Disneyland Hints at the Return of "Normal" Character Dining

Going to Disneyland soon? Well, a BIG update could be on the way that could make a huge impact on your trip.

Character dining at Storytellers Cafe

Today, Disney announced that traditional character meet-and-greets (meaning you get to hug Mickey and get autographs from your favorite characters) will be returning (in phases) to Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line, and Aulani. But what about character dining? Well, Disney has sort-of teased an announcement about that too.

A quick recap: earlier today, Disney announced that traditional meet-and-greets will be coming back to Disneyland (and other spots) in phases. While not all locations will be open in this traditional fashion immediately, “regular” meet-and-greets will start reopening in phases throughout the spring and early summer. They will start becoming available in some spots as early as April 18th.

Holiday Mickey!!

But what about character dining? Well, the return of traditional character meet-and-greets could (and should) mark the return of traditional character dining. After all, it would make sense that character dining would return to “normal” soon, given that meet-and-greets are returning to normal.

In their recent announcement about meet-and-greets, Disney hinted at this by saying, “During the past two years, we’ve taken a very gradual, intentional approach to health and safety protocols. Recent trends and guidance have provided opportunities for [them] to bring back some of [their] most beloved magic, like character greetings and dining experiences.”

The inclusion of “dining experiences” in that statement seems to indicate that character dining could be going back to normal at Disneyland Resort soon as part of these changes.

Jasmine

Disney’s announcement video surrounding character meet-and-greets going back to “normal” also seems to indicate this change. In the video, you can see Goofy walking around some tables at a character dining location, and you can also see Tiana and Rapunzel interacting guests guests at what appear to be the dining locations on Disney Cruise Line. Again, hinting that character dining will be returning to “normal” at these various spots.

So, if you’ve got a character dining reservation coming up, be on the lookout for some changes to potentially roll out over the next few months. If these changes take place, characters should once again greet you at your table as you dine, sign autograph books, give out hugs, and take photos!

We will share our character dining experiences with YOU as we see any changes take place, so please let us know if you have any questions. We are here to help YOU and want to make sure we can do just that!