Breakfast (not character buffets)

[odd man out]

We will soon be leaving for a 5 night stay at the AKL soon and was thinking about breakfasts. We are not interested in character buffets. I know most or all resorts have counter service breakfasts and of course there is the eat-in-your-room option as well as the skip-breakfast-entierly option (but that is not an option for us). I was wondering about two other possibilities. One is the get-to-the-park-early-and-eat-there option and the other is the eat-a-leisurely-table-service-breakfast-when-we-are-tired-of-getting-up-early option. This is our first trip as an older couple without kids in tow and are not hoping to be a little more laid back than previous trips when seeing as much as possible was a priority. For us, being "laid back" often involves a nice breakfast. I searched for discussions on this topic and found some miscellaneous information but it would seem that the options at WDW are surprisingly limited.

So I decided to do a comprehensive search on the official WDW Dining Web site. First I filtered counter service locations in the four parks and looked for ones open in the morning (by 9 AM) and serving breakfast items. All parks have coffee shops carts that are reported to serve a breakfast sandwich, but this is not listed on the WDW web site menu. So perhaps someone could post about that option. There are a number of places that serve pastries, muffins, yoghurt cups, etc..., but this may not be enough to keep my significant other from getting hangry. But if you were looking for something more substantial for breakfast in the parks, this is all I could find. (as of March 1, 2018: Happy St. Davids Day!)

• Yak and Yeti Local Foods (AK-Asia) had the best menu with six different breakfast sandwiches.
  
• Kusafiri Coffee Shop (AK-Africa) listed a breakfast wrap on their menu - maybe this is what most of the coffe shops have?
  
• Sleepy Hollow (MK-Liberty Square) as a breakfast egg and cheese waffle sandwich (hmmm?)
  
• Wesward Ho (MK-Frontierland) has a breakfast sandwich.
• Sunshine Seasons (EPCOT-Future World) has 5 entrees on their breakfast menu. The other best option with Y&Y
• Nothing really at the Movie Studios, but we weren't planning on going there this trip anyway.

Then I searched for table service restaurant that wasn't a signature/buffet/special event/lounge dining location and found only a few with breakfast menus.

• The Kona Cafe (Poly) is probably the best known.
• Sanaa (AKL) also has a breakfast menu. I am not sure if this is Table Service at breakfast. Since we are at the AKL, we may try this one morning.
  
• Ale and Compass (Yacht Club) serves breakfast with a number of interesting sounding items.
  
• Laventanas (Coronado Springs) serves breakfast. I have never been to CS.
  
• Grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian Resort) is the most expensive option (no surprise)
• Olivia's (Old Key West) has a nice looking menu.
• I don't know of any table service (non-buffet) breakfasts in the parks.

Of course transportation to a resort you are not staying at is tricky if you don't have a car.

Are there any other good options I may have missed? Please follow-up. Thanks.

 

[Lorelai]

My favorite all time meals at Walt Disney World are the non-character breakfasts. And oddly enough, I think my entire family agrees that THE BEST breakfast buffet is right in your resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge.

It's BOMA and it's fantastic. You should look at the menu online and you will see many standard options, as well as some fabulous more diverse offerings. You can not go wrong with BOMA. We will be at AKL in June/July and I booked two breakfasts there for us.

Other favorites for non-character breakfasts are The Kona Cafe (my favorite table service, non buffet breakfast). The atmosphere is beautiful, and the Tonga Toast is something I dream of between trips. They also have The Kona Cafe Coffee Bar right there, so you can delight in Kona blend coffee.

We also love The Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast offerings. More standard fare here, but cooked and served to perfection. It's a lovely little table service cafe with a quiet, yet beautiful setting.

We've never had a complaint about any of these 3 places, and we always go back each trip.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

 

[Lorelai]

Almost forgot...Main Street Bakery in MK - it's basically a Disnified Starbucks with all of the usual Starbucks offerings PLUS the Main Street Bakery specialties. And there is also a great little outdoor counter waffle place in MK's Liberty Square called Sleepy Hollow.

*Each of the 4 parks has a full-on Starbucks with added special treats unique to each park. It's always inside of another breakfast venue, so sort of disguised but not really.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Are you OK with breakfast buffets that don't have characters? Because then I'd recommend Boma and The Wave. There is also an a la carte breakfast menu at The Wave.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I'd recommend the breakfast buffet at Trails End in Ft. Wilderness, we've found it to be really good!

