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A highlight of any Disney World trip is dining with the characters. While there are a lot of choices if you want to eat with princesses, what about boys and those girls who aren’t into princesses? What character meals are available for them? Here are the 5 best character meals at Disney World for boys.
#1: Garden Grill
Garden Grill is located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The characters here are Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.
All meals are all-you-can-eat and are served family style. The food at Garden Grill is fresh and delicious.
Breakfast features sticky buns, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, hash browns, and Mickey waffles. The lunch and dinner menu includes turkey, stuffing, grilled beef, mashed potatoes, salad, macaroni and cheese, seasonal vegetables, and berry shortcake for dessert.
This restaurant adds an additional element of fun by slowly rotating and giving you glimpses into the Livin’ with the Land ride while dining.
We have eaten here several times and have always been pleased with our experience.
Why it is a good choice for boys: The character interaction here is some of the best we have ever seen at a Disney World character meal. All four characters give kids lots of attention and don’t rush from table to table. They like to play with people, and some of them have a mischievous streak.
The last time we ate here, Dale snuck up behind my husband, tapped him on the shoulder, and then hid. My son thought it was hilarious!
#2: Tusker House
Another one of the best character meals for boys is Tusker House. It is located in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom.
This is a buffet restaurant serving American and African favorites and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie are in the usual rotation of characters that appear here. They are in their safari outfits.
Breakfast choices include pastries, cereals, eggs, bacon, sausage, Simba waffles, fruit, frittatas, breakfast potatoes, quiches, and carved meats. Lunch and dinner offerings include roasted chicken, pork, beef, salmon, curries, a variety of salads, vegetable couscous, rice, strawberry cake and banana bread pudding.
For the kids, they offer corn dog nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The food here is decent with a wide variety of dishes to choose from.
Why it is a good choice for boys: Tusker House is usually loud and busy. So, no one will notice if your kids make a little noise. Boys tend to appreciate the safari outfits the characters wear.
Breakfast at Tusker House is a great way to get the whole family in the mood for some animal adventures.
#3: 1900 Park Fare
The surprising entry on my list of the best character meals for boys is 1900 Park Fare. Believe it or not, my son loved eating here! He even asked to go again.
1900 Park Fare is another all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant. It is located in the Grand Floridian Resort.
You can eat breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. At dinner, the characters are Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tramaine, and the stepsisters.
1900 Park Fare is not open for lunch.
The food here is a step above what you will find at other theme park buffets.
The buffet line at breakfast includes ham, smoked salmon lox, cheesy scrambled eggs, made-to-order omelettes, eggs benedict, bagels, Mickey waffles, cheese grits, French toast, and more.
The dinner buffet offers shrimp scampi, honey-sriracha salmon, bbq grilled chicken, a variety of salads, prime rib, jasmine rice, pork pot stickers, succotash, strawberry soup, and many other delicious dishes.
For kids, they have corn, pizza, turkey meatballs, macaroni and cheese, and pasta with olive oil.
The food here is better than you will find at most places and is quite yummy. I could drink a gallon of their strawberry soup!
Why it is a good choice for boys: My son thought I was crazy when I made a dinner reservation here. But, he ended up loving it! Not only are the characters somewhat unique, but they are very entertaining. The Mad Hatter is very funny. The stepsisters are hysterical!
My son told one of them that the other was his favorite and they were arguing about it across the restaurant. Here, you will see the not-so-proper side of the royals!
#4: Crystal Palace
Next on our list of the best character meals at Disney World for boys is Crystal Palace. You will find Crystal Palace at the end of Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom.
Here, you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. This is an all-you-can-eat buffet meal.
The breakfast dishes include cereals, pastries, scrambled eggs, omelettes, potatoes, fruit, pancakes, waffles, and a selection of breakfast meats.
For lunch and dinner, you can choose from items such as peel-and-eat shrimp, chicken, roasted meats, seasonal fish, and a variety of vegetable dishes, pastas, soups, and salads.
For the kids, they offer macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, and vegetables.
There is also a dessert bar stocked with a nice selection of homemade sweets and soft serve ice cream.
The food at Crystal Palace is pretty good for a theme park buffet.
Why it is a good choice for boys: Like Tusker House, Crystal Palace is usually loud and busy. The characters aren’t as playful as those at Garden Grill, but their interaction is better than most meet and greets. This is the only place in Disney World to find Piglet outside of special holiday parties.
#5: Hollywood and Vine
Hollywood and Vine is the best character meal for preschool aged boys (and girls) at Disney World.
At breakfast, you can dine with Sofia the First, Vampirina, Doc McStuffins, and Fancy Nancy. The buffet menu includes French toast sticks, a yogurt bar, biscuits and gravy, fruits, cereals, pastries, omelettes, breakfast meats, breakfast frittatas, Mickey waffles, and build-your-own breakfast burritos.
For lunch and dinner, the characters change to Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy. During these meals, you will find soups, salads, pastas, carved meats, chicken, salmon, lobster & shrimp mac and cheese, plain mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and peel and eat shrimp. The food at Hollywood and Vine is decent for a theme park buffet.
Why it is a good choice for boys: This is the only place to dine with the Disney Jr. characters. So, for preschoolers, this is your best bet for character dining. In addition to coming around to the tables to meet families, the characters also ask kids to join them for little parades and dances during the meal. This will allow your little ones to burn some energy while eating.
Conclusion
At first, it may seem that most of the character meals at Disney World are geared towards girls who love princesses. But, that is not the case. There are some great choices for boys as well. The above are the 5 best character meals for boys at Disney World. You won’t go wrong with any of the choices on this list.
For more tips on dining at Disney, see my character meals at a glance, tips for using the Disney Dining Plan, and discussion on whether you should you get the Dining Plan. To see the menus of all the Disney World dining locations, head over to allears.net.
For help planning your trip, see my step-by-step guide to planning your trip, and best resources for trip planning. And check out the best shows at Disney for boys.
Happy travels!
1900 Park Fare looks great!