Character Dining...Can't Decide!

[adykate]

I have spent the past week reading everything I can find on the character dining experiences. I am talking up until 1am in the morning when I have a baby who is up at 6am!

We are going to DLR the first week in March, and will be in the parks 4 days. We have a 2 year old and 9 month old. I am a Disney vet, but haven't been in many years, and as a kid my family did single day trips and never splurged on extras like the character dining stuff. I narrowed it down to Minnie's breakfast, Goofys Kitchen, or Surfs Up, but I am so torn about which to book. I know, book them all! But, for various reasons, I don't really want to spend that much time/money doing character dining.

I am a little concerned my 2 year old is going to be very shy with the characters, or will take a while to warm up to them, and it will be a waste of money. She also is NOT a picture kid, so trying to get a "Look at the camera and smile" picture with the characters is likely not going to happen. We will get the usual "mugshot" photo like we do with Santa! She loves music and dancing, so the characters doing that kind of stuff at Surfs Up is appealing, but I think she would recognize the characters at Minnie's more. Goofys food menu looks to be the best, but I am wondering just how much my husband and I will get to eat because of holding onto the kids, or getting pictures of characters anyway! And just to clarify...gratuity is automatically added everywhere but Minnie's, right?

We likely wouldn't be able to do a super early reservation because the girls are not usually up before 7am, but I don't want to waste a ton of park hour time either since it is shortened hours as it is that week. I also wondered how crowded it gets as the morning goes on. Dinner isn't probably the best option because the girls would likely be in meltdown mode by then, even if we take a hotel break in the afternoon for naps.

Sooooooo, help a girl out . Which would you pick and why??? What reservation times would you pick if there are options? Beginning of the trip? End of the trip?

 

[SplashMo]

We love going to Minnie's. Lots of characters and the omlete chef has always been really nice. Kids really like the food.

 

[pharmama]

I love both Minnie's and Surfs Up so I don't think you can go wrong with either. But I'm not so sure about more recognizable characters at minnies. Surf's up had ALL classic characters except for Stitch when we went last sept. (rest were Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Pluto- I've heard this is a typical lineup). Minnie's had more characters overall but there were some unusual ones there- Brer Fox and Gepetto (but not Pinocchio) for example.

If your kid loves to dance, I would probably do Surfs up. My 3yr old DD loved the surfing lesson and 2 dance parties that happened in the ~90min we were there. Nothing like that at Minnie's.

Other advantage to Surfs up is if the parks are opening later on any days you're there, you can get the character dining in without eating up (haha) your park time. Surfs up is also a bit quieter than Minnies and I think the characters are probably going to have more time to take it slow if your kids are frightened.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[my*gracie*girl]

I would go with Minnie's. It is inside the park, so you can get right to playtime when you are done eating. The walk to the others is a waste of time...unless you are staying at an on-side hotel? Also, we were at Surf's Up on Sunday and only 1 dance thing happened in the entire time we were there and the kids went up to the Mickey photo area to do it. It wasn't just random dancing around the restaurant which might appeal more to your 2yr old than standing that close to Mickey Of the 3, Minnie's has been the best experience for our family and since you are concerned about losing time from the parks, I would go with that one.

 

[profa]

we LOVED surf's up. It had lots of characters and they came around several timies and the interaction was great. But we partly chose this because we could do it on our off day and still have some disney magic.
Like you I researched and researched this. I decided I didn't want to waste any of our time in the parks w/ a big sit down meal, etc.
But it sounds like you aren't sure your kids would enjoy it and honestly w/ kids that young, I'm not sure I would bother. If you think your 2 yr old might be skittish, she probably will be. My 4 yr old was. She doesn't like characters who don't have human faces.

 

[profa]

BTW, we all thought the food was great. We had kids 8, 7 and 4.

 

[danaesacto]

If it works out for you, you can always do Goofy's on your travel day. It would be a good way to let your daughter warm up to the big characters before being overwhelmed by DL....

