Character Meal Questions

[sdrsdd]

We went to WDW in 2007 and my kids LOVED the character meals there. We will be coming to DL in June 2009 and I am trying to figure out which character meals we should do. My son will be "almost 7" and my daughter will be "almost 5". Does anyone have any comments about Plaza Inn, SToryteller's Cafe or PCH Grill. I think these were all listed as Character Meals. Which characters are there and any comments about the food/ character interaction would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Our family loves Goofy's Kitchen. They have either a breakfast/lunch brunch buffet (which is fabulous) or Dinner buffet (which is also very good). We love the interaction at this meal. We've seen Goofy, Pluto, Max, Geppetto, Baloo, Jasmine & Aladdin, Mad Hatter, Chip & Dale & Brer Fox (over our last 3 times)
We've also done the Minnie & Friends Breakfast buffet at the Plaza Inn. To us, the food is mediocre (and usually cold) but this breakfast is more about the characters. Over our last 2 trips we've seen: Minnie, Pooh, Eeyore, Chip & Dale, Fairy Godmother, Capt Hook, Max, Belle, Mary Poppins & Cinderella.

We've never done the Storytellers, but hear that a lot of the "jungle" characters are there. I also hear the food is excellent.

We also haven't made it to the Lilo-n-Stitch breakfast but are planning on doing this trip (we've never seen Lilo or Stitch in the parks....always missed them) & my kids love them so we're going this time. I understand it's themed tropical but not sure of what characters are there.

Everyone will have differing opinions on these meals, so remember to use these as information only. The best way to decide is to look at what characters tend to go to the meals, and match up to your kids like. That is what will make a successful meal choice.

Good luck & have fun planning !!

 

[Sherry E]

I don't have a differing opinion! I am 100% on the Goofy's Kitchen bandwagon! (Breakfast, especially.) It is my favorite of all the DLR restaurants - character meals or otherwise. The food quality and variety is excellent - there are tons of things to choose from and the food is fresh and delicious. Mickey-shaped cobbler, bananas Foster crepes, biscuits and gravy, mini-Mickey waffles, mini-muffins, mini-donuts, WONDERFUL and juicy fruit, croissants, yummy bacon, potatoes and eggs, pizza - both P, B & J and regular pepperoni pizza, chicken, lox, French toast, cinnamon rolls, etc., etc. are just some of the things you can find there for breakfast. There is a LOT more, though. Even the pickiest of eaters can be satisfied. The "regular" characters that are on site all the time at Goofy's are Chef Goofy, Baloo, Chip, Dale and Pluto, and there are rotating guest stars which can include Alice & the Mad Hatter, Belle, Aurora and the Prince, Jasmine and Aladdin, Minnie, Max, etc. Goofy's is expensive but I feel it is totally worth it. It is an all you can eat character buffet, breakfast, brunch or dinner, the quality of the food is great, and I have always had good character interaction, minus maybe two times in 16 years.

People always say that Goofy's is so chaotic and frenzied, but I have never witnessed that in all my times eating there. Sure there were times where it was busier than other times, but I never noticed anything being too unruly or tough to take. I don't have kids and neither do my friends, so if we went there and there were nothing but unruly, loud children running everywhere, we probably would not have gone back. But everything is very well handled and fun. Goofy does the Macarena with the kids at certain intervals and Baloo comes up to move his ample bottom around to the music, and the Princesses will dance too. It's cute.

If you want to see a whole lot of pictures taken at Goofy's between 1992 and 2008 to get a sense of which characters have been there over the years, go to my Trip Report - the link is in my signature below.

I have done the Storytellers character breakfast twice. The first time I was there in 2001, I think I saw Timon, Rafiki, Meeko, Baloo, Chip and Dale, and someone I am forgetting. Like another jungle cat character, I think. The second time I went there for a character meal, in 2007, it was Chip, Dale, Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear, and I think Baloo came in as we were leaving. You basically find the woodsy/jungly Disney characters there. I was not overwhlemed with the character selection nor was I with the food. The off the menu prices were too much money for the portions, I felt, and I was not bowled over with the taste of the stuff at the buffet. It was only okay to me. However, Storytellers is a nice, relaxing atmosphere, cozy and homey, and you may prefer that. I actually prefer Storytellers for the non-character meals like lunch or dinner.

I have heard that Minnie's inside DL can get crazy and unruly. I have not eaten there yet, but the character selection looks good. Some people LOVE Minnie's and other say that the food is kind of lacking.

Lots of folks rave about Lilo and Stitch (in the PCH Grill) and their coconut scones. I look forward to trying that character meal one day.

