Best Character meal

[angiebaylor]

My dd and I are going to Dinseyland this April. I have been looking at some of the character meals and would love to hear what your favorites are or which one you would reccomend for us. I definitely want to do one. Possibly two but $$ wise I am just not sure. My daughter is 4. She loves the princesses but also really loves all of the other characters too.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[DLtorgo]

My DD is around the same age and we have done Minnie, Goofy's Kitchen and Ariels. Our favorite was Goofy's Kitchen. They have a couple princesses there and the interactions were so fun. I liked the food and they get all the kids up to dance with Goofy which is so cute. If your daughter is really into princesses then Ariels is the best place to see them all, but I think Goofy has a real feeling of fun and Disney magic.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Minnie's is great, I love it for a late breakfast after an hour or 2 of enjoying rides, it's nice that it's in the park. Ariel's (in DCA if you weren't aware) is lovely ~ I like that the food is brought to you, no buffet to deal with ~ the food is yummy - lots of princesses there. Goofy's is fun as well but not our fave ~ of our 3 visits we've only seen a princess 1 time - for a dinner *Cinderella* so while it's likely to see a princess at Goofy's it's not a guarantee.

 

[pbbecker]

I love them all! With that said I have a 3 year old who loves the princesses too so I have a special mommy/daughter breakfast at Ariel's Grotto for her and I each visit. I have found it to be the best way to see the princesses with out having to wait in the fantasy faire lines which take forever even if it's a short line. Plus the food is really good. We try to do at least one or two each trip.

 

[lilsprstr]

My vote is Goofy's Kitchen as well. We've done Ariel's Grotto and Minnie's Breakfast in the park also. All are great, but Goofy's was my fave.

 

[pigletforever]

minnies had much better character interaction and Goofys has better food. IMO

 

[Sherry E]

Yep! Another vote for Goofy's here! A very wide variety of food - more so than any of the other character meals - and a mixture of furry characters and face characters. The last few times we have been there, we have seen at least 2 Princesses mixed in with Goofy, Chip and Dale and the gang. However, as DisneyMomma81 said, it is not a guarantee that Princesses will be there at Goofy's when you go. But it seems like they are making more of a concerted effort to get some Princesses in there more often, just to offer an alternative to Ariel's in the Princess department!

Minnie & Friends seems to have the most characters out of all the meals - lots of characters. The new Surf's Up with Mickey meal is the only one where you can dine with Mickey.

Here is our character meal photo and information thread, which may help you decide:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2234435

Here is a link to Disneynerd420's TR, page 23, with lots of Goofy's buffet photos (scroll all the way down the page to see all the photos), so you can see the wide variety of food:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2268157&page=23

 

[pixiewings71]

Minnie's and Ariel's, for our family Goofy's sucked. We aren't planning to ever go back, it was that bad.

 

[angiebaylor]

Thanks for all of the replys!!! Decisions, Decisions!!!! Are they all the same in price??

Thanks!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Nope ~ Ariel's & Goofy's are the most $$$

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks for all of the replys!!! Decisions, Decisions!!!! Are they all the same in price??

Thanks!

Though I am not sure of the exact prices for all the meals right now, I will say this:

Goofy's is more expensive than the other character meals (because of that wide variety of food, as depicted in the photos in Disneynerd420's TR that I showed you earlier).

Goofy's breakfast/brunch is cheaper than Goofy's dinner.

The prices for Goofy's breakfast AND dinner fluctuate by the season, with off-peak season meals being cheaper and the peak season meals being the most expensive. So by that rule, the MOST expensive Goofy's meal you could have would be the peak season dinner, with the least expensive Goofy's meal being the off-peak season breakfast!

The last time I saw anyone post prices for Ariel's Grotto, even though Ariel's is not a buffet, the price was not that far behind Goofy's, if at all - in fact, like Goofy's, it is considered "premium dining," whereas the other 3 character meals are not "premium," for some reason. So the Ariel's prices are just about on par with Goofy's, I think.

Of course, if you have an Annual Pass, you can get a discount on any of these meals. Premium AP gets 15% off, and Deluxe AP gets 10% off. AAA gets you 10% off.

Minnie & Friends is quite a bit cheaper than Goofy's and Ariel's. So, even though Minnie & Friends does not have the vast selection of food found at GK or the specialty items found at AG, for all those characters the price is pretty good. Again, not sure of the exact price, but I think it is under $25 per adult.

Storytellers Critter Breakfast (with all the woodsy and jungly Disney characters) has a buffet option or a menu ordering option. However, one might pay $17.99 for a menu order, while the buffet is $22.99, so in that case, the buffet makes more sense. It is a fairly small buffet, but for $22.99 it is a better deal than paying $17.99 for one plate of something off the menu, I think.

Not sure about the prices for Surf's Up with Mickey, but someone just reported that they were not far behind the Goofy's Kitchen prices. That used to be a buffet OR menu option when it was Lilo and Stitch's Aloha Breakfast, but they changed the pricing when they added Mickey, made it all buffet and took out the menu ordering option.

