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Thread: Character Dining: Where would you go?

  1. #1

    Character Dining: Where would you go?

    My husband and I are going to DLR the last week of June. Our package comes with premium character dining and we are having a hard time deciding where to go.

    We have eaten at Goofy's Kitchen for dinner almost every year because we love the food, but the last time we visited we had two characters come by our table in the hour and 15 minutes we were there, and the second character only came by after we said something to our waiter. We have also eaten breakfast at PCH Grill and LOVED the character interaction but the food was so so.

    I have heard great things about Minnie's breakfast at the Plaza Inn, but my husband wants to try Storytellers.

    What are your recommendations and why?

    Thank-you!


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  3. #2

    Goofy's and Ariel's are the most expensive meals so if you're looking to get the "best value" those two are it. It doesn't sound like that matters too much to you though. I've had breakfast with Minnie, and we LOVED it. We went early (during EE), and had great character interaction. The food is pretty good. They have make your own omelets, fruit, pastries, and traditional hot foods including Mickey waffles. I guess the character interaction can be hit/miss when it is busy, but that is probably true at all of the meals. However, it sounds like Minnie's has the most characters. Storytellers apparently has unique characters (like animals from Pocahontas). So that could be fun if you want to see different characters. I read they are the least busy. I think they have a non-buffet option too.


  4. #3

    I also think the MINNIE'S BREAKFAST is fantastic. Personally I like to eat my meals sans Characters when it comes to dinner and luncheon so BEING IN Disneyland and having character interaction is my favorite. BBonaR is correct about the food....the best is BUILD YOUR OWN OMELETTE's. I hate heated eggs and bacon so getting an omelette made is fantastic. They are not huge and I usually get two. No one wants to wait for them but I like my food hot and delicious. I get a waffle to satisfy my sweet tooth.....lots of fresh fruit and the coffee keeps coming.....a great way to start your day in Disneyland.


  5. #4
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    We really liked Storytellers this past weekend. Minnie's is my least favorite. Also the vouchers are worth $44, Minnie's is only a $23 buffet. You are really losing money there. Are you doing other table service meals? You can use the for full value here. I would not use them at Minnie's.

    Eta- storytellers had great options for omelette. They will bring out fresh made pancakes. And the bananas fosters French toast was soooo good.

    Planning 3 trips at once...

  6. #5

    OH...if your vouchers are more then definitely don't do Minnie's....use them up. I love the room of STORYTELLERS so Malcon always gives good advice....just sayin....


  7. #6
    Registered User DisneyGator's Avatar
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    I really like the food at Ariel's Grotto. And I have no problem having princesses doting over me, either But with two daughters, this is naturally the place we have to go anyway.

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  8. #7

    I love the Minnie and Friends one at The Plaza. We saw more characters there than any of the other dining experiences we have had. We saw about 10-12 different characters It was great! Its been some time since I went to Goofy's Kitchen. Last trip we went to PCH and it was pretty blah, it cost more than the one at the Plaza and they only had 4 characters for us to see. We were also celebrating a birthday and after the hostess verified that, when we were seated the waitress crossed it off and we didn't get our birthday celebration desert and song.


  9. #8
    Registered User queenbetsey's Avatar
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    we really like the storytellers brunch buffet and we always get great interaction with the characters while you do not get mickey or Minnie you do get to see chip and dale, meeko, brother bear (sorry can't remember those names) pluto to name a few. the food is really good too. make you own omletts, mickey waffles, etc. we have had the dinner buffet there it was ok pretty standard food but it all tasted good


  10. #9
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    We have done both and we prefer Minnie's breakfast. The one's that we saw at Storytellers were all woodland creatures the time that we went, and the ones at Minnie's were from all different stories. At Minnie's we have seen the Fairy Godmother, Hook, all the characters from Winnie the Pooh, Minnie Mouse, the penguins from Mary Poppins, Chip and Dale, and more.

    There is also a difference in the food. Minnie's was more the stuff you would make at home or have on a holiday morning for breakfast, while Storytellers had stuff like cold smoked salmon with a caviar ring around it.

    We also like that with Minnie's breakfast we are already in the park.


  11. #10

    Character Dining

    Quote Originally Posted by crissy89 View Post
    My husband and I are going to DLR the last week of June. Our package comes with premium character dining and we are having a hard time deciding where to go.

    We have eaten at Goofy's Kitchen for dinner almost every year because we love the food, but the last time we visited we had two characters come by our table in the hour and 15 minutes we were there, and the second character only came by after we said something to our waiter. We have also eaten breakfast at PCH Grill and LOVED the character interaction but the food was so so.

    I have heard great things about Minnie's breakfast at the Plaza Inn, but my husband wants to try Storytellers.

    What are your recommendations and why?

    Thank-you!
    I experienced the Plaza Inn recently and was very disappointed. Not one character visited my outside table. It is a bigger area to cover at the Plaza Inn for the characters, plus the buffet was just so so. I always enjoy Storyteller's and have been twice in the last few months for a character breakfast. For locals, it's a perk to get 5 hours of free parking at the GC Hotel with a validation from Storyteller's.

