Strategy booking a character breakfast

[Mackysmycat]

As far as parks open, Magic Mornings, etc etc... when is the best time to book a character breakfast? On a magic morning or on a regular morning and if regular, then do you get to get in the park early if you have a character breakfast in the park before it opens? How does that all work? Getting ready to book dining ressies.

 

[brookies_mommy]

As far as parks open, Magic Mornings, etc etc... when it the best time to book a character breakfast? On a magic morning or on a regular morning and if regular, then do you get to get in the park early if you have a character breakfast in the park before it opens? How does that all work? Getting ready to book dining ressies.

If you don't have a MM I don't think you can get in.. even if you have a reservation. I did Minnies our MM day and went after we rode rides for an hour and a half

 

[Belle Ella]

There is only one character breakfast that MM will effect in any way, and that iMinnie & Friends at the Plaza Inn. If you book an early reservation on a MM you do not need to have MM access. I did this back in September after already using my MM the previous day and had no problems. I believe my reservation was for 8:10a that day when MM started at 8a. As for M&F on a non MM day I still always book the first seating which, when I did it, was for 8:40a when the park opened at 9a.

 

[Mackysmycat]

Ok I should have said I DO have MM and the character breakfast I'm referring to is indeed Minnie. And I am thinking I don't want to waste my MM on a breakfast day if I can get in early on a non MM to do my breakfast that day. Oh goodness, does that make sense?

 

[Belle Ella]

When I usually book my character meals usually depends on what meals I am doing. I prefer them not taking away any time from the parks if necessary. I love Goofy's Kitchen and the great thing about GK is that I can eat there at 7a and still make it to the gates at Disneyland before opening. I like doing a breakfast at Ariel's Grotto because I can start the morning off at Disneyland and get plenty done with no crowds and then hop over to DCA for a while. I like doing Minnie & Friends on a Magic Morning now that I know I can do it without actually having MM at my disposal and technically not miss out on any park time at all.

As of now I have yet to eat at Mickey's Surf Up an Storytellers.

 

[brookies_mommy]

Ok I should have said I DO have MM and the character breakfast I'm referring to is indeed Minnie. And I am thinking I don't want to waste my MM on a breakfast day if I can get in early on a non MM to do my breakfast that day. Oh goodness, does that make sense?

It does make sense.. hmmm IDK then I'm sure a disvet will help soon

 

[Belle Ella]

Ok I should have said I DO have MM and the character breakfast I'm referring to is indeed Minnie. And I am thinking I don't want to waste my MM on a breakfast day if I can get in early on a non MM to do my breakfast that day. Oh goodness, does that make sense?

It does, it does. Will you only be there on one day that Magic Morning is offered? You're not going to get in much earlier on a non-MM day if that's your strategy. The meal time is maybe 20 minutes before opening and you wont be at your table at exactly that time. And if they do rope drop you will be eating while everyone is held there before being released at opening. If you want to do M&F my thoughts are to either (a) schedule it a little later in the morning on any day so you can get some early ride time in before eating, (b) if you are there for 2 MM days but only have one, use your MM on one day and then schedule M&F the other, or (c) just go ahead and schedule it first thing in the morning on a non-MM day. Chances are, since these fall during the week, that even after you finish eating the crowds wont be bad.

 

[Mackysmycat]

(b) if you are there for 2 MM days but only have one, use your MM on one day and then schedule M&F the other

That's what I was thinking. That's my case.

or (c) just go ahead and schedule it first thing in the morning on a non-MM day. Chances are, since these fall during the week, that even after you finish eating the crowds wont be bad.

That's what I was pondering. If one of those two ways doesn't use up park time when we're eating, that was my plan of attack. Hard to think it all out straight....

 

[Belle Ella]

The only way that wouldn't use up time while you are eating period is if you do it at the MM time on a day you wouldn't be using your MM. Which days of the week will you be there? But it's not going to mean a huge lack of park time if you do the breakfast after regular opening.

 

[coaches24]

I see what your asking and I dont have enough experience with that situation to tell which is better. I can tell what we did and we thought it worked out great. We had our Minnie breakfast at 9:50 on a non MM day (park opened at 9). We got there before the park opened so we were among the first in. It was our first day in the park of a 3 day trip. First we went to city hall to get a first visit pin for my DD. Then we rode POC. Then we went to the plaza inn about 20 min early and they let us right in for our breakfast. Made me wonder why they said 9:50 was the earliest reservation time when I booked a week earlier but it worked out great. We had a good breakfast and great time and then went out and hit the rides in FL with no real problem. Only PP had a big line at that time.

