Hi Lisa,
How exciting! Your October trip sounds like so much fun!
Since your trip is fast approaching, I'm going to make three suggestions for dinner that evening. If you have trouble getting advance dining reservations at one of these establishments, at least that gives you two other possibilities. Only the first of these three has characters present.
Option 1:
Chef Mickey's on the fourth floor of Disney's Contemporary Resort is the quintessential Walt Disney World Dining experience. They have an extensive buffet to please a wide range of tastes and you can count on seeing Mickey and his friends here.
Option 2:
'Ohana at Disney's Polynesian Resort has great views of the Magic Kingdom and fun kids' activities throughout the meal. After dinner, stroll out onto the beach behind this resort and watch the fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant.
Option 3:
Whispering Canyon Cafe in the lobby of Disney's Wilderness Lodge has no characters present but the antics of the cast members who wait on you and the kids' activities during dinner make this an incredibly fun dining experience.
Whichever option you choose, call (407) WDW-DINE right away to make advance dining reservations. You can check out more details about character dining outside the Disney theme parks on today's (July 8th) Orbitz blog.
Wishing you the most amazing vacation ever!
Jill