A la carte character meals?

[Ember]

Hey, just wondering which character meals were served a la carte as opposed to buffet style. I would love to do one of these (or a few!) with my my mum, but she only eats a very small amount and tells me she'd feel guilty paying for a buffet... Thanks! (I wouldn't care about the cost, but I also don't want my mum feeling bad rather then enjoying it...)

 

[Canyon girl]

Lilo and Stitch and Storytellers offer menus in addition to buffet. Check out www.allearsnet.com for menus.

 

[Sherry E]

Ariel's Grotto in DCA (all Princesses) has menu orders for lunch and dinner. Otherwise, as Canyon girl said, only Storytellers in the GCH (jungly/woodsy Disney characters such as Chip, Dale, Koda, Kenai, Terk, Meeko and sometimes Baloo and a Brer character or two) and Lilo and Stitch (Lilo, Stitch, sometimes Minnie, Goofy and Daisy Duck) in the PPH have menu options for breakfast. Maybe one of those would be a good option for you!

You said that your mom liked the Pooh characters, correct? And the only place to really catch them is Minnie & Friends, which is more "buffeteria-style" than all-you-can-eat buffet. In other words, you slide your plate/tray along the counter and the CMs serve you your food, rather than you piling your own plate.

 

[disneymum58]

Minnie and Friends breakfast is a buffet with characters. There is no option to order off a menu. We were there in January and there were no Pooh characters there anymore. The best place to see the Pooh characters is their meet and greet area across from Splash Mountain near the Winnie the Pooh ride.
When we went to Ariel's Grotto everyone got the same appetizers and desserts, then chose from four or five entrees for a fixed price.

 

[Sherry E]

Minnie and Friends breakfast is a buffet with characters. There is no option to order off a menu. We were there in January and there were no Pooh characters there anymore. The best place to see the Pooh characters is their meet and greet area across from Splash Mountain near the Winnie the Pooh ride.
When we went to Ariel's Grotto everyone got the same appetizers and desserts, then chose from four or five entrees for a fixed price.

Pooh characters still show up at Minnie & Friends - Eeyore, Tigger and Pooh, most notably - but I guess they were not on there on your day. I have seen other DIS-ers' photos with Pooh characters in them from this year at Minnie & Friends.

Minnie & Friends is "buffeteria-style", which is more cafeteria style than actual buffet. Goofy's Kitchen is a true buffet. But yes, as we previously stated, the only off-the menu options are Lilo and Stitch, Storytellers or Ariel's for lunch and dinner (not breakfast).

 

[ballarinamom]

If you are concerned about your mom fretting over the cost of the buffets, you could prepurchase vouchers. That way she will not know the cost. In the case of Storytellers, the ala cart price is about the same as the buffet. If you could do Minnie's. (we saw all of the Pooh characters there) your mom can stay seated in the A/C and the characters will come to her. I say well worth the price over having her wait in line. Or worse yet, not meet them. You are such an angel for scheduling this for her

 

[annacali]

Minnie's was amazing for the characters...I think we counted 10 different ones---and Minnie came three or four different times herself---when we were there on the 16th (and Tigger was one of them). We did prepaid vouchers thru Get Away Today for it which might work for you?

 

[Ember]

Thank you, all!

 

[pixiewings71]

Honestly, I'd do Minnie & Friends if I was you. Yes, it's buffeteria style but everything we ate was excellent and we did have Pooh characters show up. Tigger & Eeyore were both there. Your other choices are as listed but honestly, character meals are basically a set price anyway so why worry about it? Yes, I know that at Storyteller's & Lilo & Stitch you can order off the menu but the prices are very similar so just pick whatever you think she will like best. Our favorites are Minnie & Friends & Lilo & Stitch for breakfast and Ariel's Grotto for lunch/dinner.

I like the suggestion of the vouchers, then it's not a big deal.

 

[LittleBoPeep]

So if we've already purchased our trip, is there an additional place to purchase the meal vouchers?

TIA

 

[Sherry E]

Honestly, I'd do Minnie & Friends if I was you. Yes, it's buffeteria style but everything we ate was excellent and we did have Pooh characters show up. Tigger & Eeyore were both there. Your other choices are as listed but honestly, character meals are basically a set price anyway so why worry about it? Yes, I know that at Storyteller's & Lilo & Stitch you can order off the menu but the prices are very similar so just pick whatever you think she will like best. Our favorites are Minnie & Friends & Lilo & Stitch for breakfast and Ariel's Grotto for lunch/dinner.

I like the suggestion of the vouchers, then it's not a big deal.

I agree. I haven't seen the Lilo and Stitch menu prices, but I don't even think the Storytellers breakfast menu prices are worth it for the portion size. Way too expensive for the size of meal it is - it is almost like that crazy expensive IHOP on Harbor you have talked about, Kerri. So the buffet at Storytellers is a much better value than their menu, I think. But the characters at M&F seem like so much more fun than the ones at Storytellers, and Ember had mentioned on another thread that her mom likes the Pooh gang, so I think it makes sense. Waiting in lines in the heat at the meeting area in Critter Country could be exhausting. As Ballarinamom mentioned, at least M&F is a nice, air-conditioned space.

