Donald's Breakfastaurus - never again!

[2Princes2Princesses]

not only is donald's one of our faves food and character-wise, but it has one of the best cm/waiters in all of wdw (we're always surprised when he's still there 'cause we think he's so great, we don't know how he has not been promoted to a "better" restaurant yet)... but for the life of me, i cannot remember his name (yet his photo is on our fridge! LOL!)

I wonder if this is the same guy we had in September. DH and I agreed, he won, hands down, as the BEST server we have had in all our trips. He was just great.

We felt the characters were rushed, but other than that, we loved it. Food was good, atmosphere was good, server was phenomenal.

 

[Smooshdog]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I've heard others say they had trouble getting into the park, but we had no problems. They checked our name and we walked right on in.

my DGF and I love Donald's! The food is good, the servers are hilarious and we had no problems with our pictures coming out bad, in fact some of our best pics are from Donald's. I say give it another chance, you may be glad you did.

 

[hniki234]

Donald's is my favorite meal at WDW! It's my must-do every trip. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it. I wish it had been a better time for you. Sounds like you were unlucky. We actually had pretty good character interaction and our pics came out great. (I'm a huge Donald fan, so I would've been bummed if they hadn't come.) I've been 3 times to Donald's Breakfastosaurus and never had a problem with it being too dark. I can see how there may have been a mix-up at the gate. Especially since your ADR was for 9 a.m. Doesn't AK open at that time? Our ADR is always at 8 a.m. for Donald's. That way we get into the park early. Hopefully, you'll find somewhere else your family enjoys as much as I enjoy Donald's! O'Hana's is a great place for breakfast if you've never tried it!

 

[eeyoreiscool]

Sorry to hear about your problems. We have been there a couple of times and it was great. The food was good and the characters stayed with us as long as necessary.

 

[auntpolly]

You aren't the only ones that think this - I've heard others disappointed.

But it's my favorite, maybe because it is a bit more simple and low key than Chef Mickey's, for example. Every Disney fan should do Chef Mickey's once, but it really gives me a headache.

We love getting the first seating at Donald's and entering AK when it's quiet. The food is fresh and hot and we get pictures with the characters then jump on Dinosaur!!!

 

[boomhauer]

Wow, that's odd. I thought that breakfast was pretty good. Selection was huge. I didn't feel cramped at all.

 

[auntpolly]

Wow, that's odd. I thought that breakfast was pretty good. Selection was huge. I didn't feel cramped at all.

I wouldn't say odd - this isn't the first time someone has complained about it. It's just a matter of taste. Some people just don't think it's as fun as the other ones.

Like I said, this is my favorite, but we don't have little ones - if I were taking small children it would be to Chef Mickey's or the Crystal Palace.

 

[goofy4tink]

We love Donalds. But....we realize it is not going to be a quick meal. We always end up in one of the most way back rooms. The characters do get to you back there, but it seems like it takes forever. But, I think that's because you can't actually see them on their way to you, so they are out of sight.
The food line is atrocious. The restaurant is not set-up to be a buffet. But, we take this into accout when we plan to eat there. The line is always long, and confusing. There are two different areas for food..one hot, one cold. We have eaten there early as well as late. I have to say that our ADR at 10:15 was terrific. It was an EMH morning at AK, so we got in at 8:00, did a bunch of stuff then went to eat. There was plenty of hot, fresh food out for us. We did find it to be less crowded then also. We have an 8:00 ADR late this month but it is not on an EMH morning, so we shouldn't have any crowd issues since we will be at the gate by 7:30.

 

[klh999]

I agree.. we had many of the problems you discussed in your post. We had 8AM reservations but there is not way we could get there by 8AM, because they would not let us in for our ADR's into the parking lot and than into the park.

Though.. I still loving being at dinosaur for its 9AM opening! It the only perk for me and the reason why we would go back.

 

[auntpolly]

I agree.. we had many of the problems you discussed in your post. We had 8AM reservations but there is not way we could get there by 8AM, because they would not let us in for our ADR's into the parking lot and than into the park.
.

This is one of those things that drives me crazy at WDW! The same thing happened to us for a castle breakfast, and a couple of times at AK -- after the first time, we learned to chill, after all, no one else is getting our table and we still will be the first ones in -- but saying your reservation is for 8 and then not letting you in -- well that just confuses and upsets people. Especially people there for the first time.

In the end, it's a minor irritation, but I just wonder why they do it. Maybe to make sure you won't be late or something!!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We were just the opposite. We hate 1900 Park Fare and loved Donalds.

