Ariel's Grotto or Surf’s Up / Breakfast

[cinder-ellah]

I'm going with my son, daughter in-law and granddaughters 7 & 9.
DL Dec 1-4th, staying at DLH.

We've eaten lunch at Ariel's in the past and enjoyed it. My granddaughters are requesting to eat breakfast there instead of lunch. In looking online, breakfast is only 9am - 10am, with reservations at 9am or 9:30am ?

I don't really want to give up EMH with an early breakfast.

We're also looking at Surf's Up. We've never eaten there. They are closed from 11am -3pm ?
Are characters there for dinner or just breakfast ?
Breakfast
7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Dinner
3:00 PM - 9:00 PM
We're looking at the latest reservation for breakfast or first dinner reservations.

If you've eaten at Ariel's for breakfast or Surf's Up for breakfast / dinner, how was your experience ?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

No characters at dinner. I have heard that characters leave promptly at the end time, so I would be careful about making too late a breakfast reservation. My last Surf's Up breakfast experience was too long ago to be relevant. I really enjoyed the dinner buffet earlier this year, but it's not what you want if you are looking for a character meal.

 

[allsaintsatx]

The only character dinner is Goofy's.

We have only eaten at Ariel's for lunch, like yourself. We want to try it, but never have because of the menu options - we really enjoy the breakfast buffets at Disney, so we have yet to take the plunge!

We have eaten Surf's Up on multiple occasions and have had a great experience every time. Good food and character interaction and the setting is cute, a California beach theme. The only negative, is that it's not in the park and is located in the farthest Disney hotel. If you are worried about park time, you will have to add in a good 10-15 minutes each way for walking.

Another closer option is Storyteller's at the Grand Californian. Great food, fun characters and just outside DCA via the GCA entrance in the hotel.

You can't go wrong with any of them! But, if time is a factor I would consider maybe something closer like Ariel's.

 

[cinder-ellah]

The only character dinner is Goofy's.

We have only eaten at Ariel's for lunch, like yourself. We want to try it, but never have because of the menu options - we really enjoy the breakfast buffets at Disney, so we have yet to take the plunge!

We have eaten Surf's Up on multiple occasions and have had a great experience every time. Good food and character interaction and the setting is cute, a California beach theme. The only negative, is that it's not in the park and is located in the farthest Disney hotel. If you are worried about park time, you will have to add in a good 10-15 minutes each way for walking.

Another closer option is Storyteller's at the Grand Californian. Great food, fun characters and just outside DCA via the GCA entrance in the hotel.

You can't go wrong with any of them! But, if time is a factor I would consider maybe something closer like Ariel's.

Thank you for your input and suggestion as to planning additional time. We haven't tried Storyteller's yet.
We're doing a quick trip this time only 2 full days, plus day 1 coming, early arrival and day 4 going late departure. We were just there in August for a family get together (10 altogether) and did Minnie's at Plaza Inn for breakfast at 10:45 am and then on our departure day ate at Goofy's at 4:30pm. Both were great and lots of fun !

 

[cinder-ellah]

No characters at dinner. I have heard that characters leave promptly at the end time, so I would be careful about making too late a breakfast reservation. My last Surf's Up breakfast experience was too long ago to be relevant. I really enjoyed the dinner buffet earlier this year, but it's not what you want if you are looking for a character meal.

Thank you. We haven't eaten at Surf's Up yet. I think mainly because of the distance and not wanting to give up the EMH time. Glad to know that there are no characters at dinner time, so I won't consider dinner there this trip.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thank you. We haven't eaten at Surf's Up yet. I think mainly because of the distance and not wanting to give up the EMH time. Glad to know that there are no characters at dinner time, so I won't consider dinner there this trip.

If it was my family, we would do the Surf's Up breakfast right at 7 AM then head to the parks. I'm guessing you are expecting a 10 AM regular opening with a 9 AM early entry; if so, that would be doable. Since you didn't suggest that, I was thinking either your family are not early risers, or you really wanted lunch, but you may want to consider this anyway if you are also trying to maximize park time.

 

[Kindermouse]

I havent dont the Ariels breakfast but I have dont the Surfs Up breakfast before park opening and it was great. I was probably our best overall character dinging experience because we not only got a good amount of characters with great interaction but also the food was good. Minnies has the most characters but Surfs Up has more variety than Goofy's (and non princess characters since at Ariel's you only get princesses) as well as what I considered the best breakfast food of the lot.

