Which Character Meals are worth it?

[scrapbunny]

So I am hoping the repairs that need to be done to our family van won't take all of our extra money I set aside for our January trip. If all goes well I was thinking of doing one of the character meals, either Minnie and Friends early on a day going to the park or one of the hotel meals when we get into town or on our way out of town. From the DisUnplugged and other reviews I'm thinking Minnie and Friends is the best bet. Would love any input

 

[Girimama33]

My favorite is Ariel's Grotto for lunch or dinner. Since you are asking about breakfast, I would choose Minnie and Friends as well.

 

[coaches24]

we have done Minnie's for Breakfast and AG for lunch. Minnie's was BY FAR the better deal. The food at AG is good no doubt but I left there feeling ripped off because the character interaction is terrible. You get a few seconds with each princess as they rush you through your meal. Next time I will wait in line at the PFF instead.

At Minnie's each character spent several minutes at our table and most came back a 2nd or 3 rd time. It's all you can eat buffet so the atmosphere is very different as well. And it's cheaper than AG. For me there isn't even a question. Minnie's over AG all day and then some.

I haven't tried the other meals but have heard both good and bad about each.

 

[pharmama]

If you're looking at breakfast, Surf's Up with Mickey at PPH is GREAT. I've done AG 3 times (I have 3girls) and agree that the character interaction is mediocre at best (and I'd say it's gotten progressively worse over the 4yr period my 3 visits spanned).

By contrast, surfs up had fantastic character interaction, Mickey (only Character meal with him guaranteed) and fun stuff during the meal too (surf lessons, dance party etc). We saw Mickey, Stitch, Minnie, Daisy and Pluto. This seems to be a pretty common list of characters for there. I highly recommend it. Food was decent enough though admittedly nothing to rave (or rant) about.

 

[chipdale74]

I love crystal palace because I grew up loving Winnie the Pooh. I also love the breakfast at the beach club

 

[sheetz]

I love crystal palace because I grew up loving Winnie the Pooh. I also love the breakfast at the beach club

I think the OP is talking about character meals in DLR.

 

[scrapbunny]

Yes I'm asking about DLR I'm a California girl that recently got AP's for my 3 kids and myself. We travel with our friends that have AP's. I think I will try Minnie and Friends and maybe surfs Up. I am on a week break so I am trying to find the cheapest options for hotel so we can hopefully do a few extras like the character breakfast

 

[dadzgirl70]

Minnie and Friends was by far the best character interaction I've had at breakfast.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We've done them all multiple times... Goofys kitchen was my least favorite, but were giving it another shot this trip... We usually do 4 of the 5 each trip. This is how I rate them: Ariel's is the best food... Plated so it isn't buffet. Surfs up is the best character interaction and a pretty decent buffet. Minnie's has the largest quantity of characters at a given meal, but my least favorite buffet. Storytellers has a great buffet, and we typically see a ton of the rarer characters, so we love that aspect. I don't think you can really go wrong... If you see characters and they aren't coming to your table say something earlier than later, they will try and remedy the situation. But it is hard to remedy if you have been there 85 of your allotted 90 minutes already.

 

[tanyaewa]

Highly recommend plaza with Minnie and surfs up.
Depends on timing. MInnies is easy.... Surfs up requires walking over to PPH.

 

[dizneekrazee]

I haven't done them all yet, really need to get crackin on that, but will tell you my opinions on the 3 I have done.
Minnie's: lots of characters, great interaction. Food isn't bad for buffet. Best part, it is in Disneyland, always a plus!!
Ariels: I hated it. Did it for lunch once, and it was horrible. The only thing I liked was that the kids food came in a sand bucket. I think that has changed, it has been 10 or 11 years since I went. I am sure it has changed, but with 3 boys, never bothered going back.
Goofy's: Only been for breakfast (doing dinner next month). Another buffet, and I like that they have latin options (ex plantains, tortillas, etc). I have never had a bad experience there, but I read about it a lot. One of our most memorable character interactions ever happened here, when my oldest DS was on one of his 1st DLR trip. He was scared of the characters, so when Goofy walked by, he hid under the table. Goofy saw that, and got underneath the table with him, until he came out. He was no longer afraid of characters!!

