Disneyland Character Dining

Grab the kids & join the fun!

In the pictures of Disney character dining to your right, you can see that you'll get some actual close-up, face-to-face time with the Disney Characters when you choose to dine at one of the Disneyland restaurants featuring character meals. My daughter, who took many of the photos in the slide show, chose to attend 2 character meals to ensure that her children would get to meet some of the Disney characters---without having to wait in long lines to see them. It was a time-saving ploy, since she lives far away from either of the US Disney theme parks...and had a one-shot chance to both meet characters AND have time for all of the rides and attractions at the Disney Resort theme parks (all in the space of just a few days.)



Other visitors use character meals to enjoy a dining experience they can't have "back home." They satisfy their hunger at a large breakfast, lunch or dinner buffet...and throughout the meal, watch Disney costumed characters stroll between the tables in the dining room. Plus, they even get character visits at their very own table. What a photo op!

On this page, you'll discover the different choices in character dining options at Disneyland Park in California. We'll talk about the foods available at the buffets, and the prices you'll pay. You'll find out how to get more information on the Disney Character Buffets, and how to make reservations. And, of course, you'll get to see some photos of the Disney Character Dining restaurants!

Disneyland Character Meal Prices

In February 2008, I thought about attending the character lunch at Ariel's Grotto (inside the Disney California Adventure Park; you'll be reading about this meal further down this page. You're viewing a picture of Ariel's Grotto Restaurant to your right.) February is part of the "slow season" at the Disneyland Resort. Unlike during a busier season, I was able to walk right up to the Ariel's Grotto restaurant & make same-day plans. (For holiday and summertime dining, you'll need to make advance reservations. You may check out the last section of this page for the character meal reservation information.)

Low season vs. High season: The price I was quoted for lunch at Ariel's Grotto on that day in February 2008 was between $27 and $28 for an adult. When I decided to skip the meal, the reservations hostess told me to be sure to re-check the prices when I returned on a different visit, because the dining prices raise during the busy season. "I doubt the busy-season price can be much different," I mused to myself as I walked away. I soon found out that the hostess really wasn't kidding, and that I should have rearranged my schedule to squeeze in the meal during the February slow season!

Less than a month after I talked with the reservations hostess in February, I called the resort to find out character meal prices for my visit to the park in March. March is not always part of the Disneyland Resort's busy season...because Easter and Spring Break most often fall into the month of April. But during March 2008, Easter falls on March 23rd... making March part of Disneyland's spring break period (a very busy time at the Disneyland Resort!)

2008 Spring Break prices for lunch at Ariel's Grotto are more than $10 higher per person than February prices! Today, if I wanted to make reservations for lunch at Ariel's Grotto, I would be facing a $39.64 adult price, and the cost of $22.29 for a child!

Therefore, don't be surprised if the character meal prices you read on this page are different than what you're actually charged during your particular vacation time. The Disney character breakfast, lunch and dinner prices bounce around like a ping pong ball. Unless you visit Disneyland Park frequently, you simply have to enjoy your character meals at the prices you find them during the time of your visit.

Disney Character Breakfasts

Start your day with Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Lilo & Stitch, Chip & Dale or Disney Princesses!

Here's a list of the Disneyland Resort restaurants where you may dine with Disney character for your breakfast meal---

1.) Minnie and Friends Character Breakfast
The Minnie and Friends character meal is the only one of the 5 Disneyland Character Breakfasts located inside of the Disneyland theme park itself. You'll find the Minnie and Friends character breakfast at the Plaza Inn. You won't have a problem finding the Plaza Inn---it's directly on Main Street USA, the themed area that you'll enter directly from the Disneyland turnstiles.
Character Breakfast Hours: Park opening time until 11 am (at 11 am, the Plaza Inn begins to serve lunch; it's not a Character lunch.)
Character breakfast prices: $30.16/Adults and $15.07 for children. Price includes tax and tip. Babies and toddlers ages 2 and under dine free.

