How can my family eat a filling breakfast on the Disney dining plan?

[Spyells]

Hello, everyone!

My family will be visiting Walt Disney World for our first time from December 16-26. We'll be celebrating my brothers birthday. They're turning 17. We have the Disney dining plan with free dining. We have made dining reservations in the evenings for dinner so we will be using our table service credits that way. My question is how do we eat a good hearty breakfast? My family is full of good eaters and can be pretty cranky on empty stomachs. So what quick-service places are good for breakfast? We'll be staying at the Yacht Club Resort if that is helpful.

 

[Nancyg56]

Are you looking for QS breakfasts or do you want a sit down breakfast buffet? There are QS restaurants at the resorts, and I have found that they offer good hot meals in the morning. My family went to teh Marketplace (I think that was the name) at the Beach Club when we were staying there. We always hit the QS where we stay so that we do not waste time getting to the parks in the morning, and then generally have lunch in the parks.

 

[jon18uk]

Don't use dining plan credits for quick service breakfast, it is bad value. Unless you are going off site and won't use the credit otherwise.
A breakfast platter at quick service is $8.99 and a drink is around $3, so a $12 value.
At lunch on dining plan you get dessert as well as entree. Lunch entrees are $9-$15 plus dessert of around $4 and drink around $3 gives a $16 to $22 value.
So potentially you are losing up to $10 by using your QS credit on breakfast. I would get a pastry and use the refillable mug for a drink at breakfast, then take a fairly early lunch using your QS credit.

 

[Nancyg56]

Don't use dining plan credits for quick service breakfast, it is bad value. Unless you are going off site and won't use the credit otherwise.
A breakfast platter at quick service is $8.99 and a drink is around $3, so a $12 value.
At lunch on dining plan you get dessert as well as entree. Lunch entrees are $9-$15 plus dessert of around $4 and drink around $3 gives a $16 to $22 value.
So potentially you are losing up to $10 by using your QS credit on breakfast. I would get a pastry and use the refillable mug for a drink at breakfast, then take a fairly early lunch using your QS credit.

That is what we do. SOmetimes we end up splitting a CS breakfast between two people an tehn split between two at lunch, but that would not work with two hungry teenaged boys.

OP- if you go to allears.net you can check out th QS restaurant menus in the parks. There ae some restaurants that offer large combination plates are easily shared by two, or that will fill up really hungry people. Cosmic Rays in teh Magic Kingdom, for instance, offers a chicken and rib combo that is pretty darn good and was enough for my 6'6" starving husband and me to split. In Epcot, the Morroccan QS, I think it is Tangeine Cafe, has combination plates taht are both delicious and plentiful. My sons and his wife always share there, and then they can have snacks around the WOrld. WE did not start out looking for meals to share, but always felt better eating less but more often.

 

[Hopefully]

We use our QS credit for lunch in the parks and our TS credit for a nice evening meal.
We order breakfast food, drinks and snacks from Garden Grocer for delivery to our Villa. We find this more than adequate for a quick breakfast in the morning.
We order Breakfast food, fruit, juice, soda, water, beer, wine, cheese and crackers and other snacks. We then carry our own water into the parks with us. I believe I save the delivery fee with just the savings of not buying bottles of water in the parks.
Enjoy

 

[sharonabe]

If you use your QS for breakfast, what will do for lunch? I think if we know how you're planning on eating the rest of the day, we might be able to help you more.

One of the difficulties of doing a QS breakfast is timing. You want to be in the parks at opening, unless you're late sleepers and closing the parks every day. The places to get a hearty breakfast are at the resorts, not the parks. So you're either up really early and eating at the resort or you grab something quick/have something quick in your room, and then do an early lunch in the parks.

If you're needing more than the two meals of the regular DDP, you may want to look into upgrading to the DxDDP. The upgrade from DDP is about $50/night/person.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Captain's Grill at the YC is a TS restaurant that has a breakfast buffet option as well as a ala carte menu. May be a good option if you are a family of hearty eaters

The BC Marketplace is the only CS bfast option at the YC/BC

If you are on free dining, it may be worth looking into upgrading to the DxDP plan if your family truly wants 3 meals a day.

 

[carmelhp]

I think it boils down to what do you mean by "hearty?" If you mean all you can eat, then you can't do it on the standard DDP and still do dinner table services later in the day. Here's breakfast selections at Beach Club Marketplace for 1 QS credit:

Scrambled Egg Platter
with Bacon, Sausage, Potato Casserole and a Biscuit
Breakfast Sandwich
with Bacon, Scrambled Egg and Cheese on a Multigrain Croissant with Potato Casserole
Oatmeal

If that's what you consider "hearty" then QS will be fine, otherwise you'd have to upgrade plans. Really, the standard DDP gives a good sized amount of food per day.

 

[masupo]

Captain's Grill at the YC is a TS restaurant that has a breakfast buffet option as well as a ala carte menu. May be a good option if you are a family of hearty eaters

The BC Marketplace is the only CS bfast option at the YC/BC

If you are on free dining, it may be worth looking into upgrading to the DxDP plan if your family truly wants 3 meals a day.

The Ale & Compass Lounge at YC offers breakfast (mostly to go). The have some continental breakfast options and they also make an egg white omelet with veggies on a croissant. The sandwich is huge and filling. I got the sandwich and a banana a couple of times and ended up not being hungry for the banana until later.

You can also refill mugs there (at breakfast - not sure about the rest of the day)

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/yacht-club-resort/ale-and-compass-lounge/menus/

 

[sharadoc]

The Yacht Club doesn't have as many QS options on the dining plan for hearty breakfast food vs. resorts with food courts. If you are going to a park and then having breakfast, there are a few restaurants that have breakfast platters, take a look at the menus and see if they'll work for you.

