What time for Chef Mickey's breakfast PS

[kccmommy]

On our last day it will be my DS 7th Bday. Our plane doesn't leave until late so we won't need to leave until 3:00. I want to go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast but also want to go to the park of his choice that day.
My question is, should we eat early and then get to the park for 4-5 good park hours. Or should I follow the advice of some and book the latest possible seating and get more attention from the characters and call it brunch. Will this cut into our park time too much by going before and after breakfast. I wouldn't worry about it if it were a normal day and we would have more time later. I booked a 10:30 ressie with Pooh earlier in the week.
What have you done? TIA

 

[justhat]

I would book a 7am ps then head to the park of his choice. We've been to Chef Mickey's many times and it gets very, very crowded. So if you make a late ps, like say for 10:30, you might not get seated till close to 11, then by the time you eat, etc. it's been over 2 hours from leaving the park to finishing the meal. If you eat at 7 (when they open) there won't be a wait, you'll get seated, get good character interaction (since they'll be starting out the day and restaurant won't be packed yet), and get to a park by 9 if you want. I know it sounds incredibly early, but we'll be doing that the 2nd to last day of our trip. It's my BIL's last day (he'll be 17 that day!) so we want to eat early then get out to the parks so he can make the most of his time there with us. We're staying at the CR then so we won't have to travel there, so that might make a difference for you, not sure. But anyway, that's my opinion since I've been there for the latest seating of the day and had long waits to be seated. Happy birthday to your son!!

 

[MinnieM21]

We had a 7am PS for Chef Mickey's and it was perfect! They just put the food out and we were among the first in line for the buffet! We got to spend a lot of time with the characters since there were only 3-4 other groups of people there when we starting eating. I couldn't believe how empty it was! More people started coming around the time we left (7:45am) but there still weren't that many people there. I recommend a 7am PS, the food will be fresh and you'll be able to have a lot of character interaction. It was very early but it was definately worth it.

 

[jtdl]

I would book the earliest seating you can get. That way you will have more time to spend in the park and with the characters. I booked a late seating for our breakfast at Crystal Palace (10:30) during our last vacation. That was the first time I've ever done a late seating - I usually go for the earliest. I will never do a late one again. I found the characters were very rushed - hardly stayed long enough to snap a picture!! I couldn't even get a picture of my son with Tigger - he was a little reluctant and Tigger just grabbed my daughter and husband and motioned for me to take the picture. That was during the 10 seconds he was at our table!!! We also had to wait quite a while for the characters to get to us. We were finished eating and had to wait about 15 - 20 minutes for Eeyore to get to our table.