Best Character Dining Experience?

[mom2rtk]

Maybe it's time to do one of those online petitions that keep going around. Sure, I'd probably get about 17 signatures, but at least Disney would know we need more Donald and less C&D.

I'm in! Where do I sign?

 

[Metalliman98]

I'm in! Where do I sign?

Me too! Truthfully, I could also go for less Mickey. It may have all started with a mouse, but it was built on the popularity of a duck.

 

[Bethanie1]

We love Minnie and Friends... Especially early morning entry!

 

[higoofy]

This is my second post now! We have 810am reservations for Minnie and Friends. What time do we need to be at the parking lot to make sure we get there on time. We're staying at the Embassy Suites South, but we've only been to Disneyland for one day- ever!

 

[MarissaMarissa]

If you go with minnie's, I would suggest making a reservation before 10:30, that the time our reservation was, and by the time we got our picture taken and were seated the fairy godmother and eeyore were finishing up there rotations, and were gone for the rest breakfast. The rest of the character interaction was phenomenal!

 

[Astylla]

This is my second post now! We have 810am reservations for Minnie and Friends. What time do we need to be at the parking lot to make sure we get there on time. We're staying at the Embassy Suites South, but we've only been to Disneyland for one day- ever!

If a Saturday I recommend being there by 6:30am ( if MM/EMH is 7am) otherise being there by 7am SHOULD suffice but also gives enough time if you need to park at Toy Story lot.
Be aware if during a marathon weekend ( Labor Day and early November for the remainder of the year) or any major holiday earlier is best.

Disney does NOT regulate how Mickey and Friends stays open - Anaheim PD does

 

[larie21]

We loved the Minnie breakfast at Plaza Inn. The food was good & the character interaction was great! We had a 10:15 seating & saw 9-10 characters.

 

[higoofy]

Thanks Astylla- we are going to Minnie's on a Wednesday the third week of July. The Toy Story lot is closest to our hotel, so preferred- but I guess I have no clue about parking around DL. Sorry to go off topic Is Toy Story lot always open? Or only after the others fill up?

 

[Astylla]

Thanks Astylla- we are going to Minnie's on a Wednesday the third week of July. The Toy Story lot is closest to our hotel, so preferred- but I guess I have no clue about parking around DL. Sorry to go off topic Is Toy Story lot always open? Or only after the others fill up?

It's always open from my experience but not sure about official opening time. We usually stay walking distance now because we don't like worrying about it anymore.

 

[lurpee]

We did Breakfast with Minnie twice on our last trip--one was planned and the other was a last minute decision because we had such a good time. The food wasn't anything special, the bacon is see-through..but we were able to take our time and saw so many characters. Rafiki, Captain Hook, Tigger, Max, Goofy, Winnie the Pooh, Minnie, Mickey, Chip & Dale, etc. We also did Ariel's Grotto for lunch and the food was awesome. We saw Ariel, Mulan, Cinderella and Belle I believe. We're going back in January '17 and will be doing Breakfast with Minnie and Ariel's Grotto again (we have two daughters who will be 9 and turning 5 while there!). I am thinking about adding the character breakfast at Paradise Pier Hotel for our last day but not decided yet. This thread is very helpful!

 

[707MickeyGirl]

We love Minnie & Friends, as well as Surf's Up at the Paradise Pier Hotel. I think the key is to have your little person(s) dress up. At Surf's Up, my granddaughter has been dressed as Stitch (and she had her Duffy bear dressed as Stitch as well) and as Lilo. Both times, Stitch has made a BIG deal about spending time with her. She's had private photo shoots with Stitch, as well as having Stitch take her by the hand and parade all the way around the restaurant.

Once at Minnie & Friends she was dressed as Doc McStuffins, and Chip & Dale stayed with her for probably 10 minutes, trying on her stethoscope and testing each others' heartbeats. Pooh and Eeyore were very interested in the stethoscope as well, and we could barely eat our breakfast that day because of all of the character interaction. What a problem, huh?

It seems like the easier you make it for the characters to interact with you, the more they do.

 

[mpadilla89]

We have done a Goofys Kitchen Dinner and everyone from my DD who was 5 to my DH and my teen siblings and mother all enjoyed. We saw from what i remember minnie, goofy, alice, peter pan, chip and dale. The food was good, DH really loved it. We are going back there again. But it does depend on who you are traveling with and what they like to eat and which characters appeal to them.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have done a Goofys Kitchen Dinner and everyone from my DD who was 5 to my DH and my teen siblings and mother all enjoyed. We saw from what i remember minnie, goofy, alice, peter pan, chip and dale. The food was good, DH really loved it. We are going back there again. But it does depend on who you are traveling with and what they like to eat and which characters appeal to them.

You won't find Alice or Peter Pan there any longer. It is now always the same 5.

 

[Spyral]

Once at Minnie & Friends she was dressed as Doc McStuffins, and Chip & Dale stayed with her for probably 10 minutes, trying on her stethoscope and testing each others' heartbeats. Pooh and Eeyore were very interested in the stethoscope as well, and we could barely eat our breakfast that day because of all of the character interaction. What a problem, huh?

It seems like the easier you make it for the characters to interact with you, the more they do.

Lol, this was our "problem" too at the Plaza Inn. So much character interaction, it was hard to eat! We do the first seating as well. On our last trip, we were the second to arrive, and the Fairy Godmother took us to our table to be seated. There were already quite a few characters out to greet - got a group picture with 4 of them (Chip, Eeyore, Pooh, and Tigger) with my 3 kids. Minnie ran over, but missed out on a the group picture. Others were out and about shortly after. They all visited our table multiple times. Just make sure no one in your party calls Hook a cod fish (well, do it for fun, but make sure to make up with him (call Peter Pan something nasty, or how pirates are cool )).

 

[mommajo143]

We feel we get the BEST & MOST character interactions at the Plaza Inn - Minnie and friends.
We use our MM thru the week and go to the first reservation time on Saturday morning.
With DL opening an hour before general public on Saturdays, we can have an hour in the CB while not burning valuable park time.
We check in at one of the gates nearest DTD, they check our names off the CB reservation list, scan our ticket for the day and we're of to the CB.

60 days out is key to getting the earliest reservation time.

Geemo

Is there an acronym decoder for DL? I usually park myself over on the Florida side of the boards but since we hope to head west next year thought I'd pop over for a look-see... The acronyms I know from Wdw clearly don't fit this thread & a bit like a Disney vacation planning Mad Libs in my head...

 

[Spyral]

Is there an acronym decoder for DL? I usually park myself over on the Florida side of the boards but since we hope to head west next year thought I'd pop over for a look-see... The acronyms I know from Wdw clearly don't fit this thread & a bit like a Disney vacation planning Mad Libs in my head...

Take a look at HydroGuy's - A DLR Guide for WDW Vets (specifically Definitions )

 

[mich311e]

We really like Minnie's. We've done it twice in recent years.

We've also done Goofy's Kitchen but it's been 5 years or so.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

At DLR I've done the Plaza in with Minnie and the Goofy's Breakfast. I think I liked the Plaza in the best. Lots of characters, but also it's in the park. You can avoid at least one line up to get in since the dining reservations have their own lineups to the left of the main lines. We book it so it's during MM, so it also doubles that up for us. You can sit outside and people watch if you like.