This review will consist of our experience at the All Star Character Breakfast at Cafe La Bamba.
I am going to be totally honest so anyone interested will have good information since I found details on this hard to find as I researched our trip.
Here was the line at outside check in when we first got to the park at around 8:30. I chose to do a later breakfast at 10 and use it as more of a brunch.
When I went to check in I was told we could not until right on time. The hostess was not a people person to put it nicely.
Right at 10am I checked in and was told to wait outside until our name was called. I thought that this was strange as we had been sitting there for about 15 minuted and every person who had checked in had gone from the podium straight into the restaurant. After sitting outside and watching about 5 more families go straight in I decided that it was our turn.
Nobody questioned us so we just got in line. I think that it was a good thing that I took the initiative because if not I am pretty sure we would still be sitting in the courtyard waiting for the imaginary hostess.
There are two lines inside and you just choose one and tell the servers behind the buffet which breakfast plate that you want. I think that there were 5 choices. There were two small groups in front of us.
As we drew near the server we noticed that there seemed to be a huge problem with the breakfast that was a biscuit sandwich. Apparently they were behind in the kitchen and if you ordered this they would bring it out to you. The problem was they didn't take a name or make note of who needed one so many annoyed diners were coming back up to ask. The people that led you to the tables were being yelled at and they in turn were yelling at the cooks/servers. It was pretty bad. We quickly decided that none of us wanted the biscuit. I even overheard the table runner people saying things like, "the fat guy in yellow needs two more and the ugly girl at the back still needs her food." The staff was awful.
When it was our turn G, B, and I were first. Since B was 2 he didn't need a ticket so we chose 2 meals to split between us. G went first and the server dished up her food and then proceeded to get into an honest to God screaming match with the kitchen. It went on for about 5 minutes before I finally asked her to either serve us some food or get the manager and get our money back. She angrily dished out my food and shoved it at us as she yelled over her shoulder into the kitchen. C and Gran got theirs and we were seated. A waiter was supposed to come bring drinks. Needless to say that didn't happen.
We were super thirsty since we had been out in the park before breakfast so I finally went to find someone to get drinks. A bored looking girl came and took our order (by then our food was stone cold) and didn't write anything down. I figured that would be okay since we ordered 1 water, 1 cranberry juice, and 3 apple juices. After about 15 more minutes she came back with a cranberry juice and 4 orange juices. We took them as we were now dying of thirst but I did mention that she should write it down if that was the best she could do. I am no seething and would have called it a day except I had two little guys who were looking forward to seeing characters. I didn't want to pitch a fit and spoil their fun so I just grinned and beared it.
The food was fine and might have been netter had it been even sort of warm. The croissants were pretty dry and the pancakes were spongy but everything was edible. The kids were happy with it and that was the point.
I know this sounds horrible but I will say that the characters were wonderful and the kids loved it. B and G love the minions and B was in Heaven with Diego.
First we met E.B. Bunny from the movie HOP. He was super cute and he had his drumsticks out and was playing the drums on the tables.
Next came Minion Tim. His handler was friendly and good at her job and Tim stayed with us a long time when he saw how much fun the kids were having. We were also in an area with a lot of empty tables that hadn't been cleared so we had a lot of room.
C's shirt said "Don't Touch my Minion" and Tim loved it and kept looking at it and laughing.
This was taken about 10 minutes after the first set. Tim snuck up behind Gran and was making crazy gestures and being super silly. The kids ate it up, it was so cute.
Next came Gru and he was really good too. I was afraid that the characters would be as bad as the service but they were awesome.
As you can see in the picture Dora was next and B was in love. G is too big for Dora but she was excited for her brother. B was pleased to see that she had Backpack with her.
Right after we saw Dora, Gru ran by and tapped G on the shoulder and pointed at himself and then out the big window we were sitting next to. Then he ran out the side door waving at her. We had no idea what he was doing. Then out the window we saw the Gru mobile rolling out with him and some minions aboard. He saw the kids at the window and waved and pointed at himself and G again. She was so excited.
By now we were completely done with breakfast but we hung around waiting for more characters.
Squidward was next and he stayed with us for probably at least 7 or 8 minutes. He played with the kids and was a riot. He gave me a new appreciation for Spongebob, lol.
He did such a good job. You could tell he was teasingly being grumpy.
Next came the man that B had been waiting all day to see, Diego. DA was to G as meeting Diego was to B. He was the happiest little boy in the world for a while.
B was happy to see Rescue pack on Diego's back.
The only character we hadn't seen at this point was Spongebob. There was a lady that announced the characters and she came around then to ask about our experience. I was 100% honest so I hope that someone handles the staff problem because they were about as bad as I have ever seen. I did make sure and tell her how good the characters were though. She was super sweet and she went to make sure that Spongebob came to see us before he and we left.
G thought that it was funny that the lady hollered at Spongebob as he was leaving, "Hey Squarepants, you didn't meet these guys yet." He rushed over and we had a nice visit.
Would we do this again? Maybe if the kids wanted to. Them being so happy and having such a nice time almost made up for the horrible service and pretty mediocre food. I will treasure these pictures forever. How often do you get a picture with a 2 year old who is too happy to look up at the camera?
If anyone has any questions about this that I haven't addressed I would be happy to try and help out.
Enjoying the food reviews too. The story about the witch in KA--my dd is reading over my shoulder but I didn't let her see that part so if we are lucky enough to have a similar experience, it'll be a surprise. I know everyone raves about Disney CMs but I think we had even better experiences at IoA: we met some fabulous folks in Hogsmeade who really "got it". I'm sorry you had a mean one at JP, but I too cheered when you said you explained to him the error of his ways. 
