I'm a sucker for Disney's character dining. There's just something wonderful about a character stopping by to greet you versus you having to wait in line for them. I think Michael and I, at some point in our lives, have been to almost every single character dining experience at Walt Disney World and each experience brings its own charm.
Granted, these dining experiences are usually less relaxing than I would like, but they sure are productive. To be honest, since they're usually fun but slightly chaotic, we usually only enjoy these experiences sporadically. But if there were a way to create the joy of character interactions, paired with a European style dining experience in a relaxed environment, my how that would be amazing!!
Well get ready, because they did it!! When we visited Topolino's Terrace Breakfast à la Art with Mickey and Friends … the game officially changed.
Not only is the food incredible here, but so many details were thought out to perfection! In today's post I'm sharing the seven reasons why I think Topolino's Terrace is the best character dining experience on property!
1. The view is amazing! - Character dining locaitons are usually so beautifully themed on the inside, but there aren't a lot of places that pair the beautiful inside with equally breathtaking outside views. Walking into Topolino's was such a breath of fresh air. I mean literally, you can relax on the amazing terrace and see Epcot and Hollywood Studios from the roof.
2. The food is incredible. - It's no suprise that Disney knows how to develop an incredible menu for signature dining, but character dining isn't always known for a stand out menu, since the focus is on making the character interactions top notch, which is totally understandable. But Toponlino's changes that!
They bring out a house mixed signature juice to start and assorted pastries for the table, whose authenticity make you wonder if you really are eating on the Riveria. The entree selections are wonderful (I highly recommend the steak) and the kids options are perfectly portioned. As far as pricing goes, you pay a flat fee per person and get to choose your entrée and additional drink, so there's really no wrong choice. The quiche was highly rated at our table as was the plant based wild mushroom scramble.
3. There's so much room... no bumping other tables. - This has always been my biggest pet peeve about character dining, particularly at the buffet restaurants. With people constantly moving for photos and to grab food, paired with tight quarters in general, it's pretty much guaranteed that you're going to be bumped into (or untinentally do the bumping) at some point during the meal by the chair behind you or the guests next to you. At Topolino's, we could have had a dance party without hitting another person, and it was magical!
(I love this video for many reasons... one is the fun character interactions and the other is because I love her brief "come at me bro" demeanor to the kid who's laughing at her little spill at 0:22. She stood up for herself and moved on... get it girl)
It felt so much more peaceful and significantly easier to enjoy the experience at a calmer pace with the breathing room. I give the designers a lot of props for that!
4. The service was phenomenal. - Another thing that goes hand in hand with a more peaceful pace is the fact that customer service can be a major focus. Our server Mark was fantastic and kept us smiling the whole meal.
We also had an awesome above-and-beyond experience where one of the food runners, Kenneth, went to another restaurant at the resort to handpick a deliver a banana for Tallulah after she requested one and there weren't any available at Topolino's. It was so sweet and made our hearts melt that he would go to such great lengths to make a toddler's morning (and of course ours, while we watched the interaction).
5. The character experiences were amazing. - I can honestly say, I haven't been to a character dining restaurant with this much interaction time. It blew my mind! Tallulah was so enamored by each of the characters, and we all loved seeing them in their new and unique outfits for the restaurant :) You can meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy throughout breakfast, and of course in true Disney fashion, you can purchase an exclusive plush of the characters in their new outfits on your way out... let's just say I was tempted to buy them all. (But don't worry, I refrained.)
They each spent a ton of one-on-one time with her to show and non-verbally explain their outfits and accessories that she was memorized by.
TIP - we made an early dining reservation, 7:45am, and it was perfect. The restaurant wasn't even full for the majority of our meal which may have made longer interaction times all the more possible. When it was full, it didn't feel overcrowded or loud.
6. The outside lounge is beautiful. - After your meal if you want to sit and enjoy the beautiful surroundings a bit, there's an amazing lounge right outside on the terrace. Since we had an early reservation, it was still cool outside when we went to enjoy it. Tallulah loved running around on the terrace and exploring everything at her height.
I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as kid friendly out there since I'm guessing it was mainly created as an after dinner lounge for signature dining and fireworks viewing, but they really made everything perfectly safe and fun for kids to explore and enjoy as well.
7. No buffet means you don't miss any character interactions and you can relax more during your meal. - Although Disney buffets are filled with wonderful offerings, it was a pleasant surprise that we didn't have to contend with one during this character meal. With the fact that Topolino's Terrace's meals were plated, we could be present with family and not miss any sweet character moments :)
Topolino's Terrace gets a major five star rating from us. It feels like you're enjoying a signature dining experience where you just happen upon some friendly faces during your meal. With it being the newest character dining opportunity out there, it isn't crazy busy yet, making it even more of an amazing hidden gem. So if you're interested in visiting, I highly recommend booking a reservation before it gets too hard to.
What's your favorite character dining location at Walt Disney World? I love to hear about about it in the comment section below.
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All of the photos on this post were made using my Tiny Themes Presets Briar Rose Collection which is now available. When you use this preset collection, don't forget to tag #TinyThemesPresets to be featured on Instagram :)