Disneyland Character Meals

Character Meals

are not as big of a deal at Disneyland

as they are at DisneyWorld

but it doesn’t mean they aren’t as much fun

and they are much easier to get into!

We’ve done just about all the Character meals

at BOTH Disneyland and Disneyworld

So I’ll highlight the Disneyland ones in this post!

I didn’t used to think that they were not worth the money

until we went to our first one

then I was SOLD!

They are so much fun,

there is dancing and sing a longs,

no waiting in lines, and

they just come to you while you eat

which you have to do at some point anyway 🙂

We love them

even though I am frugal

I like to splurge for the Character Meals!

Totally worth it,

in my opinion

Oh and be sure to get your free button

with your meal

It is my daughter’s favorite souvenir

and she LOVES to collect them 🙂

If you miss a character

be sure to let the handler know

and they will be sure to stop by your table later

We have never been missed

but my son HAD

to go to the bathroom

so the handler made note that someone didn’t get to see the character

and they came back when he was back from the bathroom

Disney makes sure you are happy 🙂

Goofy’s Kitchen

Goofy’s Kitchen is my favorite character meal at Disneyland. If you are only going to do one, I suggest doing this one! It is my favorite, because the food it GOOD and the variety of characters will make both boys and girls happy. We have only gone for dinner, because we are not big breakfast people.

You will first get your group picture taken with Chef Goofy, and then you will sit at your table. You can then hit up the buffet, or if there is a character close by, wait for them to come by. There will be some dancing and music too for some more fun! I love the variety of characters you get here too and you get to see MANY characters – the most at any character meal we have gone to! It is the only character meal I know of where the Princes often show up! I hear there is a wide variety of characters you can see when you go.

Here is who we have seen at Goofy’s Kitchen:

Mice from Cinderella (can’t remember their names!)
Aladdin
Pluto
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Chip
Dale
Donald

Plaza Inn – Minnie and Friends Breakfast in the Park

This is another great meal. I would have counted it as my favorite, but I have to say the food wasn’t the greatest. I would totally do this one again, but the food was only, meh… Which is why Goofy’s gets the #1 spot in my list. This one a great one though, because you get to eat in the park – we made reservations for BEFORE the park opened, so we got some pictures with an empty park! This one also has a great cast of characters and a wide variety of characters, including Captain Hook. My son LOVES Hook, and this is is often the ONLY place you can see him, so it was worth every penny 🙂 You also get LOTS of characters at your meal here too – like Goofy’s kitchen, so you get a lot of Characters for your buck!

Here is who we have seen there:

Minnie (of course)
Mice from Cinderella (I really need to look up their names!)
Captain Hook
Tigger (another favorite of my sons! He loved this meal!)
Fairy Godmother
Chip
Dale
Eeyore

PCH Grill – Mickey’s Surf’s up

This is the only meal where you are guaranteed to see Mickey! We came to this meal when it was a Lilo and Stitch themed meal too, and it was basically the same menu and same cast of Characters. You take your picture with Mickey before you go to your table and then you can enjoy the delicious breakfast buffet. I think the food here was better than the Plaza Inn. You can dance with the characters, learn the hula, and play some games. It is a cheaper meal than the others, but you also don’t get quite as many characters. We still love this meal, and it is one of the few places you can see Daisy in the parks!

Here is who we have seen on different trips:

Mickey
Daisy
Donald
Pluto
Minnie
Goofy
Lilo
Stitch

Ariel’s Grotto –

If you have a Princess lover in your house, this one is a must do. The lines for the Princess are insane, so to not have to wait in line and have them come to you, is worth EVERY penny in my opinion. My problem with this meal is that we did not really enjoy the food. It was a little too “fancy” for our liking and the kids didn’t really want to eat the food there, which when you are spending a fortune, you want them to like the meal! The dessert was really good though. I believe we went for lunch when we went.

We saw the 5 main princesses, which was good because they were our daughters favorite. You get your picture with Ariel on the way into your meal, and then 4 others come to your table. They announce the princess with a royal scroll and messenger, which was fun

We saw: