which character meal to choose?

[Hoku]

Has anyone tried this (going to the Minnie character breakfast at the Plaza Inn before the park opens)? What time does this breakfast start on mornings when the park opens at 10am?

We booked the very first available time that anybody can get for the breakfast. The day we arrive, the park opens at 9am. Our ressie is for 8:40am. I'd guess, then, that the earliest ressie would be for 9:40 on that day -- as long as that time slot isn't already full.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

The rule of thumb seems to be that the first reservation at Minnie's is 10 minutes after they first open the gates for the day. So on a non-MM day when the park opens at 8 AM, does that mean the first reservation at Minnie's is 8:10?

On non-MM days when park opening is 9 AM or later, they usually open the gates 1/2 hour before official opening and let people fill up Main Street, hence the 8:40 AM and 9:40 AM reservation times for 9 AM and 10 AM openings respectively. Are these the instances when people are escorted to Minnie's since access to Minnie's would at that time be blocked by the rope?

On early entry days, the gates open one hour before official opening time, and the first available seating at Minnie's is 10 minutes after that, so 7:10 for an 8 AM official opening, 8:10 for a 9 AM official opening... I prefer to do Minnie's on a MM day when we do not otherwise have access to MM. This gives us a chance to get our day started earlier than we might otherwise.

 

[skiingfast]

The rule of thumb seems to be that the first reservation at Minnie's is 10 minutes after they first open the gates for the day. So on a non-MM day when the park opens at 8 AM, does that mean the first reservation at Minnie's is 8:10?

On non-MM days when park opening is 9 AM or later, they usually open the gates 1/2 hour before official opening and let people fill up Main Street, hence the 8:40 AM and 9:40 AM reservation times for 9 AM and 10 AM openings respectively. Are these the instances when people are escorted to Minnie's since access to Minnie's would at that time be blocked by the rope?

On early entry days, the gates open one hour before official opening time, and the first available seating at Minnie's is 10 minutes after that, so 7:10 for an 8 AM official opening, 8:10 for a 9 AM official opening... I prefer to do Minnie's on a MM day when we do not otherwise have access to MM. This gives us a chance to get our day started earlier than we might otherwise.

I think the general rule, which has held true in my experiences, is it opens 50 minutes before the general park opening. Regardless of if it's an MM day or not.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I think the general rule, which has held true in my experiences, is it opens 50 minutes before the general park opening. Regardless of if it's an MM day or not.

Really...huh...interesting. That could be kind of fun. I've never heard of being able to get a 7:10 AM reservation though on a non-MM day, even with 8 AM opening. Hoku, a couple posts back, commented that the earliest reservation offered to him on a 9 AM opening day was 8:40 AM. So was that first available at all, or first available that hadn't filled up already?

 

[Princess Row]

We visit about 3-4 times a year and ALWAYS book Minnies without a doubt.
Usually by the end of the trip we will add in one or two more just to see characters.

Minnies- Has food we find really yummy! The character interaction is WONDERFUL.
We have seen minnie, max,captainhook, white rabbit, yellow rabbit (from pooh), chip/dale, pinnochio, alice,mad hatter, pooh, tigger, eeyore, honest john?, fairy god mother, raffiki and i think I may be missing a few others.
Fairy godmother spent about 15 mins at are table with interaction since she can speak.

Storytellers- good food, awful characters IMO.

Goofys- we used to go EVERY TRIP! Then the last 2 times which was about 1-2 years ago we were put in the corner both times and had to ask for characters to come by because they constantly skipped us. (We didnt pull them away froma another table but had to ask the server)
Teh food had bugs and flys flying around it....we jsut werent impressed but we have always loved the characters BUMMER!

Ariels- we hate hate hate the food. The character interaction for young girls is great though! Better than waiting in PFF line to see 2-3 princesses.

Surfs up- We love!!!!! Love characters and food.
Great mix of everything! Since it has changed we saw characters:
Max, stitch, daisy, goofy and mickey and chip and dale I believe.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Hoku]

Hoku, a couple posts back, commented that the earliest reservation offered to him on a 9 AM opening day was 8:40 AM. So was that first available at all, or first available that hadn't filled up already?

I was pretty clear with the lady what we were looking for - first ressies possible (not merely "available"). LOL! I made double sure after they were made, that that's what we got. Those phone people, however, don't always know what they're talking about. She seemed confident, though.

