than I was expecting. The food was good, service was good, and character interaction was good. We did have better food at other locations but no way would I rate it that low!
Hollywood and vine is the only place you can get Disney Junior Characters as far I know. So I took my kiddo last year and was very disappointed not only with the food but with the servers. The restaurant was actual almost empty. He was happy though so mission accomplished.
Pete, "spot on" with everything you said. I agree 100%.
Thank you Pete. Chef Mickey's charm is its location. This location is very nostalgic. I love Craig and Steve, but they are dead wrong on this account.
Having never been to Disney World, I can't judge, but Akershus looks like a cool place. My only complaint is that for a Disney Princess themed Character Dining located in the Norway Pavilion, I can easily see so many customers being disappointed that A&E never showed up. Come to think of it, I don't think that they exist at ANY Character Dining location, Walt Disney World or elsewhere.
I guessed the number 1 before you guys said it. It truly is a no brainer! 100% completely agree that it is terrible.
My first experience there was with my wife during Star Wars Weekends because we wanted to meet the Fab 5 as Star Wars characters and we had no idea how the good was.
Absolutely terrible food. We love Disney and Star Wars so we loved the character interaction. But the food was awful. Haven't been back since and don't plan on going back until a change is made.
Early squad!!!! I love these videos so much
Hollywood & Vine is great for the Disney junior lunch. The characters are great and it's the only meal with them. The food was good too
Love what you guys do!! 💚🐭
Ok.. time to change my Hollywood and vine ressies. Thanks guys! I don't want my family eating slop.
Poor old Polish lady.
Pete's comment about her cracked me up!!!
I've done Hollywood and Vine once and the food was amazing. That being said I'm GF and they made me two fresh portions of GF lobster mac and cheese.
Aw, I loved Crystal Palace! Granted, it was my first character dining experience at WDW (I had previously done all of the Disneyland ones) and my group and I LOVE Winnie the Pooh, but it was such a fun and pleasant experience! I love the location (we were able to see Festival of Fantasy from our table) and the restaurant itself is gorgeous on the inside! The food wasn't anything to rave about, but it was yummy and what I expect from a typical Disney character buffet, so no complaints. And I don't know if this has anything to do with us being there in January or the time of day we ate, but it was the most calm Disney character dining experience I've ever had. It was mostly quiet and the ambiance was calm. Other dining experiences, even ones I love like Tusker House or Goofy's Kitchen are just so noisy, hectic, and bustling with kids and cast members, and just people and noise everywhere. But we had such a nice and calm little lunch with some lovely character interactions placed perfectly by the glass-paneled wall and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better first meal at WDW.
Could you do an updated top 5 or Best/ Worst Restaurants and character meals, please? Also, if you do an update for the character meals please mention if one meal, (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is better than another. There has been so many new restaurants and character meals, I'm not sure if these are still Best/ Worst. Thank you.
We have just started planning WDW visit for next spring with our grandson. Hubby has T2 diabetes, so most breakfast items are off his menu (NO flour, no sugar). We are both adventurous eaters, so my question: would Akershus be a good brkfst for us? We typically *prefer* cold meats anyway (at least wkdys - who has time to make full hot brkfst before work?).
I think Akershus is the only one I wouldn't put on here, but it's impossible for me to go without doing a few character dining experiences. For my latest trip, it was harder to get a reservation at Akershus than Cinderella's Royal Table. It is a fraction of the cost of CRT with a good number of princesses and okay food. Not great, but okay. My Ariel was a little off the last time I went but the other Character interactions have been great.
I agree with Craig about Chef Mickey. As a mother who has been taking her two kids (now 14 and 19) to WDW every other year since 2004, we've never eaten at Chef Mickey due to the location, noise, and hype. Even my kids, as small children, have never shown interest in that dining experience! Pete, just because you had one great moment a decade ago doesn't make it "wrong" for everyone else to dislike. Please get off your high horse.
My fiance and I are going to disney world for our honeymoon in december - were huge fans of the show and have been to disney several times. Is there any chance that you could incorporate unique things to do on your disney honeymoon in a show? Its a long shot, but i figured it couldnt hurt to ask! :) great video as per usual, guys!
I liked Chef Mickey's. And a few reasons why. First, when arriving from Toronto, Canada, we arrive around mid-day on Saturday. and it's around 3pm once we get to the hotel. I like booking Chef Mickey's for around 6pm because it allows us to do the monorail rides, and a character experience, without using one of our park passes. Like an "appetizer" of characters and Disney experience for the kid without going in a park. Then the next day we tackle one of the parks and start our Disney experience. Tusker sounds great, but it's in the Animal Kingdom park, so we'd have to use one of our park passes for essentially a half a day, assuming it was the first thing we did onsite. I think I'll be repeating this experience with my son in 2019.
I've eaten at Hollywood and Vine twice, before and after characters to get the fantasmic fast pass and I didn't find the food too bad actually. Yes it was way overpriced.
I love you guys...thanks for disagreeing with each other...that is huge fun.
What Pete said about Hollywood and Vine is 100% correct.... FOOD WAS HORRID but my kids had a great time....
I dunno, I like Akershus, but I do love that type of fish so I guess that's the difference. It's not for everyone, I'll give it that.
I have been to Hollywood and Vine 3 times in 3 different Fall seasons. The food is not great but it's ok. It's a buffet so you won't go away hungry. It is not cheap but all of Disney is not cheap. The reason you go is for the Fav Five characters (in the fall with Halloween costumes) and with a special limited reservation you get a VIP seat pass (for no extra charge. Bonus!) to see Fantasmic, the end of night live action water show and fireworks. These VIP passes are also available with special reservations at the Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano but without the characters. The VIP passes get first entrance to the amphitheater but this line will shut down if you arrive late, passes or not. You will get a seat. Bottom line, if you don't want better seating for Fantasmic or don't want to see the show at all and not seeing the Fav Five characters, you can miss Hollywood and Vine. If you want better seats and characters it is worth it for the extras.
