Artist Point & Topolinos Worth It?

[ajgardner]

My family (2 adults and 2 young adults) will be in Disney in August. We have done a great number of restaurants on property but neither of these. I know they are highly sought after, but was wondering if that was because of mostly the character interaction or is the food/atmosphere also exceptional? Most of the feedback I get is in regards to the characters, and my family doesn’t care about that (I mean, we wouldn’t dislike the characters but it’s not a necessity for us). I do not want to go through the hassle of tracking down reservations if the food/atmosphere isn’t really worth it. (Topolinos breakfast and Artist Point dinner) Opinions?

 

[columbusdizfan]

Topolinos breakfast is absolutely worth it. It was the best meal of our February 2022 trip.

Artist Point with Storybook Dining, based only on the food, was absolutely not. I had a leather like unseasoned chicken breast. It was awful. The apps were okay but super salty.

 

[CarolynFH]

We enjoyed Storybook Dining, but that was long before the pandemic, so I can't vouch for it now. OTOH, Topolino's breakfast and dinner have been wonderful - we've enjoyed both since the reopening. If I had to choose, I'd pick Topolino's right now, for the food.

 

[reddog21]

For the price and what you get Topolinos for my wife and I were a one and done. We don’t get the hype it just wasn’t worth it.
We haven’t dined at Storybook but the menu for us just don’t sound all the appetizing for the price but I do like that the characters aren’t just the same as everywhere else.

 

[Transferteck]

When we go to Top we try and book an 11am time so we can use it as a brunch. The food is amazing, it is all you care to enjoy but they don’t tell you that. The steak is amazing and we get waffles for the table. Ask for poached eggs to go with the steak and you can’t go wrong. Character interaction is amazing from any seat.
Storybook food was not good on our one visit. Maybe it was an off night. The character interaction was spotty based on where you get seated. Good luck with your choices. Have a great time.

 

[Mango7100]

I think Topolinos breakfast is absolutely worth it—nice restaurant, characters are wearing unique costumes, and you can visit the terrace for some great views. The food was excellent, and you can order more than one entree. dH and I got the steak and were very happy wit it, we ordered a fruit plate for the table, and DD9 got the cute kids waffle meal. The pastries with various spreads were good too. We have reservations for our next trip.

Storybook Dining is also great. DH got the pork shank and it was excellent. The apps and desserts are fun to have multiple little bites, but they aren’t fantastic. It’s plenty of food for sure. The character interaction is great, especially with the Evil Queen, so that adds a lot of value for us. Also you can’t meet any of the dwarves (except holiday parties) or the queen, so that also makes it more worth it.

If I had to pick one, I would go with Topolinos. Its $20 a person cheaper and the food was a bit better to me. We had a late seating and it was our only meal of the day—we were still full in the evening and just got a few plates from Epcot Flower and Garden booths.

 

[TaraS29]

Storybook dinner - a huge part of the appeal is definitely the characters. We enjoyed our food but the characters made it a memorable night. Don’t think it’s worth the upcharge if you don’t care about the characters.

We’ve booked Topolino’s for a late breakfast for our upcoming trip and reviews definitely seem more positive about the food here so if that’s the bit that matters to you, go for that one.

Or forget all the character meals and save the money!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I've only eaten dinner at Topolino's, so I can't give any thoughts on the breakfast food and if it's worth it from that perspective. That being said, the view is the other big attraction at Topolino's and would likely make for a very nice breakfast setting, regardless of characters. I keep debating about trying to get an ADR for us (I enjoy stalking the system LOL). I had it booked for our last trip, but canceled because everyone felt we'd had enough character dining and didn't want to pay the premium for having characters tied to another meal. It would be a huge savings to skip it again. That being said, it's the only character meal I haven't done and I feel like I need to try them all...like I'm completing a set or something.

As for Storybook, I did this on a girls' trip. The food was good, but not amazing and I really felt the characters were a big part of this meal. It was one of the better character meals I've been to, but I felt I was one and done with it.

