It is possible to indulge in Disney World character dining without park admission? If you do not have tickets for the parks but still want to take the family to a Disney character dining restaurant then you have a number of options.
Disney World Character Dining Without Park Admission
Disney World Character Dining Without Park Admission is a great option when you do not have a park ticket.
Tax is included in the pricing shown, but gratuities are not. If the Disney Character meal is a buffet, the price includes all you care to eat food and a non-alcoholic beverage.
A child is aged between 3 and 9. Your 10-year-old is an adult when you are looking at paying for anything at Disney!
We include a sample of the menu and include our favorites. All menus and prices are subject to change but are correct in November 2019.
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort
This is one of our favorite Disney World character dining locations. 1900 Park Fare is located inside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort so park admission is not required.
All meals are buffet style as is the norm for character dining. If we were to pick just one Disney World Character Dining without park admission experience this would be the one.
1900 Park Fare serves the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast and Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner each day.
The breakfast is available from 8:00 am – 11:40 am and the characters are Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter.
We think that the Mad Hatter is one of the most entertaining of the Disney characters to have breakfast with. You can certainly have an amusing conversation with him!
The offerings are typical Disney breakfast fare, but we think that 1900 Park Fare is one of the highest quality food buffets available at Walt Disney World.You can get your usual eggs, waffles and pancake favorites, but why not try the Floridian Strawberry Soup for breakfast? The Classic Eggs Benedict is also really good.
Dinner is served from 4.00 to 8.50 p.m. and characters include Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine,
Anastasia and Drizella.
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian is very popular because this is one of the best places to catch some quality time with Cinderella. If you are a Cinderella fan this is definitely the place to have dinner.
The 1900 Park Fare breakfast buffet adult price range is $42.60 and for children (ages 3-9) the cost is $25.56.
For dinner, the adult price is $58.58 and for children (ages 3-9) the price is $35.15.
The food is one of the highest quality of all the character buffets in our opinion. The atmosphere can best be described as loud and lively!
The tables are very close together but the characters do a great job of spending time at each guests table.
When you have finished your meal, take some time to look at the Grand Floridian Resort. It may be outside your budget to stay there, but you can get some of the benefits just by spending some relaxing time there.
It is also a great idea to take the resort boat to the Magic Kingdom from the Grand Floridian. This is one of the most relaxing ways of arriving at the park.
Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Cape May has always been a big favorite of ours. Located in Disney’s Beach Club Resort no park admission is required to dine here.
The theme of the hotel is, of course, beaches so it is fitting that Minnie, Goofy, and Donald wear beach clothes for breakfast which is served daily at 7.30 to 11.00 am.
The breakfast is buffet style with the usual favorites available at an adult price of $40.47 and for children (ages 3-9) the price is $24.50.
We particularly enjoy the crepe station. All the usual breakfast favorites are available. If you need your fix of Mickey Waffles with Chocolate Chips you will not be disappointed.
The quality of the food is not as high as some of the other Disney character breakfasts. However, the characters at Cape May are really good and it is a good chance to spend some time interacting with them.
If you are able to use a Disney park ticket the best idea is to plan a visit to Cape May when you are going to be visiting Epcot. You can finish breakfast and enter the park through the World Showcase entrance.
This gets you either to Epcot World Showcase as one of the first people there if you arrive after 11 am. Or it gets you to the furthest end of Epcot before the crowds arrive if you get there a little earlier.
Of course, Cape May is one of the restaurants outside the park so you can visit without a Disney World ticket.
If you don’t want to use a Disney park ticket you can spend some time relaxing on one of the rocking chairs. Or just sitting on the beach at the Disney Beach Club Resort.
Disney’s Boardwalk is also just a short stroll away.
The design of the buffet tables can mean that the lines get a little long. Space is rather cramped and you can spend a long time in the line. Just take your time though and enjoy the experience – you are on vacation!
Dinner is buffet style too but no characters appear. If you enjoy seafood you will enjoy the Cape May buffet dinner. However, you will not find any characters at the Cape May dinner.
Chef Mickey’s at the Disney Contemporary Resort
Chef Mickey’s is another very popular character dining location. As it is located in The Contemporary Resort park admission is not needed. However, if you are visiting the parks then it is most convenient for a visit to The Magic Kingdom as it is a very quick monorail ride away.
The breakfast buffet is served at Chef Mickey’s every day from 7:00 until 11:20 a.m. The very popular characters are Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck.
They will all be dressed in their very best chef’s attire.
People either tend to love or loathe the Chef Mickey experience. It is extremely loud and always busy.
If you go expecting less than wonderful food, but want to see Mickey and his friends and are prepared to pay the price you will most likely have a good experience.