 

[cinder-ellah]

If it was my family, we would do the Surf's Up breakfast right at 7 AM then head to the parks. I'm guessing you are expecting a 10 AM regular opening with a 9 AM early entry; if so, that would be doable. Since you didn't suggest that, I was thinking either your family are not early risers, or you really wanted lunch, but you may want to consider this anyway if you are also trying to maximize park time.

We are early risers ! ! ! I hadn't considered the park would open so late (9am) for EE. Yes, great suggestion to go earlier.
Thank you.

 

[cinder-ellah]

I havent dont the Ariels breakfast but I have dont the Surfs Up breakfast before park opening and it was great. I was probably our best overall character dinging experience because we not only got a good amount of characters with great interaction but also the food was good. Minnies has the most characters but Surfs Up has more variety than Goofy's (and non princess characters since at Ariel's you only get princesses) as well as what I considered the best breakfast food of the lot.

Great ! Thank you for your review and suggestion. Sounds like a great plan to go there. Thank you !

 

[hsmamato2]

IS Surfs Up a good option for a non park day/ later breakfast? Do characters really not appear with a late seating, like 10:30?

 

[Malcon10t]

Surf's Up is my favorite character breakfast. Food is good, and pretty of characters (Mickey, Minnie, PLuto, Goofy (sometimes), Max, Daisy, and STitch.). Great time. We've done later seatings and haven't had an issue with characters. In fact, here is a picture we got AFTER the buffet was over just as we were walking out.

 

[mom2rtk]

The meal is priced as a character meal. If I arrived on time and the characters were gone, we would be having a discussion about what I was paying for.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Surf's Up is my favorite character breakfast. Food is good, and pretty of characters (Mickey, Minnie, PLuto, Goofy (sometimes), Max, Daisy, and STitch.). Great time. We've done later seatings and haven't had an issue with characters. In fact, here is a picture we got AFTER the buffet was over just as we were walking out.

Malcon10t, Thank you for the pic and your feedback.

 

[hsmamato2]

The meal is priced as a character meal. If I arrived on time and the characters were gone, we would be having a discussion about what I was paying for.

well that's what I was thinking..... I would be lying on the floor like a toddler waiting till they brought them back out!

 

[GatorChris]

We've done both - Ariel's twice for my two daughters. While having princesses come to the table is really great for the girls, the price is so high...at least at lunch. Surf's Up is fun and I remember the food being really good. You can't go wrong with either if you've got two girls in tow. They may like the Princess meal better, though.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Surf's Up is also an easy walk from the DLH. I have never done Ariels but we eat at Surf's up almost every time we are there. If you can get it before early entry, it is a great option.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Surf's Up is also an easy walk from the DLH. I have never done Ariels but we eat at Surf's up almost every time we are there. If you can get it before early entry, it is a great option.

Great ! Thanks for your feedback on this. Going to go book it now !
We've got to try things atleast once.

 

[cinder-ellah]

We've done both - Ariel's twice for my two daughters. While having princesses come to the table is really great for the girls, the price is so high...at least at lunch. Surf's Up is fun and I remember the food being really good. You can't go wrong with either if you've got two girls in tow. They may like the Princess meal better, though.

Hoping to convince the Granddaughter's into trying Surfs Up. In August our family group of 10 did Minnie's at Plaza Inn for a late breakfast and Goofy's for early dinner and had so much fun at both.
Thank you for your input.

 

[nicolispicoli]

Though I think Surfs Up seems to fit your plan better, I've had a great breakfast experience at Ariel's. We went on a day when there was no EMH and it worked perfectly for us. My dd4 was obsessed with the princesses who were all so sweet and accommodating. The food was actually delicious, one of the better meals I've had in the parks. I would definitely do it again. I usually go to Minnie and Friends, the food is good enough, but sometimes I feel like the character interaction is subpar.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Though I think Surfs Up seems to fit your plan better, I've had a great breakfast experience at Ariel's. We went on a day when there was no EMH and it worked perfectly for us. My dd4 was obsessed with the princesses who were all so sweet and accommodating. The food was actually delicious, one of the better meals I've had in the parks. I would definitely do it again. I usually go to Minnie and Friends, the food is good enough, but sometimes I feel like the character interaction is subpar.

Thank you for your input. I really do like Ariel's. We've eaten there for lunch, but it's been a few years. My GDD's are 7 & 9 and I'm sure they'd still like it.

I'll check our time & budget and maybe do Surf's Up for breakfast and another day do Ariel's for lunch. A good incentive for the girls to help save more money for the trip. I try to involve them in the planning, so they can see the costs of things and what our budget can accommodate.

Sounds like you had a fun & delightful time at Ariel's.