If you could only pick one character meal:

[DnA2010]

Which one would you pick?

We are heading to Walt’s place Feb 23-25, leaving am of 26th... this will be DD6’s first trip- we hadn’t booked a character meal, however are thinking maybe now we should do one- we are 3- my DH and DD6 and I…I have reserved the picnics for the 24th…we are hoping to do the fireworks and/or Fantasmic on the 25th…we know we will have other trips, but as DD’s first we are trying to figure out what to do and what to leave for another trip..
DH and I have been to DL but haven’t done a Character Meal…there are far too many choices for a 3 day trip!

So would you choose a character meal for a first trip, and if so which one? DD isn’t partial to any particular character (other than Tiana but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t do any Character Meals) or should we just wing it for this trip- I have booked a reservation at Café Orleans and at Carnation Café, but we could do a character instead??

Help please!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I posted this on a different thread.....hope this helps:

It depends on who your kids would like to see....that is what I would base which meal on:

Goofy's Kitchen has Goofy & Pluto regularly & we've also seen Chip, Dale, Baloo, Minnie, Alice, Brer Fox, Jasmine & Aladdin. Huge buffet!

Minnie's & Friends has Minnie. We've also seen: Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Capt Hook, Peter Pan, Alice, Chip, Dale, Rafiki, Honest John, Max & Fairy Godmother. Decent sized buffet!

Surf's Up with Mickey: Mickey is the host & we've also seen: Minnie, Goofy, Pluto & Stitch. The buffet offers some different foods not seen at the other buffets.

Storyteller's with Chip & Dale.....has Chip, Dale & some of their furry friends. We've seen: Meeko, Kenai, Rafiki & Brer Fox. They have a buffet of order off menu.

Ariel's Grotto: This is the princess meal. You meet Ariel when you get downstairs & then see 4 more princesses during your meal. The meal is served family style.

All great choices!!

Call Disney Dining 714-781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your trip.

 

[DnA2010]

Thanks for the comment

I guess what I would like to hear about are personal favorites as we aren't partial to any characters- it would just be the overall experience

 

[ladeeesquire]

We've only done Ariel's for lunch--my dd is a princess fan. I found the experience to be quite good. We were seated on time. The food was fresh, tasty and very plentiful. They brought a dessert plate for the two of us that seemed like it would have been for 4 people. The service was very good, I never felt rushed and there's a bathroom conveniently located (don't laugh, I have a toddler and this has not always been the case). The dining room itself is attractive. We sat by the window overlooking the water and dd could see the ferris wheel which she enjoyed.

The character interaction (except with belle who spent a lot of time with my dd --she was dressed like belle post bbb and it was her birthday) was brief but in my limited experience they all are. We did several character meals at wdw and found it to be about the same. Its ariel for the main greeting then 4 more princesses. I think we saw belle, aurora, snowie and maybe cindy. None of the more modern princesses like jasmine, pocahantas, tiana or mulan were there the day we visited but I think that might be common.

I'd recommend it to others whose kids like princesses!

one thing to consider is that I think goofy's kitches is still displaced and some have been unhappy with that. We're going to try that one after they move back to their permanent location.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

Minnie & Friends at the Plaza Inn. The best characters and most interaction.

 

[marcemc]

I posted this on a different thread.....hope this helps:

It depends on who your kids would like to see....that is what I would base which meal on:

Goofy's Kitchen has Goofy & Pluto regularly & we've also seen Chip, Dale, Baloo, Minnie, Alice, Brer Fox, Jasmine & Aladdin. Huge buffet!

Call Disney Dining 714-781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your trip.

Also on Goofy's: Cinderella, Mad Hatter & Sleeping Beauty!

You get to dance with Goofy, it's pretty cute.

 

[ykmom]

We did the plaza inn and storytellers on our past trip. The character interaction was great at both. The food was better at Storytellers.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

Minnies is our favorite plus its in disneyland we have done them all except storytellers.

