Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE Hi there, we are thinking of trying a meal with the characters, what would you all suggest is the one to do, everyone likes the princess's, mickey , goofy ect, are there specials on these character outings, thanks for your help in advance..from .The tink-mobile and Snowhite oxox
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Well with the princess one - they each come to your table and pose for pictures - it's very planned out how they will go around. You have a choice of a family style breakfast (they bring set menu to your table to share), lunch or dinner... Goofy's is more willy nilly - many characters coming around but with no set direction - also has little goofy music show thing.. Breakfast buffet, lunch, dinner. Minnie and Friends is only breakfast - I haven't done this but many like it - I will probably do this one in Sept. Buffet only breakfast StoryTellers and Lilo and stitch - I haven't done either.
Originally Posted By liveforvacations We have done them all and I would have to say that they are all fun and unique in their own way! However, if I had to pick one it would be Goofy's because it definitely features the best food and I like the location! I am told that if you go early, it is the least busiest and you therefore, get the most character interaction! This is just something I have heard because my family are the non-breakfast eaters who don't like to get up early! I know that your family will have fun, no matter which one you chose!
Originally Posted By iamsally I have to admit that Minnie and Friends is the only one I have done. But we do it over and over. I love the character selection, the food is pretty good and it is actually in Disneyland which is important to me. As meals in the Parks go; I think it is the best value for the money. I have definitely found that early is better for access to food and character interaction. We like to just get a pastry and coffee and sit back and enjoy the characters. After we have seen most of them we go back and get our breakfast.
Originally Posted By liveforvacations I hope I don't offend you iamsally but we didn't like Minnie and Friends. I found that the food choices were limited compared to Goofy's Kitchen and I didn't like how they serve you most of the stuff unlike a regular buffet where you help yourself! I agree that it is more convenient that it is in the park, but then again, if you are willing to go early, you can do Goofy's Kitchen before the park opens. It also gives you the opportunity to check out the Disneyland Hotel!
Originally Posted By LuLu iamsally, I think you found the deal of the century, as I believe all the buffet ones are over $30 for adults! (including tax & tip, which you pay ahead of time on Goofy's Kitchen).
Originally Posted By LuLu We have only been to Goofy's, as it's my daughter's fave, and we only do a character meal every few years. A warning, if you have only adults in your party, there have been reports of being totally ignored by the characters. We went in March for DD's 18th birthday. There were 2 little ones in our party who had good character interaction. I asked a couple of the characters to pose for a photo with my daughter, but still they didn't interact with her.
Originally Posted By 73baloo In May, we had only adults at our table at Ariel's Grotto and each princess stopped and talked plus took pictures with my dad, who is 80.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains That is why we like the princess character meals - you are guaranteed the interaction. At Goofys they guarantee 2 or 3 characters only will stop at your table. We were there with my Dad, my nephew(7), my son (9) and myself - for my sons birthday - we were seated in the area when you first walk in on the right - we had one character in the whole 60+min we were there - the waiter was aware and kept trying to get the characters up there - but they kept getting side tracked right before our table - I was very annoyed and went up the the manager (waiter suggested it to me) She came and looked at our table (this is why they sign stuff on your table...the waiter told us that they look to see who signed your table to see who has been there)... As they brought my son's birthday cupcake they sent all the characters to our table - It was worth saying something... My son is shy so he was a little embarrassed at the time - but I heard him telling his brothers at home how cool it was that all the characters came over to "sing" to him! I normally don't complain about these kind of things - but only one character was rediculous for the price we had paid for breakfast...
Originally Posted By NJ AP I am partial to Ariel's Grotto because the food is served to you and it is decent. I like that you don't risk missing a character when you go up to serve yourself at a buffet since the food is brought to the table. I was told the best time to go to Goofy's is at the end of the breakfast shift as people are clearing out. We had the best character interaction this way with Alice and the Mad Hatter (total favs) popping by again and again to visit. Had a lot of fun seeing Goofy, Chip and Dale pass us as we were leaving. They had just changed out of their "work" clothes (i.e., chef hats and aprons) and were wearing their street clothes. From here we followe them as they went to the lobby to entertain guests as they were checking into the hotel. We haven't tried the others, yet.
Originally Posted By Ursula I absolutely hate and detest Ariel's Grotto. The food is awful for the price you pay, the service is bordering on "ignore the paying guest" and the Princesses (four at a time) come out in timed intervals. I felt completely snookered. We waited over 20 minutes to just get water, even after asking two people. They have a limited menu, of which you can choose one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert. The appetizers took forever, then as soon as they came, the entree came. Then a long while later the dessert came. I think the only way to desribe this would be akin to Henry Ford's assembly line. And get this: I've gone to this twice now and had the same experience.
Originally Posted By NJ AP Just goes to show there are lots of different opinions on this topic. The first time we went to Goofy's we swore we would never go back -- the food was fatty, heavy, cold and uninspiring, the character interaction virtually non-existent. We went back on the recommendation of a friend. The character interaction was fabulous, but still hated the food (still cold, still boring...). At those prices I want the food to come to me and to be warm and tasty. One of the three times we had a bad experience at Ariel's -- due to the sour look on my DD's face, no princess stopped long enough to say hello. They posed for the requisite photo and left. The food was barely touched by DD and we left feeling soured. The other two times were great. Guess what I'm saying is try to look at the menus before you sign up for a character meal. They aren't cheap and at the very least you want to leave with a full belly and smiles on everyone's faces.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains wow Ursula that has never happened to us - we have been about 4 times now - anything we asked for was there almost immediately - our food was alway hot and fresh - We always go for lunch - usually close to 1pm - The princesses have always stopped at our table for a decent amount of time and posed for pix with each child and as a group...
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Here's the link with the menus someone else posted and I kept... <a href="http://www.allearsnet.com/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm" target="_blank">http://www.allearsnet.com/dlr/...enus.htm</a>
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove We've never been to a character breakfast before, and I appreciate TINK for bringing this topic up since we'll be bringing our youngest DD's (turning 16 and 19 respectively) for their birthdays. I've been debating perhaps doing a character meal for them as a special treat, but now I'm not so sure since it seems to be a hit and miss proposition. Plus, they're not "young" (but just as delighted with the characters, trust me) so that may not work out. I appreciate each and every opinion. As always, thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to post, and thanks gottaluv for the link.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains I will probably do the Minnie and Friends when I am there in Sept.
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove You're there after us, huh? We'll be there Sep 5 through 7. We'll be sure to leave some pixie dust for you! {{{Villains}}}
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Yep we will be there the 19-21. DD's ap expires on the 26th - We are going for my birthday (20th and hers 28th)
Originally Posted By TXDISNEYNERD We did the Storytellers for breakfast and loved it. The characters spent lots of time interacting with my little 18 month old even though she was scared if they got too close. They also spent lots of time posing for pictures with my teenagers. If was early in the morning the first seating of the day so it wasn't crowded so they came back by multiple times just to wave at the little one. The characters we saw were the bears from Brother Bear as well as Chip and Dale. It was a buffet and the food was decent.
