Bad time at Confisco/Spiderman breakfast

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I'm writing this review just to warn some parents who may be going to this breakfast.

We had a reservation at 9:15am and showed up early. We were seated at 8:55am. I was happy because we were the 3rd family in the restaurant. I thought we were sure to see Spidey before too long. He was right there at the table next to us. He went to the only other group in the place.... OK, so maybe we'll be after that. Nope!

Well, Spidey kept going in the other direction.... more and more people showed up and Spiderman kept getting further and further away. He was spending sometime 4-5 minutes a table (which was great if you were one of the tables he got to).

After being in the restaurant almost an hour, and our food and drinks were all gone, I asked the server to see if Spiderman could visit our table (we'd seen Thing1 and Thing2 and Cat in the Hat in the first 5 minutes we were there, and Spidey was on the other side of the restaurant). The server came back and said "the lady in charge of the characters said he'd be right over". Well, 15 minutes later, and no Spiderman. He got to the table next to ours and then skipped us again and went in the other direction.

Finally my DD and DS were crying. I decided I needed to find out why we were being ignored. I asked the lady in charge of the characters (who I was watching following Spiderman around). She told me that after this table Spiderman was taking a 5 minute break. I told her that we had been the 3rd group seated and been here more than an hour, and my children were crying, and that I'd talked to the server a long time ago and he said he was on his way. She said "Oh, I thought the server meant these tables; not yours. My mistake, but he's taking a break now."

I firmly said "Yes, you made a mistake. We've been here a long time so could you please send him over before his break." She simply said No. She didn't seem to care at all. Next, I asked to see her manager. Very quickly, she decided to send him to our table.

Spiderman came over talked for about 40 seconds and said "since you were waiting so long, I'll give you two for the price of one." He posed for one picture with DD and one with DS. Funny thing is ... he was posing for about 5 pictures and doing 5 minute videos for all the other tables so he was acting like we were getting compensation for waiting around so long. After he left, I took the kids out of there and was happy to leave. I made the kids think it was a great time, but it was such a frustrating way to start the day. The 'character lady' did such a poor job, and Spiderman spent way too much time at each table so he didn't get to other tables. There were other tables complaining too, but no one waited as long as we did. And there is obviously no order to where they seat people so the characters know who to see next.

As we were leaving, I saw Spidey go over to the table next to ours (which had only been there 10 minutes). He didn't run off to the break he so desparately needed.

So in summary... this breakfast may be great for you (since Spidey may be with you for 5 minutes) or you may be like us (ignored and dissapointed).

Next time, we'll meet Spiderman in the parks!

-Karen

 

[gigi1313]

thanks for the head's up... sorry to hear spidey did not scale buildings for you... i hate when my kids are disappointed!

 

[D3K]

I totaly agree with you. Last year we did the breakfast in June for my daughters birthday and the only characters we saw were cat in the hat and thing 1 and thing 2 consider yourself lucky you got to see spiderman. Also when I made the reservation I told them it was birthday breakfast and I was told that the characters would spend extra time at our table (we did not even get 1 min.) And then when my husband paid the overpriced bill he nearly freaked out $90.00 for 2 kids 2 adults. I could understand if the food was good, but it was not. The only cool part was that the server (not characters) but my daughter a birthday cookie (after I told her it was her birthday) and we ended up paying for the cookie. We've been to universal and Islands 3 times since and have not gone back. I rather eat at city walk.

 

[D3K]

I totaly agree with you. Last year we did the breakfast in June for my daughters birthday and the only characters we saw were cat in the hat and thing 1 and thing 2 consider yourself lucky you got to see spiderman. Also when I made the reservation I told them it was birthday breakfast and I was told that the characters would spend extra time at our table (we did not even get 1 min.) And then when my husband paid the overpriced bill he nearly freaked out $90.00 for 2 kids 2 adults. I could understand if the food was good, but it was not. The only cool part was that the server (not characters) but my daughter a birthday cookie (after I told her it was her birthday) and we ended up paying for the cookie. We've been to universal and Islands 3 times since and have not gone back. I rather eat at city walk.

wishes don't come true if you don't wish for them

 

[robvia]

I don't see why people do the breakfast, when it takes up valuable time early in the morning. Even if you have magic keys, you're still wasting time that could be spent going on rides that don't take the magic key, like Pteranondon Flyers, or the front seat of the coasters.
I realize parents do it to make their kids happy, but still.

The characters usually have a mini parade starting near Hulk, and riding towards Spiderman during the day. At USF, the characters stand in front of the gift shop just as you enter the park.

It would be better if you ate a quick breakfast in your room, or got something at Crossaint Moon Bakery, and go on the rides first.