 

[goldies 5]

'My boys loved Goofy's. My nieces loved Ariels. I can't wait until my little one is old enough to go to Ariels. The girls just really got excited to see all of the princesses.

 

[Belle Ella]

My vote goes for Goofy's as well - if I was forced to choose. The 3 I have done (Ariel's Grotto, Goofy's Kitchen, and Minnie & Friends) were all great for different reasons. But the character interaction at Goofy went far and beyond what we got at the others. You may not be guaranteed a Princess there, but we did happen to see two - Jasmine and Cinderella. Even though we had no kids in our party it was such a blast to see them all get up and dance and bake a cake with Goofy and friends.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I've eaten at Goofy's, Minnie & Friends, and Ariel's Grotto. In terms of character variety, I thought that Minnie's and Goofy's were about even. A lot of different characters from a lot of different films and/or animated shorts.

Ariel's Grotto has the best food hands down.

 

[pbbecker]

I called last week 1/14/10 and got the current prices for all the character dining options:

Goofy's Kitchen breakfast $25.99 (adult) $13.99 (3-9)
dinner $31.99 $13.99

Ariel's Grotto breakfast $28.99 (adult) $16.99 (3-9)
dinner $32.99 $18.99

Minnie and Friends breakfast $23.99 (adult) $11.99 (3-9)

Captain Mickey breakfast $25.99 (adult) $13.99 (3-9)

Storyteller's Cafe breakfast $22.99 $11.99 (3-9)

Some of them include tip and tax and some don't but I'm not sure which ones. I hope this helps. Also they can change anytime.

 

[wannagoback]

We have two DDs, 3 & 5 and went to both Goofy's and Ariel's on our trip. DH and I both preferred the food at Ariel's, and I agree with PP in that I prefer to be served than do eat at a buffet. The kids probably liked the variety of the buffet better.

As far as the atmosphere, Goofy's is fun because the kids can get up and dance and there is a nice variety of characters. Ariel's is much more calm and is a sit-down meal, so I would say that it also depends on the temperament of your DD as to which would be a better fit for her.

But I would highly recomment either of theses places! I haven't tried anywhere else.

 

[Sherry E]

I called last week 1/14/10 and got the current prices for all the character dining options:

Goofy's Kitchen breakfast $25.99 (adult) $13.99 (3-9)
dinner $31.99 $13.99

Ariel's Grotto breakfast $28.99 (adult) $16.99 (3-9)
dinner $32.99 $18.99

Minnie and Friends breakfast $23.99 (adult) $11.99 (3-9)

Captain Mickey breakfast $25.99 (adult) $13.99 (3-9)

Storyteller's Cafe breakfast $22.99 $11.99 (3-9)

Some of them include tip and tax and some don't but I'm not sure which ones. I hope this helps. Also they can change anytime.

Thanks for posting those!

Okay, so those are the 'off-peak' prices for Goofy's Kitchen (and those are without the tax and tip included, I can tell, because the Goofy's breakfast will be somewhere in the range of $31 or $32 once the tax and tip are included, and that is off-season)!

Goofy's Kitchen and Minnie & Friends will automatically apply the 15% gratuity to your bill when you give your name and pay, because everyone pays the same price (same prices for all adults, same prices for all kids). I think Ariel's Grotto also applies the tip to the bill as well. Not sure what they are doing over at Surf's Up with Mickey, but I assume, if it is now all-buffet and no menu orders, they will probably tack on the 15% to the bill when you pay before being seated as well.

Storytellers does not add the tip to the bill because you have the buffet or menu option. When I had their buffet in October, I added the tip on myself to the $22.99 buffet price.

 

[triplefigs]

We are going to DL for the 1st time with our 9 year old triplets in June. Great info!

 

[jimsocks]

Anybody been to the Mickey & Friends at PPH? How was it?

 

[angiebaylor]

Thanks for posting those!

Okay, so those are the 'off-peak' prices for Goofy's Kitchen (and those are without the tax and tip included, I can tell, because the Goofy's breakfast will be somewhere in the range of $31 or $32 once the tax and tip are included, and that is off-season)!

Goofy's Kitchen and Minnie & Friends will automatically apply the 15% gratuity to your bill when you give your name and pay, because everyone pays the same price (same prices for all adults, same prices for all kids). I think Ariel's Grotto also applies the tip to the bill as well. Not sure what they are doing over at Surf's Up with Mickey, but I assume, if it is now all-buffet and no menu orders, they will probably tack on the 15% to the bill when you pay before being seated as well.

Storytellers does not add the tip to the bill because you have the buffet or menu option. When I had their buffet in October, I added the tip on myself to the $22.99 buffet price.

Thanks so much for all of the replys!! One more things....would the week of April 11th be considered peak season?? Thank you!