Breakfast or Dinner

[62tall]

We are planning our first trip to Disney and staying at ASM. We also have the dining plan. Why do people pay the price for breakfast buffets? Are you able to enjoy them and then actually go and have a full day at the park? I have ADR's for 1900 Parc, Le Cellier, Chef Mickey, mama Melrose, Tepanyaki, an Spirit of Aloha.

Why do breakfast? Someone sell me on this please.

 

[estnh]

Most of the breakfast buffets are character meals, and the meal really isn't as important as the experience. They are really a lot of fun, particularly for kids, but even for adults with young hearts. Our kids are now older teens, but we still do one character breakfast every trip.

You can usually combine a character breakfast with your park plans for the day--for example, if you are at Magic Kingdom, you can catch the resort monorail from there and be at Chef Mickeys in only a few minutes. One of our favorite breakfasts is Donald's at Animal Kingdom. When we do this one, we schedule it a 8AM, and we finish just in time for the park opening.

You are right about the value, though, when using the dining plan. We usually pay for breakfast out of pocket, then use the credits elsewhere.

 

[mickeymousemom]

I am right along with estnh. We love the character breakfasts because of the experience. We'd do it if there were no kids with us. We love Chef Mickey's and the food is as good as the character interaction, IMO. Last year we had the DP but wanted to use those TS credits for the nicer places we normally wouldn't eat at...and they are the most expensive. We did a Chef Mickey's breakfast and paid out of pocket for it. This year we plan on doing Crystal Palace.

 

[goodeats]

I prefer to eat a big breakfast, have a snack in the parks for lunch, and then a nice dinner. If all I have for breakfast is a pastry I get incredibly cranky around 11:00. I need the protein and complex carbs to last. This is why I don't think the dining plan would really work for me.

And in reality eating a big breakfast aids in touring. At MK you can eat at CP at 8:00 before the park opens. You can be fueled up and at the ropes before the public gets in the park. Also, you might not need to even stop for lunch. An ice cream or a pretzel would probably tide you over until dinner.

 

[lauritagoddess]

The character breakfasts are such a fun way to start the day, get that Disney experience even before you hit the parks. It also works out that my DS who is an extremely picky eater at most times, is a great breakfast eater. There's very little he won't eat for breakfast and I can load a plate up for him and know at least he'll have one meal for the day where he really eats.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We pay out of pocket for the breakfasts but its a great way to start your day. We really like to do Crystal Palace on a non-EE day. We try to get an ADR for 8:05 (the earliest one) and be finished before the park actually opens. Its so much fun to walk up Main St. so early in the morning before the crowds get there. Then we just have a light lunch (usually split cs) and have a normal dinner. We've had good character interaction at breakfast at CP, CRT, PSB, Ohana, Chef Mickeys and 1900 Park Fare.

 

[MAKmom]

I agree about why pay for the breakfast. We have done CRT a few times when it was breakfast only & it was a wonderful time. I will not pay the new prices.

The buffetts are not bad for dinner or lunch when you add in the Icecream sunday bars & deserts.

That being said I might try the Cape May character breakfast this trip. We are staying at the Beach Club & I think I should try new things.

 

[maggiew]

Before the dining plan, we did breakfasts because of the price difference. It was cheaper to do the character breakfasts than dinners. I am not sure now that there is the dining plan. I am on the fence about getting the dining plan because we actually like to do the breakfasts vs. lunch or dinner. Mainly because of my younger DD. She doesn't eat a lot of "regular" food - no burgers, no mac and cheese, she will eat a hot dog if its not cooked "too hard", well you get the picture. But she will eat waffles and fruit off of the breakfast buffets. So I like to throw a few character breakfasts in the ADR list so I know she eats at least one good meal per day. Because of that, I am not sure the dining plan will be for us. I don't want to get the plan just because and then try to fit our meals around that. I want to plan what we would prefer to do, and then see if the dining plan fits that.

Throw in the mix that our 2 girls are "adults" and that adds even more reason to question the plan for us.

Maggie

 

[pepe of ohio]

From previous trips, it seemed to us that a good sit down breakfast was just alittle cheaper than a character deal. We would go for the character meal only because its all you can eat. You can load up on fruit, fresh and other things you like. One of our favorite buffets for breakfast, and the cheapest on property is Trails End in Fort Wilderness.

We do not eat lunch and dinner can be either sit down or counter, no big deal so we like to be full starting out in the am, grab a snadwich at noon break,pool time, from our grocery stop and maybe do a resort sit down. We share alot of meals, wife and I, meals are too huge for each of us to order one and no left overs.

 

[Christine]

I am always a big fan of the breakfast buffets because I find that if I pig out a breakfast, I can skip lunch and then do an earlier dinner. We will usually have a huge breakfast, a late snack (container of fries, ice cream, something like that) and then take a break from the park and have a 5:00 p.m. dinner. These keeps the dinner crowds down for us and saves us money on lunch (because I find lunch pricey). Of course, we don't do this everyday, but it works for us on those days that we do it.

The only problem with this is that the kids usually can't stuff themselves silly for breakfast and they really, really need that snack in the afternoon.