Review: Marvel Character Dinner at Universal Orlando
Disney may have their Marvel Day at Sea on Disney Cruise Line, but those in Orlando can dine with some of Earth’s mightiest superheroes without getting on a boat at Universal Orlando. The Marvel Character Dinner takes place in Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park.
We asked our friend Candace Harmon at Epic Family Quests to review the experience for you, as they had recently vlogged their experience (video below). Here’s her review:
The Marvel Character Dinner is back at Universal’s Islands of Adventure! It’s located inside Cafe 4 at Marvel Superhero Island. You need a reservation and the cost is $52.99 per adult, and $29.99 per child. One of the best parts is that it’s a buffet, so it’s all-you-can-eat. One non-alcoholic drink is included and digital photos of you with Spider-Man and Captain America are included too. For the rest of the characters, you just use your own camera for pictures.
We arrived 15 minutes before our reservation and were seated pretty quickly. They told us we were on a mission to get our food and took our drink order. We went up to the buffet to get our food and were pleasantly surprised at the selection. They had pizza, prime rib, BBQ wings, mac and cheese, salads, bread and butter, hot dogs, mini grilled cheeses, mini cheese burgers, a few vegan options, fresh fruit and four different kinds of desserts. Of course we had to try almost everything.
My kids loved the pizza, burgers, grilled cheese and fruit the most. My husband really enjoyed the prime rib and I loved the wings and mini grilled cheese. Everything was honestly delicious. Desserts were simple, but fun: Spider-Man cookie, chocolate chip cookie, cheesecake bites, and key lime bites.
The best part, and the reason we went, were the characters. There are six Marvel superheroes in total: Spider-Man, Captain America, Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, and Cyclops. Three came out at a time and they worked their way through different sections. They have a coordinator there to make sure they stop at every table.
We had a good three to four minutes with each character, which was amazing. You can meet these characters during the day on Marvel Superhero Island, but usually you don’t get that much time with them. We never felt rushed. They took the time to answer our questions. We even got to play thumb wrestling and rock, paper, scissors with two superheroes. I’d recommend thinking of a related question to ask them ahead of time, to keep the conversation flowing and keep it fun.
It took almost an hour and a half to go through all six characters. I would say at the minimum you’ll be there is an hour. All in all, we really loved this character meal. We had so much time with each superhero and really enjoyed each interaction. The food was better than we expected too, so it’s well worth the cost in our opinion.
If you’d like to get tickets for Marvel Character Diner, visit UniversalOrlando.com. Theme park admission isn’t included, but is needed. Passholders can get a discount.
If you would like to see our fun interactions, you can watch our Youtube review here:
My sister and I did a Character breakfast at Islands of Adventure. It was at the Confisco Grill, and the only superhero, and the main reason we wanted to eat there, was Spider-Man. The other characters were The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and 2, The Grinch (fur character), and the Green Eggs & Ham duo.