character meal?

[gkeep]

Yet another character meal ? - I am thinking we would like to try Goofy's on our trip in January. I have been reading up on the meals, but still have a few questions. I see that it goes until 2:00pm. I would think we would prefer a late lunch - but is that a good time to see characters? When would be the best time to have less crowds and better character interaction? ( we are not early birds). I was wondering if like 10 am or 11 am would be better than 1:00pm, etc.

Also - what is the cost?
Also wondering how late the character breakfast goes at the Plaza? Thanks!

[potterphreak]

I have been to the Character Breakfast at the Plaza Inn 3 years in a row (twice was Pooh, once was Princess) and I loved it!! Went to Goofy's Kitchen in November (we had a 10:40am priority seating) and it was NASTY. The food was cold, hard and tasteless (what DID have taste just tasted bad) and we saw 3 characters. Cost was $80 something for 2 adults and 2 children. NOT worth it! For my January trip, I am going to try Ariel's Grotto at DCA. Hope that helped a little. But then again, I have only heard bad things about the Plaza Inn buffet and we have never had a bad experience there, LOL. Go figure!

[cakimmy]

Never had a bad experience at goofy's kitchen and have been there several times (but the food is really good at Ariel's grotto). I think the characters rotate fairly good so no matter what time you go you should have good character interaction. We are going for my dd's 1st bday tomorrow night.

As for prices:

Brunch is $27.25 for adults and $14.86 for kids ages 3-11. (that price includes tip and tax).

Dinner is $35.92 for adults and $14.86 for kids.

Also, if you have an annual pass then you get a discount there. You also get a 10% discount if you are a member of AAA.

[Walt'sbirthdaygirl]

I've been to Goofy's kitchen a couple of times, the food was okay and depending on your seats, the charactre interaction ranged from fair to fabulous. Next week we are trying out Ariel's with the princesses, went once before with Mickey and Minnie and the food was pretty good.

[DisneyLynn]

As for prices:

Brunch is $27.25 for adults and $14.86 for kids ages 3-11. (that price includes tip and tax).

Dinner is $35.92 for adults and $14.86 for kids.

Also, if you have an annual pass then you get a discount there. You also get a 10% discount if you are a member of AAA.

Which character dining are these prices for??? We did dinner at Ariel's Grotto last Sept. I thought it was more like $23 for adults/$13 for kids and that included soup or salad, entree and dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage. I had the pasta which was great, reminded me of the pasta dish they used to have at Carnation Cafe. I can't remember what my husband had that night, but I remember us both liking the food. My daughter had the chicken mickey nuggetts, which are the same as any kid's meal in the park. Also, we sat outside on the patio, by the water just as the sun was setting and the lights were starting to come on. It's also nice to be able to order a glass of wine with dinner.

As far as the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto, the night we were there, there were 6 princesses and they told me there was always at least 5. They all come to your table but they only stay for a few minutes. My daughter loved it!

[gkeep]

Thanks for the info! We actually did lunch at Ariel's grotto last time we went in October 04 and wanted to try something else for fun. The experience was great! I thought the food was ok to good there. Though we were inside and I thought it was really noisey and kindof gave me a headache - outside would have been better. the character interaction was pretty good. We have some adorable pictures of Pluto licking the kids' heads. they had ariel and a wide variety of other characters when we went. I think that I would prefer mostly non-princess characters this time - as we see all the princesses in the park and I have son, too.

So I guess I still have to figure out if I should do Goofy or Plaza. I like the idea of being in the Park for the Plaza, but it ends earlier, and I have read more + stuff about Goofy.

Thanks all!

[gkeep]

depending on your seats, the charactre interaction ranged from fair to fabulous.

What seats are the best? How is seating handled - do you have any say? Thanks!

[MammaSilva]

I think it depends on your party size and the PS time, whatever you do MAKE PS's for those meals as soon as you've figured out what you want to do. I did that for the first time ever this last trip and won't EVER go to the park without them again. We walked up to the Carnation and there was a HUGE long line, gave them our name and we were seated in less than 5 minutes. People glared at us .. sorry folks (not really...research is your friend) for the Plaza the standby line was unreal, it wrapped around into Tomorrowland, even with our PS it took us about 10/15 minutes give or take and we were seated outside. I'd have prefered inside for a lot of reasons but I know now to ask about it when you check in, it might mean a longer wait so that might determine how important where you sit is to you. I do know we had the characters show up and pose for pics and interact and sign autograph books and enjoyed our meals even tho we were outside.

[MermaidHair]

MammaSilva, How was your character meal at the Plaza? Can you tell us about the food and character interaction? There are no reviews on the Minnie and Friends breakfast in the User Reviews section so I would love to hear about your experience.

Thanks!

[Walt'sbirthdaygirl]

What seats are the best? How is seating handled - do you have any say? Thanks!


