Originally Posted By dllovinrn Hi, I will be travelling to DL in early October. I will have an almost 3 year old girl, a 2 1/2 year old boy & a baby turning one year old on the trip. We want to do a character dining experience but need advice please on which one. Any thoughts? Thank you!
Originally Posted By LuvsDsnyTrips I love the Plaza Inn breakfast one. The characters are great...Pooh, Minnie and ETC. If you like breakfast...you cannot go wrong, as they have everything you could want and more.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 I your oldest girl really is into Princesses, you might want to do one of the Princess meals at Ariels Grotto. That would also be a good choice if your little ones are likely to be afraid of the characters in the big costumes. If your kiddos are okay with the characters, the Plaza Inn is good for breakfast, and Goofy's Kitchen is great for dinner.
Originally Posted By Pixarpixie I would recommend Ariels Grotto. Meeting a princess that can talk and interact with your child is a really sweet experience. When my daughter was little she was terrified of the characters in the plush costumes. Piglet, Mickey, Eeyore... She was perfectly fine anyone with a "real" face. Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White... You also might want to check out allears.net. They have all the menus, prices and reviews for character meals.
Originally Posted By PetesDraggin Honestly, those are three tricky ages for character meals. I don't know the personalities of the kids you will be bringing, but my oldest daughter didn't enjoy the character meal until she was almost 3. The characters seemed to overwhelm her before that age and she was either shy or scared when they came by. My youngest daughter (who was about 18 months at our last character meals) screamed whenever a character tried to get close to her. She liked seeing them from a distance, but that kind of defeats the purpose of paying the money for the character meal. We also did the Princess meal at Ariel's Grotto, and she didn't really seem interested in the princesses. So, like I said, tricky ages for character meals. I really like the experience at the Plaza Inn and Storyteller's Cafe. I wasn't too thrilled with Ariel's Grotto because the princesses came and went very quickly, stopping just long enough to say hello to my oldest and pose for a quick picture (with the exception of Snow White, who was absolutely wonderful).
Originally Posted By MrDisneyGeek I would vote for Princesses. The 3 year old girl should like them (my 2 1/2 year old daughter loved them especially Ariel) the 2 1/2 boy should be good as well and the baby more or less indifferent. My son at 2.5 liked the stuffed ones from a distance but did not like them anywhere close to his people.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance My one and a half year old at the time hated the characters, but by age 2.5 to 3 both my kids loved the characters. Really just depends on your kids. Also Goofy's Kitchen is more of a mixed bag when it comes to characters, princesses and regular characters as well, so if you choose the princess dining your 2.5 year old he might be mad that the characters are all women whom he'll probably mistake for the waitresses. lol (my son did)
Originally Posted By Mickeysbestfan I would go with Minnie's. They have the most characters and pooh characters are really good about reading the kids. On our last trip, the table near ours had a younger child who seemed a bit unsure about tigger. Tigger saw how the boy was and took to going outside and playing through the window with the boy, the boy loved it.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE We have gone to Goofy's Kitchen...we found it to be a Ton of Fun...As a Big kid my wife and I loved it..The food was good too.. My Daughter and I have gone to Ariels..three to four princess's come to greet you..the food is excellent..the princess's come to your table but they are really hard to get to meet again if you miss them..it is pricey at Ariels but the food is good.. We have not been to Story Tellers.. Minnie's though is the Best of the Bunch..the food is wonderful..the plaza staff are outstanding...the characters are many and you can see them over and over again..I would choose Minnie's ...we have been there a number of times.. You can have photo pass pictures taken here ..if you purchase the photo pass plus card..online is the cheapest price..it ends up to be a collection of all the photo pass pictures that the photographers take at the park..the photo pass plus is the Best..it will give you a free picture at the character breakfasts..if it is possible..you can ask to have minnie join your picture..it doesn;t happen all the time but once in a while it does.. So I would choose the Minnie Character Breakfast at the Plaza...you can use your Triple A or Annual Pass for a food discount..The price is among the cheapest over the rest..The Photo pass plus will give you a free picture that the photo pass guys and gals take...Look online for Disneys Photo pass plus..we get it every year and it is great there are other perks with the card..but buy it online..more expensive to buy in the park..if you do.. Enjoy have a Great Time...
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE There is also a new meet and greet with all the Princess's in Disneyland..what ever place you go to..you will have fun..a free balloon for the kids welcomes them also at Minnie's in the Plaza..Have a Magical time..
Originally Posted By rtjl72 i vote minnies or ariels grotto. you have 3 little people, so i would avoid goofy's as it is a buffet. that gets prety tricky to get food for the kids, trying to fix plastes of food and juggling the little ones atthe same time.
Originally Posted By rtjl72 oh!!! that is a good one!! so delicious!! but sill, 3 kids and juggling plates. the kind of luck i have- i would be up getting plates filled when snow white came to my table. yup!! that's my life.
Originally Posted By ksargen Ariel's. With three little kids, it's nicer to be served. Minnie's (Plaza Inn) and Goofy's are both buffet.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE The buffet at Minnies is so easy to go thru..Ariels is nice..but very pricey...What ever you decide , have fun...
Originally Posted By mickeymeg this is great info everyone. we will be there at the end of June and I had the same question. we will have. 2 girls 4 years and 22 months. while they both love the princesses they also love Mickey, Toy Story, Nemo etc. I love goofy.'s kitchen so we may end up there anyhow, but I have been thinking of trying to talk my husband into a second character meal. Plaza Inn or Ariel's ?
Originally Posted By ksargen Ariel's, if you want all the princesses you can see during your meal! They come to all the tables, and are very sweet with the kids. Minnie's, if you want a wider variety of characters. I've found they have a tougher time seeing everyone in there, but that may just be my luck...
