Character Dining without a Ticket at Walt Disney World

One of my favorite recommendations for a non-park day is to visit and explore the beautiful resorts at Walt Disney World. There are SO MANY amazing resorts available for you to visit and walk around!

They all have really great theming and you can access them via Walt Disney World transportation.

You can catch a bus (or other complimentary transportation) to any of the Walt Disney World resorts from Disney Springs or each of the four theme parks.

If you’d like to add even more magic to your non-park day; consider dining with the characters at one of the resorts!

Let’s take a look at all of the resorts that offer character dining and what’s actually available right now (lots of restaurants never reopened after the COVID closures and some have returned but without characters).

Character Dining at Walt Disney World Resorts

Let’s first take a look at the character dining options at Walt Disney World resorts that are currently open and taking reservations.

Chef Mickey’s

Here’s what to know:

Location: Contemporary Resort
Accessible by: Walk from Magic Kingdom, Resort Monorail, Wilderness Lodge / Fort Wilderness Boat, Bus from Parks or Disney Springs
- Reservations are required but you may find walk-up availability.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Characters include: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto
Breakfast Price: $42 adults, $27 children
Dinner Price: $55 adults, $36 children

Chef Mickey’s is an iconic character meal — located in the Contemporary Resort, you can see the Monorail pass through the building while you’re eating.

The Contemporary Resort is just one stop from the Magic Kingdom on the resort monorail, which makes it a great choice for a late breakfast reservation.

One of the perks of dining at Chef Mickey’s is you get to see the full Fab 5!

And they’re all wearing their adorable chef outfits!

Before the COVID closures Chef Mickey’s was a buffet meal but it’s now Family Style & your meal selections are brought to the table — which I’ve always preferred with young kiddos and character meals.

Otherwise you’re getting up a ton and stalking the characters to make sure you don’t miss them.

I don’t have any up-to-date food photos since the buffet has gone away but the menu looks like traditional American breakfast foods.

Topolino’s Terrace

Here’s what to know:

Location: Riviera Resort
Accessible by: Skyliner, Bus from Parks or Disney Springs
- Reservations are required and can be hard to find so book EARLY!
- Meals: Breakfast
Characters include: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy
Note: Dinner is available at Topolino’s Terrace but it it NOT character dining.
Price: $42 adults, $27 children
- Click Here for a full review.

This is my FAVORITE character breakfast on property at Walt Disney World!

I really love the beautiful restaurant inside the amazing Riviera Resort.

The characters all look great in their art-inspired outfits!

And the food is some of the best you can find at a character meal! It’s all-you-care-to-enjoy so order a multiple entrees if you’d like!

My kids both love the waffle dippers!

Highly recommend dining here if you can! I’ve been many times now and have never had a bad experience.

Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White

Here’s what to know:

Location: Wilderness Lodge
Accessible by: Boat from Magic Kingdom, Bus from parks or Disney Springs, Boat from Contemporary or Fort Wilderness
- Reservations are required and can be hard to find so book EARLY!
- Meals: Dinner
Characters include: Snow White, Evil Queen, Grumpy, Dopey
Price: $60 adults, $39 children

The Wilderness Lodge is my all-time favorite resort at Walt Disney World!

And the restaurant, Artist Point, is super beautiful and another favorite of ours.

You’ll see Snow White, the Evil Queen, Grumpy and Dopey at this character meal!

Food here is served family style and does not disappoint. I will note I have not been back since this reopened so I can’t 100% say the menu is still as wonderful as it was before.

Hopefully we’ll get back to this one again soon so I can update!

This next list of character dining locations aren’t open yet (or the restaurants have re-opened but not with characters).

1900 Park Fare

CURRENTLY CLOSED
Location: Grand Floridian Resort
Accessible by: Walk or Boat from Magic Kingdom, Resort Monorail, Bus from Parks or Disney Springs
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Breakfast Characters include: Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh, Tigger
Dinner Characters include: Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine (Stepmother), Anastasia and Drizella (Step Sisters)

Cape May Cafe

CURRENTLY OPEN WITHOUT CHARACTERS
Location: Beach Club Resort
Accessible by: Walk or Boat from EPCOT or Hollywood Studios, Skyliner, Bus from parks or Disney Springs
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Characters include: Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy

‘Ohana

CURRENTLY OPEN WITHOUT CHARACTERS
Location: Polynesian Village Resort
Accessible by: Walk or Boat from Magic Kingdom, Resort Monorail, Bus from Parks or Disney Springs
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Characters include: Mickey, Lilo, Stitch (Pluto may greet outside the restaurant)

Once character dining returns to 1900 Park Fare, Cape May Cafe, and ‘Ohana I’ll be sure to update this post!

Follow along on all of our Walt Disney World fun on Instagram @brbgoingtodisney! I share tips and tricks LIVE from the parks each week on Stories! See you there!