[Question] Character Dining

[wonton]

I am trying to decide if I should try and change my reservation from Plaza character bfast to another character dining. I am tired of seeing the same old characters at the bfast. I was wondering what your opinions are on the other food places and if the characters are different

[Steven Polinsky]

Re: Character Dining

I try not to do the same breakfast everytime we go, when we go next month we plan on doing Goofy's kitchen, last time it was surf's up. We do go to Ariels grotto both times because my little girl is a princess fanatic other then that we change up the breakfast.

[wonton]

Re: Character Dining

at ariels was it only princesses?

[bayouguy]

Re: Character Dining

at ariels was it only princesses?

Yes. The males play a courtly squire role. The servers play servers.

[mickdaddy]

Re: Character Dining

Goofys kitchen is great! Story tellers is very good too and features more woodland creature characters. I have also heard good things about mickey's surfs up at the pch grill but never experienced it myself!

[flickor]

Re: Character Dining

Who has the best food?

[Escape2Disney]

Re: Character Dining

We go to the Plaza Inn every time, and then add one more. It's been hit or miss for us at Goofy's. They have good food. Sometimes the interaction was good, but a few times we had less than stellar experience with characters (Waited over 40 minutes to see one and then got a bad attitude from the manager when we asked when they would cycle around to us).

Ariel's is good if you like princesses. We like the breakfast there, and the princesses all stayed in character.

We went to PPH when it was the Stitch meal and had a great time! We're not sure what it's like now.


We'll be going to Storyteller's for the first time this year.

Hope you have a great time!

[chiefyouth]

Re: Character Dining

We just did the Mickey's Surf's Up Breakfast a couple weeks ago. The great thing is that it tends to be quieter because of the location. This gives the character more time to interact. We saw Stitch, Daisy, Pluto, Mickey, and a couple others I can't remember. Note, this is the only breakfast where you can meet Mickey and, to the best of my knowledge, the only place anywhere in DLR that you can meet Daisy. We have done Goofy's in the past and the characters there are really more random. We have seen Goofy, Pluto, Snow White, Minnie, Geppetto, Chip and Dale, and I am sure some others.

Regarding the food, I enjoy the Surf's Up food more than Goofy's. However, Goofy's does have a bigger selection. Surf's Up food is more island themed, while Goofy's is more traditional with a few "goofy" items thrown in.

[flickor]

Re: Character Dining

What is Plaza inn and where is that located?

[lunarsongbird]

Re: Character Dining

I've been trying to figure out the difference between premium character dining and regular character dining. Is it a matter of food or characters?

[jchamb268]

Re: Character Dining

We liked going to the plaza in and Storytellers but my son gets so excited about seeing everyone he doesnt eat. So we hit up Flo's instead and had a great breakfast.

[4th Gen Disney Fan]

Re: Character Dining

What is Plaza inn and where is that located?

Plaza Inn is one of the oldest sit-down eateries in the park. They serve staple American quisine (fried chicken, etc). They are located at the very end of Main Street on the right side, just before the walkway to Tomorrowland.

[chiefyouth]

Re: Character Dining

I had premium dining from Costco a couple times. I know with that you could do dinner at Goofy's and I think Ariel's. I highly recommend that if you get it free from Costco. We just don't eat enough at breakfast to really make it worth. Dinner, however, is another story.

[Kevin Noty]

Re: Character Dining

I've been trying to figure out the difference between premium character dining and regular character dining. Is it a matter of food or characters?

Premium character dining is difern, theres more to select as far as food to eat, and the serve lunch and dinner, the regular do only breakfast

[StaceeyL]

Re: Character Dining

Storytellers only has about 5 characters for breakfast. Usually Chip & Dale, Rafiki, Brother Bear and usually one other character. It's good if your kids really aren't too sure about the characters. One of my twins is still a bit scared of the characters and they were very good about not scaring her. They also have a buffet which is really good.
Goofy's kitchen has a lot more characters and a bigger selection of buffet foods.

