Breakfasts that get you into the park early?

[TwoIfBySea]

Are there breakfast reservations that are worth making just to get into the parks early? If so, which restaurants and times would you recommend in each of the parks? And does making these reservations really help at all in terms of beating the crowds, or is it just as good to be at the turnstiles for rope drop? That is, would you make these reservations if your usual breakfast is a quick bowl of cereal in your hotel room and you don't particularly care about meeting the characters, but do care about beating the crowds?

 

[Faldred]

Answering the last question first: no. There's no point booking a character breakfast if you're not interested in either the breakfast or the characters. Being ready to go at rope drop will serve you just as well for early morning access.

The only place where it might make a real difference is Animal Kingdom, if getting on the Safari ASAP is your top priority, but you could do almost as well from rope drop without the high cost of a character meal.

 

[tinkerbellnsnowwhite]

You don't get any earlier access to the rides or anything by having an early breakfast reservation. The only benefit at Magic Kingdom is taking pictures in front of castle without crowds. Otherwise they make you wait til rope drop to do anything.

 

[nkereina]

You don't get any earlier access to the rides or anything by having an early breakfast reservation. The only benefit at Magic Kingdom is taking pictures in front of castle without crowds. Otherwise they make you wait til rope drop to do anything.

Yes, this. Photo ops with no people around is about the only benefit to getting in early. Plus there's no guarantee you'll be done with your breakfast by the time the gates open, so if beating crowds is your top priority, just line up before rope drop.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

So if we do want to do just the Animal Kingdom one -- do you like the Tusker House? It might be fun to do one character breakfast even if that isn't a huge interest for my tween-age daughter. She might find she likes it anyhow. How's the food there?

 

[FireDancer]

I like to go to the Boadwalk Bakery early, before Epcot opens and grab breakfast. It is nice and peaceful there in the morning before the crowds start to gather. That is also my favorite place to run on property so some mornings I'll get out there just before sunrise to get in 5 or 6 miles before grabbing breakfast and then heading to the parks.

 

[nkereina]

So if we do want to do just the Animal Kingdom one -- do you like the Tusker House? It might be fun to do one character breakfast even if that isn't a huge interest for my tween-age daughter. She might find she likes it anyhow. How's the food there?

Tusker House is supposed to be one of the best character breakfasts. When are you going? Because it's so popular, ADRs there are hard to get - especially at the coveted pre-park opening time.

 

[nkereina]

I like to go to the Boadwalk Bakery early, before Epcot opens and grab breakfast. It is nice and peaceful there in the morning before the crowds start to gather. That is also my favorite place to run on property so some mornings I'll get out there just before sunrise to get in 5 or 6 miles before grabbing breakfast and then heading to the parks.

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been looking for suggestions like this. We are staying at POR and are planning on getting QS before Epcot. How would you get there from POR that time of morning - bus to DHS and walk? If we go before Epcot opens, international gateway is a no go I'm assuming. Thanks!

 

[FireDancer]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been looking for suggestions like this. We are staying at POR and are planning on getting QS before Epcot. How would you get there from POR that time of morning - bus to DHS and walk? If we go before Epcot opens, international gateway is a no go I'm assuming. Thanks!

The best way is to drive. You can do bus to Epcot and jump on the Epcot resorts bus if you don't have a car.

The pathway along the river in Port Orleans is another great run. It isn't long so you'll have to do a couple of trips back and forth but I like that run too.

 

[BDL]

Animal Kingdom: Tusker House has a really good buffet and you get some 1 on 1 professional picture time with Donald. And inside, the other characters parade around inside and give real time for photo opps.

Strategy: Get a FP for EE or the Safari immediately before or after your res.

Magic Kingdom: Crystal Palace has an "ok" morning spread, but it does have Winnie, Tigger and the rest.

Strategy: Get a FP for 1 of the Mountains

EPCOT: Akershus' Princess Breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. And the never ending cheesey potatoes is AWESOME. This is another place where you get a 1 on 1 pro photo opp. Except here, it would be with the "princess of the day".

Strategy: Even after racing across the park (bad idea with a belly full of cheesey potatoes), 5 minutes after "rope drop", to get a FP for Soarin', the return time was still 2 1/2 hrs.

Never had a breakfast at MGM. Personally, I'm not a fan of the food at that park.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

Thanks for the advice. We're going in about 180 days, and I have just reserved Tusker House for an 8:05 AM breakfast. I think we'll skip the rest of them.

Strategy: Get a FP for EE or the Safari immediately before or after your res.

Can we get a fast pass before breakfast? Or would the machines not be running that early?

 

[Faldred]

You'll be directed straight back toward Tusker House by the CMs. You get to walk through one whole side of the park with practically nobody there (but your fellow breakfasters, of course), but that side doesn't go past EE at all, and you can walk out of breakfast right onto the Safari at 9:00 AM.

(Then go straight to EE and either walk on, if it's short enough, or snag a FP.)

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been looking for suggestions like this. We are staying at POR and are planning on getting QS before Epcot. How would you get there from POR that time of morning - bus to DHS and walk? If we go before Epcot opens, international gateway is a no go I'm assuming. Thanks!

Take the bus to DHS and take the ferry or walk to the Boardwalk. You can enter Eocit via the International Gateway when the park opens even though World Showcase isn't open yet.

