The Disneyland Resort in California has five options
for character dining, each offering the opportunity for meet and greats with
some of your favorite Disney characters. Characters vary by location, time of
year, time of day, and a number of other factors, but regardless of whom the
characters are they are always fun to meet. Character dining gives you the
opportunity to get autographs and have your pictures with characters while you
eat. There is no need to wait in line or chase after characters, as the
characters will circulate between the tables coming to you to meet you.
The first character dining experience we
will look at is Breakfast in the Park with Minnie and friends at Plaza Inn.
Plaza Inn is located at the end of Main Street next to the entrance to
Tomorrowland at Disneyland park. Plaza
Inn is a quick service restaurant for lunch and dinner, but for breakfast, it
is a buffet offering guests the opportunity to meet a number of character
favorites. The menu includes breakfast staples including cereals, bacon,
sausage, eggs, and Mickey waffles. Characters can include Minnie Mouse, Tigger,
Pooh, Eeyore, Rafiki, Captain Hook, Max, Fairy Godmother, Chip and Dale.
Surfs Up with Mickey and Friends at PCH
Grill in the Paradise Pier Hotel is another breakfast buffet with characters.
The theme of the dining experience is a beach theme, characters are dressed up
in surf/ beach attire and it is a fun relaxed dining experience. There are fun
activities such as surfing with the characters for the children to participate
in. Characters to meet include Lilo, Stitch, Mickey Minnie, Pluto, Donald and
Daisy. The menu includes items such as Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana with
Chocolate-stuffed French Toast, Mickey-shaped Waffles, Minnie Pancakes,
Breakfast Potatoes with Peppers and Onions, Chicken Apple Sausage Links, Country
Pork Sausage, Crispy Maple Bacon, and an Omelet Station.
The third breakfast only character
dining experience is the Chip n’ Dale Critter Breakfast at the Storytellers
Café at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. This is one breakfast dining
experience that offers both buffet and menu dining. It is set in a country
lodge that is the perfect setting to meet the Disney Critters that are hard to
meet anywhere else; characters include Terk, Kenai, Koda, Meeko, Br’er Bear,
Br’er Fox, Chip, and Dale. The buffet includes items such as made to order
Omelets, Caramel French Toast, Eggs Benedict, Mickey Waffles, Bagels, Seasonal
Fruit, and Pastries, while the Menu features a number of breakfast items such
as omelets, Bacon/ Sausage and eggs, Steak and Eggs, Huevos Rancheros, and Eggs
Benedict.
Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Resort
Hotel is a buffet that offers the opportunity for meet and greets with your
favorite characters for both breakfast and dinner. Upon paying for your meal,
you get a family picture taken with chef Goofy before proceeding to your table.
Once seated characters such as Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Chip, Dale,
Pluto, Minnie, Mickey and Fairy Godmother. The breakfast menu includes staples
such as Mickey Mouse Waffles, Minnie Mouse Pancakes, French toast, sausage,
bacon, eggs benedict, as well as chicken nuggets and Goofy’s Famous Peanut
Butter Pizza and Dessert. The dinner buffet includes a carving station, fresh
catch of the day, seasonal vegetables, tossed salads, fresh fruit, Pluto’s Hot
Dogs, assorted pizzas, chicken nuggets, Goofyroni & Cheese, and Desserts.
The final of the five character dining
experiences is Ariel’s Grotto. This a la carte fixed price dining experience is
located on the waterfront at Paradise Pier in the California Adventure theme
park and offers the chance to dine with the Princesses. The restaurant has
characters for all meals excluding World Of Color Dining Packages. The
restaurant is divided into two dining rooms, a waterfront patio with views of
the boardwalk and Paradise Pier attractions, and “Under the Sea” an indoor
dining room with an ocean setting. The breakfast menu has an appetizer of
assorted breakfast pastries with fresh fruit, and entrees such as Belgian
waffles with berries, frittatas, scrambled eggs with Tri-Tip, and an
All-American breakfast including scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon or
sausage, and Bircher Muesli. For lunch/dinner, the menu includes a starter of
either soup or salad, with entrees such as Sautéed Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta,
Red Oak-Smoked Honey-Whiskey Barbecue Tri-Tip with mashed potatoes and seasonal
vegetables, Fire-roasted Corn Cakes, Fresh Catch of the Day, Citrus-Glazed
Chicken Breast, and a Grilled Lobster Tail Salad.
Each of the five character dining
experiences on Disney property offers the opportunity to meet favorite
characters in a unique setting, whether dining with the Princess on the
Waterfront, or meeting some of Disneys hard to find Critters for breakfast in a
log cabin setting, there is a character dining experience for everyone.
By Agent Melissa
Travel Time Travel
Melissa@traveltimetravel.com