The breakfast options at Chef Mickey’s are pretty much what you would expect. This is a great selection for kids (and some grown-ups) who want to eat what they know really isn’t good for them.
If Fruit Loops, Rice Krispy Treats and Tator Crisps are your thing you will love it here. If you want sophisticated breakfast food you aren’t going to find it at Chef Mickey’s.
The price of the Chef Mickey breakfast is $48.99 for adults and $29.82 for children aged 3 to 9.
At 11.30 until 2.30 pm Chef Mickey Brunch is served. If you are hitting the Magic Kingdom very early in the morning it could be a good tactic to fill up on brunch in the afternoon and then go back to the parks.
If you don’t have a Disney World park admission ticket it is a good lunch stop if you are exploring the Disney Monorail Resort area.
You can still indulge your breakfast cravings with scrambled eggs and Mickey Waffles. However, if you want something a little more lunch like you can indulge in Carved Ham, Baked Salmon, and BBQ Ribs.
You will find Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Pluto at the Chef Mickey dinner. The selection of food at the Chef Mickey dinner is pretty good.
Favorites include Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, Baked Salmon, Mango BBQ Ribs, Mickey Cheese Ravioli and Oven Roasted Chicken with Bourbon BBQ Sauce. Save some room to indulge in Minnie’s Chocolate and Red Velvet Cupcake. Or maybe the Warm Bread Pudding!
You will find the same characters at dinner from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm every night. The adult price is $58.58 and the child price is $35.15.
For more menu details go to:
Ohana Polynesian Lilo and Stitch Best Friends Character Breakfast
This is the Disney character dining experience which often gets overlooked for some reason. Located in The Polynesian Resort Hotel the Ohana
Polynesian Lilo and Stitch Best Friends Character Breakfast does not require park admission to dine.
Just like Chef Mickey’s it is very convenient for the Magic Kingdom if you are visiting the parks. Just hop on the monorail or take the Disney Polynesian Resort boat to the Magic Kingdom.
Breakfast is served family-style from 7:30 until noon. We have to confess we are not huge fans of family-style meals and much prefer buffet options.
However, if you want to dine with Lilo and Stitch this is the perfect place. It is actually also one of the less pricey options for a Disney character dining breakfast.
You will be brought a breakfast platter for the table. This will include Uala Kahiki which are fried potatoes and Hua Paka (scrambled eggs) and Pua’a which is pork sausage. This is served with seasonal fruit.
A family photo is taken at your table. If you want to purchase this there is an extra charge.
The adult price is $40.47 and for children (ages 3-9) the cost is $24.50.
Garden Grove Cafe at the Swan
This Disney World character breakfast is located at The Walt Disney World Swan Resort close to the World Showcase entrance to Epcot. Disney Park entry is not required for this character meal.
Garden Grove Cafe at The Swan is a little out of the way unless you are staying at an Epcot or Disney Boardwalk Hotel location.
However, it is a great option if you want a high-quality character breakfast without needing park admission.
This character breakfast is held only on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. They do not take reservations – it is first come first served.
The food is of a pretty high standard for a buffet. It includes all of the usual breakfast favorites of eggs any style, breakfast meats and potatoes.
However, they do offer some really good quality items such as their Super Foods Collection and Assorted Smoothies. If you are looking for some healthy breakfast options Garden Grove is the place to be. They have delicious homemade muesli, and you have to try the Crab Sandwich.
The pricing is the same every weekend at $24.99 for adults and $14.99 for children aged 3 to 9. If you do not want a buffet breakfast there is an a la carte menu available.
We think that Garden Grove Cafe is one of the best options for Character Dining outside Disney World. The food is good and the characters have plenty of time to spend with each table.
Making a Reservation for a Disney Character Dining Experience
With the exception of Garden Grove Cafe, all character dining experiences can be booked up to 180 days ahead. You can call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463), or book online at Disney Dining Reservations
You will need a credit card to hold a reservation at any Disney table service restaurant. The hold is $10 per person on the reservation. This will only be charged if you do not arrive for your reservation.
If you do not intend to make the reservation you must cancel at least 24 hours before the reservation time to avoid being charged. Forgetting this can mean a nasty shock to your wallet!
For more details about all the character dining locations go to:
Which is your favorite Disney World Character Dining Without Park Admission restaurant?
Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando. In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.
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Naishal
Thursday 31st of October 2019
Thanks for great info. Do we need to be staying inside disney to enjoy one of these character dining. We wish to do this on the off day when we are not going to any theme park and just exploring springs and downtown and broadwalk area
Alison
Wednesday 6th of November 2019
Fortunately, you can do these character experiences without staying inside Disney. You can do these at any time that you like, but I would strongly advise booking ahead as the character meals are very popular.
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