  12. #11
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by colchester1 View Post
    I experienced the Plaza Inn recently and was very disappointed. Not one character visited my outside table. It is a bigger area to cover at the Plaza Inn for the characters, plus the buffet was just so so. I always enjoy Storyteller's and have been twice in the last few months for a character breakfast. For locals, it's a perk to get 5 hours of free parking at the GC Hotel with a validation from Storyteller's.
    This is a major problem there. Every time we get seated outside, we only see 2-3 characters. Inside, we saw 5-7. It is why I won't go back. 3/4 times have been very poor. (They have refunded our money in the past.)

    I like Storytellers. Food is better, and the characters were fun!! I loved the Foster's french toast. And the made for you pancakes. (I have never seen caviar there.) We were all adults, but Chip and Dale were fun.

    I also love Surf's Up with Mickey. You only get 5-6 characters there, but they can spend a lot of quality time.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  13. #12

    My family loved Minnie's breakfast at Plaza Inn, but as other posters have said, if you are talking about using your vouchers, the value isn't quite there.

    We did Ariel's brunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. Much fewer characters than other dining experiences though (4 princesses + Ariel when we went, vs ~15 characters we saw at the Minnie breakfast).

    Storytellers sounds like a great option, and one that my family is considering too!


  14. #13
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FeistyDisneyMom View Post

    We did Ariel's brunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. Much fewer characters than other dining experiences though (4 princesses + Ariel when we went, vs ~15 characters we saw at the Minnie breakfast).
    Wow, in all my visits to Minnie's the most characters we have seen in one visit was 4, with a couple visits only getting 2 in 90 mins.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  15. #14

    I'm guessing you were outside - sounds like inside gets way more love than outside. We saw Minnie, Fairy Godmother, Hook, Chip & Dale, Winnie, Tigger, Eeyore, Max, Pluto, Rafiki, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. We went early (first reservation), got a table inside and to the right of the door, in the middle - no corner, so it was impossible for any of the CMs to miss us.

    Plus my brother is in a wheel chair, and he is so personable he always seems to garner extra attention. Honestly I think he may have enjoyed it even more than my kids did, and I know he was surprised at how much fun it was (he was 19 at the time).


  16. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by FeistyDisneyMom View Post
    I'm guessing you were outside - sounds like inside gets way more love than outside. We saw Minnie, Fairy Godmother, Hook, Chip & Dale, Winnie, Tigger, Eeyore, Max, Pluto, Rafiki, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. We went early (first reservation), got a table inside
    This was our experience too, except Pooh (DD's favorite) was out that day. Having read a lot of reviews about the breakfasts from this site and others, it sounds like eating outside is a bad idea. Also, it generally sounds like you'll see more characters at Minnies', but the food is better elsewhere. We are planning on eating with Minnie again this year when we go with my parents and their older 2 grandkids. The plan is early morning inside.

  17. #16
    Registered User DisneyGator's Avatar
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    Are you able to get reservations at Minnie's before the park opens? I thing that would be a great way to start the day! But not if it cut into the first 90 minutes of park time.

    Working for Disney. No, no. Working (in a Modesto office) for (the money to take a trip to) Disney (World/Land)

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  18. #17
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    Character Dining: Where would you go?

    We had the same experience sitting outside. We had no characters at all for 45-60 minutes until we complained. Then we had 3-4 in the next 20 minutes or so, but families from inside kept running out and cutting in on the characters. It was terrible. I want to give it another chance since people seem to like it, but we just aren't over it yet. I do know I will request and wait for an inside table and eat earlier. We did a later seating trying to make a brunch out of it.

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  19. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by DisneyGator View Post
    Are you able to get reservations at Minnie's before the park opens? I thing that would be a great way to start the day! But not if it cut into the first 90 minutes of park time.
    You can go during EE even if you do not have EE. This is what we did. We had APs that year and did not qualify for EE. We called and made the first reservation, I think it starts 15 minutes into EE. We stayed about an hour, so we were done with breakfast a few minutes after the park opened. We went and saw Tinkerbell after breakfast and the wait was short.

  20. #19
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Even if you have EE they won't scan your EE off. Last trip we did Minnie's at 8:05 on Tuesday and used our EE on Thursday.
    The only time we have ever had to ask for a character was beause Alice and Hatter kept not making it all the way over wwhere we were. We have always sat outside.


  21. #20

    If it was food first then charachers second I would say Goofy's. Our kids loved the huge quantities of different foods. Pizza, nuggets, sushi...........

    Characters first then food second I would go with Mimies - Pretty much breakfast foods but you see more characters. Also a plus to be in the park and you can reserve your spot before the main park opens. Fun to eat early and be in the park when the park opens.

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  22. #21
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by queenbetsey View Post
    we really like the storytellers brunch buffet and we always get great interaction with the characters while you do not get mickey or Minnie you do get to see chip and dale, meeko, brother bear (sorry can't remember those names) pluto to name a few. the food is really good too. make you own omletts, mickey waffles, etc. we have had the dinner buffet there it was ok pretty standard food but it all tasted good
    Just a heads up, they no longer have a menu option for breakfast. We went last weekend, and they said it was no longer an option. Buffet only.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  23. #22
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcon10t View Post
    Just a heads up, they no longer have a menu option for breakfast. We went last weekend, and they said it was no longer an option. Buffet only.
    Thank you.
    Cathy

  24. #23
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    I asked through the Disneyland Twitter account about this, and they're saying that for now, it will be buffet only. That's too bad. We like Storytellers breakfast but we particularly liked it because we could go with a group of friends, some who liked the buffet and some who only wanted to order off the menu.

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