Am I missing out by not doing a character BREAKFAST??

[ekatiel]

So, we're on the regular dining plan, and we can make ADR's soon for our first trip to the world. I am hoping to do 3 character dinners, but am wondering if I should change one to breakfast, jsut for the experience. Here's the tentative schedule so far (assuming that I can get all of these ADR's). We already have Chef Mickey's booked.

Saturday (arrive mid-morning) epcot: Dinner at Garden Grill (Character Meal)
Sunday DHS: Dinner at Mama Melrose (fantasmic package)
Monday MK: Dinner at 'Ohana
Tuesday MK: Dinner at Crystal Palace (character meal)
Wednesday AK: Dinner at Wispering Canyon
Thursday (kids and me and DH to park of kids' choice, grandparents to Epcot, all meet at Epcot for dinner): Le Cellier
Friday (kids and grandparents to park of kids' choice, me and dh to park of our choice): Dinner at Chef Mickey's (5:45pm ADR, character meal)
Saturday: Fly home

So, my problem with making one of our ADR's into a breakfast is two-fold: 1) I'm cheap (we can eat breakfast in the room, but we can't easily eat other meals in the room). I've thought about trying to get an ADR closer to lunch time, though. 2) If we do a "brunch" type ADR, then Chef Mickey's is really our only choice b/c they have adr times until after 11am, and the day we're eating at chef mickey's is mine and DH's day away from the kids, and that could cramp our style What do you guys think? Is there any way to work out a character breakfast? Or is it not really that big of a deal? --Katie

 

[KatMark]

Personally, I would change your Crystal Palace dinner your day at the MK to Crystal Palace breakfast. I would also get an 8:05 adr time and that way you are in the park before everyone else and have a great opportunity for unobstructed pictures of the castle (no people in the picture). It is our favorite time to go.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

I like character breakfasts...most are good, typical Disney breakfast foods. The up side is that you MAY be able to get into the parks before opening. However, character breakfasts can take up a good amount of park time as you should plan for 1- 1/2 hours. CP is good for breakfast...we found that the characters took some time to get around, but a first thing ADR may get you out sooner.
TH is good too at AK, but the physical space is cramped. The smell of sweetness hits you walking in the door and it is the only place Daisy can be found.

 

[jngwright]

Could you do Crystal Palace for breakfast instead of dinner? We have done both there and they are good!

We like doing breakfasts because a big breakfast gives my kids a boost and a little more energy.

Have alot of fun!! I get to book my ADR's on Sunday and am so excited!!!

 

[IndyClown]

I think I would change the CP dinner to breakfast only because it's so cool to get into the Magic Kingdom before it opens and take pictures of your family in front of the castle with absolutely NOBODY else in the shot!

 

[septbaby]

I don't think you are missing anything by booking character dinners vs breakfasts. We did CM's for breakfast, but did it late so it was brunch.

Unless you are an early rising family or have small kids that are more "ruly" early vs later, keep your plans they are good choices.

If you are breakfast lovers I suggest using a CS credit to get your resorts "big breakfast" platter. It is very sharable (we shared, skipped the meat and did not finish) and gives that breakfast food fix. You'll still have a CS credit left to share lunch.

 

[jenjersnap]

You are only missing out if you are breakfast food fans, IMO. My family is crazy for breakfast so we always have to squeeze one in. It bites into our touring time, to be honest, so we often choose the last breakfast seating of the day so it serves as lunch too. (We also try to do one pre-park opening breakfast too - either CP or Donald's in AK - but coming from the West, it's hard on us to be up that early and, again, kinda throws a wrench into the rest of the day, which I plan for)

 

[summermac]

I'm having a hard time deciding too. I wanted to do CP for breakfast but then saw they had dinner. If I'm spending two TS credits, I want it to be "worth" my money. LOL!

 

[KatMark]

I'm having a hard time deciding too. I wanted to do CP for breakfast but then saw they had dinner. If I'm spending two TS credits, I want it to be "worth" my money. LOL!

It is only one table service credit per person at Crystal Palace (CP).

 

[inkedupmomma]

I personally love the character breakfasts, great way to start the day! Also we need a nice big breakfast to get us going, and that keeps us full until dinner (with a snack thrown in mid day of course!)

 

[summermac]

Really? I thought all the character meals were two. Oopsie.

Okay then, back to breakfast. I figure we eat a nice big breakfast, a cool snack and then eat at Cosmic Ray's for dinner. Those portions looked HUGE in the food porn post.

 

[perriwinkleblue]

To me, your adr's look good now. Unless you want an early breakfast or love breakfast foods, I wouldn't switch a dinner for a breakfast. I like to go for dinner because, let's face it, I love dessert...

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

If you're considering a character breakfast, I would highly recommend Ohanas to you. We did five character meals during our recent stay (3 dinners, 2 breakfast) and Ohanas was HANDS DOWN the best of them all (and that's saying something, because we loved every one of them ).

Neat atmosphere, good food, and the characters were a total riot!! More "in character" than any others we had the pleasure to meet!!

When I asked hubby and son which one meal would be a "do not miss" for a future trip, they didn't skip a beat. The Ohanas breakfast was #1 on all our lists.

Have a wonderful holiday, whatever you decide .

 

[winterman]

One thing to consider about a character breakfast is : It can take away from 'prime touring time'. You can do more rides in less time if you start at park opening. If you are at breakfast you probably will miss that valuable time. An alternative is to plan your breakfast at a resort on a non park day.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I agree with the OP . I would do CP for breakfast to get in the park early.

 

[ekatiel]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I guess I've got ten more days to decide (my siggie counter is off by one day b/c we moved our dates up!). CP is tempting for breakfast. Is 10:30 their latest ADR? That might do us for lunch-- especially if we got up early that day and got right to the parks. My only other problem is that we're all huge fans of peel and eat shrimp which is on the dinner buffet. . . Maybe I'll ask my parents and DH what they'd prefer. Thanks again for all the good ideas! --Katie

 

[PoohsFan1]

I personally love the character breakfasts, great way to start the day! Also we need a nice big breakfast to get us going, and that keeps us full until dinner (with a snack thrown in mid day of course!)

I 100% agree with you. We have done character dinner meals in the past, but this time when we are there in March we are only doing character breakfasts. It is so nice to wake up early in the morning knowing that you are going to have breakfast with your favorite characters, plus it is a great way to get kids up who are not early risers like mine . We also love the breakfasts over the dinners because the breakfasts are cheaper than the dinners (we don't use the DDP and pay OOP for all the meals). And like you said, have a big meal for breakfast and snack for lunch then have a nice meal for dinner.

 

[KimK2006]

I personally prefer to get to the parks at opening and enjoy them before they get crowded. Even though you can enter the parks with no crowds (I am sure that is great for pictures), the parks are filling up while you are eating.

We are not big breakfast eaters, and aren't morning people. Any extra sleeping time we can get by eating breakfast in our room and getting to the parks by opening is greatly needed! (And, as the OP mentioned, it saves $$, too!)