Princess Dining Watch 2018

[momof2n2]

So YOU're the reason CP is so stagnant!

Come on. It's been a Pooh character meal for at least 19 years. Put some Marvel characters in there or something.

It’s like you know me....
Marvel is the ONLY thing my crew would willingly bump Pooh for.

But my kids love Pooh and we love CP. We even ate breakfast there two days in a row last trip. (Though that may had to do more with wanting a PPO breakfast and posters warning me off BOG breakfast...)

Pooh likely stays because he works well with boys/girls. And the costumes already smell like bacon and maple syrup.....

 

[mom2rtk]

And the costumes already smell like bacon and maple syrup.....

Oh behalf of Piglet.... you should be ashamed of that comment!

 

[momof2n2]

Oh behalf of Piglet.... you should be ashamed of that comment!

I actually LOL
And I may or may not have snorted.

 

[katyringo]

The only two we haven’t done are goofys kitchen and storytellers. Debating goofys kitchen for dinner but I really wish it wasn’t such a walk to the hotel for it. And storytellers is just breakfast. When a lot of the good neighbor hotels have breakfast I wish there were more character lunch. I really like Ariel’s grotto. I wish I could figure out how to add pictures in here using Mobil, but the interactions of the princesses with my 18 month old little girl were beyond magical. Memories I will have forever even if she doesn’t remember them.


I also think Disneyland is becoming more and more a destination for more than locals. I mean look at us. We live in Iowa. WDW and DLR are both about the same distance away. And we chose DLR. (the power of cars land). And now we are in love and WDW stresses me out lol. Would love more character meals!

 

[mom2rtk]

The only two we haven’t done are goofys kitchen and storytellers. Debating goofys kitchen for dinner but I really wish it wasn’t such a walk to the hotel for it. And storytellers is just breakfast. When a lot of the good neighbor hotels have breakfast I wish there were more character lunch. I really like Ariel’s grotto. I wish I could figure out how to add pictures in here using Mobil, but the interactions of the princesses with my 18 month old little girl were beyond magical. Memories I will have forever even if she doesn’t remember them.


I also think Disneyland is becoming more and more a destination for more than locals. I mean look at us. We live in Iowa. WDW and DLR are both about the same distance away. And we chose DLR. (the power of cars land). And now we are in love and WDW stresses me out lol. Would love more character meals!

We did the last time we could find for breakfast at Storytellers on a DCA day. Went in early, did a bunch of stuff then just stepped into GCH for breakfast. It's almost like being in the park. We haven't gone back though since the characters were pretty few and not that interesting to us.

For Goofy's just take the monorail from DL. It drops you very close.

 

[Vala]

They did the runDisney race Pasta Party in PPH last year, with character meets. That worked surprisingly well. I've attached a picture. They covered the background with a curtain and put up one of the Marathon backdrops in front. Simple, but it worked

The Marvel heroes were taking turns at the backdrops and not going from table to table.

I would really like it if Goofy would go back to the good old days of surprise guests. That could be a good temporary home for the princesses. But that's water under the bridge. If they had noticed any negative effects I think they would have gone back already.

A friend was saying maybe the princesses are getting a new venue in that new hotel. But it seems highly odd to not have a location for them for so long.

 

[mom2rtk]

They did the runDisney race Pasta Party in PPH last year, with character meets. That worked surprisingly well. I've attached a picture. They covered the background with a curtain and put up one of the Marathon backdrops in front. Simple, but it worked

The Marvel heroes were taking turns at the backdrops and not going from table to table.

I would really like it if Goofy would go back to the good old days of surprise guests. That could be a good temporary home for the princesses. But that's water under the bridge. If they had noticed any negative effects I think they would have gone back already.

A friend was saying maybe the princesses are getting a new venue in that new hotel. But it seems highly odd to not have a location for them for so long.

I was thinking the same thing about Goofy's. We used to see Snow White and/or Aurora there quite a bit. Now there's not a single princess showing up at any of the character meals. It would be nice to have 1 or 2 of those at Plaza Inn, but I understand that having face characters there makes it more complicated.