2.) Goofy's Kitchen
This VERY popular and crowded Disney character dining location is at the Disneyland Hotel. It's not located within one of the 3 Disneyland Hotel towers; it's in a seperate restaurant-and-banquet-room building on the beautifully landscaped grounds of the hotel.
Goofy's Kitchen Hours: You may enjoy Disney Character Brunch at Goofy's Kitchen beginning at 7 am. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are ALL character meals at Goofy's Kitchen, so no matter what time of day you make your meal reservations, you'll be enjoying Disney Character dining!
Goofy's Kitchen Prices: The character brunch at Goofy's Kitchen costs $37.16 for adults & teens, and $19.82 for kids. Higher prices for dinner are in effect at this restaurant, and will be discussed in the "character lunch & dinner" section of this page.


3.) Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast
The Lilo and Stitch Character Breakfast is "doubly themed"---not only does it have the Disney Character theme, but it ALSO features some cute Hawaiian-themed touches. For example, all children are greeted with a colorful plastic lei on arrival. And, one of the buffet tables sports a Hawaiian grass skirt! You may find the Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast to be less crowded than the others.
Lilo and Stitch Breakfast Hours: The Lilo and Stitch Character Breakfast is served from 7:00 am to 11:00 am. After that time, the PCH Grill (the restaurant within the Paradise Pier lobby where the Lilo breakfast is held) begins to serve lunch. Lunch at the PCH Grill is NOT a character meal.
Lilo and Stitch Character Breakfast Prices: The Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast runs $32.21 for teens & adults and $17.34 for kids. Tax and tip are included in this price. Babies and toddlers ages 2 and under eat free.

4.) Chip and Dale Critter Breakfast
The Chip and Dale character meal is held in the Storyteller's Cafe at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel. The Storyteller's Cafe features a rustic-themed decor...so the forest characters of Chip and Dale (who are chipmunks) fit right in at this Disney Character Dining venue.
Chip and Dale Breakfast Hours: The Chip and Dale Critter Breakfast is held from 7:00 am until noon. At that time, the Storyteller's Cafe begins to serve lunch. Lunch at the Storyteller's Cafe is NOT a character meal.
Chip and Dale Character Breakfast Prices: Chip and Dale character dining costs $29.08 for adults & teenagers and $15.07 for youth. Toddlers under age 2 eat free.

Ariel's Grotto character breakfast prices: The Disney Princesses are very popular, and the higher price of this brunch reflects that. Adults pay $39.64 at Ariel's Grotto; and children pay $19.82 for breakfast.

Disneyland Character Lunch and Dinner

Head to Ariel's Grotto or Goofy's Kitchen for a fun lunch or dinner with Disney characters!

1.) Ariel's Disney Princess Celebration
If the Disney princesses are your daughter's favorite Disney characters, then this is the character dining experience you may be most interested in attending. At the meal, you'll be able to see either Ariel, Cinderella, Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty), Jasmine (from Aladdin), Snow White and/or Tinker Bell. (You will not see all of the Disney Princess at any one meal. The selection of Princesses rotates; and, unfortunately, the park won't guarantee in advance which of the princesses you'll be able to meet on the day of your visit. Princess Ariel, however, is certain to attend every meal; after all, this is HER restaurant!)
Ariel's Grotto lunch & dinner hours: Ariel's Disney Princess character lunch begins at 11:30 am and continues uninterrupted until an hour before the Disney California Adventure's closing time.

Ariel's Grotto Lunch & Dinner Prices: Both lunch and dinner meal pricing is $$39.64 for adults and $22.29 for children. Toddlers aged 2 and under eat free.


2.) Goofy's Kitchen: Goofy's Kitchen (which we already talked about in the "character breakfast" section above) also serves lunch and dinner. In Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel, dinner prices are higher than the breakfast prices. Goofy's Character Dinner Prices: Goofy's Kitchen character dinner costs $44.60 for adults and $19.82 for kids. This price includes tax and tip. Babies and toddlers age 2 & under eat free.

