best time for in-park character dining

[DYOBL0305]

Our trip isn't until December, but I was trying to figure out when would be the best time to try to schedule character dining (hoping to score reservations to Minnie's at the Plaza Inn)? We are WDW veterans and we've only done character dining at parks like Epcot and Animal Kingdom, and never first thing in the morning. We usually hit major attractions as soon as we arrive at the parks, leaving the rest of our day pretty open and mostly laid-back. I thought we could do the same at DLR and schedule character dining for later in the morning, using up our first couple of hours at the park to hit up major attractions. However, I've seen a lot of reviews from people that schedule it at the earliest available time(s), and I can't figure out if maybe they know something we don't lol I thought that maybe it's strategy to get into the park a little earlier and, perhaps, be able to get to the rides faster once they're done eating? Or maybe the overall meal/character experience is just better early in the morning? Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[CherylGonz]

I’m not sure if there are reservations before the park actually opens?

We have been to Plaza in and got the latest reservation we could for character dining. As people cleared out we had the characters to ourselves because no one new was coming in. It was the best experience.

 

[avalon451]

Echo Cheryl- our best experience has been to grab a granola bar or yogurt at the hotel or to eat in line for rope drop, then do lots of things while the crowds are lower. Then just about the time when we’re ready for a break after 2 1/2 hours, hit a late breakfast/ brunch at 10:30, when the main crowd has already left and you get the characters largely to yourselves.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Historically, first and last slot will have the most time to spend with characters because the restaurant is just filling up or emptying so characters have fewer guests to worry about. The advantage of going early is getting into the park early when you don't have extra magic hours and then not "wasting" as much park time on that breakfast. Not sure what the situation is like right now though.

 

[DYOBL0305]

Got it - thank you all for your feedback!

 

[PalmettoPath]

When we do the Plaza at Disneyland, we opt for a later time slot so that we can do the morning park rides with smaller lines -- I think we've aim for around 10:30 a.m. or so in the past.

 

[DYOBL0305]

When we do the Plaza at Disneyland, we opt for a later time slot so that we can do the morning park rides with smaller lines -- I think we've aim for around 10:30 a.m. or so in the past.

That was actually what our plan was going into it but I noticed so many saying they pick first available at 7:30 (or 7am? I can’t remember the time they kept giving). With so many saying the same thing, I thought maybe they knew something we didn’t lol

 

[PalmettoPath]

That was actually what our plan was going into it but I noticed so many saying they pick first available at 7:30 (or 7am? I can’t remember the time they kept giving). With so many saying the same thing, I thought maybe they knew something we didn’t lol

I like the later strategy personally for this one. We've done it that way three times. That way we can focus on doing early rides and not be stressing about the breakfast going long, lol. Especially at that one! In normal times, they have the most characters we've ever seen at any character breakfast. Super fun.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I used to schedule the earliest on a magic morning day. We’d be done before park open and they’d let us in early. Since magic morning is a thing of the past I’d schedule mid-morning for a break after enjoying the quiet time earlier in the parks.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

If MM is a thing again, I'll schedule as early as possible. If not, I'll go with later. This only really applies to the Minnie breakfast though - the others are all outside of the park anyway, so my favorite time to go is on a non-park day. Last trip we ended it with a send off brunch at the Surf's Up brunch at PPH, but that's been discontinued. I plan on doing it again that way next trip, depending on options available.

 

[shawthorne44]

My guess is that those were from pre-lockdown. Where people would get a breakfast reservation for an hour before open. So they could eat, and then get in a nearby headliner line before the hordes arrived.

 

[DYOBL0305]

My guess is that those were from pre-lockdown. Where people would get a breakfast reservation for an hour before open. So they could eat, and then get in a nearby headliner line before the hordes arrived.

Makes sense, I probably didn’t notice the dates or which parks they were referring to Not sure how things will be in December but I’ll keep y’all feedback in mind when we finally get close enough to make our ressies.

thanks everyone!

 

[shawthorne44]

With the half-hour early entry coming, the pre-opening breakfast to get early access to rides is a thing of the past. You'd need a reservation 1.5 hours before open. So, now the last breakfast sounds best.

 

[DYOBL0305]

With the half-hour early entry coming, the pre-opening breakfast to get early access to rides is a thing of the past. You'd need a reservation 1.5 hours before open. So, now the last breakfast sounds best.

Leaning towards that at the moment, to be safe and since it's what's always worked best for us. Keeping an eye on things, thankfully we still have time to decide - and then we'll just hope we can actually score the reservations we want lol Thank you!