After many experiences with character dining at Disney World, I was curious how this would go as Disney reopened. Disney has been taking many precautions during their phased reopening including keeping restaurant occupancy down as well as staggering the openings of different restaurants. This meant many of our beloved places to eat (many character dining spots) have not reopened yet. However, not all character fun was lost! Topolino’s Terrace located at Disney’s Riviera Resort opened their doors and the Disney fandom rejoiced! So… what is the NEW Disney Character dining experience like? Let me share!

As you arrive….

As you are arriving for your dining reservation you will need to check in on your mobile app. You are able to do this about 15 minutes before your reservation time begins. So that means, while you are traveling to get there, start checking in. Do not forget your masks, as you must wear a mask while you wait and on your way to be seated.

If you do need to wait a minute on your table, there is a seating area to the left of the entrance. In our experience, that seating area was filled so we were asked to wait to the right… which was the opening to the restaurant. Which was fine by us because we got to see the characters and sit by huge windows that looked down over that gorgeous resort! It wasn’t too long of a wait before we got our text saying our table was ready and we walked up to hostess stand to be seated.

Did Someone Say food?

I did! I said food! 🙂 You made it to the table and now comes the decisions. The server will instruct you to look at the menu on your phone using a QR code or you can just look it up on the mobile app. All jokes aside folks, you know you’ve been looking up that menu for possibly weeks, but at least since this morning when your stomach started rumbling. Same girl, same. With such an amazing menu, it’s tough to decide! Luckily your sweet server will make deciding easier when they bring you some sweet treats to nibble on (or devour in my family’s case) so you aren’t as starving.

The pastries for the table include chocolate chip muffins and a variety of croissants. They are served with house made jam and honey butter. I have read that in other peoples experiences they had a Nutella type spread as well, but maybe they were out that day…. but we didn’t feel slighted at all. So much deliciousness!

So now you have to decide what to actually order.

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I ended up ordering the Sour Cream Waffle and it was more delicious than I ever expected. I will say that it is very sweet. If I were going to do it again I might order another menu item only because I did not shy away from those prebreakfast croissants! 😂 So if you are thinking waffle, maybe only one croissant. The food portion was large and I did not finish it all to say the least.

My kids had an easy time deciding… they heard Mickey Waffle Dippers and decision was made for them! Yes.. these are Mickey Waffles (classic…) BUT on sticks that you dip into a variety of syrups. Does it get better than that?

I had plenty of coffee, so much sugar and I was a happy girl.

Hey Mickey! 👋🏻

So the character experience itself was a little different than what you’re used to in character dining. To be honest though, I liked it better! As a mom, it’s always kind of stressful to go out to eat with little ones. You pay a lot for the meal and they Waller (West Virginia term for … rolling all over you? Lol) about and get distracted and do weirdo things that make it harder on you to enjoy your meal. So when you add a character coming up every few minutes and then the anticipation in between each meeting… it’s less than magical for the adults in the party. Lol

However, with the new protocols in place, the characters don’t come up to your table. It is not a bummer at all though.. they still wave at your kids and interact with them. They all have choreographed dances that they do and they rotate around so that you see them all. I thought it was totally perfect and adorable.

At Topolino’s Terrace, Mickey and his gang are all a type of artist studying abroad. It’s pretty cute. You have Mickey as a painter, Donald is a sculptor, Daisy is a ballerina (of course she is, that sassy little duck) and Minnie is a photographer.

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No, they don’t do individual pictures or autographs anymore. I still thought it was fine though and we got a cute little autographed card to take with us as a souvenir.

Overall…

We had an amazing time at Topolino’s Terrace. This will be one of my families “go to” restaurants from here on out. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was top notch. The magic is still alive at Disney World!

Pixie Pro Tip:

If you plan your breakfast experience for around 9:00 on your Epcot day, you can finish breakfast, have time for cute pics and take the Skyliner over to Epcot in time for their 11:00 opening! ✨😉

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