Disneyland Character Dining Menus

All of the Disneyland character breakfasts serve more or less the same foods. You won't find an exact menu of each day's breakfast meal because the selections are rotated daily to give new choices to those lucky folks who vacation at the park and enjoy a character breakfast every morning of their stay. (Sigh! Wouldn't it be nice!) Nevertheless, the breakfast foods you'll encounter on the morning of your character dining experience will fall into these basic categories:

Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes, waffles, or both
French toast and toppings
Scrambled eggs, other egg choice, omelets
Bacon, sausage, ham
Fresh fruit selections
Roll/muffin/croissant/sweet roll selections
Selection of beverages, including milk and juices



Likewise, luncheon and dinner food selections rotate daily at the Disneyland character buffets. Nevertheless, you can expect to find dishes that have a broad appeal---at least to North American diners, who make up the bulk of the character meal guests! Since families with children are the "target audience" of Disney character lunches and dinners, familiar foods that many kids like are featured over exotic or novelty entrees. The character meals are not the places to dine if you favor gourmet dining or non-American dishes. (Of course, in the California, both Mexican and Italian entrees are included in the list of "American" foods because of their great popularity here.) At the Disney Character lunches and dinners, you may expect to find---

A choice of chicken, beef, fish and pasta entrees
A vegetarian choice
A choice of several soups
A salad bar featuring fresh fruits, fruit salads, tossed salads, meat salads and pasta salads
Several vegetable selections, including several potato choices
Choice of several bread rolls
Wide selection of fancy desserts
Selection of beverages, including coffee, tea, sodas, milk and juice

Disneyland Character Dining Pictures

Take a peek inside the Lilo & Stitch and Goofy's Kitchen character restaurants

The PCH Grill's name itself is California-themed. How? "PCH" stands for Pacific Coast Highway, the scenic roadway that follows the coastline through the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. (Driving along the PCH is something you WON'T want to miss during your Southern California vacation!)



Upon entering the Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast, each child is presented with a colorful plastic lei. Crayons and "coloring" menus featuring the Lilo and Stitch characters are also fun for the small fry...and make a great souvenir to bring home, as well.


You'll be making trips to the buffet tables to select your favorite items. You may see a picture of the Lilo & Stitch buffet tables below (in the "Contact info" section at the end of this page.)











In the photo to your left, you see The Mad Hatter (a character from Alice in Wonderland) greeting a table of girls in the Goofy's Kitchen buffet room. At this particular moment, there were 2 characters mingling with the guests---The Mad Hatter, and Goofy.

The Goofy's Kitchen buffet features both indoor and outdoor patio seating. The buffet room itself is split down the middle by a wide aisle leading to the buffet (see photo to the right.)












The Goofy's Kitchen dining room is attractive, but doesn't seem to have a particular theme to the decor (as Lilo's Hawaiian-themed buffet does.)

The Goofy's Kitchen character meals are popular; over a dozen people were waiting for tables in the restaurant's lobby at the time these photos were taken...and this was on a weekday morning during the off-season.

Disneyland Character Meal pro's and con's

Don't plan to rush through your meal if you choose to enjoy a Disney character dining experience. If you're in a hurry to rush to the theme park's rides and attractions, it's a good idea to save visiting a character meal until another day. While you WILL get to meet 'n greet Disney characters, they do not wave at you as you head to your table and hop right over to you. You can't do a "quick in & out" at a character meal and meet all of the Disney characters you've paid to greet.

All characters reach every table, but if you're in a rush, their pace will seem too leisurely...like they're "holding you up" from doing other things. The Disney characters' motto is "make every kid at every table feel special." And, that's GREAT while they're at YOUR table; in fact, the time seems to fly. But when they're visiting other tables, time drags if you're in a hurry. They stop to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and hug every child. You may leave at any time, of course, but if you're planning to efficiently "eat & run," you might leave before all the characters have a chance to reach your table.

For those (like me) with "ants in their pants," it invariably seems like the whole restaurant will be filled with large families and birthday parties on the day you visit. And that you must wait while the characters meet all of those people...ahead of you & your child visiting in a party of 2. (It also seems like if you attend a character meal in a small group, you'll end up with less actual "character time." Larger groups often have a greater percentage of children at the table...and characters DO spend more time with kids than they do with adults, despite the fact that Disney Character-loving adults have paid their money just like anybody else.)

Best stategy: Come to the character meal with no other particular plans in mind. Eat a full, leisurely meal so that all the characters can make it around to your table. Bring a camera and an autograph book (even if you're not a collector) so you can get the maximum amount of time with each character. And, don't expect a show. I had expected that the characters would perform together at some point...but they don't. Character meals are for meeting & greeting, not entertainment.

Disneyland Character Dining -- Contact Information

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