Character Meals Super Thread!!

[DizNee Luver]

One thing I'd add is maybe tips for the first time character meal goer?

We went to Goofy's Kitchen last year with a 5 pm reservation. We showed up at 4:55 and there was a long line to get in. We couldn't just go in- everyone had to stand with goofy and get a photo. By the time we were sitting it was 5:30!

I never knew that I should get there early. I wish we had gone earlier. I also didn't know that I would need things to keep our 2 year old entertained while we waited. This year, I plan on going much earlier,since it will be important for us to be sitting at 5. (dealing with time change)

Also, tips on hours and best/worst times. (ie. optimal last time reservation if you want to eat and see characters)

Thanks for putting this together it will definitely be easier for people new to character meals to navigate!

Great Idea!!! That's what great about this type of thread, the info will continue to come in & everything will be at the readers fingertips!! Will work on tips!! Thank You!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Wow, thank you for this awesome thread . We are in the very early stages of planning out our first ever DLR vacation for next June. The one thing that my family loves to do is character meals and this thread has really helped me out with that. When we are in WDW, we always do at least 1 character meal a day (we are usually there for more than a week). I am thinking with our DLR vacation we will be wanting to do all of the character meals...we prefer breakfast character meals over dinner, but we would be happy to adjust for the Princess meal .

 

[larina]

GK May 2011:

Surf's Up May 2011:

Plaza Inn, Christmas Eve 2011:

Surf's Up, Christmas Day 2011:

Storyteller's, Dec 2011:

and my daughter's favorite character of the day!:

 

[silence]

We have done all 5 character meals (though, last time at PPH we did it as Lilo and Stitch not Mickey and friends ).

My TIPS: Make sure the kids are sitting on the side of the table with easy access to the characters. It also helps to have them sitting next to each other if they can stand it At Goofy's, they have chairs w/ and w/o arms. My DD was in a chair with arms at first and it was very difficult for her to get out to stand up and take pics. They switched it out for us no problem. Also be mindful of the light, since they all seem to have lots of windows, this will affect your pics!

Anyways, last week we did Minnie's and Goofy's. We did not make PS before our trip. We don't like to over plan. We called Disney Dining on Monday for Minnie's Tues. morning and Tuesday night for Goofy's on Weds. morning. We have had a few really bad experiences at Goofy's, with either no or only 1 character making it to our table after 90 min. These experiences happened during dinner, we swore we would not go back. Since we were staying at the DLH, we decided to give brunch another try.

Goofy's redeemed themselves in our eyes this past meal. We had great character interaction, we love the additional food choices for brunch, plus, as an added bonus, we got to sit a table away from Jennette McCurdy (Sam from iCarly). She was there with a friend, took some pics with the characters, even signed a couple of autographs for girls that came up to their table (we did not, though my daughter would have loved too). We had a 10:40 reservation on Wednesday and there were many tables open.


IMG_0130 by silencerobinson, on Flickr


IMG_0128 by silencerobinson, on Flickr

We did Minnie's in the park on Tuesday with an 8:30am reservation time. There was no wait to get in. We like this restaurant the best, we have never had any issues here and usually eat here every trip. We like the food (DH can get biscuits and gravy) and we always see a ton of characters. Minnie is also DD favorite. (seen below in her Minnie inspired skirt made by her great grandma)

IMG_0075 by silencerobinson, on Flickr


IMG_0079 by silencerobinson, on Flickr

 

[Sherry E]

...
and my daughter's favorite character of the day!:

larina -

Great photos! I got to your final photo first and was scrolling up, instead of the other way around, and I said out loud (to no one but myself), "What is Travis Barker doing at their character meal?"

So Travis was eating there too, when you all were there? How cool! I never see anyone good at my character meals - other than characters. I hear that he is at DLR a lot with his kids.

 

[disneygal6568]

Okay so for my vacation we can only pick one character meal. We have an 11 yr old and a 3 yr old girl in our party along with 2 adults. This is our first time in Disneyland but we have been to WDW numerous times.

1.Is Surf's Up with Mickey and Friends like Chef Mickey's
2. If you could only pick one character meal, which one would you pick and why?
3. What should MY group pick?