Also look at this thread: http://www.disboards.com/threads/2014-confirmed-snacks-thread.3215018/

Another idea, pay cash for a kid's meal breakfast, plus add a snack like a giant muffin - that should fill them up.

In the end, you may just have to pay cash to keep them full

 

[Spyells]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm sure you guys can now tell I've never been before with my lack of knowledge on how to plan meals, and how to handle two hungry teenage boys. Lol! We've only done small vacations before now and they were normally like family reunions where food was taken care of and there was plenty. I like the strategies you guys use by either grabbing something small at a quick service and heading to the parks where you'll eat a nice lunch, or having food already in the room for a quick breakfast. You've given me food for thought. Thanks!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Honestly, if possible, just bring some granola bars or fruit or something to keep in your room - eat up with a refillable mug drink - less waiting on lines and less time wasting in the morning, and you don't use your credits. Then eat an early lunch in the parks before the crowds start filling the restaurants (maybe 11-11:30am). While everyone else is at lunch, you can have slightly lower waits for attractions. This is what we intend to do while on QS plan in a few months.

From past experience, we also sometimes had too many desserts. We'd save them from dinner, or grab a snack at the resort the night before to stick in our fridge. Then we'd have our breakfast in the morning... and we often eat while we're walking to the buses.

To us, it makes more sense to take meal breaks involving sitting down after we've had some activity for the day rather than first thing in the morning.

 

[Nancyg56]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm sure you guys can now tell I've never been before with my lack of knowledge on how to plan meals, and how to handle two hungry teenage boys. Lol! We've only done small vacations before now and they were normally like family reunions where food was taken care of and there was plenty. I like the strategies you guys use by either grabbing something small at a quick service and heading to the parks where you'll eat a nice lunch, or having food already in the room for a quick breakfast. You've given me food for thought. Thanks!

You will find that there is plenty of food on the dining plan. I looked at your dates and I think that if you are going to start any day with a breakfast break, make it in the beginning of your trip. AS you approach CHristmas the entire resort is going to become more crowded so you will want to get an early start. You can always head back for the nighttime activities, but those precious early morning hours in a park can be pretty darn important.

Don't waste snack credits on water, you can get free cold water at any Counter Service restaurant. If you have extra dessert after your CS lunch and you can take it back to the room, have it for breakfast. Those cupcakes and brownies were a favorite for my husband! There are plenty of inexpensive (relatively speaking) items in the little markets at the resort to supplement your morning.

My granddaughter suffered fom food allergies, and we were not sure how that would work out for her so we brought peanut butter and jelly and bought a loaf of bread for her. Turns out that Disney is outstanding when it comes to making sure people can eat safe food, so she really did not need her backup plan, but those sandwiches kept my son filled up between meals (Bottomless Pit!!)

Have a great trip!

 

[Ava]

We like to bring breakfast foods to eat in our room - oatmeal (use the coffee maker to get hot water to make it), cold cereal/milk, breakfast bars/granola bars are all good in-room options. That way we don't waste time in the morning going to the food court to get breakfast before heading to the parks. If we eat dinner at our resort, we'll also get a dessert that can be saved for the next morning's breakfast (muffin, croissant, etc). On non-park days, we'll do a later breakfast at the food court so we can satisfy our craving for Mickey waffles. Then we'll eat an early dinner and just fill in with snacks.

My kids are younger than yours, but we found the DDP to be plenty of food last year with bringing our own breakfast for some days. And we have an under-3-year-old who wasn't on the plan but we were still able to get enough food for the 4 of us.

 

[lovndisney12]

Here are our strategies for breakfast on the dining plan - we utilize both (and we have two teenage boys too):

Strategy one: Pack pre-packaged items they enjoy - granola bars, cereal bars, dry cereal in a bag, pop tarts (no toaster but maybe in food court???) and then items like instant oatmeal. For protein we have trail mix type snacks too. We do rope drop a lot so most of the time we just have granola bars and other snack items to get us through until an early lunch (or another option is to do a very late breakfast buffet that will tide you over until an early dinner - probably utilizing a snack in between)

Strategy two: Snack and QS credits: Then as the trip goes we often have some extra snack and maybe even quick service credits that we can use for more filling QS breakfasts at the resort. There are times when my husband and I may not be very hungry and split a meal at a QS restaurant and then that leaves an extra QS credit. Other times we may split a snack credit and then grab a cinnamon role or other breakfast item with the extra snack credit. Also at some QS restaurants there are items that you can get for "dessert" that you could save for the next day's breakfast. It is disney so while we normally try to eat pretty healthy - we don't force the issue while there.

Strategy three: We are always willing to pay OOP if as the days go we just need something more filling for breakfast.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

In addition to the above suggestions, we like to pack bagels and a jar of peanut butter. You can use the toaster in the resort food court. Nice to have any time of day. Bagels travel better than a loaf of bread. We have bought a loaf of bread/bagels from resort store if we run out as we usually stay about two weeks.
Oatmeal, cereal bars, cereal all great ideas.

 

[karly101]

We just had a cereal bar in the morning with drink in the refillable mug (a couple days we got a pastry before jumping on the bus), early lunch at a QS (11ish), snack mid afternoon and a late dinner. We found with all the food included in the plan that was plenty of food.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My DH also likes a filling breakfast, but we just pay OOP for it at the hotel QS. Breakfast's aren't too expensive and we use our refillable mugs so we don't have to pay for drinks, so it doesn't add up to a huge expense.