The other option for an all-Princess meal is Ariel's Grotto in DCA. Not my cup of tea because I am not into princesses, but great for little girls, I would think!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

The other option for an all-Princess meal is Ariel's Grotto in DCA. Not my cup of tea because I am not into princesses, but great for little girls, I would think!!!

Oh, I knew I forgot one:
Ariel's Grotto: The food was excellent, you order off menu. The interaction with the Princesses was very formal & you only got to see them once. When you enter, you are greeted by Ariel (with feet...) & have pics taken with her. You are then seated. Each Princess in attendance is introduced, one at a time at about a 5 min interval. They come to your table, sign autograph books & take a couple pics & then move on. It would be nice if they "lingered" after making the rounds & chatted a bit more with the kids.
But if you have kids that LOVE the princesses this meal is a must!!

 

[mrsmoore]

We just got back and had breakfast at Plaza Inn. I thought the food was good. They have an omlet bar, and my daughter loved the Mickey waffles! I loved that all the characters came to our table. We also did lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Not sure your son would like it much, but your daughter might! The food was great! I would do it again just for the food! I have to say, I liked that the way the princesses came out one at a time, and went to each table. We were the third table they visited and my daughter (3.5 years old) would not relax and eat her lunch due to being too excited! Once they were done coming out she finally ate!

We went to lunch at Storytellers with some friends, not with characters, but the food there was great!

Marsha

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

We LOVE Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast at the PCH Grill in the Paradise Pier hotel. We've eaten there 5+ times. We love the food and the character interaction is fantastic. The characters we've seen there are Lilo, Stitch, Daisy, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Max, and I think that's it?

I really enjoy the food there. It has Asian flair and they serve white rice!!

We're going to be trying the Plaza Inn with Minnie this April for my birthday and I'm very excited for that!

 

[MomofM&M]

Pretty much agree with the above comments. We had lunch at Goofy's Kitchen today for 4yo DD bday. Not as many characters as we've seen in past but always a good mix and interaction. Mostly costumed characters and always one face character. In past have seen Mulan, Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora today. Goofy clapped along as server sang a birthday song. Food was great though especially for a buffet. Loved the chocolate caramel cupcake! I think this is the best deal for food and characters.

Ate at PCH Grill last month for breakfast. Stitch was a lot of fun and kept trying to steal my 7 yo DD. He would grab her and try to drag her away. DD loved it. Food was pretty good here too. Like Goofy they had a time for dancing to music or playing games. Lilo taught the hula. This one along with Goofy's would be good for both boys and girls and would rate this one the next best.

Ariel's Grotto is great if you have a child who loves princesses. Food is hit or miss depending on what you order. My girls loved the princesses and the interaction. Not anything I would do again and again.

Storytellers Cafe has Chip, Dale, Rafiki, Kenai, Koda. The food was okay. I didn't think it was particularly spectacular although they did bring a nice big plate of Mickey waffles. Characters were nice and it was more laid back than Goofy's but my kids just didn't get into it. For how much it cost, we wouldn't want to go back.

Minnie's Kitchen had TONS of characters. They were stopping by so often it seemed there was always one at our table. I didn't know if the kids didn't eat anything cause they were so excited or the food was so bad. We had a late seating but the waffles, pancakes and croissants were all dried out. The kids had fun but the food left a lot to be desired.

Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope you have fun!

 

[erinbev]

We did Minnie's last year and had a great time! The food was good to us, but we like the breakfast-buffet style (yummmm), and we did go right after opening, so everything was fresh. Yum again. The character interaction was great! They paid a lot of special attention to the kids, but we were 2 adults and everyone came and visited us as well, sometimes more than once. Plus, the inside is beautiful! We would definitely go again. We saw Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Hook, Minnie, Chip & Dale, and the Fairy Godmother (trying to remember if we saw anyone else! that's all I remember for now).
We also liked it because of proximity. Once we were done, we were already in the park. So, if you're staying at one of the resort hotels, it might be easier for you than it was for us to get to the other breakfasts. Ideally, I'd like to try them all!

 

[labattblue]

I see the PCH Grill has the breakfast buffet and also ala carte breakfast. Are the characters just in the section where the buffet is?

 

[MemoriesintheMaking]

We had dinner at Goofy's on our last trip in October, and we loved it. There was a great selection of foods for all of us to choose from, and it was all delicious.

We really enjoyed the characters, too. If I remember correctly, we saw Goofy, of course, the Fairy Godmother, Chip and Dale, Belle, and Pluto. There may have been one more in there somewhere. And Minnie was at the entrance to take pictures with. The kids loved the pots and pans dance and the macarena dance. It was pretty loud, but a lot of fun.