We've sat in the back dining area near the character entrance/exit and had great interaction, we have also sat in the corner of one of the front dining areas and had to finally ask a CM if some character (at that point we didn't even care who) would come to our table and see the kids. We really didn't have any say in our seat locations, by the time we were seating we were happy just ot be sitting somewhere. Something I have noticed about Goofy's kitchen that I have never experienced anywhere else at the resort when we have PS. After checking in we've had to wait a half hour to forty five minutes to be seated.

[hlbtimes2]

We have done Goofy's and the Plaza. We much prefered the Plaza. Actually, we were extremely disappointed with our trip to Goofys. We didnt see a lot of characters. The ones we did see were not very fun, seemed ready for a break. Our two previous trips we went to the plaza and had a wonderful time.

[MammaSilva]

We were there on a Sunday morning, We have pictures with Minnie, Chip & Dale, Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. There is a 90 minute 'time limit' when you do a character meal but we don't 'stretch' our meal ...we eat and get the autographs and photos we want and then leave. As for the food, it's an all you can eat buffet with made to order omlet stations, coffee, hot chocolate, juice, milks and sodas. There were assorted fruits and waffles and of course the standard scrambled eggs (steam table so blech but I'm a snob) susage and bacon and bisquits and gravy and hash browns. The made to order omlets rock tho! There were plenty of choices for everyone in our party. My niece and her hubby had never done that character meal before and they both thought it was great, the only "child" we had at our table was Miss B and we still got a lot of character interaction for our table full of adults.

[MommyTo3Boys1Girl]

What characters are at the Plaza now? Do they have lunch or just breakfast? I am trying to decide which character meal to get PS for our trip in March, it will just be my 4yo son and I, he is not much in to princesses.

[MammaSilva]

The plaza is called Miss Minnie and Friends, we had Minnie, chip/dale, pooh, tigger and eeyore. That's all that we saw while we were there, but that seems to be about the standard. Six characters give or take.

[kisroo]

The last time we ate at Goofy's we were not that pleased with the food. It was cold and we had the first seating in the am (7:30 I think)!!

So, this trip, we tried something different thanks to some wise suggestions here, actually. ;) We did both Storytellers (late brunch about 11:30am) and Ariel's for lunch at 1:15pm. Both had fabulous character interactions. In fact, Meeko, Chip & Dale, Koda and Kenai each spent between 5-10 minutes a piece with us. I have so many great pictures from that breakfast! And my niece had a great time. They all sat with her and either played with her hair, tickled her, and/or played around with her drink/food. It was great!!

The princesses were a little more rushed, but still had time to greet us, sign autographs, talk for a minute and take a few pictures. Overall, I was impressed with the quality of time my niece had with the characters at each place.

The food at Storytellers was delish~we all ordered off the menu, but the buffet looked good as well. Ariel's food was ok as well. I much prefer the menu option rather than AYCE.

Definitely would do both again. I doubt we'll give Goofy's a go again for quite awhile.

Whatever you decide, have a great time!!!

~kisroo:)

[MOUSELUVR]

We have done Ariel's, Goofy's, and the Plaza Princess Breakfast. Ariel's is probably our favorite...great character interaction and the food was good as well. We enjoyed Goofy's as well...the Mad Hatter was hilarious! The Princess breakfast was another story though, had an awful experience there. So bad, we acctually got comp'd another breakfast at a different location. My vote would definately be for Ariel's, lunch or dinner.:D

[SandraVB79]

On my last DL-trip, my mom and I had breakfast with Minnie Mouse at the Plaza Inn, and we just LOVED IT!!

We really liked the food, but being European, an American breakfast is always something special. No, really, I loved the Mickey-waffles, I loved the warm breakfast (biscuits, gravy, ham, bacon, etc etc etc) and the omelette made-to-order (although there was a long line when I was there. When my mom went for her omelette, there was no one in line)

Character interaction was GREAT! Now, we were two adults, and all tables around us had little kids, so we were a little afraid the characters would just ignore us, but that didn't happen at all!

I think I paid about $40 for 2 adults, and I will do it again next time I'm there!!!


NOTE: If you eat an omelette, warm breakfast, fruit, ... and FOUR Mickey waffles, don't go on Space Mountain right after your breakfast. really. Just don't do any ride that turns after eating four waffles! Oh, and you don't need another dinner that day, after you had the 4 waffles. Really :rolleyes: (and usually, I eat a lot) (those waffles shouldn't be so good! they should make such waffles illegal! or say hey are just 1 Weightwatcher point per waffle!)

[SandraVB79]

Oh yes, which characters:

Minie Mouse (of course! with her apron, because she makes the waffles) (yes she does, why would she otherwise wear the apron??)
Chip & Dale
Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore
Fairy Godmother from Cinderella
Captain Hook

I should check on my pictures who else...