Is there enough time to eat at Chef Mickey's and get to MK to take advantage of the extra half hour?

[Graycie25]

Hi all! I'm so sorry if this is long-winded. I have a tendency to over explain.

My DH and I started planning this trip well over 2 years ago in order to take our two (now) 9-year-old boys to WDW for the very first time! Obviously, COVID had other ideas and we've pushed it back several times, finally settling on a trip in Jan/Feb of 2022. We've purchased plane tickets and we. are. going. Also coming on the trip, unbeknownst to the kids, are our neighbors and friends, who have a daughter close to their age and we are all great friends (the daughter is even my one DS's "girlfriend." How cute!) The mom and I thought it would be great to avoid each other on arrival day (no park plans) and then just meet up for breakfast on the first full day and "run into them" and surprise the kids.

We've never eaten at Chef Mickey's, but are seriously considering it for the first time in order to surprise the kids, have them see the characters and just have that ultimate "first time at Disney" experience. My concern, and where you all come in, is if we will have enough time to have breakfast and then get to MK in time to try to enjoy extra 30 minutes of early park time (we are staying on property) before the park opens to the general public.

If we can even get a 7:30am reservation at CM's, will that give us enough time to eat, see the characters, pay, and then either walk over to MK or take the monorail by 8:30am?

I think part of all my confusion and questions is because I've never done Disney with kids (the last time I visited was in 2010, and I didn't have children then). I've never really planned for and/or around a character meal. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever been to a character meal, even when I worked at WDW. I saw the characters all the time and met them at their spots, but I never went to a meal. However, now I have them and it's all about them

Thanks in advance!

 

[wideboty2000]

I would say No. Extra 30mins isnt worth it to rush thru a pricey/fun experience anyways.

 

[Dis Dragon]

No, even if you rush which would diminish the experience greatly you will still most likely not make it to MK by 8:30.

The other option to this is to schedule it for later, the breakfast runs to 12:30 - you can get a reservation for a few hours after you've been through the parks during most efficient riding times.

One thing I've learned in my time going to Disney is even though it looks like it would work on paper it always takes longer than I expect it to.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

What about doing dinner on your arrival day? Normally I wouldn’t suggest making an arrival day ADR due to the unpredictability of travel days, but in your case it might be the best option to carry out your surprise meet up.

 

[Graycie25]

No, even if you rush which would diminish the experience greatly you will still most likely not make it to MK by 8:30.

The other option to this is to schedule it for later, the breakfast runs to 12:30 - you can get a reservation for a few hours after you've been through the parks during most efficient riding times.

One thing I've learned in my time going to Disney is even though it looks like it would work on paper it always takes longer than I expect it to.

Thank you for your response! I thought about this and thought how awesome it would be to surprise them all inside the MK.
Then I thought about what the chances would be that we see them in line at the turnstiles while trying to get into the park. That would be such an anti-climactic surprise (for the adults more so than the kids, I'm sure). I am sure we can come up with a fun alternative to CM's, we just thought the character meal with the whole surprise would be awesome for the kids.

 

[Graycie25]

What about doing dinner on your arrival day? Normally I wouldn’t suggest making an arrival day ADR due to the unpredictability of travel days, but in your case it might be the best option to carry out your surprise meet up.

Thank you for the response. We've thought about this option, too, but our friends made plans to go see the Cirque de Soleil performance at 5pm or 5:30pm on arrival day, and there is no dinner option earlier than 5pm at CM and no lunch option either. We all arrive before 12pm that day, so we could meet up for lunch, but we were really hoping to make it a character meal to start the trip (and the surprise) off with a fun experience, but I don't see any character meal options for lunch outside of the parks (we really weren't planning to do a park that first day)

 

[Disney Fool]

I'm a great fan of surprising folks at Disney! May I suggest that you meet in the park in the morning? then later in the morning you can all ride the monorail back to the Contemporary together and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. That way, you may manage to all be seated together in the same section of restaurant. how about picking a specific time and place to meet in the park, (maybe at the little outdoor cafe in front of the teacups--hard to miss someone there) that way, you can get in a ride or two or three before meeting, pack some granola bars to snack on until breakfast.

 

[MainMom]

Are you planning on touring around together or just meeting for a meal?

 

[CynBeth]

You probably will not have enough time. I wonder if there is the possibility you could run into them traveling there and should maybe do a creative way of revealing ahead of time about the surprise. It might come out anyway if you guys are having a lot of meals together when 60 days hits to make ADRs. Then you don’t have the stress or whatever you call it of finding the perfect way to do this you can just arrive and enjoy everything.

 

[Marthasor]

You could do it, but breakfast will be rushed. I would recommend asking for the bill as soon as you sit down and leave the restaurant by 8:15 am to walk to MK (don't take the monorail from CR).

Or, perhaps consider doing a lunch at DS prior to their Cirque show? You could go to TRex or Rainforest (not Disney-related, but still fun), go bowling at Splitsville or ride Characters in Flight.

 

[CBMom01]

Hi all! I'm so sorry if this is long-winded. I have a tendency to over explain.

My DH and I started planning this trip well over 2 years ago in order to take our two 9-year-old boys to WDW for the very first time! Obviously, COVID had other ideas and we've pushed it back several times, finally settling on a trip in Jan/Feb of 2022. We've purchased plane tickets and we. are. going. Also coming on the trip, unbeknownst to the kids, are our neighbors and friends, who have a daughter close to their age and we are all great friends (the daughter is even my one DS's "girlfriend." How cute!) The mom and I thought it would be great to avoid each other on arrival day (no park plans) and then just meet up for breakfast on the first full day and "run into them" and surprise the kids.