 

[RMulieri]

Thanks for the advice. We're going in about 180 days, and I have just reserved Tusker House for an 8:05 AM breakfast. I think we'll skip the rest of them.



Can we get a fast pass before breakfast? Or would the machines not be running that early?

FP machines are not on till park opening.And the Cms won't let you go anywhere but to the restaurant before park opening .IF they see you wandering they will send you back.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

FP machines are not on till park opening.And the Cms won't let you go anywhere but to the restaurant before park opening .IF they see you wandering they will send you back.

As in "Go back to the rope, you didn't say "May I"?

 

[BDL]

I apologize. I should've been more accurate. Our early entrance breakfasts, over-lapped with the "rope drops". So we finished our early breakfasts, just as the rope dropped. So we were able to leave the restaurant and immediately get FP's, because we had that head start over everyone that was at the gate. The only exception Tusker House, which happened to be on AK Extra Magic Hours and we were staying on site. So we were able to get our FP's for EE before breakfast.

I'm sorry. I should've been clearer.

 

[goofy4tink]

So if we do want to do just the Animal Kingdom one -- do you like the Tusker House? It might be fun to do one character breakfast even if that isn't a huge interest for my tween-age daughter. She might find she likes it anyhow. How's the food there?

We love this breakfast. My only issue is that Donald no longer wanders around inside. If you want a photo with him, you have to get in line outside the restaurant..and that really slows you down. But, we love the food offerings there..it's a must do every trip.

Not to hijack the thread, but I've been looking for suggestions like this. We are staying at POR and are planning on getting QS before Epcot. How would you get there from POR that time of morning - bus to DHS and walk? If we go before Epcot opens, international gateway is a no go I'm assuming. Thanks!

Why not just eat in the food court at POR? I certainly wouldn't take the time to go to DHS and then walk to BW, just to use the Bakery. A lot of time and energy taken just for a pastry. The breakfast sandwiches I've had there are subpar to say the least.
I would just grab something quick at the food court on the way to the bus to Epcot.

Thanks for the advice. We're going in about 180 days, and I have just reserved Tusker House for an 8:05 AM breakfast. I think we'll skip the rest of them.



Can we get a fast pass before breakfast? Or would the machines not be running that early?

Nope, the FP machines aren't open then.



I much prefer getting to the park early, doing stuff for a few hours, especially on EMH mornings. Then, I make an ADR for a park restaurant for about 10-10:30. Acts as brunch and I don't have to have a real meal until 6ish. And I've done a lot of stuff before the park gets crowded.

 

[Jabba20000]

I have a tween daughter and she likes the character meals so your daughter may enjoy Tusker House. We will be doing Tusker House, crystal Palace and CRT all before park opening on our September trip. We enjoy having a big breakfast in the morning and even though we may not get a huge advantage by doing the breakfasts early, the photo ops are great. Enjoy!!

 

[KathleensKid]

When we were there in May for our first family trip, we did 3 character breakfasts. At each restaurant, we had the earliest reservation of the day. We LOVED doing this. And would possibly do them all again. I know that we were fortunate to be able to budget for this, and I also know we were lucky in the situations we found right after breakfast. In each restaurant, I asked for the check as soon as possible so that we were paid up and ready to head into the park before the official opening time.

We did Tusker House our first day. The food and character interaction was great. Yummy. And I knew (from researching here) to ask a CM to take a picture of us w/Donald with my camera so we didn't have to buy the expensive "professional" one. Would absolutely do this again. Loved the whole experience. And here is my dh walking to the safari after breakfast. We were able to get onto the ride about 5 minutes before the park officially opened. Walked right on well ahead of the huge crowds who arrived later:

We did Hollywood and Vine the next day. The food was fine. IHOP type food which is what I was expecting. Hot coffee, eggs, bacon and waffles. I wasn't expecting anything fancy. My young kids loved the characters here. And we were able to get to the front of the line as the hordes of people headed to TSM and Jedi Training (Star Tours wasn't opened yet). We couldn't walk ahead of the CMs but we joined them as the hordes approached, so we were first. We split up and by a little after 9, I had our TSM fastpasses and DH had the kids signed up for Jedi Training. Would do this again possibly - just to get into the park early and aviod pressing thru the crazy TSM crowd. Here is my daughter dancing to breakfast in the empty park:

We did Cinderella's Castle on our 4th day. It was such a magical experience for my dd that I hardly remember what I ate. It really was a once in a lifetime thing. Don't know if we would do it again b/c it can't possibly ever be as magical for her (and the rest of us) as it was the first time she ever entered the Magic Kingdom, walked up an almost empty street and right into the castle to see princesses. She was in awe the whole time. After breakfast, we waited with other breakfast eaters at a rope next to the carousel (and got a photo with the Fairy Godmother who walked out before rope drop). We were released from that rope behind the castle at the same time the people in the front of the park were released. Here we are on the carousel. At this point, I already had fast passes to Peter Pan, and we were the first and only family on the carousel! It was amazing! All the other breakfast families ran to Dumbo first. DD was ready to burst from happiness. Breakfast in the castle. The Fairy Godmother complimenting her dress and then a ride alone on the carousel. There was some pixie dust flying over her that morning for sure.

So, as you can tell, I'm a big fan of early park breakfasts. My kids wake up every day before 6am - so for us they didn't even seem like early breakfasts.
Have a great trip!