Character Dining Returns to Disneyland

Character dining has officially returned to Disneyland with the return of the Minnie & Friends – Breakfast in the Park. The experience is an all-you-care-to-enjoy collection of all several breakfast items. This character breakfast will occur daily, unless otherwise specified, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. For now, it seems that guests will have to make reservations in advance for this dining option. The experience costs $41 for adults and $24 for children ages 3-9. Guests 2 and under are free of charge.

The Food

There are lots of foods and drinks to choose from when dining here. The experience is an all-you-care-to-enjoy collection of all several breakfast favorites including: Mickey waffles, Minnie waffles, French toast, an omelette station, scrambled eggs, boneless fried chicken thighs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, breakfast potatoes, fresh-baked pastries and breads, fruit, and hot and cold cereals. Here are a few pictures from the foods we tried.

The Characters

This is where the experience is most different from before the park closure. Twice an hour (10 after the hour, and 40 after the hour) several characters come out and walk through the restaurant (both inside and outside) to wave and let you take pictures of them. They don’t stop moving, though, so if you have little ones you want to photograph with the characters, it’s a little tricky. During our visit we saw the following characters: Minnie, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Chip, Dale, Daisy, and Pluto. Outside, Minnie is available for most of the experience for photo opportunities. Disney offers your free photopass for this one photo opportunity. We were pleasantly surprised when we linked the photos to our Disneyland account that they were all available to download for free.

Final Thoughts

The experience has increased in cost since our last visit, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth the money. If you have the financial means to visit Disneyland and can afford this meal, it is well worth it. If you’re on the fence about whether it is worth the cost then we suggest saving the experience for a special occasion (a birthday, anniversary, celebration, etc…) or waiting for the character experience to improve in terms of access to getting photos with the characters like we used to before the park closure. I was happy with seeing the characters, but was a little bummed that they didn’t stop at the tables for pictures like they used to. Overall, though, we had a great time and recommend this experience.