[wonton]

Re: Character Dining

I had premium dining from Costco a couple times. I know with that you could do dinner at Goofy's and I think Ariel's. I highly recommend that if you get it free from Costco. We just don't eat enough at breakfast to really make it worth. Dinner, however, is another story.

do you have to buy theme park tickets at costco or can you just buy a dining package?

[Alpinemaps]

Re: Character Dining

Okay, so we had an weird run in with character dining today. I'm curious to hear other's experiences and let me know what's up.

Some context: My daughter is 4. She eats *nothing*. When I say nothing, I mean nothing. She will sometimes eat about 1/4 of a muffin for breakfast. But that's usually it. I'm serious when I say my daughter eats nothing. (She's not even 30 pounds at 4 1/2 years old). Without going into detail, there's some underlying medical things going on that just gives her no appetite.

Typically, when we do a character breakfast, we eat at the Plaza Inn. We've eaten there maybe 5 times in the last year or so. I've always said that I will pay for the two adults (my wife and I), and explained that I'm not buying breakfast for my daughter. Not once have I ever had a problem with that. They still give her a balloon, they don't stamp her hand, etc.

This morning, we tried eating at Mickey's Surf's Up Breakfast at the PPH. When I said that I wanted to just pay for two adults, and that I wasn't buying breakfast for my daughter, I was told that wasn't possible. I was told that the breakfast charge is actually an entertainment charge, and that it was their policy to charge my daughter, regardless of eating breakfast.

I explained my experience at Plaza Inn, but that didn't seem to help. The person up front went and got the manager. She was very reluctant to change her mind, again explaining that it was "policy" that I had to pay for my daughter to participate in the entertainment experience. My daughter was standing next to me. I pointed to her, and said once again, "see, she is tiny." The manager asked how old she was, and I was completely honest (telling her that my daughter is four). I also mentioned that it seemed strange that there was disparate policies for the same thing at the resort.

In the end, the manager relented, and approved me not paying for my daughter. I appreciated her willingness to change her "policy" (I was nice through the entire process, not yelling or making a scene, just asking the question). We ended up eating elsewhere (and I feel guilty about that), but the wait ended up being almost 60 minutes. With a hungry wife and daughter, we had to go elsewhere.

So, I'm wondering - what have others experienced? I'm totally cool with it being their policy, if it truly is there policy. Maybe I've been lucky over at the Plaza Inn? And if so, then I'm grateful, and will expect to pay for her if we go back there again. But, I admit I'm going to have a difficult time participating in character breakfasts if I have to pay $14 for her to sit there and watch us eat because she doesn't eat. (I don't eat $25 worth of food, but I'm willing to pay. But when she doesn't eat 50 cents worth of food, I have a hard time justifying $14).

[Swellpixiegirl]

Re: Character Dining

I believe you are paying for the entertainment. There is quite a difference in prices between character and non-character meals, meaning you will pay a premium for guaranteed character interaction. However, perhaps they could prorate non-eaters...just a thought. I would be interested to hear what the actual "policy" is myself.

[swampymarsh]

Re: Character Dining

do you have to buy theme park tickets at costco or can you just buy a dining package?

With Cosco travel packages to DLR as a perk they give you a Premium Character Meal Voucher.

Some context: My daughter is 4. She eats *nothing*. When I say nothing, I mean nothing.

We ended up eating elsewhere (and I feel guilty about that), but the wait ended up being almost 60 minutes. With a hungry wife and daughter, we had to go elsewhere.

I don't think you should be surprised at all the you recieved an exception multiple times and then found out what the policy is. Rules are meant to be followed.

After all today your daughter who never eats, got hungry.

[Alpinemaps]

Re: Character Dining

Ha! I did say hungry daughter, didn't I? Oops. Yes, my hungry daughter today ate 1/4 of a muffin at Mimi's. And she's had some crackers this afternoon. Trust me when I say it's a banner day for eating.

As for policy...I'd love to learn the policy, too. I'm cool if we've been granted exceptions. But, since it's been every time that we go, and no one has ever said anything, I've expected that you are just paying for the food. Not saying that it doesn't make sense that we are paying for the entertainment, but it's never been presented that way. So, it's difficult to reconcile today's experience with all of the past history.