Alternative to Value Resort Breakfast early AM?

[GOODoldPAL]

Ok we made a rough plan and all of our ADRs for 10 days of Free Dining in late September.
Looking it over, we are to eat breakfast @ POP Century 6 or 7 times ~ sounds boring!!

On 2 days we are going to water parks (that open @ 10am) so POP breakfast makes sense.
2 other mornings we have breakfast TS ressies.
That leaves 6 "quickie" breakfasts as we will be eager to get on the rides!

We are only doing 2 morning EMH @8am, other days headed to theme parks for opening @ 9am (we prefer to stay for late EMH).

How early do the CS generally open for breakfast?
Are there long lines at places like Main Street Bakery very early AM (as bad as prime lunch time)?
Are there plenty of "coffee & donut or bagel" options (maybe snack credit or OOP)?

We used to do EVERY early opening, eating breakfast in our room.
So not familiar with breakfast on the run in parks.
Any advice appreciated
~ Tina

 

[Daydreamer]

We ran into the same issue on our last trip and decided about the only way to have breakfast was to either eat at the resort or eat and run at a snack / fruit stand at the parks. ABC Commisary (Studios) and Pizzafari (AK) where about the only CS options we saw for breakfast. Our plan this time is to do a couple of TS breakfasts, hit the Main Street Bakery a couple of mornings and just grab a piece of fruit to help us make it until lunch on the rest of the mornings.

 

[The Sweetness]

Why not pick up your bagels and dounuts and have them in the room a couple of days (or pop tarts, or cereal bars for that matter) , instead of the food court. I think the food courts have a nice variety for breakfast. I also think it's foolish to waste precious time in the morning, while some people are still getting off to a late start. Get those first couple of rides in. At 11 am (I think) the CS places are open. You can then have a nice early lunch (if that suits your family.) That will also eliminate the issue of lines up the wazzoo at CS from 12- 2 (or whatever the *rush* is*

Just my opinion

 

[gigi1313]

we've grabbed breakfast-y stuff in the parks before and actually look forward to it now... Main St bakery is not crazy crowded and we've almost always gotten a seat (sometimes only 3 chairs for the four of us, but we take turns)... we also enjoyed the cafe place in epcot (fountainblue or electric umbrella?) where we got the most scrumptious chocolate croissants... and if you can wait, the bakeries in world showcase are great too!

do you know that you can get an entire box of donuts for one snack credit in the "grocery" section of your resort gift shop? they make a quick "breakfast" on the run to hold you over for better/more substantial fare elsewhere later...

also, you can buy/bring those cups of cereal at target (wal-mart/grocery store/etc) and grab a quart of milk from the gift shop as well... just keep it cold overnight by filling a small wastebasket w/ice and putting it in the bathtub...

last but not least, and dh's fave breakfast tip... don't eat your ts dessert and bring it back to the room for breakfast the next day

 

[LizinSTL]

Ok we made a rough plan and all of our ADRs for 10 days of Free Dining in late September.
Looking it over, we are to eat breakfast @ POP Century 6 or 7 times ~ sounds boring!!

On 2 days we are going to water parks (that open @ 10am) so POP breakfast makes sense.
2 other mornings we have breakfast TS ressies.
That leaves 6 "quickie" breakfasts as we will be eager to get on the rides!

We are only doing 2 morning EMH @8am, other days headed to theme parks for opening @ 9am (we prefer to stay for late EMH).

How early do the CS generally open for breakfast?
Are there long lines at places like Main Street Bakery very early AM (as bad as prime lunch time)?
Are there plenty of "coffee & donut or bagel" options (maybe snack credit or OOP)?

We used to do EVERY early opening, eating breakfast in our room.
So not familiar with breakfast on the run in parks.
Any advice appreciated
~ Tina

While there is a lot of variety at Pop for breakfast, you may get tired of it every day. I'd grab a box of donuts using a single snack credit and send someone down w/ refillable mugs to get coffee/cocoa/juice/coke to eat in the room before heading to the parks. Or sit in the food court area and eat your box of donuts! We did that a couple times.