 

[odd man out]

We have been to Boma on our last two trips so we'e looking for something different. Thanks for the details on the coffee places.

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

Rainforest Cafe in AK also has table service breakfast. It's not a "character" breakfast but it does have a lot of noise and such when the animals come to life. We enjoyed the breakfast there however before an AK morning.

 

[KenHutch]

The only thing that comes to mind is Boma's. You have to understand to get people to spend their dollars and time in a breakfast setting (instead of rope drop) is the attract people with characters. I as a veteran of many of these character breakfasts know you are paying for the characters not the food (the one possible exception to this rule is Tusker House). Boma is an incredibly good place to eat and it would appear that you will be there anyways.

 

[tinkerbella16]

2 that come to mind right away are Boma and The Wave

 

[danikoski]

Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL has a sit down breakfast. Easy to get to by taking bus to MK then boat to WL. Trails End I’ve also heard has a good breakfast buffet.
Les Halles in France at Epcot has a lovely breakfast selection, and they open at 9 am (people don’t always realize that).

 

[chalee94]

For non-buffets, I'd definitely consider Olivia's and GF Café.

 

[loves to dive]

Just about all the QS locations in the resorts have an egg breakfast plate, just so you know you can get eggs, breakfast meat, potatoes and toast at them. This is about the only resort QS meal my adult son and I will do since we aren't fans of the resort QS. If you go a little later in the morning, around 8:30 or 9 after the parks have opened it's not too crowded. As far as QS breakfasts in the parks that aren't just muffins - we have had the breakfast sandwich at AK you reference and I couldn't eat it all but my son did. Just know that it is a walk up type place and there are no tables. There are some sort of to the side and you can also eat at the outside bar area right beside it. We have also done the breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks (only in a pinch because I hate Starbucks) and they are o.k. Again, no seating at them, you have to go outside and find it.

For TS it's easy, every single deluxe resort has TS breakfast and I would recommend the one at the Dolphin at Med. Market. It can be ala carte or buffet and it's the only buffet I will actually eat at since I hate them normally.

The pastry shop in France is open at 9 and it has lot's of options and has a nice little seating area.

 

[CynBeth]

Boma, WCC, and Trail’s End.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Rainforest Cafe in AK also has table service breakfast. It's not a "character" breakfast but it does have a lot of noise and such when the animals come to life. We enjoyed the breakfast there however before an AK morning.

Rainforest Café has never even been on my radar for breakfast, thanks so much for bringing this up! We are big breakfast eaters, definitely not the granola bar or pastry types, so thinking we'll check this out. Do you happen to know what time they start serving breakfast?

 

[TCRAIG]

Olivia's, GF Café and The Wave - it's my absolute favorite -

 

[Tksolomom]

Ale & Compass has breakfast as well.

 

[Deb & Bill]

In January for the Marathon we had a four night stay. We ate at Olivia's four times (three breakfasts, one dinner). We would have had one more breakfast but my son didn't get changed and showered until right at 11 and we would have been late for breakfast.

 

[shocker]

You mention in the original posts there are no TS breakfasts in the parks that are not buffets and I can think of one...CRT (but is signature), but as you mention this being a trip w/o kids maybe this won't interest you with the characters. But I will tell you DH and I have done our share of character meals w/o kids and don't mind it a bit. I also consider BOG breakfast to meet your requirements as you can make ADR for this meal.

I will give you this resource http://allears.net/dining/menu, there are some pretty nice write ups and descriptions of some of those breakfast sandwiches at the carts you mention, with dated prices. Some dishes even have pics.

Another resource is http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm, a nice search engine that might help.

I really like The Wave that offers both a buffet and regular menu ordering, everyone is happy!

But, like others have posted, we made ADR to head toward you for breakfast at Boma. Maybe you just want to head down the hallway to Boma and try it out?

 

[samcrawford01]

Trail's End also does a Brunch on the weekend - we have never done it before but are planning to later this year when we go. We do not have our own transport and will be using the buses to get there from AKL. As brunch goes on later than weekday breakfast, this will give us time to get bus to MK then boat to Trail's End. Nice and leisurely start to the day - and the food looks pretty good.

As we are staying at AKL we will of course also be doing Boma, on our last day as our flight has been changed and is now at lunchtime rather than dinnertime. Had dinner there before, which was amazing, so high expectations for breakfast.

 

[LMA712014]

Trails End food was really good when we ate there!

And Sanaa is a must! You place your order at the counter, pick a table and they deliver it to you. The food and the animals are well worth it!