 

[JessicaR]

I don't see why people do the breakfast, when it takes up valuable time early in the morning. Even if you have magic keys, you're still wasting time that could be spent going on rides that don't take the magic key, like Pteranondon Flyers, or the front seat of the coasters.
I realize parents do it to make their kids happy, but still.

The characters usually have a mini parade starting near Hulk, and riding towards Spiderman during the day. At USF, the characters stand in front of the gift shop just as you enter the park.

It would be better if you ate a quick breakfast in your room, or got something at Crossaint Moon Bakery, and go on the rides first.

I know its hard for you to put yourself in the position of the vacationer that travels to these parks for their sole vacation every so often. Many many people that come here for info are not commando park goers that are there for a day or two.

The experience of a character meal is something that lots of people look forward to and enjoy. I would never say nah lets not do this or that cause its gonna cut into my AM park time. Universal offers ONE character meal in the parks and it just happens to be a breakfast. Kids love em! Adults do too. For the most part, until this review I have read great things about this meal. The food may not be gourmet but apparently the interaction is a memory maker. I do feel bad that SnowWhiteIsDreaming had less than a shining experience. I would have been upset as well if that happened to us and it is unfortunate.

I just dont feel the character meal is "wasting time". But then again I'm there on vacation not as a local that can be there all the time anytime. Eating a quick breakfast in my room is not my idea of a vacation!

Ok...sorry for the rant...just hoping you can see some issues from a different point of view.

The info you supply to many is terrific and quite valuable. I appreciate your hard work. Thanks

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

Hi robvia,

All our other mornings, we would eat at the Orchid cafe and get to the parks near opening. We have room keys with FOTL and two small children so we aren't in any need to get front row seats to the hulk. And they tried the Pteranondon Flyers ride last year and hated it. We were at Universal for 3 1/2 days after 11 1/2 days at Disney. My DS turned 6 on this vacation and since I dragged him to a princess breakfast at the castle for my DD on the past 3 trips, I thought I'd treat him to a character breakfast for him! I knew we could see Spidey and the xmen in Universal. I just thought this would be nicer.... I was wrong. The character meals at Disney seem to work better than this one (more organized). I like the char. meals because your kids can see the characters without waiting in long lines while your family eats (something we need to do anyways). I will continue to do a few character meals at Disney in the future, but I'll stick to meeting the Universal characters in the parks.

I know (and hope!) that when my kids get older, they won't have anything to do with the characters, but right now, when my son sees Tommy and Chucky, out come the autograph books and camera!

Thanks for your input,
Karen

 

[MarieS]

SnowWhiteIsDreaming,
I am sorry to hear about how disappointing this meal was. My son is really looking forward to it, so I guess we will go as planned but thanks for the heads up. I hope with people complaining they will get their act together. How was the food? Can you tell me what kinds of things they had?
Thanks!

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

MarieS,

The food was typical breakfast buffet .... scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, fruit (melon, grapes...), hash browns. The Disney breakfast buffets had more choices. I wasn't impressed, but it was ok. The cost seems great ..." .... $15.95 for Adults and $9.95 for children, plus tax and gratuity...." until you find out that no drinks are included. It brought our family of 4 up to $80 (not including tip) since we all got 2 drinks (coffee, juice or milk).

Go, have a good time... you will probably be one of the lucky ones to have a long conversation with Spidey. But if you aren't, make sure you speak up so your kids don't miss out.

-Karen

 

[highlander447]

thatsnot good at all but did find this at the islands at rpr during character meals as well unfortunately Universal do not do the character meals as well as disney I stil love universal but really they do need to improve on this on when they charge for the character experience at the onsite restuarants they don't charge for the character's so no real reason to complain

 

[duvee]

Sorry to hear about your breakfast.

I think we may have been one of those "families" that got extra time with Spiderman!

We had reservations for 9am on Friday April 29th (I think) and we arrived around 8:45am.

Not 3 minutes after sitting down, spiderman came and "hung-out" at our table. He was there for a good 5 minutes or so (maybe even more).

My 4 year old son will never forget their conversation about his webslingers etc...

He even waited while my son drew a picture for him and he said he'd hang it on his Spider-Fridge! Too funny.

Our experience was great but I did notice that after 20 minutes or so...Spiderman became a bit scarce.

