We had dinner at CP last Sept, wow the food exceeded my expectations. My nephew asked to return there on our next trip, so I guess food, fun and characters work for our family.
If I'm up early I'd rather be in the park rather than having a meal. I prefer to relax and enjoy my meal rather than rush through it so we can get into the park. We did Chef Mickey's as an 11:20 brunch after a late party night one year. We've done Boma after 9 on our AK day (we'd been before and hadn't planned a full day there).
Our pace at WDW is not too hectic, we use ADRs and have used the dining plan. That styly works for us and we love the "break" provided by those TS meals.