Donald's Breakfastosaurus

[HJL413]

I am looking for some opinions on this character breakfast. We alrerady have plans for Chef Mickey's, however, DW loves Donald and I am thinking about adding this as a surprise when we go to Animal Kingdom. I would love to hear about the food, the room and the characters. I am thinking this would also be a good way for us to get an early start at Animal Kingdom. Thanks.


HARRY

 

[SandraC]

WE LOVE THIS CHARACTER MEAL! We've been there three times! It's very casual. My kids love Donald too and it's the only place to spend loads of time with him. We usual book the earliest sitting and then rest up in the boneyard before walking right on to Dinosaur ride!!!!!!!! S

 

[MN Dis Fans]

This is my DH's favorite character meal. They have every food imagineable for breakfast and it is very good. The atmosphere is very jolly. The CMs we have there are always joking with us. The decor is very clever and fun for kids too - related to archaeology and dinosaurs with Disney details everywhere. We also get early times.

 

[HappyMommy2]

We did this breakfast one mid-morning a couple of months ago and were very pleasantly surprised--it was really enjoyable! The decor was lots of fun--plenty of clever details to notice--and the atmosphere very happy and light. The place was packed but we got plenty of time with the characters and enjoyed watching their interactions with other guests too.
The food was fresh and tasty. There was good variety on the hot-foods line (the usual meats, potatoes, pancakes, and so on). When we arrived, a couple of important items (I think the hash browns and bacon) were all gone and they did not refill them for a long time. The cold-foods station was well-stocked with Krispy Kremes, fruit, Jello, etc.
Our server was pleasant but did take FOREVER to bring our drinks, and then did not return to offer refills till almost the end of our meal (not a big deal but it was a hot day and we were thirsty!).

Overall it was a great experience that we will repeat. We have always gone to Chef Mickey's in the past and that is still our favorite, mainly since our kids are huge Mickey fans, but I do recommend Breakfastasaurus.

 

[luv2nascar]

I have seen alot of reviews on this board panning this restaurant. My family loves it. Donald is my DH's favorite so we may be biased but the food is hot, good, and plentiful. It is not gourmet but we are satisfied iwth it.

We really had a great birthday breakfast for my DH there and are planning to go again on our next trip. Enjoy.

 

[HJL413]

Thanks for the reviews. I think I will add this to our list and call tomorrow to get a priority seating. Any suggestions on time. We will likely go on 1/31, thanks.


HARRY

 

[MouseWorshipin]

I have seen alot of reviews on this board panning this restaurant.

I'd have to agree. I've been sucked into this 6 times and never once have I enjoyed it. It is noisy, rushed, crowded, disorganized, and the staff is usually on the poor side of iffy. The food is OK, only once was it not hot.

Twice we were held back before opening and both times the people who had waited at the gates were passing the tree on their way to KS before they even let us move forward. We'd have been better off waiting in line at the front of the park.

Hope your experience is better. (Does that sound sarcastic? It isn't - it is a sincere wish for you to have a great time.)

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We did this for DS birthday one year and had a great time. We thought the food and selection was good. Although it seemed that I would always get in line behind someone who had never seen a buffet before and didn't quite know what to do and would go really slow.

 

[Kaycee]

We love Donald's! Younger DS is a huge Donald fan, so it's a must-do for us every family trip. We've been 5 times, and have had a good time every time. Some of our servers have been more playful than others, but we've never had bad service.

The character interaction has always been very good. I've read posts saying the characters seemed rushed, but we've never experienced that.

As far as the food...it's typical breakfast buffet food. Every time we've been, the buffet has been clean and well stocked, and the food has been fresh.

The decor is very casual. The theming is an arecheological digsite camp.

 

[Cass]

We had a great time at this meal... the servers were hilarious.

 

[goofy4tink]

We've eaten here three times. Of all the buffets, this is the one we have the longest waits to be seated...usually close to 30 mins. But, once in there we love it. I would suggest getting an earlier seating rather than late morning. We do the late morning, one of the last times they have, and always have to wait.
We have had terrific service each and every time. A lot depends on where you are seated. WE have been in the waaaay back room and it has been very quiet but you tend to miss out on stuff. It does take quite awhile for the characters to get around. It is a large restaurant and it almost seems that here, more so than other places, people get tired of waiting for the characters at their tables, so try to track them down while the character is at a different table. This takes a lot of time. I wouldn't eat there if time is of the essence. It is good if you have some extra time and want to just relax. That's why we get the later seating time. We do AK stuff early, then head over to eat around 10:15. We have never felt rushed to finish up.

 

[bleeps]

We tried it for the first time last month and loved it. It has it's own "feel" -- different from Chef Mickeys or Crystal Palace. Great theming, esp. if your kids like dinosaurs. Our server was a RIOT, the characters were attentive (and i don't know if this is "standard," but for our 8 a.m./first of the day seating, they had all the characters visit the area where we were seated, and then they moved on and we were given the green light to hit the buffet). This system worked great for us -- our DS, 7, got his character time (he loves Donald!) and then we were able to all focus on and enjoy our hot breakfast. It was also worth it to get into the park so early -- we truly appreciated all the beauty of the park when we felt like we had it to ourselves.