 

[mellers]

Ok I should have said I DO have MM and the character breakfast I'm referring to is indeed Minnie. And I am thinking I don't want to waste my MM on a breakfast day if I can get in early on a non MM to do my breakfast that day. Oh goodness, does that make sense?

Definitely don't waste your MM on breakfast. From what I've seen by other posters, it looks like you can book the Minnie and Friends breakfast and get into the park just fine on a non-MM day.

We tend to make the half day we arrive or leave our character meal day at Disneyland--it gets us in the right Disney frame of mind, but doesn't require an extra ticket.

 

[tink2dw]

Does It Have to be Disneyland??and Breakfast? You could do dinner at Arial's Grotto in the evening for World Of Color Show!

 

[Mackysmycat]

We will get in Sunday afternoon evening and leave Saturday morning. So 5 full park days, although we might make it 4 and do SeaWorld one day. So I have Tuesday and Thursday for MM days. I thought I would do the first chance, Tuesday, as my MM day and then I would book the character breakfast for either Monday if I'm doing it on a regular day or the Thursday if I'm doing it on the other MM day that I won't be MM'ing it. I just have to figure out which day makes more sense!

 

[Belle Ella]

Definitely don't waste your MM on breakfast. From what I've seen by other posters, it looks like you can book the Minnie and Friends breakfast and get into the park just fine on a non-MM day.

We tend to make the half day we arrive or leave our character meal day at Disneyland--it gets us in the right Disney frame of mind, but doesn't require an extra ticket.

It wouldn't be wasting a MM if you have 2 available to choose from (Tuesday/Thursday) and only one included with your stay -- Just use your MM first and then on the other MM day, make the reservation during MM. Chances are you'll be done as the park opens.

Does It Have to be Disneyland??and Breakfast? You could do dinner at Arial's Grotto in the evening for World Of Color Show!

Ariel's Grotto WOC dinner is not a character meal.

We will get in Sunday afternoon evening and leave Saturday morning. So 5 full park days, although we might make it 4 and do SeaWorld one day. So I have Tuesday and Thursday for MM days. I thought I would do the first chance, Tuesday, as my MM day and then I would book the character breakfast for either Monday if I'm doing it on a regular day or the Thursday if I'm doing it on the other MM day that I won't be MM'ing it. I just have to figure out which day makes more sense!

Wow. I didn't realize you had 5 full days. That's plenty of time to get in everything without being a morning-warrior, although it is super nice to have those morning hours. Are you a family that likes their sleep or early risers like I am. That could be a determining factor as well. The weekday MM's are a little later so it helps out a lot but with it being closer to the end of your stay and after already having one early MM morning do you think you would be up to getting up and ready like that? I think Monday is a great idea as your very first day. It would kick the week off with a great start. And with 5 full days, I wouldn't worry about scheduling it first thing if that was what you wanted to do -- although some people probably wouldn't want to start off their very first day sitting at a restaurant, characters or no. With 5 full days I personally wouldn't even stress that hour during a busier time. Maybe leave one day as a leisurely pace day and have the character meal be on that day. But Monday morning, after getting a few rides and FP's in, would be a great day to do your meal.

OK, I'm babbling at this point. I am up way too early.

 

[Mackysmycat]

Does It Have to be Disneyland??and Breakfast? You could do dinner at Arial's Grotto in the evening for World Of Color Show!

We want to do the Minnie Breakfast. We are doing WOC, and other dining reservations, etc etc, but Minnie is a must. That's our character breakfast choice.

It wouldn't be wasting a MM if you have 2 available to choose from (Tuesday/Thursday) and only one included with your stay -- Just use your MM first and then on the other MM day, make the reservation during MM. Chances are you'll be done as the park opens.

This sounds great to me.

Wow. I didn't realize you had 5 full days.

We will do 4 full days, one half day at Disneyland, and then SeaWorld most likely for the other day.

That's plenty of time to get in everything without being a morning-warrior, although it is super nice to have those morning hours. Are you a family that likes their sleep or early risers like I am.

We are not get up early people at all. But we will do what we have to do. I would rather get up early and get out there for 5 hours and then break for the afternoon and come back again in the evening!

But Monday morning, after getting a few rides and FP's in, would be a great day to do your meal.

This makes sense too! But we are doing Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness on the first Monday...

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We usually go on a MM morning. We have APs so MM doesn't apply to us, but we still make the earliest PS for Minnies. That is 8:10 on a 8:00 MM. There is a breakfast entrance all the way to the left, when facing the turnsiles. They give you a Having breakfast with Minnie pin and send you on your way.

We usually finish up around 9 and head to SM for fastpasses. It works out great.