I have seemed to be in the minority on this but this was one of our least favorite meals of our last 4 trips, and I was looking forward to it. (We went in 2008.)
The restaurant had nice decor, but it was very loud. The service was poor. (I didn't get any silverware, and took about 10 minutes to get it after I requested.) The characters came through and seemed like they barely had time to stop for pictures. (And what's the point of having Chip and Dale come around separately....Chip and Dale should be met together.)
I was also not impressed with the breakfast food...but I have to put a caveat in there...to me breakfast is sort of all the same.....I think getting a buffet for breakfast is a bit of a waste. That said, though, we did Crystal Palace for breakfast last trip...and I thought the food was MUCH better there.
So, it's one of the few restaurants we'll never bother going back to.
Though - to answer the other question - we used a cab from POFQ. It cost about $15 each way to get there. I would recommend that over a bus/boat ride that'll probably take more than an hour each way. We allowed ourselves 1 taxi-ride per trip, and just accept that as part of the trip cost.