We've never eaten at Chef Mickey's, but are seriously considering it for the first time in order to surprise the kids, have them see the characters and just have that ultimate "first time at Disney" experience. My concern, and where you all come in, is if we will have enough time to have breakfast and then get to MK in time to try to enjoy extra 30 minutes of early park time (we are staying on property) before the park opens to the general public.

If we can even get a 7:30am reservation at CM's, will that give us enough time to eat, see the characters, pay, and then either walk over to MK or take the monorail by 8:30am?

Thanks in advance!

Our first trip to WDW made a stupidly early CM reservation for the first morning. Never. Again.

 

[Graycie25]

I'm a great fan of surprising folks at Disney! May I suggest that you meet in the park in the morning? then later in the morning you can all ride the monorail back to the Contemporary together and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. That way, you may manage to all be seated together in the same section of restaurant. how about picking a specific time and place to meet in the park, (maybe at the little outdoor cafe in front of the teacups--hard to miss someone there) that way, you can get in a ride or two or three before meeting, pack some granola bars to snack on until breakfast.

Disney Fool, this was what we were leaning toward doing now, but we just didn't want to run into each other outside the park, while waiting to get in. I guess if we do, it's still a surprise to the kids and they'll be ecstatic to see each other and be there together no matter how we surprise them. As a parent and long time Disney fan, I have that vision in my head about doing ALL THE THINGS and more when it comes to my kids going to Disney for the first time. They will be happy and surprised no matter what, so I think I just need to let go of the reins a bit - LOL!!

 

[Graycie25]

Are you planning on touring around together or just meeting for a meal?

MainMom, we plan to tour around together, especially on that first day. We will probably do our own thing on some days, but have plans to do Disney together at least half of the days we are there.

 

[Graycie25]

Our first trip to WDW made a stupidly early CM reservation for the first morning. Never. Again.

CBMom01, your reply is exactly why I've never gone to CM's or made time for it. I've heard many stories about CM's and how crazy, chaotic and even unpleasant it can be at times.

I've never really been a big fan on leaving the parks once I'm inside them. I've always kind of been a "go until you drop" kind of park goer, which is why I usually make ADRs for inside the parks and then plan my park days around the reservations we get and when. I mean, I have done it before (went to one park in the morning, then hopped to another park for a reservation), but that was BC (before COVID) and park hopping was easy AND I didn't have kids. Now that park hopping has changed, we haven't purchased the PH option and I'm not sure we are going to. The last time we went to Disney, it was just me and my DH and we started early and finished late. We didn't take breaks, we didn't spend leisurely days at the parks or by the pool.

I think part of all my confusion and questions is because I've never done Disney with kids (the last time I visited was in 2010, and I didn't have children then). I've never really planned for and/or around a character meal. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever been to a character meal, even when I worked at WDW. I saw the characters all the time and met them at their spots, but I never went to a meal. However, now I have them and it's all about them

 

[Best Aunt]

Could you pick a meeting place outside the park you plan to go to on the first day? Have the surprise happen, then go through security together.

 

[Graycie25]

You probably will not have enough time. I wonder if there is the possibility you could run into them traveling there and should maybe do a creative way of revealing ahead of time about the surprise. It might come out anyway if you guys are having a lot of meals together when 60 days hits to make ADRs. Then you don’t have the stress or whatever you call it of finding the perfect way to do this you can just arrive and enjoy everything.

It's funny you say that, because we (me, DH and our neighbor) have been talking about this trip and watching YouTube videos for 2 years now and the kids are very well aware of that fact that we discuss Disney a lot and watch a lot of videos. Neighbor's Kid has no idea they are going (or at least hasn't said anything). My kids know we are going to Disney, but don't know Neighbor and Neighbor's Kid are going with us. Also, as for running into them while traveling to Disney, I guess it's always a possibility, but we have different flights on different airlines at different (but similar) times. I believe we are both flying down in the morning, but we leave earlier and arrive earlier. Her flight lands 40 minutes after ours at MCO.

DH and I have been working with a travel agent, so we plan to let her know the restaurants we'd like to eat at and she has said she can make reservations for all of us (Neighbors included).

 

[Graycie25]

Could you pick a meeting place outside the park you plan to go to on the first day? Have the surprise happen, then go through security together.

Definitely a possibility and one we've talked about if we decide not to do Chef Mickey's that first morning. We've talked about meeting at Disney Springs on arrival day, but we were just really hoping a character meal with Mickey would work out and be a great way to start the trip before hitting the parks. No matter what, it will be awesome, the kids will be surprised, and it will be great.

 

[Dis Dragon]

I don't think you mentioned it, but are you both staying at the same resort? Are your flights early enough to do the pool before bedtime?

I think it would be fun to casually run into them at the pool, that would set the stage for the rest of the trip.

The first trip we did, we surprised the kids with Grandma and my niece. It was a simple knock on the door the morning after we got there and a strange why is someone knocking on our door reaction. They went crazy just because they weren't expecting it. Although my kids were only 4 & 5 at the time.

 

[VandVsmama]

You won't have enough time for a pre-park opening breakfast + make it for the 30 min early entry.

Instead, you should consider a later breakfast at Chef Mickey's on that same day. They do breakfast there until 12:30 pm. You can surprise all of the kids with it by saying ON that day, "Hey, why don't we eat together at Chef Mickey's?" Just don't tell any of the kids about it.

Your kids will still be super surprised and excited to see their friend. Just arrange to meet somewhere that morning with your friends.

 

[MainMom]

MainMom, we plan to tour around together, especially on that first day. We will probably do our own thing on some days, but have plans to do Disney together at least half of the days we are there.

I get wanting to do the Mickey breakfast, but you definitely will not have enough time. What hotels are you and you’re friends staying at?