 

[DizNee Luver]

Wow, thank you for this awesome thread . We are in the very early stages of planning out our first ever DLR vacation for next June. The one thing that my family loves to do is character meals and this thread has really helped me out with that. When we are in WDW, we always do at least 1 character meal a day (we are usually there for more than a week). I am thinking with our DLR vacation we will be wanting to do all of the character meals...we prefer breakfast character meals over dinner, but we would be happy to adjust for the Princess meal .

I'm glad you are finding information here to help you plan. We loved doing all the meals!! You can do the Princess one as a breakfast as well!!

pics

Thank you for sharing all those wonderful photos!!

We have done all 5 character meals (though, last time at PPH we did it as Lilo and Stitch not Mickey and friends ).

My TIPS: Make sure the kids are sitting on the side of the table with easy access to the characters. It also helps to have them sitting next to each other if they can stand it At Goofy's, they have chairs w/ and w/o arms. My DD was in a chair with arms at first and it was very difficult for her to get out to stand up and take pics. They switched it out for us no problem. Also be mindful of the light, since they all seem to have lots of windows, this will affect your pics!

Anyways, last week we did Minnie's and Goofy's. We did not make PS before our trip. We don't like to over plan. We called Disney Dining on Monday for Minnie's Tues. morning and Tuesday night for Goofy's on Weds. morning. We have had a few really bad experiences at Goofy's, with either no or only 1 character making it to our table after 90 min. These experiences happened during dinner, we swore we would not go back. Since we were staying at the DLH, we decided to give brunch another try.

Goofy's redeemed themselves in our eyes this past meal. We had great character interaction, we love the additional food choices for brunch, plus, as an added bonus, we got to sit a table away from Jennette McCurdy (Sam from iCarly). She was there with a friend, took some pics with the characters, even signed a couple of autographs for girls that came up to their table (we did not, though my daughter would have loved too). We had a 10:40 reservation on Wednesday and there were many tables open.

We did Minnie's in the park on Tuesday with an 8:30am reservation time. There was no wait to get in. We like this restaurant the best, we have never had any issues here and usually eat here every trip. We like the food (DH can get biscuits and gravy) and we always see a ton of characters. Minnie is also DD favorite. (seen below in her Minnie inspired skirt made by her great grandma)

I remember doing the Lilo & Stitch meal.......it was just as fun as the new Surf's Up with Mickey meal!!

Thank you for your tips!!

Thank you for your mini reviews & photos!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

larina -

Great photos! I got to your final photo first and was scrolling up, instead of the other way around, and I said out loud (to no one but myself), "What is Travis Barker doing at their character meal?"

So Travis was eating there too, when you all were there? How cool! I never see anyone good at my character meals - other than characters. I hear that he is at DLR a lot with his kids.

I guess I skipped right past the Travis Barker pic!!! NICE!!

Okay so for my vacation we can only pick one character meal. We have an 11 yr old and a 3 yr old girl in our party along with 2 adults. This is our first time in Disneyland but we have been to WDW numerous times.

1.Is Surf's Up with Mickey and Friends like Chef Mickey's
2. If you could only pick one character meal, which one would you pick and why?
3. What should MY group pick?

Well, I've never been to WDW.....but have been planning our December trip for 6months now. We are planning on doing 9 character meals.....so from everything I've seen & read about Chef Mickey's......Goofy's Kitchen is going to be the closest to that meal.

Surf's Up with Mickey wouldn't not be comparable to Chef Mickey's but probably closer to Ohana's with Lilo and Stitch.

My go to used to be Goofy's Kitchen....but I have twin autistic girls and it's just too loud there. So my family has fallen in love with the Surf's Up meal. This is the only meal with Mickey. This is also the only meal Stitch appears. So if you've ever been to a meal with Stitch....you know that his antics keep the kids laughing. They also do fun things with the kids: surfing, hula hoops, dancing with the characters, etc. Just a really fun meal for kids of all ages.

I think the best choice for your family is the one with the characters your kids are most interested in seeing. The food is pretty even across the board....so it's who you're wanting to see that will make your decision easier.

 

[teachU2]

Yay! Thanks for making the superthread! So many people ask questions about character dining! Hopefully, this will decrease the amount people have to type answering the same questions over and over.

