Disappointed w/Donald's!

[Crazy4mandms]

I was really looking forward to our character breakfast at the AK at the breakfastasouraus..boy were we disappointed!! We doled out $70 for 2 adults/2 kids and it was sooooo not worth it! The food rivaled that of a cheap diner..which I was sort of expecting but we went for the ambiance...which was very lacking!!! There were 4 characters, Mickey, Donald, Pluto and Goofy...we sat for 1 1/2 hours and each came over one time for about 30 seconds each...there was no joking, goofing, etc...just a quick pic and signing of autograph books....Goofy totally forgot about us and we sat for 15 minutes after the restaurant closed for him to remember that he hadn't visited our table!! Guess I just expected it to be more upbeat and, well, FUN!! What a total waste of time and money and I would never recommend this character meal to anyone.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

We felt the same way - it's pretty busy here isn't it but we didn't have the wait for characters that you guys had. I also thought the food was poor in comparison to other WDW character meals that I've had. I wouldn't recommend either except perhaps if your kid really loves Donald.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

I didn't like it either. We booked it because, my Hubby's favorite is Donald. I liked the surroundings...but the food ...YUCK

Then to top it off. Donald was at Chef Mickey's. Oh well.

Anyway, everyone has their own opinion. Many people don't prefer the restaurants I like, and vice versa.

 

[SharonS]

We had a great experience at Donald's. I enjoyed the food....especially the cook to order omlette. I have eatten breakfast at Chef Mickey's, Beach Club Character meal, CRT, and Crystal Palace, and enjoyed Donald's the best.

Just shows that everyone has different tastes and experiences.

 

[patsal]

Gosh, I'm so sorry for your bad experience. This one was one of our favorites. Great food, great character interaction, fun atmosphere. I guess it's kind of like the ice cream social--I thought it was a total waste of time and money yet other swear it is the greatest. I have a ressie for June with Donald and I hope I will not be disappointed.

 

[FozzieMom]

We had a wonderful experience at this breakfast. We (5 adults and 2 kids) thought the food was good, maybe not as good as the Cape May, but better than the Crystal Palace. The characters paid lots of attention to us. Donald was very playful with the kids and Mickey was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed this. It was a great start to an amazing day at AK. I would no doubt go again. (It probably helped that we weren't in the main room, but a smaller side room). It was quiet and the characters did spent a good amount of private time with us in there as the other diners had already left.

 

[Kaycee]

We've been to Donald's twice, and we absolutely loved it both times.

We had a lot of great character interaction. Our server the first time was a hoot. The second time, our server was more sedate, but still did a fine job.

Sorry to hear others have had a bad experience here. Someone mentioned being there at the end of the breakfast; we always get the first available PS time. I don't know if that matters or not.

 

[TZMOM]

I was also disappointed. We had to wait for about 1/2 hr. even though we had PS. People who were in line w/o PS got in before we did (we were only 2 people.) Once inside, the noise was incredible & the characters were, it seemed. really rushed. Not sure what I expected - but that was not enjoyable. This year will try Chef Mickey's.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

We went in Feb. I wouldn't pay to go there again. The food was good I thought. But, the character interaction was horrible. We waited about an hour (after we were done eating) to see Mickey and Pluto. We had to ask the server when they would be coming around.

I think the character breakfasts are awful though. The characters take forever to get to you. The dinners are a much better value IMO and the interaction is 100% better.

 

[Minniespal]

Sorry that your experience was not better. We have been to Donald's Restonasuarus on several occassions and have always found the food to be fine and the character interaction to be good. We did have to wait about 20 minutes for Donald last year, think he was on a break!

 

[Connears]

We have been 3 times and its been wonderful. Fresh cooked waffles and eggs along with standard buffets extras(including Krispy Kremes). The characters took alot of time with us. Maybe it was because we always did the later times 10:45 or so after a morning of touring AK. CM have been OK to very fun! Sorry you did not hit a good day! The Donald and me..my favorite pic!
Connears

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We had almost the same experience as the OP. We were the first seating, though. I think that place is entirely to large to only have 4 characters. Each half is a restaurant in itself. We were done our food, standing there while someone was cleaning off our table for the next party, and still had only seen 3 characters. Our waitress was pretty bad as well. I saw that some tables near us had a more fun and had some dino newspaper type thing. Since we were waiting forever for the characters anyway, I asked our waitress if we could get papers as well. She brought back one, handed it to me and walked away. No complaints on the food, but not worth the $$ for a character breakfast. We did 5 character meals that trip, and that was the worst as far as service and interaction. I'm surprised when I see people on here saying it's the best one.

 

[bubbasmom99]

Same experience here.... The first time we went was great but the 2nd time, last month, it was entirely too chaotic. The character interaction was rushed, at best. The food was pretty good, but the service was awful. I had to ask twice for a high chair and finally just went over and got it myself. Drink service was slow also... thank goodness it was a buffet or else we might have starved! There seemed to be too many tables, not enough servers. The layout is such that the characters have ALOT of space to cover and they have to do that during a 30-45 min dining period or else the guest misses one or more characters....