where and when for character meal

[babyruth]

little help here? I am bringing my son's girlfriend with us this trip and she has never been to Disney at all. (they are 22) She needs a character meal experience! We are only in Anaheim 2 full days, arrival day we get in at 1ish. I wasn't planning on doing parks arrival day or getting a hopper. But now I see that unless we go to Goofy's we have to do a character breakfast/brunch. Princess breakfast is way over budget, unfortunately. So, we either end up losing morning time at DCA to go to Storytellers or losing morning time at Disneyland for Plaza (which is the meal I think I prefer, but the park I don't want to lose time in.) Or we can leave DCA for Goofy's dinner (and this would be the day after Christmas so it will likely rival the Princess prices) then go back for WOC. I could bite the bullet and get 3 day park tickets so that losing morning time at Disneyland isn't a big deal on day 3, and drag my jet lagged family into the park after hotel check in for the evening. I could add hoppers on 2 day tickets and hop to Plaza on DCA day. We are coming from the East Coast and I don't remember who participates in DST and if it will be a 3 or 4 hour difference at that time. My other kids have both been to multiple character experiences and they will be fine wherever we go. DH prefers buffet but he will be fine also, he always prefers less walking and a sit down meal to break up park time. (its me who is the power Disney parent who would not stop) OOOK all that said what are your thoughts? I have to get our tickets and park reservations soon, I know. My fingers are going to need to be flying for a hope of a character meal Christmas week! What would your plan of attack be?

 

[2tinkerbell]

I would do Goofy’s dinner on arrival day. I would also get Genie+ and or park hoppers for your 2 full days.

 

[babyruth]

I will definitely get genie+. I just built a touring plan and it says I will have several free hours at DCA. Really? Isn’t it going to be balls to the wall crowded? If we did have free time IDK if my family would rather hop or rest.

 

[babyruth]

I will definitely get genie+. I just built a touring plan and it says I will have several free hours at DCA. Really? Isn’t it going to be balls to the wall crowded? If we did have free time IDK if my family would rather hop or rest.

 

[alleighboo]

East Coaster here! It will be a 3 hour time difference if you are EST. I've never done the parks on arrival night, but I would be ready to go whenever

I haven't done the other character meals but my friend and did Plaza Inn breakfast our last trip and loved it! She is 30 and had never been to a Disney park either! We rope dropped and rode Indy, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Pirates and AstroBlasters before our 9:50 breakfast reservation. We had Genie+ and just stacked everything for the afternoon and did all standby before breakfast. It wasn't Christmas week, but it was grad nights and summer. It was a ton of fun and I am definitely booking it again for my step-daughter's graduation trip next June! We stayed about an hour and it was awesome to walk straight back into the park and get right back to riding! Food was good and met a lot of characters.

 

[Pluto468]

We often do Goofy's on arrival or departure day. They have great food and really good character interactions. Plus you get to see Disneyland Hotel, which is wonderful.

Plaza Inn might not take as much time as you think, since you have to stop and eat somewhere anyway. You can leave whenever you want once you're there. Our character meals usually last 60-90 minutes, but that's with little kids.

Personally, I'd add that 3rd day, but that's because I can never get enough park time

When I travel cross country the jet lag sometimes doesn't hit me until day 2. So with a 1:00 arrival you could potentially go into the park for a few hours on arrival day and then go to bed wicked early, like 7 or 8, which would be 10 or 11 your time.

 

[OlliePop27]

It will be a 3 hour time difference. Every state on the east coast and CA adhere to daylight saving time (December is actually standard time across the whole country).

I personally recommend going to the parks on arrival day. I find that going in for several hours with limited expectations is always positive. We get a lot more done than we expect and it removes pressure from the main park days. My family also comes from the east, and we deal with the time difference fine (even with young kids).

I also highly recommend park hoppers and getting Genie+. I personally do not find California Adventure to be satisfying as the only park to visit on one of my days. Don't get me wrong, DCA is great when combined with Disneyland, but not on its own without also getting into DL. This was the main frustration I had with the 1 PM parkhopping prohibition before they changed it to 11 am.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I would do Goofy’s dinner on arrival day. I would also get Genie+ and or park hoppers for your 2 full days.

Do this. And make it Genie+ AND park hoppers for sure.

 

[lindyv321]

We’ve done Goofy’s and then DTD on arrival day before and it’s been great!

If you don’t get park hoppers I would do brunch at Storytellers on your DCA day since I personally don’t feel like there is as much to do there.

If you do get park hoppers I think a later reservation for either Minnie or Storytellers would work great.

 

[OlliePop27]

We’ve done Goofy’s and then DTD on arrival day before and it’s been great!

If you don’t get park hoppers I would do brunch at Storytellers on your DCA day since I personally don’t feel like there is as much to do there.

If you do get park hoppers I think a later reservation for either Minnie or Storytellers would work great.

Great idea, I highly recommend Storyteller's brunch on a DCA day too. It's very convenient to the GCH entrance to the park. We did this on our last trip.

Your feelings are correct about DCA - there is objectively less to do at DCA than DL. Don't get me wrong, DCA is a great park and there are still lots of great things to do there - there's just simply not as much to do at DCA as DL. LL also goes quicker at DCA because there are not as many attractions, particularly Genie+ attractions, at DCA compared to DL.