Here's my review:
I posted this on another thread.
We were at Minnie's at 7:10 (first reservation) last Thursday. We saw Minnie, Daisy, Chip, Dale, Max, Tigger, Eeyore, Rafiki, and Capt. Hook...and maybe one other...The character interaction was great. Actually, it was hard to eat, b/c the characters were always stopping by. We had several visits by each character. They had little Mickey waffles, French toast, omelete station, eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, pastries (the pound cake was dry), muffins, fruit (strawberries, grapes, pineapple and honeydew) and drinks (juices, coffee, tea, milk, and hot cocoa). Did we eat enough food to justify the cost? No way! But you're paying for the experienice. It was fun. We took lots of pictures and got lots of autographs all in one air conditioned place.

We used our PhotoPass + card and received the printed picture package for free plus the pictures were placed digitally on our pass. Our pictures were taken on the porch right when we arrived. Poses: family and one with my son alone and the "magical" balloons were added to it. They are no PhotoPass photogs inside so you take your own pictures with the characters.

Forgot to add this tip. We had 5 day Park Hoppers so we had one MM. We used our MM on Tuesday for rides. Purposefully, I made our Minnie reservation for Thursday (another MM.) As noted above, our reservation was at 7:10 so we were able to enter park early for b-fast even though we didn't have MM that day. We finished with characters and b-fast by 7:50ish so we had a little head start on the people who were in line for rope drop.
If you are entering early, be sure to keep walking all the way to the left end...further than you think...that is where you'll see the special gate for Minnie's b-fast. (I hope all that made sense!)

 

[DizNee Luver]

Forgot to add this tip. We had 5 day Park Hoppers so we had one MM. We used our MM on Tuesday for rides. Purposefully, I made our Minnie reservation for Thursday (another MM.) As noted above, our reservation was at 7:10 so we were able to enter park early for b-fast even though we didn't have MM that day. We finished with characters and b-fast by 7:50ish so we had a little head start on the people who were in line for rope drop.
If you are entering early, be sure to keep walking all the way to the left end...further than you think...that is where you'll see the special gate for Minnie's b-fast. (I hope all that made sense!)

I added this tip on the front page!! It's gates 1 & 2 that have the CM's ready to check you in!!

 

[ballarinamom]

Can anyone post the times for Minnie and Friends for breakfast?

 

[DizNee Luver]

Can anyone post the times for Minnie and Friends for breakfast?

I've been trying to locate it, but hoping someone has been recently to know the correct info!!

 

[ballarinamom]

Thanks so much!!! Love the thread!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Thanks so much!!! Love the thread!

My best guess is 7am to around 11 or 11:30am. I know somebody here must know for sure!!

 

[Jkpark]

Goofy's Kitchen review. By way of background, we have done Minnie's, Surf's Up, Storyteller's and lunch at Ariel's. It has been 3 years since we had eaten at Goofy's Kitchen and my girls are really into the Jungle Book - so I booked this in hopes of seeing Baloo. I called about times and because it is "brunch" you could eat later. I thought this was great so we could hit the parks in the morning and then come back. We had a noon reservation (I think they said they took reservations until 1 or 2).

We arrived 5 minutes before noon but were in a long check in line (20 minutes) and after pics with Goofy had about another 10 minutes before we were seated. Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Mulan, Cinderella and Baloo were all there. Mulan spent a lot of times with the girls but they saw Baloo in the other section so they weren't very interested in Mulan. They chatted up Baloo and he was great. Other than that I was very disappointed in the interaction and the food. We were there over an hour and there was no "show" as others have mentioned (and I recall from prior visits). The characters and servers made us feel like we were keeping them from something. Cinderella actually came to our table and said she had to leave but at least wanted to say hi, grabbed their books and signed them, took a quick photo and was gone. I did see her later at other tables - maybe a potty break? The food also seemed like they weren't used to serving people past noon. Most foods had hardened from sitting under the heat lamps for so long. The kids' mac-n-cheese was still very yummy and the ice cream with all those toppings was excellent. It was seriously the strangest character breakfast I have experienced. It may have been the time of day, or just the day in general, but I won't be going back there anytime soon, and it scared me from making later reservations at character buffets. As previously stated, you are paying more for the characters than the food, and I left disappointed.

 

[isisisme]

I just want to add that you can email for your Priority Seating at dine@disneyland.com

Email them the restaurant, date, time preference, and number in your party.

I have done this while in the park for the next day. It was great since we did not know if we wanted to eat certain places.

