Character Dining - best option

[disneydarling07]

Hello! We will be heading to DL in June of this year. We only have 2 days - 1 for DL and 1 for DCA. The grumpy bunch I'm going with will only tolerate 1 character meal....lol. They want the rides, they don't care about the characters. FYI the grumpy bunch is my hubby, my daughter (24) and son (19).

if you could only have 1 character meal, which one would you choose? We are not big Foodies, as long as it's edible. But since I only have one shot, I would like it to be the best character experience.

TIA!!

 

[wallawallakids]

Do you care which type of character? If not, storytellers is my favorite. But if you prefer Pooh and friends or Princesses, than my recommendation would change but overall Storytellers is my preferred go to. Hope you have fun!

 

[woodys_girl]

Hello! We will be heading to DL in June of this year. We only have 2 days - 1 for DL and 1 for DCA. The grumpy bunch I'm going with will only tolerate 1 character meal....lol. They want the rides, they don't care about the characters. FYI the grumpy bunch is my hubby, my daughter (24) and son (19).

if you could only have 1 character meal, which one would you choose? We are not big Foodies, as long as it's edible. But since I only have one shot, I would like it to be the best character experience.

TIA!!

I'm generally of the mindset that the best character meal is the one that has the characters you want to see.
However, since you have such a short visit, is it possible to do a character meal on your arrival or departure day so as not to cut into your park time? Neither Goofy's nor Storytellers needs a park ticket and they are both fun meals.

 

[VGCgroupie]

We try to do our character meals arrival day or departure day. That way it doesnt interfere with park time. For breakfast we prefer Storytellers over Goofys Kitchen.

 

[mom2rtk]

I used to say Plaza Inn for the sheer number and variety of characters. Then on our most recent trip about half of the characters apparently clocked out before they saw us and nobody seemed to care.

I would still probably say Plaza Inn, but make sure you schedule before 10.

 

[VicgirlBC]

I liked the food at Storyteller's but they have limited characters. This time we will try Plaza Inn.

 

[Tinkaboo]

I love my Breakfast with Minnie! She makes the best bacon! Plus it is a wide variety of characters...I usually see Pooh, Tigger, Daisy, Suzy or Perla, Pluto.

 

[Pluto468]

In your situation I would go with Minnie's at Plaza Inn. It's right in the park so you won't need to leave to get to it, and it has a great variety of characters. Have fun!

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

If you don't care about the food part so much then pick whichever one has most of the characters you want to interact with. If you want Mickey it'd have to be Storytellers breakfast, if it's Goofy then it'd have to be Goofy's Kitchen. Plaza Inn has more of a variety but it's also more unpredictable who actually shows up.

 

[disneydarling07]

I'm generally of the mindset that the best character meal is the one that has the characters you want to see.
However, since you have such a short visit, is it possible to do a character meal on your arrival or departure day so as not to cut into your park time? Neither Goofy's nor Storytellers needs a park ticket and they are both fun meals.

THIS is interesting! Not needing a park ticket would be very beneficial for us. We do have wandering / beach days planned so to be able to have a character meal without effecting a park day would be awesome!

 

[UnpokemonMom]

When our boys were younger, we'd start our trip with a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen on arrival day. Didn't have to purchase a park ticket or waste park time, but it got everyone in the Disney mood.

 

[Vala]

Goofy is at Storytellers dinner too, at least he was when we went last week.

With the details given I would probably still go with Storytellers. Goofy is very loud and boisterous. Minnie's goes in the same direction. Which is not a bad thing, but personally I found that grumply group members don't deal well with that.

But it really depends which characters you want to see. Poor Clarabelle and Humphrey at dinner got a lot of blank stares.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Goofy is at Storytellers dinner too, at least he was when we went last week.

With the details given I would probably still go with Storytellers. Goofy is very loud and boisterous. Minnie's goes in the same direction. Which is not a bad thing, but personally I found that grumply group members don't deal well with that.

But it really depends which characters you want to see. Poor Clarabelle and Humphrey at dinner got a lot of blank stares.

How is Storytellers dinner? Is it a similar number of characters as the breakfast/brunch? They were only doing the breakfast/brunch character dining last time we made the trip, but are looking to do a birthday celebration on arrival night and was excited to see that as an option. I don't mind Goofy's Kitchen either though, because my crew typically loves the loud boisterous dance party atmosphere too so I feel like I'll win either way

 

[LKing]

How is Storytellers dinner? Is it a similar number of characters as the breakfast/brunch? They were only doing the breakfast/brunch character dining last time we made the trip, but are looking to do a birthday celebration on arrival night and was excited to see that as an option. I don't mind Goofy's Kitchen either though, because my crew typically loves the loud boisterous dance party atmosphere too so I feel like I'll win either way

It is really dependent on when you go. For us, we went early (close to opening) for breakfast and had great character interaction. Each character came by multiple times and spent plenty of time engaging with us. We went around 5 or 6 pm for dinner and it was very crowded. We didn't have small children at our table and the characters took a quick picture and moved on. One of the characters came by while we were getting our food and never came back. Another was in the mini parade through the restaurant but never came to our table. I've seen others talk about how great the character interaction was so YMMV.

 

[Vala]

How is Storytellers dinner? Is it a similar number of characters as the breakfast/brunch? They were only doing the breakfast/brunch character dining last time we made the trip, but are looking to do a birthday celebration on arrival night and was excited to see that as an option. I don't mind Goofy's Kitchen either though, because my crew typically loves the loud boisterous dance party atmosphere too so I feel like I'll win either way

I did dinner in the Halloween version and the new one with Humphrey the Bear earlier this month. Number of characters was about equal for both, but different ones. Not hugely different, not like you'll find Thumper or Koda or Kenai. The Halloween version was bad to the point where I told people not to bother. Rushed and they tried to get us to leave before my food focused friends. The Humphrey one was much much better.