Which 3 breakfasts

mastermind307 said:

I wish we had more time so I could try all the restaurants on my list. I'm thinking about keeping Crystal Palace and Tusker House because they are in a park and we could do a prepark breakfast and be done for rope drop. And I think we'll skip Boma this time around just because of the location, although sometime I want to visit AKL. Of course after people mentioned Kona and I looked at the menu, it sounds good too. So now I have to choose between Kona, Whispering Canyon, and Trails End. I'm thinking about Whispering Canyon or Kona because the other 2 are buffets and it might nice to eat at a different style other than a buffet.

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I think you will be quit happy with your decision to do this. While Boma is very nice, it is out there. It's not so bad if you are going to the AKL to visit in the evening at the end of a day, but becomes more of a hassle if you are going out there for breakfast from your resort to there for a breakfast and then to a park. Your final decision between Kona, Whispering Canyon or Trails end is a tough one since they are all pretty good. Like I mentioned earlier, I would choose Whispering Canyon because you are already at that resort. Also, you will have the option to order off of a menu for breakfast and if someone else wants an all they can eat, Whispering Canyon offers the endless skillet as well.

Tusker House is my favorite of the ones listed. hollywood and vine is also great.

mastermind307 said:

I wish we had more time so I could try all the restaurants on my list. I'm thinking about keeping Crystal Palace and Tusker House because they are in a park and we could do a prepark breakfast and be done for rope drop. And I think we'll skip Boma this time around just because of the location, although sometime I want to visit AKL. Of course after people mentioned Kona and I looked at the menu, it sounds good too. So now I have to choose between Kona, Whispering Canyon, and Trails End. I'm thinking about Whispering Canyon or Kona because the other 2 are buffets and it might nice to eat at a different style other than a buffet.

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I'm also planning, and replacing our adr's! (My problem is dd is now 17, will she get up in time for breakfast? Anyone have a crystal ball? Anyone? Me neither!)

I agree with you do Crystal Palace (I want to add it!)
and do Tusker House (We're going to try Yak and Yeti for lunch, I think dd will be up by a 1pm adr! Plus she likes Asian food!)
I also agree with your reasons for Whispering Canyon and Trails End

We can't do it all, keep in mind, you are on vacation, and instead of rushing to make it over to Polynesian, wandering over to Trails End or Whispering Canyon for breakfast will be a nice adventure too... I'd keep them!

(and I'll add we did Ohana for breakfast and it is the one DD requested - we do it on our last day, after we check out of WL, we'll head over, it takes awhile to get seated for Ohana, but she loves the antics of Stitch and Pluto, and we laugh and think about all the fun, then head over to MK to "one last time" rides and smells and pictures! but its our "leisure" day - 9:30 adr... )

Since you are staying at the Wilderness Lodge I think trying the Trails End breakfast buffet over at Fort Wilderness would be nice. I've heard that the food is good and the prices are great, especially if you are paying OOP.

Thats a hard choice, but if it was up to me I would pick Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Whispering Canyon. With Crystal Palace and Tusker House you can do pre park opening ADRs. I love getting into the park before everyone else. And with Whispering Canyon is convenient for you since you are staying at Wilderness Lodge, plus I have heard really good things about this restaurant. We have never eaten here but plan to for Dinner in April. I've never eaten at Boma but we don't really like African cuisine so it doesn't appeal to us. Trails End is a good choice too, but I would choose either whispering canyon or trails end I wouldn't do both, and whispering canyon seems more fun for kids with their antics that I have heard of lol.

If you can get a pre-park opening Crystal Palace then I would keep that one. If not I would skip it or possibly replace it with 1900 park fare(tigger, pooh, Alice, mad hatter and Mary Poppins).
I would skip Boma, it is supposed to be very good, but would really be out of your way.
I would keep tusker house and try to get a late breakfast, that way you can actually get breakfast and lunch food. We did this last trip and it AWSOME!
I would keep whispering canyon over trails end based on convenience and food quality.

Would it be better to do a pre-park opening breakfast at 8:00 when the park opens at 9:00 or eat breakfast around 9:30 on an EMH day when the park opens at 8:00? I was planning to do pre-park opening, but it might work out well to do some rides first and then eat.

I'm also leaning toward trying Kona for the Tonga Toast. What is the strawberry compote? Does it come the side?

Here's my take:

We've done your idea to do pre-park opening breakfasts at Tusker House and Crystal Palace on all of our trips and have always enjoyed the experience (we like the food and the characters a bit better at Tusker and the restaurant setting better at Crystal Palace).

At least at Crystal Palace, I'd opt for a pre-park opening ADR so you can enjoy walking down a mostly empty Main Street (and get pictures in front of the castle without other people in them). This is really a priceless experience. At Tusker, I could go either way (we always do pre-park opening but having a later ADR on a morning EMH day is also a good strategy, provided your kids can hold out that long).

As far as the other restaurants, I'd recommend Whispering Canyon. It's the most convenient and we thought the food was really good (I had the pancakes, which I liked almost as much as the Tonga Toast at Kona). Plus, if you're doing both Tusker and Crystal Palace, you may find that it's nice/relaxing to have a full table service breakfast.

As far as the other restaurants you're considering:

Boma - easily the best breakfast buffet on property as far as food selection and quality but, as others have mentioned, difficult to get to.

Cape May - has above average character buffet food, great character interaction, and is the most relaxed of all of the character breakfasts but is also difficult to get to.

Trail's End - not that hard to get to from WL and, as the least expensive breakfast buffet on property, it's an excellent value OOP (by Disney standards) but I'd rank it behind Whispering Canyon for the reasons noted above. I'd also rank it behind Kona for similar reasons.

Kona - I'd only rank this behind Whispering Canyon because it's somewhat more difficult to get to (although much easier than Boma or Cape May). Otherwise, it's a terrific choice. I love Tonga Toast but, as noted above, I enjoyed the pancakes at Whispering Canyon almost as much. In general, I believe you get quality over quantity when you choose full table service over a buffet.

The strawberry compote at Kona is like a mix between a strawberry jam and syrup. It comes on the side and is very sweet.

Taking out Boma sounds like a good idea. TH is one of our favorites. each of my kids requests it every time. I did not personally like 1900PF, but that probably has ore to do with my disappointment when the MH was not there . I would add Kona. You could do it o an EPCOT day. edited to add: if doing a EMH MORNING, I might even make the ADR for closer to the last bkfst seating. That way you make the most of the hours before the floods of people enter the park