 

[gunka]

I would recommend Minnie and Friends. Lots of characters. Your daughter can watch them move around the dinning area and interact with other families before they get to you. You can sneak some pictures while they visit with your daughter at the table.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Be sure to check out this week's DIS Unplugged: Disneyland Edition podcast, where Tony Spittell reviews Surf's Up!, then sumarizes his feelings on all of the character breakfasts.

Listen here: Surf's Up!

Download from iTunes here: DIS Unplugged: Disneyland Edition

Links to other shows and things we talk about: DIS Unplugged: Disneyland Edition

 

[lsulindy]

I would suggest making the reservation for your last day. It'll give your daughter a chance to warm up to the characters from a distance first. My dd liked to wave at the characters from the end of the line, but didn't want to actually go up to them. By, the end of the trip she was still unsure, but much better than the beginning of the trip. And, if by the last day you see that she's still very scared, you can cancel the reservation and save your money.

I also highly recommend this DVD. http://www.amazon.com/Sing-Along-Songs-Disneyland-Fun/dp/B0009X75W4/

Your dd can see the characters as larger park figures rather than small cartoons. My kids LOVED this DVD, and it does help them see what to expect a bit.

 

[travelbug08]

We did Goofy's with our 11 month old and 2.5 year old on our second day. Day 1 we saw a few characters around the parks and the kids were ok with them, my 2.5 year old was a bit skittish with Goofy when we arrived at breakfast, but both were good with the other characters. Our later days in the park, they were more tired/worn out and less into being next to a 6 foot mouse.

 

[2plus2equalsus]

We stayed at the DLH and reserved a dinner meal (we are not breakfast fans) at Goofy's. It was perfect for us, right after nap and before we returned to the park for the night.

As for the timing I'd go at the beginning of the trip. It's a great way to interact with the characters in a calm, non rushed environment. Sometimes standing in line for characters can be overwhelming for little ones, then you shove them in front of characters...

For the pictures, don't worry so much about the posing and smiling shots. Focus more on the first look reactions or the sweet character interactions.

Whatever you chose, it will be magical, enjoy!

 

[CaliDisneyMama]

I considered Surf's Up; I've heard Stitch is hilarious, and they really get the kids involved in the whole thing (though at two, your little one probably wouldn't get much out of that aspect of it all), but in the end, I decided on Minnie and Friends. I've heard the characters are fantastic, they spend quite a bit of time with you, and the fact that it's IN the park is just fun. I'm so excited about it!

We'll be there the first week of March, too, and have priority seating for Monday, the 4th for Minnie; maybe we'll see you there!

 

[martikus]

We really enjoyed the character interaction at Minnie's breakfast. That would be my pick hands down. We got the earliest reservation available (I think 8:20am) on a day when we didn't have magic morning. You need to allow at least a hour to see all the characters.

BUT......I would not have booked one when DS was 2. He would not have gotten anything out of it because he was TERRIFIED of characters - Mickey, Santa, anyone dressed up.

We did our first one when DS was 4 and it was so fun. He loved it. He was also old enough that DH & I could actually get our food and eat.

There are plenty of chances for character interaction without the character meal if you prefer. Your kids will never know differently. Or book for the last day so you can always cancel if your DD isn't ready to interact with characters on that level yet.

 

[julm26]

We want to do one character meal. DD8 is over the princesses so can you suggest the best character meal for her? We love crystal palace and chef mickeys at DW.

 

[adykate]

Thanks for all the help! We decided to go with Minnie on our first day in the park. When I called they said 9:10am was the first seating (park open 10am, EE 9am...so is this really the first seating available?). I have been showing dd youtube videos of the characters and pointing out how big they are next to other kids, and that they are tall like mom and dad. She seems very excited about them, but I know in person can be a very different story! I think we will follow the tip of bringing something to "show" the characters, so she has something to "do" with them, and I am all ready to interact with them and show her how nice they are. She was ok with Santa this year, and met an Elmo once and warmed up after a bit. I think having her 6 month old sister with her helped as she was trying to be brave for her!

There is a chance we may be changing our hotel reservations, and end up with vouchers for a second character dinner, so we may hit Goofys too! Such fun!