With no meal plan in our package and as a family of five, character dining options are expensive. I spent months ahead of the trip trying to decide whether I could justify it to myself. Eventually after researching each option, the venues and the characters which usually appear, I decided to book Café Mickey for an evening character meal. The way I saw it, we would be paying for dinner anyway so that took a bit of the edge off in my mind. In total we paid €235 for the three course meal and character experience, no small amount by anyone’s standards.
I am so glad I booked.
Not for the food, I’ll come onto that shortly, not for the setting, but for the look on my children’s faces and the memories that meal made for us all.
The food
Adults menu
The adults menu was €65 a head which included three courses and a soft drink. We ordered the chicken ballotine each to start followed by the pan-fried centre-cut rib steak and the fish of the day and then the Tiramisu and Mickey desert for pudding. The food was delicious and well presented.
Children’s menu
The kids had the semolina mixture with crunchy vegetables which was basically cous cous. This was served with a mini French stick that was so hard we couldn’t even bite into it, this was a real disappointment. Some crudité with hummus or a garlic bread perhaps would have been a much better starter. For main the boys all had burger and chips, it was as to be expected, nothing to write home about. There were three pizza options on the adults menu but no pizza on the children’s menu, I felt like this was an oversight as not all children like beef burgers, shock I know.
For pudding they had ice cream which again was pretty underwhelming given the stylish Mickey Mouse desert the adults could have. All in all the children’s menu was disappointing, all three of our boys hardly ate a thing, which was annoying given it had cost €35 a head.
The setting
The restaurant is nice, there is limited theming though compared to other restaurants in the parks and it doesn’t feel like a ‘special’ setting, more an average restaurant. I know this before we went though and I had selected Café Mickey anyway as we wanted to have an evening meal not breakfast or lunch. The restaurant was clean and there they had nice Disney music playing to set the scene. The kids meals were served on Mickey Mouse shaped plates which the kids loved and it wasn’t too crowded which was the main thing.
Characters and experience
This is what you are paying for, forget the food it the fact you get to meet five characters multiple times without queuing. It’s the fact that each character interacts with you and your children for several minutes each time they come to your table. It’s the fact that you can take as many photos as you want without feeling rushed or like you are being stared at. It’s the fact your children can see the characters coming and their excitement builds and builds until they could pop. It’s the 100% Disney magic that you have come to DLP for and it is glorious.
We met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto (our eldest favourite), Tigger and Eeyore and each character came to our table three times during our visit. Tigger had a bouncing competition with the boys, Eeyore joked with mummy and tried to eat the boys ice cream, Pluto messed around with my eldest as he laughed about how Pluto had to hold the autograph book to sign it. The boys ran to each character, throwing their arms around them and giving them the biggest of loves. When the characters moved on they gave each of the boys a massive high five and a pat on the head and hug. It was just magical.
The amount of time the characters spent and the quality of the interactions meant that we left Café Mickey feeling every penny had been well spent. The experience, seeing the boys so excited and the memories are quite frankly priceless. If you are considering booking a character dining experience for do it, you won’t be disappointed.