We did not have any trouble getting into the park early, not even a 5 minute wait for our table. We sat in the back room to the right and there was plenty of sunlight and our pictures turned out great. The food was plentiful, hot and very good. Large selection of hot and cold foods, I mean how can you go wrong with 3 choices of Krispie Kreme donuts? We will go back every time we go to AK.

1900 Park Fair was a nightmare. The place was super busy, people packed in like sardines. Very loud, way too noisy...we couldnt hear ourselves speak. The food was terrible..all the breads and pastries were dried out, the fruit must have been in the cooler with onions because it took on that taste. There was only one omelet station open and the line was super long. The only saving grace to this place is the strawberry soup and the bread pudding. We will never go back here.

 

[sandymandr]

Our server said this happens sometimes when there are miscommunications at the front gate as there is a separate entrance for ADR people, that has a CM waiting with the ADR list.

Is there really a separate entrance for ADR people? I've got one coming up at 8am non-EMH day. Where is it if not the front gate?? I need to know where to go!! Thanks!

 

[d's do disney]

Wow, it's really unfortunate that the OP had a bad experience there. I hope that doesn't turn people away who are looking forward to trying it. We absolutely LOVE it!!! It is one of our favorites.

Sorry to the OP. Nobody wants a bad experience on vacation. But, if you are planning to try it, give it a shot. People's experiences vary because of alot of different factors. Maybe it was an off day.

We have it planned for our next trip, we wouldn't miss it!!!!

 

[pozey]

OP - Sorry you had a rough time at Donald's.

Donald's Breakfastsaurus is a must-do every trip for us. We've always had a great breakfast there. But then, I realize that the characters are not going to hang out at our table for 5 minutes. They will sign the autograph books, take pictures, and move on.

The food is basic breakfast buffet food. And if I remember correctly, there are 2 separate lines for hot and cold items. Since it is human nature to be followers, people will get in the line where most of the people are. If that line isn't the one they want to be in, they will complain.

Is there really a separate entrance for ADR people? I've got one coming up at 8am non-EMH day. Where is it if not the front gate?? I need to know where to go!! Thanks!

Yes, there is a separate entrance for people with breakfast ADR's. At Animal Kingdom, I think it is down at the FAR RIGHT of the turnstiles. Just go down there and check in.

 

[marcyinPA]

We had a bad experience at Donalds in 2004, and we won't go back. Food was awful (some overcooked, some undercooked, and many things stayed empty), service was awful (no refills on any beverages, never mind never checking back to see if everything was ok), and brisk character interaction (they came by briefly, but before they did, we were told not to go get food because they wouldn't be coming back again). I just wasn't impressed....

 

[Disney owl]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it

 

[auntpolly]

Is there really a separate entrance for ADR people? I've got one coming up at 8am non-EMH day. Where is it if not the front gate?? I need to know where to go!! Thanks!

Not really a separate entrance - it's at the main entrance but off to the right side, if I remember correctly, at AK. You just don't want to get into line with everyone else - there should be someone there with a sign or something.

Problem is, they weren't there right at 8 last time we went. We just waited. We never ended up getting down there until about 8:15 - no bigee.

 

[Tiger926]

Just for clarification - Our ADR was at 9:00 am - we were in line waiting to be let in at the special ADR line by 8:35. The park decided to open early @ 8:40 am, so that is why they say there was a mix up, but then, they kept us packed in like sardines at the Tree of Life for their little presentation. The restaurant manager was not impressed and was still trying to figure out what happened when we left. Also, guests who had been in line didn't want to let us go up to the front even though we had an ADR - then when the cast member wouldn't let us in, we had to go back to end of line as we didn't want to cut in on people as they were already giving us dirty looks despite us telling them that we had an ADR for breakfast. Not a good morning for us

Like I said, we've eaten at almost all Disney restaurants, so we have lots to compare it to. Maybe we had an off morning, but the cramped quarters, low lighting and small food selection (we did visit both hot and cold food areas) are things that are going to stay conistent, so for us, we won't be visiting this buffet again as we feel there is much better value (characters & food) for the same price at other buffets.

Thanks for all opinions and replies, Tiger

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your review, sorry to hear you had a disappointing experience.

 

[MaeDaisy]

Wow, that is so hard to believe! We loved Donald's breakfast. We had a late reservation, 10:30ish, so I was afraid everything would be either gone or dried up and crusty. Turns out, I never saw any empty dishes, and everything was fresh and hot. Except for the fruit, which was fresh and cold.

We went on 12/26 and the park was PACKED with people, but still, the breakfast was not cramped or crowded at all. We had no wait in the buffet line, we just walked up and filled our plates.

The characters were just as playful as they were everywhere else, and this place definitely had the best CMs of any TS restaurant. They were great. This was probably our favorite character meal.