Help with character dining

[Glynis]

Hi, everyone!

2 years ago, when we went to Disneyland last, we took our kids to lunch at Ariel's Grotto with the Princesses. Is that still an option that is available?

Also, is there a breakfast with characters at the Plaza? My father insists that there is, but I'm not sure, so I came to the experts!

If you could choose one character dining experience, what would it be and where (breakfast, lunch or dinner and at what place)

Thanks for your help!

 

[Jennifer03]

Plaza Inn offers the Minnie and Friends character breakfast. I've never been, so I don't know much about it. I personally really love Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. The food selection is really nice and the characters there are great.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Goofy's Kitchen offers brunch for breakfast/lunch & a dinner buffet. Lots of fun with a huge buffet. We make this a must every trip (once for brkfst & once for dinner)
Minnie & Friends is a great buffet for seeing the classic characters. I'm not thrilled with the buffet itself, but we go for the characters!!!
Ariel's Grotto offers breakfast (served family-style), lunch & dinner ordering off menu. This is for the princess lovers.
Lilo-n-Stitch is a small character meal with small buffet or ordering off menu. We love this one for the interaction with Lilo & Stitch. Not many characters, but a blast!!!
Storytellers offers a breakfast buffet or ordering off menu. They tend to have the jungle/animal characters. We've never been, but I've heard it is fun.

So depending on when you want to do the meal (brkfst/lunch/dinner) & what type of characters you want to see should help you decide which meal to go to.

Goofy's we've seen: Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Alice, Mad Hatter, Chip, Dale, Jasmine, Aladdin, Baloo (there are more)
Minnie's we've seen: Minnie, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Fairy Godmother, Alice, Mad Hatter, Capt Hook, Peter Pan, Rafiki, Chip, Dale, Honest John (there are more)
Lilo's we've seen: Lilo, Stitch, Daisy Duck & Minnie
Ariel's we've seen: Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora

That's just who we've seen when we've gone.....there are different characters that rotate thru these meals.

Hope that helps!!!

 

[kc10family]

Hi Glynis, nice to "see" you.
We love the Storyteller cafe for breakfast in the Grand. We find the price good and you get to stay longer then other places. It also make for a nice walk back to the park.
When are you going?

 

[Sherry E]

I agree with Jennifer03 and DizNee Luver - I also really love Goofy's Kitchen in the DLH (except I like the breakfast/brunch buffet selection, which is vast - it is the biggest selection of all the character buffets). You can regularly find Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale and Baloo there, along with anyone else from Snow White to Aurora and the Prince to Minnie to Alice and the Mad Hatter to Jasmine or Belle. YOu will find Mickey-shaped cobbler, creme brulee French toast, banana crepes, and all kinds of delicious fruits and pastries and everything you can think of. This restaurant has a lively, upbeat atmosphere.

But all the character meals are so different in theme and atmosphere that everyone has their favorites and there are definite fans of each. For example, Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn appears to have LOTS of classic characters (Captain Hook, Pooh and friends, Chip, Dale, etc.). If you time it right, from what I heard, you can catch the first 'shift' of characters who are about to go on breaks and the incoming shift of characters who relieve them. DizNee Luver was just recently there and saw 14 characters because of that shift switcheroo!

Storytellers at the GCH is a very nice restaurant - warm, earthy, cozy - and they serve a small buffet for breakfast but you can also order off the menu. They feature the woodsy/jungly Disney characters such as Chip, Dale, Meeko, Koda and Kenai, sometimes Terk, sometimes Rafiki, and anyone else who may have been ina jungle or forest movie at one time. I thought this meal was ok. It was not bad at all - it was good enough to recommend to someone else, but I just didn't care that much about Koda and Kenai and I can see Chip and Dale at Goofy's or Minnie's. They have banana French toast on the menu. This is a very quiet, relaxes environment.

Lilo and Stitch is the sort of Polynesian-themed meal in the PPH. This is another one with a buffet and a menu option of ordering. From what I hear, there are not a lot of characters there but the ones that are there spend a lot of quality time with each table. This is one of the rare places where Daisy Duck makes an appearance, along with occasionally Beach Minnie and Surfer Goofy, along with Lilo and Stitch. And they serve pineapple scones, from what I have heard.

And you have already done Ariel's Grotto so you know what that is like.

 

[kc10family]

Oh and one more thing...
Go to the PCH grill and get the "whole kitchen sink" for a meal late afternoon... walk it off going back to the park and then have light meal later.
We have made this a tradition and it is so much fun.

 

[Glynis]

Hi Glynis, nice to "see" you.
We love the Storyteller cafe for breakfast in the Grand. We find the price good and you get to stay longer then other places. It also make for a nice walk back to the park.
When are you going?

Hey, Paula! We are going to be there June 1-5. We've only ever tried Goofy's Kitchen and Ariel's Grotto. So, I'm trying to see what options are out there and then let my dad decide, since he's footing the bill.

 

[Glynis]

Oh and one more thing...
Go to the PCH grill and get the "whole kitchen sink" for a meal late afternoon... walk it off going back to the park and then have light meal later.
We have made this a tradition and it is so much fun.

What is the "whole kitchen sink?" You've piqued my interest!

 

[Glynis]

One more thing: Are the princesses still at Ariel's grotto? I heard a rumor that it was going to turn into a Tinkerbell thing. Is that just a nasty rumor?

Dad bought all 6 granddaughters princess dresses that he would like them to wear at some point, and we thought a character meal would be the best place for that. Then, they'd have the option of changing before going on any rides. Would princesses be out of place at Goofy's kitchen, or any of the other places besides Ariel's grotto?