Pete said that two of them wouldn't be on his list--I'm curious what two he WOULD have listed to replace them.
There's sort of a level of status I think when it comes to these. Your first trip may only have one or two. You might only be able to do one breakfast and one dinner. So by word of mouth and availability is why I think some folks go with the more "over rated" ones in that list. Personally the Crystal Palace's food was a few steps above cafeteria grade. But the Pooh character interactions we're fun. So it might not make the top five for myself, but it might be on the bubble.
For Chef Mickey's when I was a kid I was pretty envious coming in on the monorail and seeing the folks eating in there! I thought you had to be in a different tax bracket to eat there haha! It just looks so marvelous and I will agree with Pete that it's in a great location. Now, it might not be the best place for a eat and greet. But it just add's to the overall charm of it (I still have not eaten there yet!).
Akershus really isn’t that bad actually. The food was good. The princesses made frequent visits and my daughter got to walk around the restaurant with Ariel. Then again this video was uploaded two years ago. Disney restaurants change a lot!
It unfortunately doesn't surprise me that Hollywood and Vine (never been there myself) would not make Disney prioritize an improvement to the food. Tony's has sucked forever and they put it in a prime spot in the MK! In fact, I think Tony's is the worst restaurant at WDW.
Talk about a bunch of drama queens. Hollywood and Vine is fine. The character interaction is great, the food is above average for a buffet and the VIP seating for Fantasmic is great. Everything has value, add it all up and you get your moneys worth.
You dont have to sneak into River Country. A large part of it is totally legal to walk through. Not fenced off or anything.
I love the food at Akershus. In March I went to a ton of character meals. The service at Akershus was the best in any of the restaurants I ate at the 10 days I was there. Agree the food sucks at Crystal Palace. The food is really awful at Chef Mickey's! Worst breakfast I've had in a long time. Totally noisy and crowded. Hated it. Food is so much better for breakfast at 1900 Park Fair is much better.
Thanks for the info about Hollywood & Vine. Going to Disney at Christmas and was thinking about doing Minnie's Holiday Dine. Planning to do all things Christmas, so thought this would be a holiday thing.
I hated Tusker House. The character interaction was very poor. Lighting so bad all my pic were blurry and the food sucked.
Good Show Guys as Always I heard you guys make a Reference to River Country.. u guys should do a Show on River Country I find that Topic Very Interesting!!! I was on a River country kick for awhile and watched tones of Videos and Blogs about the Place and would love to hear your take on it!!!! Just a thought!!!!
we always do crystal palace for the characters and it is good if you like simple food, not anything over the top
Akershus was awful when we went in March. The character portion was decent and kids can see a bunch of princesses, but the food options were terrible and absolutely NOT worth the cost. I disagree with Crystal Palace though (although if you don't WTP I get it). The food is great and the characters were so good with the little ones with us.
Jamie Koser Arena
Absolutely agree! Crystal Palace was amazing and we still go to it every trip. I hope they never take WTP out but I'd understand if the characters are why some people don't want to go.
They used to have decent ravioli on the lunch menu, but last time I went, the menu had changed. The waiter recommended the Norwegian meatballs. I thought they were *awful*. The cold fish salad bar was the best part, and they had done away with the peel and eat shrimp. I was less than impressed! I haven't tried Crystal Palace yet. We did reserve it for lunch this December. My husband's suggestion. I'll see for myself!
I agree best way to get in the park early. The food is light years beyond crt ( in my experience) also for a breakfast buffet the food is very good. Love the pooh bear French toast.
Yes! Food and service were TERRIBLE at Akershus. I'm always a really good tipper but I think we left $5 for 4 of us on $100ish bill. It was that bad. (We were there for breakfast.)
Erin Bailey OMG yes how could I forget about the service. We were there for breakfast too and it was awful. I mean looks like how dare you burden me with your request for more potatoes bad. Then we were stalked and stared at by the server and supervisor the entire time we were finishing. I'm sorry we didn't meet your time but we had my 3 month old and a friends toddler to finish up with! Ugh. 🤦🏻♀️
Chef Mickeys breakfast is incredible!
Crystal Palace is beautiful! I love that building. I agree Chef Mickey's is overrated. It's too crowded and the breakfast buffet is mediocre.
We just ate dinner at Hollywood & Vine in June. While not all of the food was great, there were some good selections, and I thought the desserts were very good as well. We also had good character interactions there. With that said, I will admit, that I have not eaten extensively at Disney restaurants. We have done three character meals over the years: Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Hollywood & Vine. while the food quality varied among the three, we had good character experiences at all of them. Out of the three, the food at Tusker House was far superior. The food there was outstanding! But of the remaining two experiences I would say that my meal at Hollywood & Vine edged out what I had at Crystal Palace. I will agree that it might be disappointing because we know Disney can do better, but while Hollywood & Vine is a loooong way from the quality of Tusker House, I have had far worse meals in my lifetime.
Love your videos
Part of the reason Hollywood & Vine is popular is because they offer dining packages for Fantasmic. I wish 50's Prime Time or Sifi Dine In were part of the Dining Package instead of the horrible Hollywood & Vine
Crystal palace is great for character interactions but horrible for food, not to mention waiting over an hour past your reservation time.
just curious which meal(s) service are you referring to?
dinner at Crystal Palace.
Craig. I usually don't agree with your choice in sports teams. But gotta love the Bayern München support.
I actually like the food at Hollywood and Vine! Buffet style, ice cream machine...I always over eat there!
Massive respect to Craig for the Bayern Munich jersey!