 

[gharter]

We have not done Topolinos for breakfast, but for dinner, it is amazing! Continues to be one of the best meals we have at WDW. We love watching the EPCOT show during/after dinner on the balcony.
Have not been to Storybook, so can't comment.

 

[DisneyCare]

We just did Storybook last week and thought the food was very good! My almost 2 year old devoured the mushroom bisque appetizer. My daughter enjoyed her kids meal (fruit and veg with dips as the app, grilled chicken with broccolini and Mac and cheese). The adults got the gnocchi, beef stroganoff and prime rib - all delicious. The mini desserts were tasty too. It was nice to get some fresh veggies when the majority of Disney food isn’t quite as healthy.

I do agree that the characters are what make the dinner so enjoyable. The evil queen meet and greet was perfection!

 

[DeeBee3]

My only experience was pre-pandemic closing. Storybook Dining was EXCELLENT. So much food - and it was quality. It was much more than we could have consumed, so I did feel bad about that.

My daughter has a peanut allergy and they brought her out all the courses of food and it was amazing. She had a steak that was delicious. They treated her like a queen. It was the best experience we had with her allergies.

I have no idea how it is now. Our experience was from 2019. The characters were also wonderful, but I am biased as Snow White is my favorite.

 

[DisneyByMarriage]

I’m in the minority for Topolino’s breakfast. Went Thanksgiving day 2022 and while the adult food was all good, all of my kids said their food was meh. So for us, for the price of kids food and the time it took, it’s not a must do again. My kids also liked seeing the characters but it wasn’t a highlight. We will go back for date night dinner and if we stay at Riviera again on a non-park day, but I wouldn’t leave a park to do this.

 

[goaljira]

We did Storybook on Wednesday. The food was good, the characters were great for our Snpw White obsessed 2 year old, but it felt like we were rushed in and out as quickly as absolutely possible. I think we were seated for about an hour and 10 minutes.

 

[Aurora79]

We’ve done Storybook both in March 2020 and March 2022. It’s my absolute favorite dining experience on property. Now, I love Snow White, but beyond that, the service there has always been great, and the food and drinks are really good.

 

[Jacq7414]

Topolino’s breakfast was my favorite meal when we went in April. It was really good food.

I don’t know if I’d do storybook again. We did it because it’s really the only princess dining right now and I didn’t love it enough to do it again. I thought it was better when we went back in 2019. But it could have just been the day.

 

[CanucksRock]

I have been to both in the last few months. Storybook was great, I would totally go back to experience it without the character distancing. Topolinos was meh - they ruined it by dousing my eggs in salt, oh my god it was the worst bite of food ever.

It was also a cloudy day, so maybe that’s why I did not quite get the hype about it. The characters were great though.

 

[Spectroboy]

Can you go to Topolino’s for a drink in the evening without a dining reservation? Thanks

 

[Mango7100]

We did Storybook on Wednesday. The food was good, the characters were great for our Snpw White obsessed 2 year old, but it felt like we were rushed in and out as quickly as absolutely possible. I think we were seated for about an hour and 10 minutes.

I agree about Storybook rushing you. It feels like they really try to get you out in an hour. I remember our check came about 30 seconds after dessert and our server checked 1-2 times within the next 10 minutes to see if we had our card in there (we didn’t because we were trying to eat our desserts!). I’m not going to sit and lounge at the table, but I would like to be able to finish one course before the next one is out!

 

[goaljira]

I agree about Storybook rushing you. It feels like they really try to get you out in an hour. I remember our check came about 30 seconds after dessert and our server checked 1-2 times within the next 10 minutes to see if we had our card in there (we didn’t because we were trying to eat our desserts!). I’m not going to sit and lounge at the table, but I would like to be able to finish one course before the next one is out!

This was exactly what happened to us. Check was delivered with the desserts and they came back almost immediately to take a card. It was my dad's turn to pay and he was asked to go with the cm mid-dessert to go put his pin in.

 

[PrincesCJM]

Plan for Topolino's later in your trip. My son and I weren't able to find a breakfast reservation for our quick trip in June (I have a dining alert set up).