Best character meal?

[millerpjm]

I am trying to cram as much as possible into a 2 day trek to DL - I was thinking a character meal might be a good way to see the characters in case we don't see them around at the parks.

Which character meal would be best for my 5 1/2 year old DS? He loves Mickey and the gang, Toy Story characters, and Tigger. TIA for any advice!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

well goffys minnies or ariels is where i would go. minnies had all the pooh charcters tiggers my fav hehe

 

[Queenbillabong]

I think Minnie's is a good choice - all the faves are there and it's WAY closer than trekking to Goofy's from the park (unless you're staying there). Ariel's is mainly the princesses, so if your DS is anything like my DS, he would prefer something with other characters. We had a great time at Minnie's - lots of character interaction, good food (made to order omelettes!!). Lilo and Stitch might be good too, but again that's a trek from the parks to the Paradise Pier Hotel.....

 

[LitlbitWraps]

We went to the one with pooh and it was a blast.
They spent lots of time visiting at the tables.

 

[pixiewings71]

In order of our preference we chose

Minnie (breakfast only)
Ariel's Grotto (princesses at all meals)
Lilo & Stitch (this is 3rd only because of the distance from the parks)
Goofy's Kitchen (we had a negative experience here but others love it)

 

[audrabolster]

I've only been to Lilo and Stitch and it really isn't something I would receommend. Character interaction was pretty poor when we went and it was so empty in there, so it makes no sense to me why they weren't really interacting at all.

Food was yummy though!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We just did Lilo and Stitch a few weeks ago, and it was the best we've ever done! The character interaction was great, Stitch sat down at our table and played with our son more then once! As you can see from the picture in my avatar. We got to see Donald and Daisy (which you don't see either very often), Max, Minnie, Lilo ect... The food was really good too.

We usually go to Goofy's, and have had some hit or miss experiences. Personally I think going early is key. The later you go, you start to hit slow times, where the characters may be taking breaks ect... I think that can happen at any of the character breakfasts. So in our experience, timing counts.

We've never done Minnies in the park. We did do it back in the day when it was at PP. For us though, once were in the parks in the morning we want to start hitting rides. So we've always just done a nice early breakfast at one of the hotels.

But we were really impressed with Stitch at our breakfast, he really went above the usual posing for a picture and saying hi. My son just loved it, and we had to go buy a Stitch stuffed animal afterwards. His new favorite character! LOL

 

[audrabolster]

When we went, Stitch was the only character to really interact with us and willingly come over for photos. The other characters (Goofy, Pluto, Max) came by and just waved until we asked for a photo, which I thought was something you didn't have to ask for.

We'd probably go again because the food was yummy, and I really want to meet Daisy!

 

[DangerMouse]

Just an added FYI: You won't find Mickey or any of the Pixar characters at any character meal.

 

[Sy-]

If you want some easy alone time with some characters I heard that If you have a Disney Visa you can go to the Character Meet & Greet in DCA. And you don't even have to buy an overpriced meal

Character Meet 'N' Greet

Cardmember-exclusive Meet 'N' Greet Event located at Disney's California Adventure® Park in Hollywood Pictures Backlot (next to Disney•Pixar Monsters, Inc.).
Must present a valid Disney Rewards Visa Card for admission (limited to 6 people per card).
Begins when the park opens and runs for 90 minutes.
Each Cardmember group will receive one complimentary 5x7 group photo with Disney characters; additional photos will be available for purchase.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

only place to get micky is the birthday party

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

minnie and friends

 

[pixiewings71]

I'm not sure about the time thing. When we did Lilo & Stitch in '06 we had a 9:30 ps and had a blast!! The kids got to play games with Stitch and all the characters were great. That was an amazing experience!! Then we did Goofy's last year and we were seated at 10, with our ps and us being early we still got seated late, about 15 min. after our ps time. Then the characters proceeded to basically ignore us, except for Chip and Snow White, they were great. We did Minnie & Friends in April of this year and loved it!!!! We did a 10:30 ps and saw so many characters!! They played with us, yes, all of us. lol We enjoyed the food, plenty of choices for kids and adults and I loved being able to refill my own juice and we did grab a couple of bottles of water and milk on our way out for later. I don't know that the time matters that much, I really think it depends on the restaurant and characters at the time of your ps.

Oh, we've done Ariel's Grotto as well, we really enjoyed the breakfast there too.

 

[poohnpigletCA]

We have done most of them and prefer Lilo and Stich.
Character meals can take a while usually an hour and a half, the princess has always taken close to 2 hours. So if he is an early riser then I would do it first thing in the am.
Goofy's is fun. However, it is large, busy and noisy. When we took ours they were to little to carry a tray from the buffet. So one of us would stay with the kids while the other ran back and forth to get the food. Then we would pull out camera/video when the characters came around. So by the time we got around to eating it the food was cold.

GCH: This one has nice food but not a lot of characters they are mainly from Brother Bear.

Princess: We have 2 girls. We have done this one a lot. You are served at your table which is nice. However, the princess take a picture or sign your book and then they are gone. Very little character interaction. I thought it was just a fluke, but it has been this way all 6 times. We will probably not do this one again.

Lilo: It is a much smaller location so it is very easy to get food and get back to your table before the characters come. And a big bonus is that you do not have to have the buffet you can order off of the menu. I believe the waffle was around $10. We will do this one again!