The one day we didn't eat before heading to the parks is the day we couldn't find ANYTHING to eat anywhere but main street before 11am. My husband and kids were miserable! No one wanted to stop riding rides with no waits to go back to main street but they were starving and grumpy.

I wouldn't count on finding a wide variety of counter service available in the early mornings in the parks. With the exception of fruit carts in AK and Main street bakery in MK, we didn't see anything open before 10:30-11am. Epcot did have more available, if I recall.

 

[keliblue]

*******************************************ZSzeb001_ZSYYYYYYYYUS One snack credit = a whole box of dounuts..

 

[illiniowl]

We used to do EVERY early opening, eating breakfast in our room.
So not familiar with breakfast on the run in parks.

Not criticizing - just wondering...did your family not like eating breakfast in the room before? If you're a family that is disciplined enough to get up early, fuel up in the room, and still get to the parks for rope drop, then I say stick to that plan!

Or is it that with the DDP you want to use your CS credit for a substantial breakfast, keep touring while everyone else is crowding the CS's for lunch (maybe using snack credits for food on the go), and use your TS for dinner? That's a pretty good plan too but as others have indicated the CS pickings for breakfast in the parks themselves are indeed kind of slim. Will you have a car? How about going over to CSR for an early breakfast at Pepper Market, then driving to your park?

 

[annaaidan99]

I am personally not a breakfast person to begin with, but my son definitely is. We did buy a box of the 1 snack credit donuts for the room, which we used a couple of mornings. We had a Pop breakfast twice. I remember getting breakfast at the little cart at AK both mornings we were there- I got the yummy coffee there, while DS ate the bakery items. At MGM we ate an early lunch- like 10:00 am- due to an early Sci Fi ADR. They do have a lot of breakfast choices at the Pop, but the lines are long, and we would always be pressed for time after eating there.

 

[Scutapipig]

Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom has an excellent breakfast platter for $5.29.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

On last years Free Dining trip we found that stopping by the Fountainview at EPCOT was a great deal and one of the most delicious meals that we had.

We got the breakfast meat pie, chocolate truffle cake and a strawberry smoothie and shared it for only 1 CS.

Slightly Goofy

 

[GOODoldPAL]

Not criticizing - just wondering...did your family not like eating breakfast in the room before? If you're a family that is disciplined enough to get up early, fuel up in the room, and still get to the parks for rope drop, then I say stick to that plan!

Or is it that with the DDP you want to use your CS credit for a substantial breakfast, keep touring while everyone else is crowding the CS's for lunch (maybe using snack credits for food on the go), and use your TS for dinner? That's a pretty good plan too but as others have indicated the CS pickings for breakfast in the parks themselves are indeed kind of slim. Will you have a car? How about going over to CSR for an early breakfast at Pepper Market, then driving to your park?

Well we were trying to slow the pace a little this year with more days and less morning rush at the Resort.
DD age 14 of course needs something that resembles real breakfast but DH and I prefer something light in the morning.

There are some great ideas here for places to grab breakfast food but, as I suspected, not alot of CS options for us early theme parkers.

I may have that grocery service delivery stuff for additional options.
But another thread explored that topic: we agree that granola bars and boxed cereal just doesnt compete with fresh bakeries, omelets and chocolate chip pancakes! We had alot of food left over last time.

Thanks for the ideas all ~ Tina

 

[michelle1]

We always bring bowls, spoons and cereal even when we had the free dining because we like to have something to start the day and get the day started early so we can get to the parks early. The kids would eat while we were getting ready and vice versa and from the time we woke up until the time we were on the way to the parks would be no more than 1 hr.

 

[frannn]

If you like lox & bagels, or just bagels, you can use a CS credit for a bagel with lox and cream cheese, and a drink. We did this twice last trip!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Sunshine Seasons in Land at Epcot had some nice muffins and pastries. We got a fastpass for Soarin and had a nice snack while waiting for our fastpass time.

 

[dbmarie]

I have an "off topic" question has anyone brought a toaster with them? Can you use them in the room? We have usually stuck with donuts or eating at Pop but that wears pretty thin after 10 days.