 

[kswm30b]

So excited for this thread! As you can tell from my signature, meeting characters is my fav thing to do at Disney. I'm going to Disneyland for the first time ever in December, and I'm trying to decide which character meals to do. The hardest part is that most are breakfast only (not planning on doing Ariel's), and there are days I want to get to DCA at rope drop for Carsland...but I only have so many days during the trip! I'm sure I'll be back later with questions, so thanks again for the thread!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Goofy's Kitchen review. By way of background, we have done Minnie's, Surf's Up, Storyteller's and lunch at Ariel's. It has been 3 years since we had eaten at Goofy's Kitchen and my girls are really into the Jungle Book - so I booked this in hopes of seeing Baloo. I called about times and because it is "brunch" you could eat later. I thought this was great so we could hit the parks in the morning and then come back. We had a noon reservation (I think they said they took reservations until 1 or 2).

We arrived 5 minutes before noon but were in a long check in line (20 minutes) and after pics with Goofy had about another 10 minutes before we were seated. Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Mulan, Cinderella and Baloo were all there. Mulan spent a lot of times with the girls but they saw Baloo in the other section so they weren't very interested in Mulan. They chatted up Baloo and he was great. Other than that I was very disappointed in the interaction and the food. We were there over an hour and there was no "show" as others have mentioned (and I recall from prior visits). The characters and servers made us feel like we were keeping them from something. Cinderella actually came to our table and said she had to leave but at least wanted to say hi, grabbed their books and signed them, took a quick photo and was gone. I did see her later at other tables - maybe a potty break? The food also seemed like they weren't used to serving people past noon. Most foods had hardened from sitting under the heat lamps for so long. The kids' mac-n-cheese was still very yummy and the ice cream with all those toppings was excellent. It was seriously the strangest character breakfast I have experienced. It may have been the time of day, or just the day in general, but I won't be going back there anytime soon, and it scared me from making later reservations at character buffets. As previously stated, you are paying more for the characters than the food, and I left disappointed.

Thank you for sharing. Our last time (as a family) we experienced the same sort of thing. The character interaction was not good (and usually it was). We had to almost tackle Goofy & Dale to get them to stop long enough for a picture.....even Baloo was quick to come and go.

I really advise people to to avoid almost empty containers of food at buffets & inquire with the cooks, if there is a new one coming out soon. You know it's been there a while & I'd prefer to get hot food pretty close to the time it comes out on the buffet lines. You don't always have a choice....but if it isn't looking "right" or it's the last one or two (or last cup or two)....I tend to avoid it & ask if more is coming out. I've never had a problem with illness at Disney, but why chance it!! Usually, they're very careful with things like that....so some times you just end up on an "OFF" day. The food usually is pretty good here.

My last trip to Goofy's was totally opposite, we had plenty of character interaction...in fact, I found it hard to eat my breakfast!! lol

 

[DizNee Luver]

I just want to add that you can email for your Priority Seating at dine@disneyland.com

Email them the restaurant, date, time preference, and number in your party.

I have done this while in the park for the next day. It was great since we did not know if we wanted to eat certain places.

Thank you for this info, I will add it to the front page!!!

So excited for this thread! As you can tell from my signature, meeting characters is my fav thing to do at Disney. I'm going to Disneyland for the first time ever in December, and I'm trying to decide which character meals to do. The hardest part is that most are breakfast only (not planning on doing Ariel's), and there are days I want to get to DCA at rope drop for Carsland...but I only have so many days during the trip! I'm sure I'll be back later with questions, so thanks again for the thread!

We'll be here to help!! Yes, most of these meals are breakfast....but you could hit Goofy's closer to lunch time so you can get those first few hours in the parks. Goofy's also offers a dinner option.

We've gone & done Magic Mornings and then headed off to a character meal mid-morning. We found hitting Minnie & Friends around 9:30am is a great time. This was when we had 11 characters at our table.......you had the characters leaving and new characters coming on to finish the breakfast. We still were able to take advantage of the early entry to do most of Fantasyland and get fastpasses before stopping for breakfast.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Thank you so much for doing this! We are going to our first character meal soon at Goofy's at 7:30am on a Sat, a non park day and the day we leave. Even though I would have liked to have one day to sleep in, it seems like 7:30am was a good choice based on what others have said. The food should be fresh and new. It is just DH and I and no kids with us so I will be able to write a little review when we get back on how it was for adults. A few quick pictures with the characters would be nice, but we don't need to spend a long time with them. It should be interesting though!