Forever Magical
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Mary and a family pose for a picture

During dessert each table is invited over to a large sofa to take pictures. There are large feather boas, top hat and large ladies hats for the guests to put on. She takes time to visit with each table. It is fun to see the young boys and girls dressed up and acting like small adults. They were being extra careful to say please and thank you and were sitting up straight and tall. One table didn’t bring their camera to the tea so Mary posed for a pretend photograph. The server asked them all to pose for the imaginary camera. After snapping the imaginary photo Mary announced that she may have blinked and they needed to take another photo. The children giggled and prepared for another photograph. After the photos were done Mary led the group in few choruses of Supercalifragilisticexpialodocious. As the final chorus completed something caught Mary’s attention. The melancholy notes of Feed the Birds filled the tearoom and Mary Poppins announced that the wind had changed and it was time for her to leave. Daniel removed his derby and hung his head in sadness. Mary said good-bye and left the tearoom.

In 2001 guests will be able to enjoy a new themed dining experience, the ABC Soap Opera Cafe at Disney’s California Adventure. Servers will be playing various soap opera roles. Maybe your server will be suffering from amnesia and doesn’t quite know whom she is or maybe he’ll be an evil twin plotting against his brother. As this restaurant is still being developed we don’t know yet what it will be. I’m looking forward to seeing a few servers doing some over-the-top acting or maybe they will interact with each other periodically throughout the meal. It will be interesting to see what develops.

There are other themed dining experiences within Walt Disney World including the 50’s Primetime Café, Victoria and Albert’s as well as many character-dining opportunities at the hotels and theme parks. Disneyland hosts several character-dining locations. Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel features Goofy, Donald, Baloo, the Mad Hatter and others. The buffet includes various pizzas, macaroni and cheese, salad items, and various entrees such as salmon and chicken. It also has a fabulous dessert bar with a cake made by Goofy, brownies that have a layer of cheesecake on the bottom, cookies and more. The characters often join younger guests and those young-at-heart to join in the Tiki Room Macarena. Even the servers join in.

Although the PCH Grill offers character dining for breakfast everyday, on holidays it is transformed into an all-you-can-eat character dining experience all day long. The award-winning chefs at the restaurant create an amazing feast. The Easter Buffet included herb encrusted prime rib, sake infused sea bass, a pasta bar with tortellini, and penne with various sauces allowing guests to enjoy made to order pasta dishes. Also available was an omelet bar, bacon, sausage, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and more. Also included in the buffet was champagne. Disney characters were also on hand to entertain those dining. First to our table was Pluto. He picked up our friends sunglasses and put them on his head. He then tried to pick a fight with another person at the table whose comment on the glasses was not complimentary. By the time he left our area to visit with another we were in stitches. While I was enjoying what was probably plate number three or four Sleeping Beauty gathered up all the little ladies from the restaurant to train them to be princesses. She taught them to sway, to wave and how to curtsy. Our server invited Doobie over to dance with the young ladies. Although he said no at first Doobie was eventually coaxed into participating in the hokey-pokey along with our server. Donald Duck even joined in the dance wiggling his tail feathers. Later in the meal Sleeping Beauty came by the table to give Doobie a special lesson in being a princess since he had missed that portion earlier. She taught him how to curtsey and how to do the Snow White sway. The interaction with the characters and award winning cuisine has made the PCH Grill my favorite character dining location.

Whether visiting Disneyland, Walt Disney World or even the international Disney parks, be sure to take some time out to enjoy the character and themed dining experiences. They are a very important part of what makes Disney magical.

-- Rebekah Moseley (May 1, 2000)