I think the 'buffeteria' angle can be used to their advantage! Ember can tell her mom that it is not an actual buffet (even though you can go back for seconds and thirds like at a buffet, etc.), but that it is more cafeteria-style, so maybe then it will seem less expensive! Plus, a lot of the money spent is going towards the character visits and not just the food. So hopefully so many characters will have come by the table that the money/buffet issue will have been forgotten!

 

[pixiewings71]

So if we've already purchased our trip, is there an additional place to purchase the meal vouchers?

TIA

Getawaytoday.com has meal vouchers.

Sherry, we have yet to do Storyteller's, is it really that $$? If so we may never do them for breakfast! DBF and I loved them for dinner but we haven't taken the girls yet. I wanted to try that on our next trip, which looks like our October trip actually. Of course character meals aren't our fave right now because DD13 doesn't eat enough to warrant paying those prices so we will be scarce with those for a while yet, unless it's Ariel's Grotto....and then we will just pay it. lol

 

[Sherry E]

Getawaytoday.com has meal vouchers.

Sherry, we have yet to do Storyteller's, is it really that $$? If so we may never do them for breakfast! DBF and I loved them for dinner but we haven't taken the girls yet. I wanted to try that on our next trip, which looks like our October trip actually. Of course character meals aren't our fave right now because DD13 doesn't eat enough to warrant paying those prices so we will be scarce with those for a while yet, unless it's Ariel's Grotto....and then we will just pay it. lol

Well I found the Storytellers breakfast menu items to be too costly for the portion size - they are actually more expensive than the non-character lunch menu items, and even more expensive than some of the dinner menu items!! (I guess that's because they want to still make their 'character meal money' even if people do not order the buffet!) I think if I do the character meal at Storytellers again, I would go back the buffet, which is just a few bucks more. The banana French toast is something like $18, and the American Breakfast thingy that I ordered (basically two eggs, two slices of bacon, some toast, some potatoes and a couple of slices of fruit) WAS around $17 when I had it in 12/07, but now it is $20!!!! Too much money for that portion size for my liking. When I had lunch there last year (a burger and some fries and a drink), it was about $10, and dinner (delicious spaghetti) was $16!!!! So if I am doing breakfast, I will do the buffet ($25 per adult).

I can imagine having kids who don't eat a lot is tough when you want to do character meals. I actually think all the character meals should have menu orderingh options as well (though they may be like Storytellers prices!). It is hard to justify spending the money they charge at these meals for kids of a certain age when the kids are not going to be able to eat that much food.

 

[Canyon girl]

Sherry and Kerri (Ember, too),

I have planned out our PS and character meals (yes, plural) for our trip based on Deb's menus. If the prices are accurate, Storytellers' menu prices are not a huge difference from the buffet price, but Lilo and Stitch seems to be an exception (again if it is accurate). Here is a direct link to L&S menu...http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/men_pchb.htm. I wanted to post a link in my first post, but I was on my iPod (stupid thing) and couldn't give you a link. On L&S menu, there is a Minnie pancake for $10.99 and a Mickey waffle for $9.99. Since this is all my kids ever eat there off the buffet, they are doing menu only! I also found a couple of dishes for $11.00-$13.00 that I was interested in. I am so excited to do this sans buffet; since, I am always the one to get the food for me and 2 kids so that they can sit at the table waiting for characters and not missing them. Just an FYI, Deb has several menus updated this month.

I need to add "Sucker for Character Meals" to my siggie; since, we are attempting them ALL this trip. (Oh, where...Oh, where can the tag fairy be??!!) [I insert here that I am flying high on no sleep and MUCH caffeine with early morning swim lessons and late nights sewing special kid outfits under the cover of darkness and secrecy. I am GOOFY!!!]

 

[LittleBoPeep]

Getawaytoday.com has meal vouchers.

SO I went to their website and couldn't find anywhere that they sell them on their own... does anyone know of anywhere else? As I said previously, we already have bought our trip... just looking to buy vouchers only (if that's possible).

Thanks.

PS... sorry ember, didn't mean to

 

[Canyon girl]

I've never used them, so I don't know about fees.

http://arestravel.com/77_DisneylandResort.html Look for character experiences.

http://www.getawaytoday.com/TicketListing.aspx?dest_id=2 Change type to "dining".

 

[pixiewings71]

Thanks Naomi!

 

[LittleBoPeep]

Thanks... yeah... I didn't realize that was a pulldown menu.

 

[Canyon girl]

Thanks Naomi!

You're welcome! Just my highly caffeinated state and handy bookmarks!

Thanks... yeah... I didn't realize that was a pulldown menu.

We have a Deluxe AP, so we just use that for a discount. It seems that the vouchers might be a good value during the "high season," but we usually go "off season," so the value is not the same.