2. Chef Mickey’s

Image: DisneyI’ve previously described Chef Mickey’s as pure joy, and my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s a place where children get to meet their favorite Disney characters AND they get to watch the monorail go by, too. For these reasons, it seems like a magical place where anything is possible.

While the food at Chef Mickey’s is no better than Hollywood & Vine, save for the dessert, nobody cares due to the organizational structure in place. A cast member in regular clothing directs traffic, which is to say that this person has one of the most important jobs at Disney. They keep the flow of costumed cast members heading in an orderly fashion to each table. When done right, one of Disney’s most iconic characters shows up and puts on a brief performance every five minutes or so.

While other character meetings at Disney such as the one mentioned directly above are all great, there’s something about Chef Mickey’s. It’s simply more magical for some intangible reason. The restaurant feels more Disney than anywhere else, possibly because it’s hosted in the first official Disney theme park resort in the world. Everyone feeds off the energy of the other happy patrons, and it creates the opposite of a vicious circle, a virtuous one. People at Chef Mickey’s are always laughing because the restaurant is the incarnation of fun.

1. 1900 Park Fare

Image: DisneyThe character meetings at 1900 Park Fare always leave me feeling like I’m one step behind. Two visits ago, one of the wicked stepsisters asked us to name five things that we hated about Cinderella. It was such a ridiculous, hysterical question, but we were wholly unprepared to answer.

Prior to our most recent visit, we created a list in case the person asked again. A different cast member in the same role noticed the note and started to read it. She…didn’t laugh. She was openly horrified by the fact that we were talking smack about Cinderella. Even though she was in character as a mortal enemy of her stepsister, she was clearly a Disney fan who recoiled at the notion of someone badmouthing an iconic Disney Princess. The whole experience was embarrassing and ridiculous and oh so entertaining.

That’s the joy of 1900 Park Fare. At this character meet-and-greet meal, you interact with noble Prince Charming and courageous Cinderella. You also encounter the proverbial evil Stepmother and her Kardashian-esque stepdaughters, shallow and stupid to the core.

The incongruity is engaging, and the thrill of each meal here is that it’ll be a different encounter. Each question and response leads to a different discussion and some truly inimitable moments. My favorite example was when a small boy asked for Drizella’s autograph. He panicked when he realized that he didn’t know where said autograph book was.

As the child frantically searched, Drizella improvised by exclaiming in the shrillest voice imaginable, “I’m waiting! I’m waiting!” This made him panic even more, and so she kept doing it, eventually reaching a crescendo with her voice that I expected to shatter all glassware in the surrounding area. The kid’s look of triumph when he presented the autograph book made the whole thing that much better. It was readily apparent that the cast member adored him, but she never broke character, not even for a second.

Moments like that exemplify why 1900 Park Fare is always a joyous dining experience and the most fun meal at Walt Disney World.