Advice on Timing of Character Breakfast

[aimathy]

I was hoping to get some advice from some experienced Disneyland visitors. We are coming to CA from the East Coast in August for a wedding. We are building in a 3.5 day visit to Disneyland. We know it's going to be horribly crowded, but it is most likely a once (maybe twice!) in a lifetime visit for us and we want to be sure not to miss it. We are fairly experienced WDW visitors but I'm clueless when it comes to DL. We arrive on Sunday and I'm not sure we'll make it to the park that day (that would be the .5 day if we did!)....and then we'll be there Mon, Tues and Weds.

We will have one Magic Morning and one Toontown Morning Madness entrance. I'm trying to fit in a character breakfast or lunch and am having trouble figuring out when to do it. A 2 hour breakfast seems like a really long time first thing in the morning when we could try to get on the slow line rides quickly. And "wasting" our Magic Morning at breakfast also seems like a bad idea.

Any advice? We were hoping to eat at either Minnie's or Goofy's meals. Any help for a good way to plan it out to maximize our time on some super-crowded days? Thanks so much!!

PS It will be me, my husband, DD 16, DS 12 and DD 4. Thanks!

 

[sonnyjane]

First of all, you would benefit from this thread: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

I'd recommend doing Minnie's as the breakfast - that way you'll already be in the park. And I absolutely would NOT go to breakfast during your MM! Did you know that for Minnie's you can get reservations on MM days for before regular park opening even if you don't have MM? For example, if the park opens at 8, but MM starts at 7, you can make a reservation at Minnie's for 7:10 AM and not use your MM entry that day.

For planning purposes, MM are typically offered on T and S days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday), and ToonTown Morning Madness is on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. So, if you're going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, your MM day will be Tuesday and your TTMM day will be either Monday or Wednesday. If you plan to do your half day on Sunday, then booking the early pre-opening Minnie's breakfast won't work, since you'll want to take advantage of your full MM on Tuesday morning. You could always book a later breakfast after MM if you like.

They limit your character meal to 90 minutes (I only mention that since you brought up sitting there for two hours).

 

[helenb]

Given your concerns, I would suggest that you NOT do a character breakfast. Frankly, I've always wondered why people like the breakfasts so much, when (as you said) they are wasting valuable ride time when the lines are short!

If you want to do a character meal, I would suggest Ariel's Grotto for lunch, or Goofy's for dinner. Just think, when would you like to sit down to a big meal and meet characters? At the beginning of the day, or the middle/end of the day? Normally I find a character meal to be better after we've already exhausted ourselves running around the park for a bit. JMHO.

 

[LMcQueen]

I would consider a late breakfast. Im going next week and Minnies breakfast at the Plaza Inn goes until 1130am. We plan to go at 1030. We will go to MM, hit a couple more rides then have breakfast. You could do something similar.

 

[ktlm]

WDW vet who has been to DL on family trips the last 2 summers (and on a business trip before that which prompted the other trips). Minnie's breakfast is hands down better than any character meal at WDW. We saw 9 characters last summer and 7 (or maybe 8) the year before. I highly recommend it. What we do is schedule breakfast for around 10:15 or 10:30. The park usually opens around 8 and that gives us a couple of hours to get stuff done before stopping to eat. Plus, at least when we have been there the restaurant was not that crowded at that time, so the characters spent tons of time with DD. They dance with the kids and play with them, unlike just some of the standard quick hello and picture meals at WDW. Our first time, after Captain Hook got DD (then 4) to come out from under the table to see him, they wound up doing the macarena together.

Goofy's is fun for dinner and you can get some really good character interaction there too (still better than most at WDW, but for us not quite as good as Minnies in terms of the number of characters that spend extra time playing), If you are doing Goofy's, we have made reservations at opening time. We've noticed that it takes a while for the tables to fill up and some of the characters would keep stopping back by our table and playing with DD until the crowd started picking up and they had more rounds to make. If you are only doing one, I would stick with Minnie's. Minnie's has the advantage that it is in the park, so you don't miss any park time going to and from it. Your DD would probably like Ariel's grotto if she likes princesses, but it isn't any different than the Princess meals at WDW- formal meet and picture with 1 princess (Ariel of course), then 4 walk through the restaurant for a quick chat and picture.

Don't run around saying you are just going to DL once in a lifetime and never again. You might find that you fall in love with it like we did. It sure is nice to be able to walk everywhere in a matter of minutes...plus there is that Indiana Jones Ride among other things . We now find ourselves in a pattern of alternating between WDW and DL.

Have a fun trip! If you can squeeze that extra .5 day in I would. I know that at least when we have been there in the summer the AP's have been blocked out on Saturdays and Sundays, so those days have been less crowded than the weekdays for us.