 

[PortieOwner]

One option is to have cereal in your room early, then hit the parks for a few hours and catch the tail end of breakfast at Crystal Palace, Breakfastsaurus, 1900 PF, Chef Mickey's, Kona Cafe, etc.

 

[thejollyfinn]

gigi1313, michelle1 and PortieOwner are all on the right page for breakfast.

We brought a small cloth bag with 4 plastic bowls, with spoons and a case of Kellogg's single-serve cereals from home. While my wife and youngest daughter got cleaned up, my eldest daughter and I went to Everything Pop and use a snack credit for milk and filled up our mugs with tea, hot cocoa and coffee. We could eat together and within 20 minutes, be cleaning the bowls and spoons, ready for the next morning.

Other items for consideration:
Fruit-To-Go fruit snacks
Breakfast bars
* use a snack credit at the MSB (MK) the night before and eat it as a light breakie the next morning.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I have an "off topic" question has anyone brought a toaster with them? Can you use them in the room? We have usually stuck with donuts or eating at Pop but that wears pretty thin after 10 days.

I've read of folks doing it but I think I would just use the toaster in the food court.

One option is to have cereal in your room early, then hit the parks for a few hours and catch the tail end of breakfast at Crystal Palace, Breakfastsaurus, 1900 PF, Chef Mickey's, Kona Cafe, etc.

I've done this and at 1900PF we had the BEST character interaction as we were one of the last families there. It was really special!

gigi1313, michelle1 and PortieOwner are all on the right page for breakfast.

We brought a small cloth bag with 4 plastic bowls, with spoons and a case of Kellogg's single-serve cereals from home. While my wife and youngest daughter got cleaned up, my eldest daughter and I went to Everything Pop and use a snack credit for milk and filled up our mugs with tea, hot cocoa and coffee. We could eat together and within 20 minutes, be cleaning the bowls and spoons, ready for the next morning.

Other items for consideration:
Fruit-To-Go fruit snacks
Breakfast bars
* use a snack credit at the MSB (MK) the night before and eat it as a light breakie the next morning.

For my May trip I'm going to try a site www.minimus.biz They have all sorts of travel sized items including a huge selection of individual bowls of cereal. They are about 55 to 60 cents each so about that price you'd pay for a package in the grocery store but you get to pick exactly which ones you want and how many. Plus they have free shipping for orders over $20.

 

[powellrj]

I have an "off topic" question has anyone brought a toaster with them? Can you use them in the room? We have usually stuck with donuts or eating at Pop but that wears pretty thin after 10 days.

Just use the toaster and microwaves in the food courts. They don't mind and its easier than trying to drag one along and much nicer to your neighbors in case you would burn a piece of toast so they don't have to smell it.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

WE usually bring/get a little cereal - like Cheerios. Not only is it fast if someone wants to eat in the am, but it's also good for late night snacks, too. With all the calories we burn during the day, you might not realize until we'r on the bus back that we're a little hungry before bed. Another thing we try to keep on hand is fruit. There are various methods, but a few bananas are worth their weight in gold (fiber...) The food courts and convenience stores sell a nu,mber of options.

Milk and oj in the convenience stores at WDW are consistently less money than milk in the food courts. If you're paying oop, get a quart instead of a pint for the same price. IF you're eating cereal from your room...why not do this and eat outside! Much nicer in my opinion.

I'm not big on paper plates...but on vacation, disposible is just so much easier - and safer than washing plastic bowls. If you take food to food court or outside, you don't then haveto trek back to the room (or carry them around all day) You will still have to bring back or carry refillable mugs....

We have a tradition of getting a cookie on Main St when we leave MK. While there is often some wait to do so...you can also get a breakfst item at the same time too.They even sell small sandwiches and stuff. If you can be slightly flexible, something like an egg salad sandwich isn't that far off from scrambled aggs and toast for breakfast.

Another option is to save dessert from the night before. I don't really want to eat a dessert thatI carried around a park for five hours. But if you are planning on heading back to your room mid day after lunch, you can grab a dessert, pretzel, pastry, etc. Normally, I don't eat cookies for breakfast, but what's the real difference between a cookie and a chocolate breakfast pastry anyhow? In truth, an oatmeal cookie is probably a far better breakfast than a donut anyhow.