On our next trip, I'd really like to take my DD to Ariel's Grotto. I think she would love all the princesses.

Have a great time!

 

[MomofM&M]

I see the PCH Grill has the breakfast buffet and also ala carte breakfast. Are the characters just in the section where the buffet is?

The restaurant is pretty small and whether you order or do buffet they will still stop at your table as far as I can tell. When I was there last month the table next to us ordered off the menu and the characters still stopped at that table. HTH!

 

[kjh73]

Pretty much agree with the above comments. We had lunch at Goofy's Kitchen today for 4yo DD bday. Not as many characters as we've seen in past but always a good mix and interaction. Mostly costumed characters and always one face character. In past have seen Mulan, Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora today. Goofy clapped along as server sang a birthday song. Food was great though especially for a buffet. Loved the chocolate caramel cupcake! I think this is the best deal for food and characters.

Ate at PCH Grill last month for breakfast. Stitch was a lot of fun and kept trying to steal my 7 yo DD. He would grab her and try to drag her away. DD loved it. Food was pretty good here too. Like Goofy they had a time for dancing to music or playing games. Lilo taught the hula. This one along with Goofy's would be good for both boys and girls and would rate this one the next best.

Ariel's Grotto is great if you have a child who loves princesses. Food is hit or miss depending on what you order. My girls loved the princesses and the interaction. Not anything I would do again and again.

Storytellers Cafe has Chip, Dale, Rafiki, Kenai, Koda. The food was okay. I didn't think it was particularly spectacular although they did bring a nice big plate of Mickey waffles. Characters were nice and it was more laid back than Goofy's but my kids just didn't get into it. For how much it cost, we wouldn't want to go back.

Minnie's Kitchen had TONS of characters. They were stopping by so often it seemed there was always one at our table. I didn't know if the kids didn't eat anything cause they were so excited or the food was so bad. We had a late seating but the waffles, pancakes and croissants were all dried out. The kids had fun but the food left a lot to be desired.

Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope you have fun!

For your meal at Goofy's did you let thme know ahead of time you were celebrating a birthay?

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I have to put my vote in for Goofys kitchen. Both DD and I love it!

We have the most wonderful character interactions there.

 

[northshoremama]

i thought goofy's was only lunch or dinner. do they have breakfast, too?

 

[Sherry E]

i thought goofy's was only lunch or dinner. do they have breakfast, too?

Oh YESSSSSS!!!!!! Breakfast is the BEST! They start seating at 7:00 a.m.!!! I prefer the breakfast selections SO much more than dinner, but brunch pretty much has the same stuff as breakfast. They close for a few hours in the afternoon to get ride of the brunch stuff and prepare for dinner, and then they open back up at maybe 5:00 p.m. or so (possibly earlier, not sure) for dinner.

J.C.andAli'sMom posted some great pictures of the Goofy's breakfast spread on the Dining thread yesterday.

Here is the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1253888&page=82

 

[northshoremama]

Oh YESSSSSS!!!!!! Breakfast is the BEST! They start seating at 7:00 a.m.!!! I prefer the breakfast selections SO much more than dinner, but brunch pretty much has the same stuff as breakfast. They close for a few hours in the afternoon to get ride of the brunch stuff and prepare for dinner, and then they open back up at maybe 5:00 p.m. or so (possibly earlier, not sure) for dinner.

J.C.andAli'sMom posted some great pictures of the Goofy's breakfast spread on the Dining thread yesterday.

Here is the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1253888&page=82

sherry, thank you so much for the information! we're definitely doing breakfast at goofy's in may! can't wait!!!! i'll check out the link, too, that you posted! we're not sure if we'll be able to make it back to DL after our May trip (before our passes expire in october - we're likely NOT to renew), so i want to do as many characters meals as we can. we did minnie and friends in december. now i want to do goofy's and ariel's since DD1 is so into princesses right now. also looking at pch grill for lilo and stitch!

 

[Sherry E]

sherry, thank you so much for the information! we're definitely doing breakfast at goofy's in may! can't wait!!!! i'll check out the link, too, that you posted! we're not sure if we'll be able to make it back to DL after our May trip (before our passes expire in october - we're likely NOT to renew), so i want to do as many characters meals as we can. we did minnie and friends in december. now i want to do goofy's and ariel's since DD1 is so into princesses right now. also looking at pch grill for lilo and stitch!

I agree - I think you should definitely get in as many character meals as you can if you are not sure when you'll be back after May. You definitely have to do the Goofy's breakfast at least once as well Ariel's since you have a Princess fan on your hands! I hear the food at Ariel's is really good and I KNOW the food at Goofy's is delicious and abundant, so I think you will have at least two great meals to look forward to!