 

[pixiewings71]

Minnie & Friends, we enjoy the food at the buffet and we love the character interaction! Ariel's Grotto, the food is amazing and plentiful, the Princesses are gracious and we really like it there.
those are the ones we've done, we did do the PPH breakfast when it was Lilo & Stitch and it was great, but we haven't done it since Mickey came in. We haven't done Storyteller's, we prefer to eat lunch or dinner there and we had a terrible experience at Goofy's and won't be back. Characters kept walking past our table, only 3 stopped, and we weren't big fans of the food.

 

[pinktink83]

I've read varying opinions over the years, it seems like you either love it or hate it, lol. Personally, we always do Minnie & Friends. Its not a far walk and it has the more classic characters that I prefer. We love it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I think that Minnie & Friends is a great choice for breakfast. After that I would choose Ariel's for lunch because I think they put out a nice meal for lunch/dinner.

I also really like Storytellers, however, the characters are all woodsy creatures, so if the kids aren't into Terk, Rafiki, Brother Bear, etc., it might not be your cup of tea.

The last time I went to Surf's Up it was different, but still enjoyed it. The last two times I went to Goofy's Kitchen I was disappointed in the character interaction.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Minnie & Friends, we enjoy the food at the buffet and we love the character interaction! Ariel's Grotto, the food is amazing and plentiful, the Princesses are gracious and we really like it there.
those are the ones we've done, we did do the PPH breakfast when it was Lilo & Stitch and it was great, but we haven't done it since Mickey came in. We haven't done Storyteller's, we prefer to eat lunch or dinner there and we had a terrible experience at Goofy's and won't be back. Characters kept walking past our table, only 3 stopped, and we weren't big fans of the food.

Oh my gosh - you could have written my post. lol

 

[scrapbunny]

I LOVE this board! You are all so great Sounds like Minnie and Friends is the don't miss Since we love Minnie and all the Pooh characters it sounds like it will be great. Since we have AP's and stay offsite I thought it would be cool to do breakfast early on an early entry day since we could then get in early. Has anyone been during early entry?

 

[Girimama33]

I LOVE this board! You are all so great Sounds like Minnie and Friends is the don't miss Since we love Minnie and all the Pooh characters it sounds like it will be great. Since we have AP's and stay offsite I thought it would be cool to do breakfast early on an early entry day since we could then get in early. Has anyone been during early entry?

We did. The first PS is 10-15 minutes after MM starts. They let you in the same time as the MM guests with (usually) a very short wait at Gate #1.

 

[pigby]

Storytellers has a great buffet, and we typically see a ton of the rarer characters, so we love that aspect.

This sounds good to me!

Already been to Surfs Up and Goofys for breakfast and loved both . Would like to try Storytellers for dinner - do they still have characters at dinner? Is that when you went and saw the rarer characters?

Thinking of doing this on a 'down day' when we won't have park tickets (unless they suddenly restore the 6 day passes before we go which seems unlikely)

 

[PoohsFan1]

This is a great thread, I am loving all the responses . I do have a question (sorry OP, I don't mean to intrude on your thread), we are DLR newbies that will be heading there in June. My girls love to do the Character meals at WDW and they already said they want to do some when we are in DLR. I know I definitely want to do Minnie and Friends because of all the rave reviews and Storyteller's Cafe because we are staying at VGC. I think we will do Surf's Up with Mickey because we love Lilo (not so much Stitch but we will tolerate him ) and I know that that is the only character meal with Mickey. As far as Ariel's Grotto and Goofy's Kitchen are concerned, are these worth our time? I am on the fence about AG because of the reviews (heard the food is good but not the character interaction) and I am trying to decide on Goofy's because it seems like something we shouldn't miss (kind of like Chef Mickey's at WDW for a first timer). I should also mention that this will more then likely be a once in a life time trip for us to DLR, so I am trying to get the most out of the character meals. If it helps we will be going for 8 nights so we will have lots of days to do these meals and other great restaurant/QS meals . What do you guys think....should we do them all or just the ones I am definite about? Thanks for any help.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

This sounds good to me!

Already been to Surfs Up and Goofys for breakfast and loved both . Would like to try Storytellers for dinner - do they still have characters at dinner? Is that when you went and saw the rarer characters?

Thinking of doing this on a 'down day' when we won't have park tickets (unless they suddenly restore the 6 day passes before we go which seems unlikely)

The only dinner character meals are at Goofy's Kitchen and Ariel's Grotto.