 

[Sherry E]

One more thing: Are the princesses still at Ariel's grotto? I heard a rumor that it was going to turn into a Tinkerbell thing. Is that just a nasty rumor?

Dad bought all 6 granddaughters princess dresses that he would like them to wear at some point, and we thought a character meal would be the best place for that. Then, they'd have the option of changing before going on any rides. Would princesses be out of place at Goofy's kitchen, or any of the other places besides Ariel's grotto?

Yes, Ariel's is all Princesses, and I don't know if you saw my post above, but I stated that in addition to the regular characters at Goofy's, you can also see Jasmine, Aurora, Snow White or Belle (not all together, but sometimes two at a time; sometimes just one). So I think the girls would be perfectly fine and comfortable in Princess attire. I think I have seen some mini-princesses there myself! There are no princesses at Storytellers, so they may feel odd there, and I am not sure if any of them ever show up at Minnie and Friends but it doesn't seem like they do. I think they would be fine dressed in Princess regalia at Minnie's however.

 

[Princess Row]

We have tried all the character meals. We usually do most of them while we are there. The princess are no longer at any of the dining places except Ariels. We have seen every princess there more often then not. Goofys kitchen we eat at probably 2-3 times each trip. We do the minnies breakfast at least once in the park and it has a variety of characters. Fairy godmother, Captain hook, pooh, rabbit, tigger, eeyore, im trying to remember but my mind is drawing a blank. Storytellers and pch happen to be our least favorite so we tend to no longer go to those. Goofys kitchen i would recommend for breakfast and Ariels for dinner. If you could only pick between one, that depends on your children. Goofys kitchen sticks to more of the main characters and sometimes you can find prince Phillip and Baloo. Most of the characters you can see in the park at Goofys, however the Princess's and the characters at minnies are often harder to find. I hope this info helped feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

 

[Sherry E]

We have tried all the character meals. We usually do most of them while we are there. The princess are no longer at any of the dining places except Ariels. We have seen every princess there more often then not. Goofys kitchen we eat at probably 2-3 times each trip. We do the minnies breakfast at least once in the park and it has a variety of characters. Fairy godmother, Captain hook, pooh, rabbit, tigger, eeyore, im trying to remember but my mind is drawing a blank. Storytellers and pch happen to be our least favorite so we tend to no longer go to those. Goofys kitchen i would recommend for breakfast and Ariels for dinner. If you could only pick between one, that depends on your children. Goofys kitchen sticks to more of the main characters and sometimes you can find prince Phillip and Baloo. Most of the characters you can see in the park at Goofys, however the Princess's and the characters at minnies are often harder to find. I hope this info helped feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

The Princesses do still appear at Goofy's. They are usually not there in one big group, but usually two at a time, along with the regular characters. Sometimes only one is there. I always see at least one princess when I eat there. In fact, PrinceGrumpy (a DIS-er) just returned from Goofy's and DLR and saw Snow White there. I think it is hit or miss as to whether or not you catch a Princess at the exact time you go, but I always see at least one and they are still appearing at Goofy's! And I always see Baloo too!

Yay for Goofy's! There seem to be a lot of us Goofy's fans silently building in numbers out there! I am a 16 year (and counting) fan/guest of GK (see my TR) and will continue to eat there until they just charge too much to afford it anymore!

And I agree with you about Storytellers - I am not really gung ho on it either, as a character meal. I like it as a regular restaurant better than the character meal. I have yet to try Lilo and Stitch.

 

[kc10family]

Glynis,
it's 10 scoops of ice cream, some crunch bars, cookies, tons of whip cream, cherries, uummmm I am trying to find a pic for you and the real details. It's good.

 

[Sherry E]

Glynis,
it's 10 scoops of ice cream, some crunch bars, cookies, tons of whip cream, cherries, uummmm I am trying to find a pic for you and the real details. It's good.

WOW! That sounds mind-bending. You know something? What you just described sounds VERY similar to what I saw being served at Carnation Cafe back in September 2007. I have never seen that kind of thing at Carnation before or after that one time, but it looked like it was big enough to be about 10 scoops of ice cream. Literally. When it sailed by in a giant bowl, everyone in Carnation stopped to stare at it. The two people who ordered it could not eat it all. I assume it was not on the menu at Carnation at that time, and they certainly didn't import it from PCH Grill. So maybe it was a special request or a Magical Moment or something? Even when I asked a server about it again in December 2007, they look puzzled and had no idea what that concoction could have been, but I swear, it sounds just like what you described from PCH Grill.

 

[Glynis]

Glynis,
it's 10 scoops of ice cream, some crunch bars, cookies, tons of whip cream, cherries, uummmm I am trying to find a pic for you and the real details. It's good.

Oh, my goodness! I'm entering a sugar coma just reading about it! Sounds good!

 

[kc10family]

I have a picture some place, it's driving me nuts.
I know I saw one on here before as well, but maybe the thread/ pic was so old they took it down.
I think I will ask around, someone has to know more about it. All I know is it was yummmmmmmy and we didn't finish AND we couldn't eat much else that day.

 

[mechurchlady]

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/WJWvFyOKFQ9ikO-DH-_b_w/l
I would hotlink the picture but some people may not be able to handle all that yummy goodness.

 

[Vala]

Why did I click on the link?

Now I have to get all that drool from my keyboard.

 

[mechurchlady]

I warned you, lol. It even is shaped like a kitchen sink. You just had to go there, could not resist the temptation, lol. I cannot have it but am planning to surprise Calvin with a Matterhorn which over the years has shrunk to 4 scoops.

 

[Vala]

This looks like it would feed me for about a week.

I think we may have to substitute dinner one time.