Character breakfasts & MK opening show?

[torsie24]

Hello,

I know Chef Mickey breakfast starts at 7am.

So I'm hoping it means we could get the 7am breakfast and then still make the MK opening show by walking over.

(Planning this for our first morning and jetlag means we're usually wide awake by 5am so 7am breakfast will be fine!)

Are there any other character breakfasts we could consider that would mean we can still see the opening show? (It's a first morning tradition that I don't want to miss!)

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . I know Chef Mickey breakfast starts at 7am . . . So I'm hoping it means we could get the 7am breakfast and then still make the MK opening show by walking over . . .

1) Theoretically, yes.
2) But, very possibly not.
. . . you have to get seated early and quickly
. . . you need to ask for the check while dining
. . . you might need to miss a character or two
3) Problems in keeping to your schedule
. . . you might be seated quickly, or further back in the line and seated later (people line up very early)
. . . characters circulate based upon the time at each table, the "route" might be slow or quick
. . . the bill needs to be processed WHILE YOU ARE EATING, or the waitress might get busy and delay the check-out

 

[ErinsMommy]

You can do rope drop and then go to breakfast at Crystal Palace in MK? If you prefer breakfast ahead of time, go with RustyScupper's suggestion and at time of seating, ask for the check right away but as mentioned, the characters make the rounds and being its a large dining area, it will take a while for them all to get to your section as they spread themselves out and dont come all at once.

 

[Lucius Best]

Opening show at MK is going to start around 8:45am. If you get to Chef Mickey early, I can't imagine you would be seated later than 7:15am? An hour is enough time to make multiple trips to the buffet and see all the characters. Absolutely ask for the check early, because that can take forever. It can't take more than 15 minutes to walk over to MK. You might need another 5-10 minutes to get through bag check and turnstiles.

Looks like you should definitely be able to do it. A lot of it is under your control: when you get to CM, how slowly you eat/walk, when you ask for the check. There are lots of other character breakfasts, but at GF and Poly, even if they opened at 7am, which I don't think they do, you need to factor in waiting for the monorail.

Speaking of monorail, that's another question, how you plan on getting to the Contemporary, depends on where you're staying, if you have a car (and where you're going to park), when the buses start running.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

We pulled this off last year accidentally. We had a 7am at CM, asked for the check early because I didn't want to miss precious RD riding time, and ended up getting through security at 8:40 by walking over. Full disclosure we were fortunate with the pace of the characters, but it is doable.

 

[torsie24]

Lucius and Buzz thanks for the positivity.

We will be staying onsite but I think that early I'd be getting a cab from our resort to the CR. Saves worrying.

Just thought starting the trip with a character meal would be a lovely way (doing breakfast with Mickey on our first day at DLRP next year so could be a fun new tradition)

I know I won't want to rush DD if she's having a great time though so if it does take the characters more than an hour to get round maybe CM isn't the best plan.

Alternatively we could plan a nice lunch. With 2 weeks ahead of us I don't fancy making the very first day a big stress.

 

[Lucius Best]

It's been a while since I've been to Chef Mickey's, we usually do a Crystal Palace 8:05am breakfast before MK opens. Waitress will tell us something like "go grab food now, because Pooh will be out in 5 minutes, he'll come out that door and go around the room this way". Two characters will work the room, take a break while the other two come out. Usually when we are finishing up at 8:45am and waiting for the check, the characters have already been by again. They'll see us and just wave because we already got photos with them, and move on.

I think character meal is fun way to start the trip. I know Chef Mickey's is more intense because of the characters that are there and it's busier. But if you're there for an hour, I'm guessing the only way you'll miss a character is if they happen to sneak by when you're getting food. But if you're paying attention to where they are, it shouldn't be a problem. Or you could always do early lunch at Crystal Palace instead.

 

[OhThePain]

While trying to fit in a character breakfast before RD at MK is possible, we like to go another route. We prefer to have a very light bite in the morning, do RD and then go for "brunch" (the last breakfast ADR of the morning, usually around 11:15 or so). This gives us time to enjoy both RD and a character breakfast without feeling rushed. We start in Adventureland and work our way around from there. We are usually finishing up HM just in time to head for our meal. Most of our FP are done after brunch in Fantasyland, so we don't usually have a lot of waiting on lines for the dark rides (which are good to do after a big meal).

 

[itsodisney]

Crystal palace. Make a reservation as early as yo can so you can get inside MK before it open to public and guests of the resort taking advantage of magic hours? you can also have picture in front of the castle without any people on your background (which for me is nice. We did this on my DD 4th bday). They have good breakfast selection too but for me nothing beats the selection at 1900 park fare breakfast with Alice and mad hatter.

 

[torsie24]

Thanks all. Lots of good options.

Itsodisney - 1900PF is the very top of our list as DD adores Mary Poppins and when we stayed at GF my husband was in love the CL breakfast selection and I'm pretty certain that was all 1900PF stuff. He still talks about the sticky buns 4 years later.....