Questions about Surf's Up Breakfast with Mickey & Friends

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I booked this breakfast for myself and my 2-year-old. The reservation is at 10:40. I've never done a character meal before so I had a few questions:

1. About how long should I expect to spend at the meal?
2. Am I correct in understanding that my 2-year-old is free? Does he get a plate or do we share off my plate?
3. Will the PPH validate my parking for the breakfast?
4. Do you know if they let you take home doggie bags? I have a feeling my child will be too jazzed about seeing Mickey to eat much while we are there but then he will be suddenly starving when we leave.
5. Do AP discounts apply?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Malcon10t]

1. 90 mins
2. Yes, it is a buffet so you can make him a plate.
3. Yes, I believe you get 2 free hours.
4. No, it is a buffet, no to-go boxes.
5. Yes

 

[arichau]

I booked this breakfast for myself and my 2-year-old. The reservation is at 10:40. I've never done a character meal before so I had a few questions:

1. About how long should I expect to spend at the meal?
2. Am I correct in understanding that my 2-year-old is free? Does he get a plate or do we share off my plate?
3. Will the PPH validate my parking for the breakfast?
4. Do you know if they let you take home doggie bags? I have a feeling my child will be too jazzed about seeing Mickey to eat much while we are there but then he will be suddenly starving when we leave.
5. Do AP discounts apply?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi,

We've done this meal quite a few times - very fun! You can check in for the meal early and I would recommend that since your breakfast is on the late side (I can't remember when the breakfast ends). It usually takes at least a few minutes to get you seated and if you arrive a bit early you might get in early (if that works for your schedule). We are usually done eating in an hour but it sometimes take closer to 90 minutes for all of the characters to have time to get to your table (I always check out where they are in the restaurant before I leave the table empty just to make sure we catch the characters when they are close by. The one time we have been there near the end of breakfast service we had a TON of interactions because there weren't as many people there. But if you don't end up not seeing someone at your table (it's usually Minnie, Stitch, Pluto, Daisy Duck) just ask your server and they will see if they can get a character to stop by. Mickey is of course also there right when you enter. And he dances with the kids every now and then. Pluto wasn't there the last time we went but I think that was unusual. The CM's have always been super helpful if we somehow missed a character (although that rarely happens).

Have fun!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

1. 90 mins
2. Yes, it is a buffet so you can make him a plate.
3. Yes, I believe you get 2 free hours.
4. No, it is a buffet, no to-go boxes.
5. Yes

Thanks for the info!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Hi,

We've done this meal quite a few times - very fun! You can check in for the meal early and I would recommend that since your breakfast is on the late side (I can't remember when the breakfast ends). It usually takes at least a few minutes to get you seated and if you arrive a bit early you might get in early (if that works for your schedule). We are usually done eating in an hour but it sometimes take closer to 90 minutes for all of the characters to have time to get to your table (I always check out where they are in the restaurant before I leave the table empty just to make sure we catch the characters when they are close by. The one time we have been there near the end of breakfast service we had a TON of interactions because there weren't as many people there. But if you don't end up not seeing someone at your table (it's usually Minnie, Stitch, Pluto, Daisy Duck) just ask your server and they will see if they can get a character to stop by. Mickey is of course also there right when you enter. And he dances with the kids every now and then. Pluto wasn't there the last time we went but I think that was unusual. The CM's have always been super helpful if we somehow missed a character (although that rarely happens).

Have fun!

Thank you for sharing the details. This makes me excited! We will try to get there a little early.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I just wanted to report back that we had the best experience at this character meal. Thanks to the great advice, we arrived about 20 minutes before our reservation and they seated us 10 minutes later. I don't know if it was an off day or perhaps because we went later (10:30), but there weren't very many people there. Because of this my son got to spend an incredible amount of time with the characters. There were only four characters that day: Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Stitch. At one point Minnie spent a solid 5 to 10 minutes playing with my son alone. It was adorable. All of the characters were so sweet and so great with the kids. It by and far exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny (which by the way was $37 plus 15% gratuity (automatically added on the bill) and $3.01 tax. Comes to $45.56 (with my AP discount I paid $41.86). Also, parking was free up to 3 hours. I forgot to get my parking ticket validated but I showed my receipt from the meal and the parking attendant waved me through. We were there for one hour exactly, which is about as long as my 2.5-year-old can last at a meal (even a character meal!). It was the perfect amount of time.

I thought the food was really good for a buffet. The chilaquiles were delicious and I had to have a Mickey waffle with whipped cream, which was really good. Lots of fresh fruit and pastries, Mickey pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, cold cereal, eggs, breakfast meats and even some pizzas (three choices, including a breakfast pizza with eggs) and baked chicken. The only thing that I didn't love was the coffee, which was typical hotel coffee. Not great but I got my caffeine fix.

I loved the decor of the room and the Beach Boys music and how all the kids were invited up for a dance party with the characters periodically. At one point Mickey was standing alone (no one was coming in anymore). My son (who had never met Mickey, his favorite character, until this day), went up to him again and Mickey played with him for a few minutes then opened his arms for a hug. He hugged my son for no joke about a full 30 seconds. I have it on video and took photos. My son was soooooooo happy and mommy actually started crying because it was just the most precious thing. I'll never forget it (still getting teary just remembering it!).