Maybe it's 20-minutes early on non-MM days and 50-minutes early on MM days?? Ours is a non-MM day.

Added:
I was thinking more about your post #22. Don't they open the gates 1/2 hour early everyday but only for Main Street so you can shop before rides? In that case, your "10-minute after opening" rule would fit the experiences described here.

 

[dnamertz]

The rule of thumb seems to be that the first reservation at Minnie's is 10 minutes after they first open the gates for the day. So on a non-MM day when the park opens at 8 AM, does that mean the first reservation at Minnie's is 8:10?

On non-MM days when park opening is 9 AM or later, they usually open the gates 1/2 hour before official opening and let people fill up Main Street, hence the 8:40 AM and 9:40 AM reservation times for 9 AM and 10 AM openings respectively. Are these the instances when people are escorted to Minnie's since access to Minnie's would at that time be blocked by the rope?

On early entry days, the gates open one hour before official opening time, and the first available seating at Minnie's is 10 minutes after that, so 7:10 for an 8 AM official opening, 8:10 for a 9 AM official opening... I prefer to do Minnie's on a MM day when we do not otherwise have access to MM. This gives us a chance to get our day started earlier than we might otherwise.

Along the lines of the previous poster's comment, it seems that they don't always open the gates to let people into Main Street 30 minute early. If that is true, how would they be able to give out reservations earlier for days when they open the gates 30 minutes early? Do they know well in advance which days they are going to open the gates eary?

I really want to do the Minnie breakfast because it has the best mix of characters that I think my 5 year old daughter would like (Goofy's has that too, but I've read too many recent comments about how the character interaction has not been good lately). However, I don't want to use up valuable morning park hours at a restaurant when we could be on rides during the 1st hour the park is open. Plus, we'll be there when the park opens at 10am...if 9:40am seems kind of late for the 1st breakfast reservation of the day. Seems like they would offer something earler than that...but I guess thats not easy when the park is not open yet.

Our final day will be a Friday, when the park opens at 8am. Maybe we could consider a late breakfast, around 10:30 after we've been in the park for a couple hours.

 

[perlster]

How do you get in if the park is not open yet?

 

[grandmah]

Our trip is in May 2012 with our children and grandchildren arriving at John Wayne airport at 11:50am. We can't get into our rental until 3 and it was suggested we go from the airport to Goofy's Kitchen for lunch but I don't see lunch times on the website only brunch that ends at 1:00 and then dinner at 5:00. Is there no lunch or is there a lunch menu? Thanks

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Our trip is in May 2012 with our children and grandchildren arriving at John Wayne airport at 11:50am. We can't get into our rental until 3 and it was suggested we go from the airport to Goofy's Kitchen for lunch but I don't see lunch times on the website only brunch that ends at 1:00 and then dinner at 5:00. Is there no lunch or is there a lunch menu? Thanks

I don't believe Goofy's serves lunch. There is breakfast/brunch and dinner. Breakfast is 7 AM - noon or 1 PM. On weekends, it's 7 AM - 2 PM. Dinner starts at 5 PM everyday.

 

[evandmp]

Ariel's grotto is both my 4 year old daughters and 7 year old sons favorite restaurant. My 7 year old loves the food and he does not like characters but the princesses he's okay with. My 4 year old loves the food (and she is very picky but with all the variety she eats a good amount) and she likes looking at all the princess pictures when we get home.

I do have to say though that we went to Ariel's Grotto this weekend and somethings have changed. For one, even if you have a reservation for a certain time, you are not guaranteed to be seated or even downstairs for the opening ceremony and the entrance of the princesses. We were the 5th family to get there for the 2:20pm seating and we were upstairs waiting for a table to open while the ceremony was going on and Aurora entrence in the room. I got a little sad standing upstairs listening to it all going on downstairs and knowing we were missing it. For the $$$ and the fact we had a reservation, I wanted my daughter to get the full experience. The anticipation of seeing which princess comes out and seeing her reaction is something we look forward too. When we were seated everything was a bit rushed. You could tell they want you fed and out as quick as possible. I did not get that vibe the last two times we were there. I do have to say though that our server was nice and the food was great. A couple of the princess were in a rush but Cinderella and Snow White were awesome. I still would eat there but I would ask ahead of time whether the seating is all over the place and you get to see whatever you see or if this Sunday was a fluke and you get to see the whole show/ princesses.