 

[Brianne]

I guess I'll be a dissenting vote here. Sorry! I don't like ruining a roll, really! About the only good thing we could say about our experience is that at least it got us into the park before opening & away from the bottleneck when the park did open.

Other than that, it was rushed, the food was nothing to write home about, and the buffet was an utter free-for-all mess. People had no concept of what standing in a line should be, so we had people cutting in line, pushing through, etc.

However, this was over a year ago, so things may have been fixed/changed by now. But it'll be a long time before we'll go back there again.

I sincerely hope your experience is a better one! I hate whenever I have a bad Disney experience--thankfully it's been very few & far between.

 

[pyrxtc]

has anyoen ahd their picture done? We went to this breakfast alst time but the picture line was so long! Was it free and we missed out?

On the other side, breakfast was great. got to really see the characters and the kids loved it. one DD left her autograph book ther and DBS left her lanyard there and we went back after lunch and they were holding it for us. Wonderful place! Lots of pixie dust there!

 

[karen l]

The pictures aren't free, they charge you when they're given to you.
We've always enjoyed this breakfast & will be going back this April. Love the variety, my DS goes crazy over the grapes & pastries.

 

[goofy4tink]

I guess I'll be a dissenting vote here. Sorry! I don't like ruining a roll, really! About the only good thing we could say about our experience is that at least it got us into the park before opening & away from the bottleneck when the park did open.

Other than that, it was rushed, the food was nothing to write home about, and the buffet was an utter free-for-all mess. People had no concept of what standing in a line should be, so we had people cutting in line, pushing through, etc.

However, this was over a year ago, so things may have been fixed/changed by now. But it'll be a long time before we'll go back there again.

I sincerely hope your experience is a better one! I hate whenever I have a bad Disney experience--thankfully it's been very few & far between.

You know...it's funny about the 'cutting in line'. We have had several threads here on what the correct proceedure for buffet lines is. A lot of people say that no, you don't have to stand in that long line if you just want to grab some more bacon. Others will say that of course...everyone gets in line and you wait. I can't decide which side to take. I have been behind folks that seem to be overwhelmed by the whole buffet idea. They stand there and just can't decide on what they want...they dither around. Meanwhile, someone comes along, says excuse me, I would just like to get a spoon of scrambled eggs please. then the egg person leaves the line and goes back to their table. Hmmm, maybe time for a poll. Think I'll start one.

 

[Gerweniel]

We went to Breakfastosaurus on 12/4/05 for 8:10am seating. It took about 10 minutes to get us to our table and ready to go. Our server was VERY funny, joked with my sons and kept right up there with drink refills. The buffet line was just a bit chaotic, but once people figured out the proper direction, it went great. The food was hot, delicious and plentyful, and the character interaction was perfect for us (my kids are older). The server more than once took our pictures with Donald and the gang with our own camera and never made a fuss. We declined to buy the photo package by just saying "no thanks" when the CM came around. It was a GREAT start to our first day at the parks. We'll return!

 

[tweedlewtwinsmama]

Some questions for the DB experts.
1. What is the best time to go? Currently our ADR is for 8:30.
2. Can we get there by bus that early from Pop or should we drive?
3. Can we run over to get a FP for a ride while we wait for our time to be seated?

 

[Gerweniel]

My personal opinion is earlier the better - the line got more and more hectic the later the seating.

Your resort should have an early bus for early breakfasts - although driving would probably be quicker in the long run.

We were not allowed into any attraction areas prior to the breakfast. There were CM's preventing you from straying off the route to the Restaurantosaurus. After B'fast - (we finished at about 9:05am) we scurried right over to Kilimanjaro Safari and had only about a 5 min wait.

 

[Brianne]

You know...it's funny about the 'cutting in line'. We have had several threads here on what the correct proceedure for buffet lines is. A lot of people say that no, you don't have to stand in that long line if you just want to grab some more bacon. Others will say that of course...everyone gets in line and you wait. I can't decide which side to take. I have been behind folks that seem to be overwhelmed by the whole buffet idea. They stand there and just can't decide on what they want...they dither around. Meanwhile, someone comes along, says excuse me, I would just like to get a spoon of scrambled eggs please. then the egg person leaves the line and goes back to their table. Hmmm, maybe time for a poll. Think I'll start one.

Yeah, I can see the merits of both arguments!

With our experience, many of the people who cut in line then dithered about.

The main problem was, with the way this buffet is set up, you actually enter in into the middle of the long "table" area, then either split off to the left or right (items on both sides are the same). But because the path wasn't clearly marked out, nor were there CMs to direct traffic, people were entering from the left or right instead of the middle. Then there were the people who thought the items were different on the other end of the area & walked through. And so on & so forth. It was pretty chaotic! That is something I hope they've fixed by now because it was a mess when we went.

Someone asked about pictures---they take them at the beginning & are supposed to bring the package to your table while you eat. I think the package was somewhere around $30 if you bought everything, if I remember correctly.