 

[Stefne]

I just wanted to report back that we had the best experience at this character meal. Thanks to the great advice, we arrived about 20 minutes before our reservation and they seated us 10 minutes later. I don't know if it was an off day or perhaps because we went later (10:30), but there weren't very many people there. Because of this my son got to spend an incredible amount of time with the characters. There were only four characters that day: Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Stitch. At one point Minnie spent a solid 5 to 10 minutes playing with my son alone. It was adorable. All of the characters were so sweet and so great with the kids. It by and far exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny (which by the way was $37 plus 15% gratuity (automatically added on the bill) and $3.01 tax. Comes to $45.56 (with my AP discount I paid $41.86). Also, parking was free up to 3 hours. I forgot to get my parking ticket validated but I showed my receipt from the meal and the parking attendant waved me through. We were there for one hour exactly, which is about as long as my 2.5-year-old can last at a meal (even a character meal!). It was the perfect amount of time.

I thought the food was really good for a buffet. The chilaquiles were absolutely delicious and I had to have a Mickey waffle with shipped cream, which was really good. Lots of fresh fruit and pastries, Mickey pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, cold cereal, eggs, breakfast meats and even some pizzas (three choices, including a breakfast pizza with eggs) and baked chicken. The only thing that I didn't love was the coffee, which was typical hotel coffee. Not great but I got my caffeine fix.

I loved the decor of the room and the Beach Boys music and how all the kids were invited up for a dance party with the characters periodically. At one point Mickey was standing alone (no one was coming in anymore). My son (who had never met Mickey, his favorite character, until this day), went up to him again and Mickey played with him for a few minutes then opened his arms for a hug. He hugged my son for no joke about a full 30 seconds. I have it on video and took photos. My son was soooooooo happy and mommy actually started crying because it was just the most precious thing. I'll never forget it (still getting teary just remembering it!).

So happy to see your wonderful review. We have this meal booked for our beach day so that we could still incorporate a little Disney into that day. I have been really looking forward to it (it is a surprise treat for our kids). Thank you for sharing and glad you enjoyed.

 

[corrie563]

Excellent to hear, my kids want to go to this one (Stitch obsessives), we were planning on going later too... Now I am really excited!

 

[SteveMP]

Do they still have those macadamia pineapple pancakes or whatever it was? We ate there once many years ago and I still dream about those pancakes.

 

[McNs]

That's my favourite character dining. Seems less...rushed than the others, not running the character gauntlet getting good (unlike plaza inn..). And Stitch is totally awesome.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Do they still have those macadamia pineapple pancakes or whatever it was? We ate there once many years ago and I still dream about those pancakes.

Hmmmmm.... I didn't see these but I didn't eat any pancakes. I saw Mickey-shaped pancakes but they looked plain.

 

[Winnowill]

On our next girls' trip in March (me, my DD9, my friend, and her DD8) we're totally going to do this, as my friend's daughter is all about Stitch, and I've never set foot in any of the hotels. We're leaving on Monday and won't have park time that day, so we're going to do this breakfast.

 

[arichau]

I'm so glad you had a great time! It's interesting that Pluto was not there - he wasn't there in early June either the last time I was there. Good to know for people on the hunt for Pluto. If they had to cut back one character (not sure why they would do that but who knows) at least they didn't take away Stitch! He's one of the main reasons we go to there

I just wanted to report back that we had the best experience at this character meal. Thanks to the great advice, we arrived about 20 minutes before our reservation and they seated us 10 minutes later. I don't know if it was an off day or perhaps because we went later (10:30), but there weren't very many people there. Because of this my son got to spend an incredible amount of time with the characters. There were only four characters that day: Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Stitch. At one point Minnie spent a solid 5 to 10 minutes playing with my son alone. It was adorable. All of the characters were so sweet and so great with the kids. It by and far exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny (which by the way was $37 plus 15% gratuity (automatically added on the bill) and $3.01 tax. Comes to $45.56 (with my AP discount I paid $41.86). Also, parking was free up to 3 hours. I forgot to get my parking ticket validated but I showed my receipt from the meal and the parking attendant waved me through. We were there for one hour exactly, which is about as long as my 2.5-year-old can last at a meal (even a character meal!). It was the perfect amount of time.

I thought the food was really good for a buffet. The chilaquiles were delicious and I had to have a Mickey waffle with whipped cream, which was really good. Lots of fresh fruit and pastries, Mickey pancakes, French toast, oatmeal, cold cereal, eggs, breakfast meats and even some pizzas (three choices, including a breakfast pizza with eggs) and baked chicken. The only thing that I didn't love was the coffee, which was typical hotel coffee. Not great but I got my caffeine fix.

I loved the decor of the room and the Beach Boys music and how all the kids were invited up for a dance party with the characters periodically. At one point Mickey was standing alone (no one was coming in anymore). My son (who had never met Mickey, his favorite character, until this day), went up to him again and Mickey played with him for a few minutes then opened his arms for a hug. He hugged my son for no joke about a full 30 seconds. I have it on video and took photos. My son was soooooooo happy and mommy actually started crying because it was just the most precious thing. I'll never forget it (still getting teary just remembering it!).