Just got back on the 9th. Still basking in the awesome. Word to the wise: IF you decide to get your character meal voucher in advance from Orbitz or Cheap Tickets (can't remember who does it), you MUST go to Guest Services outside of the gates PRIOR to entry. You show them the vouchers and they will immediately issue you all the meals right then. You should really reserve your seats and even if you don't have your vouchers for all the maels, they'll be able to see it online and issue the vouchers. They did for me at any rate, which was a total time-saver as I only brought the one voucher instead of all of them. Budget another 10 minutes for this so you're not late for your seating. It does say it on the voucher, but it's in teeny-tiny print and I had so many other things in my head that I totally forgot about it.
We did 3 character meals.
1 - Breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn. Breakfast was standard - discovered I'm not crazy about the bacon or sausages. Our table was a corner booth, on the right side of the dining room, right behind the computer area. The food was good and plentiful and the characters were awesome. We saw: Fairy Godmother, Hook, Minnie, Suzy Mouse, Dale, Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. The interaction was wonderful and they made sure to get to all of us in the dining area as well as signing our books and posing for photos. If you have PP+ (and it's worth every cent), you'll get a family photo at the front and then a photographer hunts you down with your folder - your family photo on one side, Minnie on the other, and an envelope with 3 other smaller 4x6 in side. Perfect for scrapbooking or gifting. The envelope has a code on it for ALL the photos from that specific shoot.
2 - Dinner at Goofy's at DLR. Buffet dinner with lots of choic and good, hot food. The favourite was the PB&J pizza and the Mac & Cheese pizza. My favourite was the lobster penne. It's very filling! There are other drinks that are about $5 each - non alcoholic mojitos or strawberry lemonades for example - and you'll be billed seperately. The check in and pay lineup is at the front within the blue 'ropes'. There's 3 registers but usually only one open. I reminded them of the cake and they had it noted. You're ushered to a small alcove where Chef Goofy awaits and he'll sign your autograph book and take some photos. Then you're shown to your table. Ours was near the back, on the left side of the room, against the wall creating the hall to the exit out back. Every 10 minutes or so the whole gang - Goofy, Dale, Minnie and Pluto - go out the back, then the 'entry' music plays and they come dancing in and pick up visiting where they left off - mostly. Drove us nuts to tell the truth. Pluto was awesome with the kids. Minnie was JUST about to see us, and then she left. When she returned she started from behind us and came back up. It was weird. My DD9 was yelling for them to come by, and we had to keep shushing her. She really thought they'd go by us so we had to assure her each character would come by. Well... not everyone did. It was 30 minutes into it, we were done and just wanted to get to the MHP, and Dale hadn't popped by. We'd already seen him that morning so it wasn't a crisis when we left. A photographer popped by with our folder - this one has three recipes in it, and lots to read. It's very cute. One page is the family photo with Goofy and there's an envelope with three 4x6 inside and the code out front. This photographer also used my camera for extra shots for us which was very kind of her I thought. She got photos of Goofy signing our autograph book as well. We ordered a cake for DD11 for her birthday. There were lots of birthdays going on! Whenever someone got their cake, a group of servers would stand around and clap and sing Happy Birthday. When it was our turn, I asked for no fuss as our DD didn't want it. He was surprised but good with it. And good about boxing up the cake too.
3 - Breakfast at Ariel's Grotto. We were bang on time and given a pager. We had about 15 minutes to wander around the Pier before it went off. Once we handed it in, we stood on the curved stair case. The CM at the top told us to move to the left. But she meant HER left or something, but at any rate, we were along the RIGHT of the rail (which was not really needed) because of people who would be going back up the stairs... but no one did. ANYWAY, we got to the bottom and the 'royal' CM took our PP+ card and got us ready. DD11 was shy with Ariel and wasn't going to be in the photo until Ariel engaged her successfully in conversation. It was awesome. Excellent interaction and we didn't feel rushed. After the photos, we were shown to our table; along the right side of the room near doors to the outside area. Our server came by and asked for our drink orders as we looked over the breakfast menu. He gave us mixed fruit and a carb bowl (mini croissants, muffins, etc) to start. The interaction was great! Other than Ariel, we also saw Rapunzel, Mulan (!), Belle and Cinderella. They all started at the tables nearest their entrance way, but did both sides of the aisle as they moved along. I'd estimate 1-2 minutes per table. They were lovely and signed our books for us. A photographer gave us our folder - a photo of the girls with Ariel on one side with the envelope and three 4x6's and the code on the front of the envelope. The food was lovely - three of us had the waffles and they were super good. I had ordered a Princess Treasure Chest for DD9 as it was her birthday, but I forgot to remind the front desk. When I mentioned it to our server, I guess I didn't say the right thing, so DD9 only got a cupcake as opposed to the Chest. It saved us some money, but I was a little disappointed.