 

[aidan04]

We did Goofy’s and Minnie’s this year. I thought the character interaction was better at Goofy’s Kitchen. There was more room to move around so they played with our boys and stayed at the table for quite a while. Minnie’s was much more crowed and the each interaction was brief. I also found that people did not wait for the characters to approach their table at Minnie’s. We had a hard time getting photos because people just walked up with an autograph book when we were trying to take a picture. I wanted to like Minnie’s because it is in the park (much more convenient) and a bit cheaper but Goofy’s Kitchen won.

 

[DahliaRW]

I posted this on a different thread.....hope this helps:

It depends on who your kids would like to see....that is what I would base which meal on:

Goofy's Kitchen has Goofy & Pluto regularly & we've also seen Chip, Dale, Baloo, Minnie, Alice, Brer Fox, Jasmine & Aladdin. Huge buffet!

Minnie's & Friends has Minnie. We've also seen: Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Capt Hook, Peter Pan, Alice, Chip, Dale, Rafiki, Honest John, Max & Fairy Godmother. Decent sized buffet!

Surf's Up with Mickey: Mickey is the host & we've also seen: Minnie, Goofy, Pluto & Stitch. The buffet offers some different foods not seen at the other buffets.

Storyteller's with Chip & Dale.....has Chip, Dale & some of their furry friends. We've seen: Meeko, Kenai, Rafiki & Brer Fox. They have a buffet of order off menu.

Ariel's Grotto: This is the princess meal. You meet Ariel when you get downstairs & then see 4 more princesses during your meal. The meal is served family style.

All great choices!!

Call Disney Dining 714-781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your trip.

Add Daisy to the Surf's Up breakfast!

Do you have time to do a breakfast your last day before you leave in the AM? If so I would do that, at either Goofy's or PCH Grill, and then you don't miss any park time doing a character breakfast.

We ate at Surf's Up (PCH Grill) our last trip and it was FANTASTIC. It was small, and my kids spent 75% of the time playing with the characters. They did surf and dance lessons every half hour or so. In between the characters got out hula hoops and played games with my kids. They also came around to the table a lot. Pluto got my dd (1 1/2) to not be afraid of characters. She went from crying when seeing them to hugging pluto in under 1 1/2 hours (he was really good at staying back doing funny antics to get her to smile and laugh and she warmed up really quick). The food was really good too. And when we went it wasn't crowded at all. Our server was very friendly and attentive, refilling drinks and such.

We chose Surf's Up because at the time Goofy's Kitchen was under renovation and moved to the ballroom. I'm very glad we did Surf's Up though because the character interaction was the best I've ever seen at a character breakfast and that was a huge deal for my kids.

 

[Muppetmama]

Tiana is the easiest princess to see. she does several shows with meet and greets daily in new orleans square.

the princess meal is incredibly overpriced and i am always disappointed by the food.

we like surf's up because it is the only place to see daisy and stitch.

but our favorite is minnie's breakfast. its yummy! dont miss the mickey waffles and the sausage is like no other. plus you can book a reservation for before the park opens, go to the special gate just for minnies breakfast, and walk down main street before anyone else is let in. have breakfast and then you are all ready to jump on the rides!

 

[jitterbug]

one thing to consider is that I think goofy's kitches is still displaced and some have been unhappy with that. We're going to try that one after they move back to their permanent location.

Just wanted to report that Goofy's Kitchen is back in original location. I hadn't been before, so don't know if anything was different.

We did both Minnie's and Goofy's. We liked both. Minnie's had a lot of characters and since that was our DD's first trip, seeing everyone come by and sign her book was such a treat. I also noticed that a couple of candid pictures (at the table) were on our photopass, so that was nice too.

