If you’re planning a Disneyland Paris trip, one of the biggest questions is often:
Is character dining actually worth the money?
We’ve done character dining 8 times over the years at Disneyland Paris,
And overall, our opinion is this:
You are not really paying for the food.
You are paying for the character experience.
Because honestly, while some meals have been lovely, others have been more about the atmosphere than the actual food itself.
That said, when you’ve got younger children, the value often comes from avoiding huge queues for character meet-and-greets.
If the choice is:
Standing in line for 2–3 hours to meet a single princess
Or meeting several characters during a meal while sitting down in air conditioning.
Then for us, character dining can absolutely feel worth doing at least once.
Especially on a first trip or special occasion.
Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links. This means we may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you. It helps support Build a Break and allows us to keep sharing detailed Disneyland Paris guides.
Character dining means Disney characters come around your table while you eat.
Depending on the restaurant, this may include:
Disney Princesses
Mickey and friends
Royal characters
Themed interactions
Photo opportunities
The big advantage is that you meet multiple characters without spending large parts of your day queuing.
For families with younger children, this can genuinely save a huge amount of time inside the parks.
Character dining reservations open in advance and popular restaurants can book out quickly, especially Auberge de Cendrillon and Plaza Gardens.
In most cases, bookings open around 2 months before your trip through the Disneyland Paris app and website, although some character breakfasts are sometimes only released a few days before.
Guests staying at a Disney Hotel and booking directly with Disneyland Paris may also get earlier access once their booking is linked to their account.
You can usually book:
If character dining is important to your trip, I would not leave it until arrival.
Princess dining especially can disappear very quickly, and Disneyland Paris often releases extra availability in batches, so it is worth checking back regularly if you cannot initially find a table.
For us personally, breakfast is usually the best value character dining experience at Disneyland Paris.
The food tends to be:
Most breakfast options include things like:
The children always enjoyed breakfast far more than some of the more formal lunch and dinner menus.
Interestingly, there’s barely any price difference for children between breakfast and lunch/dinner (usually only around €2), but adults are often around €40 cheaper at breakfast.
That’s a big reason why we personally think breakfast is the sweet spot for character dining at Disneyland Paris. You still get the experience and character interactions, but for a much lower overall cost as a family.
📍 Fantasyland, Disneyland Park
This is the famous princess dining restaurant.
If your child loves Disney Princesses, this is probably the biggest character dining experience at Disneyland Paris.
Characters often include:
Other rotating princesses and sometimes royal princes
Breakfast Prices
Lunch & Dinner Prices
This is probably the most “French” menu at Disneyland Paris.
And I’ll be honest, our children barely touched most of it.
Typical dishes can include:
It’s definitely more about the princess interaction than the actual meal itself.
Do not be surprised if you end up paying a lot of money for children to mainly eat bread and dessert.
But in terms of atmosphere and character interactions, it is genuinely lovely.
For younger children obsessed with princesses, it can absolutely feel magical.
📍 Disneyland Hotel
Royal Banquet is one of the newer character dining experiences inside the refurbished Disneyland Hotel.
This is probably a much safer option for fussy eaters because it’s buffet-style.
Characters can include:
All dressed in royal outfits
Prices
Adults: around €100
Children: around €50
Cold drinks are included within the meal price.
Because it’s a buffet, children can choose simpler foods they actually recognise and enjoy.
There’s usually a mix of:
Compared to some of the plated French menus elsewhere, this feels much easier for families.
📍 Disneyland Hotel
This is another premium princess-style dining experience inside the Disneyland Hotel.
Characters may include:
Prices
Adults: around €120
Children: around €60
This is one of the most expensive dining experiences in Disneyland Paris.
The setting is beautiful and feels very luxurious, but again, the menu leans heavily towards refined French dining.
Menu items can include:
The atmosphere is stunning, but for us personally, this is much more about the experience than the actual food value.
📍 Disney Adventure World
This is one of the newest character dining experiences at Disneyland Paris.
Breakfast Prices
Lunch & Dinner Prices
Characters can vary, but the experience focuses heavily on princess and royal-themed interactions.
Again, breakfast probably offers the strongest value overall.
📍 Disneyland Park
Plaza Gardens has historically been one of the most popular character breakfasts at Disneyland Paris.
At the time of writing, Plaza Gardens is currently closed temporarily, but it’s worth keeping an eye on reopening updates.
Characters often included:
This was always one of our favourite options because the breakfast felt:
For the latest character dining prices, availability and current menu choices, check the Disneyland Paris app, which has the most up-to-date information for each restaurant and dining experience.
Yes.
Most Disneyland Paris restaurants allow you to pre-order celebration cakes.
Typical cost:
Around €45
Usually serves around 6 people
This can work really well for birthdays or special occasions.
Generally, yes.
Most Disneyland Paris restaurants now offer:
The Disneyland Paris app is actually very useful for checking menus before booking.
If you have serious allergies, I would still recommend speaking directly to staff when you arrive.
Disney are usually very experienced with allergy requests compared to many attractions.
If you’re going mainly for rides and attractions, character dining can feel extremely expensive.
But if it’s a first family trip, your children love Disney characters, you want a more relaxed experience, you hate standing in character queues or you’re celebrating something special, then it can absolutely feel worthwhile.
For us, the value is often more about the overall experience and memories rather than just the food itself.
If we were paying ourselves, this is personally how we’d approach character dining now:
Best Value
👉 Character breakfast
Best for Princess Fans
👉 Auberge de Cendrillon
Best for Fussy Eaters
👉 Royal Banquet
Best Luxury Experience
👉 La Table de Lumière
Best Overall for Younger Children
👉 Any breakfast option
We probably would not do multiple character dining meals during one trip because the costs add up very quickly.
But as a one-off experience?
Yes, especially with younger children, we do think it can be worth it.
Copyright © Build a Break | Website by Furness Media