I agree if Goofy's wasn't doing well in the new format, it would probably have changed by now. However, I did notice that Mickey was with the other 5 on our visit in December. Made me wonder if they needed a bigger draw there. Or maybe it was just a one night thing. Who knows. It was just odd to have Mickey out front for our photo at Goofy's Kitchen when Goofy was there and greeting guests inside.

I can't imagine that new hotel will be open for at least a couple years. They haven't even broken ground. I sure hope it doesn't take that long to get something going! Oh well, I think we're taking a DLR break once SWL opens anyway. We'll go dine in the castle again like real royalty.

 

[DizMe]

I've been watching for a princess dining option, too. My youngest girls are now teens, but man, princess dining was a huge deal for us and the ONLY character meal I enjoyed. My sister is taking 2 granddaughters this summer and was asking me about princess dining, as they're soooo excited about princesses. It's so sad that there's no option at the moment; I am quite surprised by that and hope a new venue will be announced soon.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've been watching for a princess dining option, too. My youngest girls are now teens, but man, princess dining was a huge deal for us and the ONLY character meal I enjoyed. My sister is taking 2 granddaughters this summer and was asking me about princess dining, as they're soooo excited about princesses. It's so sad that there's no option at the moment; I am quite surprised by that and hope a new venue will be announced soon.

You and me both! My daughter is 17 now and it's sort of a retro thing now for us to dine with the princesses. We both love seeing all the adorable little girls decked out in costumes and excited to meet the princesses. I sure hope they get something together before we visit this fall! It's definitely a big tradition for us.

 

[Vala]

I was thinking the same thing about Goofy's. We used to see Snow White and/or Aurora there quite a bit. Now there's not a single princess showing up at any of the character meals. It would be nice to have 1 or 2 of those at Plaza Inn, but I understand that having face characters there makes it more complicated.

I agree if Goofy's wasn't doing well in the new format, it would probably have changed by now. However, I did notice that Mickey was with the other 5 on our visit in December. Made me wonder if they needed a bigger draw there. Or maybe it was just a one night thing. Who knows. It was just odd to have Mickey out front for our photo at Goofy's Kitchen when Goofy was there and greeting guests inside.

I can't imagine that new hotel will be open for at least a couple years. They haven't even broken ground. I sure hope it doesn't take that long to get something going! Oh well, I think we're taking a DLR break once SWL opens anyway. We'll go dine in the castle again like real royalty.

Mickey has been there for a while, for dinner only. I think they started advertising it last May "for a limited time" originally. Donald however has been there on occasion too, without a special costume. That had my hopes up slightly that at least he might join.

I agree about the hotel, that's what I told her too. I was thinking I had heard something about 2020/2021 as an opening date. That would be a very long time.

I see we'll all be taking off in different directions next year. I may be going the Castle Dining route though, but the main goal 2019 is Shanghai, possibly with Hong Kong.

 

[figment_jii]

Of all of the character meals, PPH seems like the one that is the easiest to get, but I wonder if DLR is resistant to changing that character meal because princesses don’t really fit in with the “beach” theme of the restaurant. I also wonder if there is a degree of “holding pattern” mentality as they make all of these changes to the resort and get ready for Star Wars Land. So rather than add princesses somewhere, they’re just waiting to see what happens. However, if they’re going to add princesses somewhere, Plaza Inn seems like a good place (I’ve always felt that princesses and DL were more of a fit than DCA).

 

[mom2rtk]

Of all of the character meals, PPH seems like the one that is the easiest to get, but I wonder if DLR is resistant to changing that character meal because princesses don’t really fit in with the “beach” theme of the restaurant. I also wonder if there is a degree of “holding pattern” mentality as they make all of these changes to the resort and get ready for Star Wars Land. So rather than add princesses somewhere, they’re just waiting to see what happens. However, if they’re going to add princesses somewhere, Plaza Inn seems like a good place (I’ve always felt that princesses and DL were more of a fit than DCA).

Plaza Inn was a princess breakfast up until sometime in 2006 I think. It seemed to flow pretty well and was very popular.