At Goofy's, although there weren't as many characters as Minnie's, some (not all) of the characters seemed to come back around more often and actually stay at the table longer for some interaction. It was nice for my DS, who at 15 months was scared of the characters. It wasn't till towards the end of our meal at Goofy's that he started to warm up to Dale and then had some really cute interactions. Goofy's had more food selections, more brunch I'd say than solely breakfast items. We did Goofy's on the day we were flying out, since we didn't need park admission. Thought it was a nice way to prolong the magic.

 

[babyruth]

Is Goofy's the only restaurant that does Character lunch/dinner instead of just breakfast?

 

[Disney Dider]

Goofy's is my favorite. Minnie's also had a lot of characters and interaction, however to get your food you have to stand in line. This is not the case at Goofy's. I was standing in line so much that I missed most of my sons interaction with the characters. I wont do Minnie's again.

 

[rmom]

We have done Goofy's and I did Minnies when I was there by myself (2 day trip using an AP - only way to get in DL early).

We really like Goofy's. The food and selection is good. We really like the interaction especially the activities Goofy's does with the kids. It is nice to have an activity instead of just the character coming to the table. It is a nice break from the ratrace in the parks. We have done breakfast and dinner. We always get our reservation for when they open.

Minnie's food was just ok and not something I would do again if I was going for the food. The characters were great and came around often. There was almost no one there so I got some great pictures of the character together for my daughters. I used my annual pass so eating at Minnies was the only way I could get into the park early.

Have a great trip!

 

[Briarrose1306]

I would definitely recommend Goofy's Kitchen. Granted, I haven't done Ariel's or Chip & Dale's, but I think the food is the best at Goofy's along with the great character interaction you get. I think it's also an added bonus that you get some characters that are harder to get to than others. I waited in the PFF line for almost 2 hours for Sleeping Beauty, but then got some real qt with her at Goofy's. While the character amount at Minnie's was great, the food was not and a lot of these characters are one's you can find standing out and around DL. I've wanted to do Ariel's, but every time I look at the menu and cost I change my mind, plus I've heard the food isn't worth the price. GL and enjoy your trip!

 

[blackjackdelta]

I would definitely recommend Goofy's Kitchen. Granted, I haven't done Ariel's or Chip & Dale's, but I think the food is the best at Goofy's along with the great character interaction you get. I think it's also an added bonus that you get some characters that are harder to get to than others. I waited in the PFF line for almost 2 hours for Sleeping Beauty, but then got some real qt with her at Goofy's. While the character amount at Minnie's was great, the food was not and a lot of these characters are one's you can find standing out and around DL. I've wanted to do Ariel's, but every time I look at the menu and cost I change my mind, plus I've heard the food isn't worth the price. GL and enjoy your trip!

Welcome to the board. We like GK better than the others. Really never had a good meal at Storytellers(not sure why). We love to strat our day with a GK breakfast. Last time we were there, we had 9 characters to visit with multi[le times

Jack

 

[TheColtonsMom]

On my Christmas trip report I have reviews of 4 character meals as we went all out for our DS6 first trip we did all but Ariel's.

Our reviews of Goofy's, Minnie's & Storytellers are already on my TR and Mickey's should be there in a day or two.

Our favorite was Mickey's surfs up just for the amount of interaction your kids will get with the characters plus they usually have multiples on the top 6 according to my son these are Mickey & Minnie, Donald & Daisy, Pluto & Goofy

At our surfs up breakfast we saw 3 of these Mickey, Daisy & Pluto and I know Goofy appears there too on occasion. Stitch is there quite alot as well. Their buffet has more options than the others we went to and more items cooked to order as well.

 

[summer0407]

Would Minnie's at the Plaza Inn be good for a boy as well? We will be at DL for my son's 7th birthday. I was thinking of doing a breakfast on his actual birthday. We have done Goofy's twice and would like to do something new. We will also have our 3 year old daughter but kind of want to make sure it's not to girlie if that makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Ariels for breakfast is fun because you can be in the park before it opens to everyone else!

I also like breakfast at Storytellers Cafe... The characters are kinda blaaa, but the food is awesome! Also you can do buffet or order off the menu!