Character breakfast - Before of after the park opens

[Lebestiole]

I've always read some mixed opinions about this topic, and I can never make up my mind when it comes to character breakfast because some say its better when the park is still closed, others say that it's better after 10 am, etc.

What are your thoughts on this? I want to make reservations for Plaza Inn (You can do it in the app, btw, the site won't let you but the app is working just fine!) BTW, going with mom, grandma, and grandpa!

 

[rentayenta]

I would choose before the parks open. The few uncrowded hours in the morning are precious and I wouldn't want to spend them sitting down and eating. The other option would be to be to do a late breakfast and enjoy the uncrowded morning hours in the park. My family hit their wall about 10:30 am if we have done a 7 am rope drop and thats usually when we sit for breakfast.

 

[gmboy95]

I would as well pick before the park opens....it is kind of the best of both worlds....I great meal experience followed by the ability to his some rides right off the bat without a fstpass!!

 

[Rubygoose]

We always do Plaza Inn at around 10:30ish. Plaza Inn is only opened early when it's MM, and we like to take advantage of the MM hour, so we do a bunch of rides and then we're hungry for lunch by 10:30. Also, none of us are ever very hungry first thing in the morning, so we just eat a banana and a granola bar while we're waiting at the gates.

In WDW we did the character breakfast in Animal Kingdom that opened before the park was opened to anybody, and when we finished breakfast, the park started to open at we were already at the back of the park. It doesn't really work out this way at Plaza Inn, though, since people will already be on rides while you're eating breakfast. It is a good opportunity to get a shot of the castle without big crowds, though, as they're walking you in to your breakfast - but other than that, I don't think it's much of an advantage, and actually more of a disadvantage.

 

[Geemo]

I've always read some mixed opinions about this topic, and I can never make up my mind when it comes to character breakfast because some say its better when the park is still closed, others say that it's better after 10 am, etc.

What are your thoughts on this? I want to make reservations for Plaza Inn (You can do it in the app, btw, the site won't let you but the app is working just fine!) BTW, going with mom, grandma, and grandpa!

I've been trying to book Plaza Inn for October.
I've called, looked on my home computer, tablet app and phone app but it doesn't let me book anything in my time frame Oct 1st thru Oct 5th
What's your secret?

 

[agamble]

We've done three character meals. First time was Minnie's during Magic Morning at about 7:15 in the morning. It was nice because we spent about an hour and were in the parks to play just after the park opened. It was my oldest's second birthday and we went and met Tinkerbell with little wait right after breakfast with Minnie.

The next time was also Minnie's and we went sometime around 9:30. We were in the park at rope drop and did a few things first. That time included my mom and my niece. My mom doesn't like to eat at 7:00, and honestly we had a hard time getting to the parks at 8AM with her. Sheesh!

The last time was Storyteller's and we went around 10:30 (10:15?) or so. They close around 11:30 and open for lunch. They had weird hours that day and DL had MM at 7, opened at 8AM (which we made it for), and then DCA opened at 9AM (which we hopped over for). So we were able to meet the princesses at Disneyland and then ride Toy Story and Mater's and grab FP before walking through the side entrance to the Grand for our breakfast. That was actually really nice.

Honestly, if it was just my husband and kids staying walking distance to the park and MM was at 7 or 8 we would definitely schedule a breakfast at Minnie's during MM. But with my mom that's just not going to happen. Plus next year's trip, with her, we're staying at a hotel that will have us taking the Toy Story busses and they don't run early enough to get us there for MM breakfast. In this case I'm thinking the late breakfast an hour before closing will work better for us. That or we may go to Goofy's for dinner the night we arrive. We still have 10 months to plan.

The issue with Minnie's is that it sometimes gets very crowded and half the seating is outside. Some people complain that the characters do not make the rounds orderly and miss their tables. Part of this I think is because they change costumes and take breaks every 20 minutes or so and since Minnie's has so many different characters people feel they're being skipped when in reality the CM who was wearing Tigger may now be wearing Hook. The other issue is some tables do get skipped when it gets busy, people have reported having very few characters visit them. But if that happens the best thing to do is alert a CM and they will take care of it. We were seated outside during our 9:30 meal and we were able to see many characters. BUT it was WAY busier than the time we went at 7:15. At 7:15 we had Tigger stealing Hooks sword and playing around and the characters came back more than once because so few people were there.

 

[CandMmommy]

I tried for oct 16. It won't let me online or the app for plaza inn

 

[707MickeyGirl]

I tried for oct 16. It won't let me online or the app for plaza inn

I read in another thread that some of the reservations aren't available because the park hours haven't been finalized for October. People have called in to Disney Dining and the CMs have told them to just keep checking back every day. So difficult to wait when you really want to just get your plans made.

 

[CandMmommy]

I read in another thread that some of the reservations aren't available because the park hours haven't been finalized for October. People have called in to Disney Dining and the CMs have told them to just keep checking back every day. So difficult to wait when you really want to just get your plans made.

That's exactly what I was told when I called this morning

 

[Winnowill]

Definitely later in the morning. We make the latest Plaza Inn reservation we possibly can (usually 10:40). We do this for two reasons: early morning touring and amazing character interactions as the restaurant starts clearing out.

 

[Lebestiole]

Sorry friends! I made a mistake and thought I could make reservations for Plaza Inn in Oct through the app. :C Still waiting for the dates to be released!!!