 

[figment_jii]

I wonder if one of the hard parts about putting Princess Dining back in DL would be deciding which princesses to have at the meal. I don't know how popular it would be if it's the same princesses that guests could meet at Princess Fantasy Faire or elsewhere in the parks. Yet, I don't know if it would sit well if they scaled back princesses M&G so that they could add them to a character meal. I suppose that's why DCA worked well; there weren't may competing princess M&G inside the park.

 

[mom2rtk]

I wonder if one of the hard parts about putting Princess Dining back in DL would be deciding which princesses to have at the meal. I don't know how popular it would be if it's the same princesses that guests could meet at Princess Fantasy Faire or elsewhere in the parks. Yet, I don't know if it would sit well if they scaled back princesses M&G so that they could add them to a character meal. I suppose that's why DCA worked well; there weren't may competing princess M&G inside the park.

Those princesses used to meet out and about in the park at various spots when the breakfast was at Plaza Inn. Maybe they didn't meet until after breakfast hours or something, but they did make it work. I'd have to think it would be much easier now that they meet indoors for their regular park appearances.

 

[figment_jii]

I was thinking that it would go the other way; with the proliferation of social media, people would be much faster to criticize. I can already see the comments: "Why would I spend $X to see <fill in the princesses>, when I can see them for free at Fantasy Faire. Disney is just trying to rip off tourists" or something like that. Or on the flip side, if they take some of the princesses out of the rotation: "Disney is making a money grab, moving <fill in the princess> that I used to be able to see in the parks to a paid breakfast." I think the best solution would be to either feature princesses that aren't normally available in the parks or perhaps go the route of the Trattoria at WDW and have the princesses meet with their princes or one of their side kicks or their villain.

 

[lcp9]

I was thinking that it would go the other way; with the proliferation of social media, people would be much faster to criticize. I can already see the comments: "Why would I spend $X to see <fill in the princesses>, when I can see them for free at Fantasy Faire. Disney is just trying to rip off tourists" or something like that. Or on the flip side, if they take some of the princesses out of the rotation: "Disney is making a money grab, moving <fill in the princess> that I used to be able to see in the parks to a paid breakfast." I think the best solution would be to either feature princesses that aren't normally available in the parks or perhaps go the route of the Trattoria at WDW and have the princesses meet with their princes or one of their side kicks or their villain.

That's a good point, although I do think (especially without the Castle package M&G available anymore at BBB) you will still have people willing to pay a premium for breakfast to avoid having to wait in line for fantasy faire. IDEALLY they could have Anna/Elsa at the breakfast so you don't have to stand in line at the animation academy for 30 minutes...and be able to meet all princesses in one park.

 

[agamble]

I think plenty of people would still be willing to pay. They want to take their little princess to dine with the princesses. It doesn't matter that they can visit the same princesses for free at the PFF. Besides, the meal was at DCA before. It may be a different park, but it isn't very far away. Technically people could already see the princesses for free, and still chose to pay for the dining. The other thing with character meals is if you see the princesses at the meal you get to eat and meet characters, then you can skip the long line to meet the princesses later. Plus they could have 5-6 princesses, where as the M&G only has 3.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think plenty of people would still be willing to pay. They want to take their little princess to dine with the princesses. It doesn't matter that they can visit the same princesses for free at the PFF. Besides, the meal was at DCA before. It may be a different park, but it isn't very far away. Technically people could already see the princesses for free, and still chose to pay for the dining. The other thing with character meals is if you see the princesses at the meal you get to eat and meet characters, then you can skip the long line to meet the princesses later. Plus they could have 5-6 princesses, where as the M&G only has 3.

I agree. Many of the characters at the dining locations can easily be met in the parks.

 

[Vala]

Those princesses used to meet out and about in the park at various spots when the breakfast was at Plaza Inn. Maybe they didn't meet until after breakfast hours or something, but they did make it work. I'd have to think it would be much easier now that they meet indoors for their regular park appearances.

Works with the Fairy Godmother still. She's a regular at the breakfast and then after dining is over starts appearing in the park.