YawningDodo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2014
I've always wanted to try Garden Grill and never had a chance, so now that I'm doing a solo trip next January I think I'm going to jump on it! I've only done character dining once on my first trip as a kid, twenty years ago but I've done regular character interactions in the parks solo quite a few times, so I'm not entirely unused to engaging with characters! I'm mostly interested in GG for the views and the comfort food, but I do want to push myself to do one character meal just to see how I like it.
The question is: do I try to book pre-park opening, or do I book a later breakfast that will serve as a mid-morning break? Right now I'm leaning toward the latter, but I have some questions:
The question is: do I try to book pre-park opening, or do I book a later breakfast that will serve as a mid-morning break? Right now I'm leaning toward the latter, but I have some questions:
- Am I less likely to be able to get a booth on the lower level if I eat there mid-morning vs. booking the earliest possible reservation and showing up at the earliest possible time? I don't think upper level is a total deal-breaker (I'm tall, so I should be able to see over the dividing wall and still see the attraction scenes), but the booths seem nicer. It just also seems likely that CMs might be reluctant to seat a solo diner in a booth since most of them appear to be 5-tops vs. the 4-top tables on the upper level.
- Am I right in thinking that using a PPO to get in line early for Soarin' could make for a rushed meal? Getting into the park early sounds fun and all, but I don't want to pay ~$40 for a breakfast and then have to eat it quickly. That's what has me leaning toward rope dropping and then doing a later breakfast at GG (maybe get Soarin' as my tier 1 FP+ for early afternoon and shoot over to Frozen or TT on entry, then work my way back over to the Land). Their breakfast menu interests me more than the lunch/dinner menu, so I'd probably be looking at something like 10:00.
- Any tips for talking to/interacting with the characters as an adult, particularly when solo? When I used to do a lot of character interactions it was when I worked in WDW on the College Program, and I made a game of going to the parks on my days off to have characters sign a tote bag I'd been given in training that was branded with my department's logo. It gave me a built-in "reason" to be interacting with characters, which made things less awkward (and many of them would recognize the logo and get all excited). Without that (I could bring something else to have them autograph, but I'd have to think of something fun I'd actually want to keep once I get home...and I'm drawing a blank), what's your go-to for striking up "conversation" with silent characters?