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

duvee,


You were there the exact day we were!!! Too funny! We were seated in the first row of tables. If you are facing the buffet from your table, we were the table on the left (there were three tables in that first row). Were you the table on the right in this first row? Were you the family that wanted to give Spidey the picture before you left the restaurant? I remember Spiderman at that table when we came into the restaurant. Well, I'm glad someone had a good time We did not and will never return to this breakfast. I doubt you remember a family with a red-headed boy and a girl with long hair. Remember when we all sang happy bday to those two kids? Well, my DD was crying at that time cause Spidey was ignoring us. Very poorly organized character experience. The chefs were very nice though... I have a food allergy and the chef came out and talked with me. At Disney, the chefs always come out, but here the server could have cared less when I told him about my food allergy, but I asked someone bringing out the buffet food and he sent a chef right out. The staff at the restaurant was trying hard to make it a nice experience. Personally, I blame Spidey himself and the lady in charge of the characters.

-Karen

 

[Tiffster7]

Okay I own a character business and we charge $125 for an hour and a half party with Spiderman. So $80 for food and a five minute conversation is expensive. I do however understand the need for the characters to take a break on schedule. It gets hot and miserable in the suit for too long.
They probably need to add another Super-Hero that would allow your children more options on entertainment.

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I 'wish' that we had 5 minutes with Spiderman! We had about 60 seconds. And I really understand the need for breaks too, but the character who plays Spiderman should realize that he can't spend more than 5 minutes at each table, and get to all the tables, and be able to take breaks. This person should understand that it's not fair to give some kids 5 minutes and others the rush job. Our time with Spiderman would have been fine, if my kids and I hadn't seen the enormous amount of time he was spending with everyone else.

Another super-hero would be great! The Hulk or Batman?

Thanks for the info,
Karen

 

[the Dark Marauder]

I haven't seen the Hulk in forever! I don't know if he's still an available character. Maybe Cyclops or Wolverine?

Batman is DC, so he's not an available character...

 

[JessicaR]

How bout Capt America?

 

[the Dark Marauder]

He could work.

 

[MO1KH]

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience at the Character Breakfast. I've been a half dozen times in the last year and a half (I live in Tampa), and each experience has been truly positive for me. The quality of the food tops Disney, and the charcacter interaction BLOWS Disney away. At the five CBs I've been to at Disney, the character interaction has always been rub my two kids on the head, pose for a pic, and then run to the next table. Each time I've been to the one at IOA, the characters spend time with my kids, talk to them, and most importantly, truly seem to care. Don't know if you were there on an off day, or if the associate who was with the characters wasn't doing her job, but your experience is the complete opposite of every one I have ever had there.

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

i'm going to be honest with you. we thought it would be great, but we were seriously dissapointed. the food was not that good, plus not that big of a selection. then spiderman forgot to visit our table of 6 kids, then when we got him over the manager explained that he only had about 2 seconds, so we just barely got a picture in. plus, in disney when you go to a buffet like that, most of the drinks are included, but hardly anything was included here. spiderman was awesome though. he balanced himself on the backs of childrens chairs and took great pictures. too bad we didn't get any like that!

Hi MO1KH,

I found this on another thread about the Spiderman breakfast (Coincidentally by another Snow White lover!). I believe that for most people this is a great breakfast, but I wonder if when there are more than 20 tables seated, that Spiderman doesn't get to all of them. I bet you have always been lucky or you've been there on a slow day. But if you think about it, if Spiderman spends that much time with one table, he will never get to all the tables in a reasonable amount of time (1 1/2 hours). I know the Disney characters rush thru, but all children get the 'same treatment. If I need to jump up and down and tell them I want to speak with a manager to see Spiderman, it is not an enjoyable experience for any of us. I have never had to do that at Disney. I do agree with you that Spiderman seemed very nice and talked a blue streak to all the other tables. And I was actually getting angry watching him spend all that time with other kids, knowing how much my kids wanted that kind of attention too, but they didn't get it. They got a "Hi - let's pose for a picture... gotta run").

I hope your luck continues at the Universal Character Breakfast

-Karen

 

[tclowe]

We were just at the Spiderman character breakfast in IOA and he kept coming around (almost pesky). We went on a Sunday (May 15th) at 10:00am. There were only about 5 other families in the whole restaurant. It was really slow, I guess. Cat in the Hat was at the front as well and then disappeared all together. Thing 1 & Thing 2 were cute and came around twice. Wanted to pour sugar all over the table. We took awesome pictures with Spiderman, he signed autographs, and spoke with my 5 year old son for long periods of time.

The food was lacking and tasted so-so. But worth every penny for the character interaction that we got. Plus, we received a 15 or 20% discount off of the bill with our PAP.

So grateful to this board's members for suggesting the PAP. We got great discounts in Mythos and Lomboardi, 20% at the merchandise stores, and $4 only for preferred parking. Can't wait to go back in December.