Which to do?

[Dug720]

I am stuck deciding on my breakfast for my first day at WDW in September (the 8th). Solo adult. Gluten-free. And I do love characters. Also, planning on enjoying Food & Wine so there is that.

Option A - Garden Grill (currently booked)
Pros - Food brought to me; I love all the characters; I do have a PPO ADR right now.
Cons - I don't eat melon (not an allergy, I just don't like it) and a fruit cup that at least the pictures I've seen show it heavily melon-based is their replacement for the cinnamon roll thing since they do not do that gluten-free; PPO is early and my flight the night before doesn't land until almost midnight

Option B - 'Ohana
Pros - Food brought to me; I love all the characters
Cons - I know they often run behind scheduling; monorail can be iffy; would have to pay for Lyft to get there

Option C - 1900 Park Fare
Pros - Strawberry soup; I like the characters (Alice is not my favorite, but I can deal)
Cons - Buffet, more for the solo factor than the food allergy factor as I know how to handle the gluten-free thing; monorail can be iffy; would have to pay for Lyft to get there

Option D - Just eat at Pop
Pros - No travel time; Easier portion control - because Food & Wine; less expensive
Cons - No characters

 

[Disneylover99]

Just eat at Pop.

Based on your cons, it seems like it would be quicker, cheaper, easier and less stressful.
And don’t forget to people watch while you’re eating your breakfast at Pop. It’s a hopping place. There will be plenty of “characters.”

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would just eat at Pop. Particularly with your flight landing at midnight, I would not want to be tied to an early morning ADR.

 

[Tksolomom]

I guess it depends on how badly you want to do characters and a mor leisurely breakfast. For simplicity, I would just eat at Everything Pop. The nice thing about Garden Grill is that you can get on Soarin before the rope drop crowd. Maybe they can give you a fruit salad without melon?

 

[sponica]

I think when I ate at Garden Grill the fruit salad was a mix of various melons, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries and grapes. When they refilled it, they just refilled the strawberries. Which makes me think they have separate bunches of fruit available....


ETA: They only refilled the strawberries because that's what my daughter wanted.

 

[rentayenta]

Pop for sure. With F&W you will want to save your calories; I did anyway.

 

[arminnie]

Pop - for all the reasons mentioned above.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Pop as others have said. If your plane doesn't land until midnight then it could be 1:30am before you are in bed.

 

[over50visits]

Not one of your options, but.....

We absolutely love breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Poly. They never seem to have the unreasonable wait that O'hana is known for, the cost is (much!) lower, the food choices are better and quite varied (and you can have a light breakfast if you want rather than the set fare), the seating is better (doesn't seem like crowded banquet seating that O'hana has), you aren't paying for any characters, and you get the benefits of the Poly (setting, outside gardens/beach, ambiance, monorail, etc.)

Give that a thought.

 

[gharter]

Another vote for Pop. If your plane gets in late, the last thing you will want to do in the morning is get up early to try and make an ADR (wouldn't want to do that even if the plane is on time).
I would save the money and calories for F&W.

 

[PPFlight75]

Eating at Pop would be easier but it seems like you would like to go and it would definitely be a lot of fun. From your choices I would pick Ohana or 1900 PF based on you options both with food and characters.

 

[Dug720]

Not one of your options, but.....

We absolutely love breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Poly. They never seem to have the unreasonable wait that O'hana is know for, the cost is (much!) lower, the food choices are better and quite varied (and you can have a light breakfast if you want rather than the set fare), the seating is better (doesn't seem like crowded banquet seating that O'hana has) you aren't paying for any characters, and you get the benefits of the Poly (setting, outside gardens/beach, ambiance, monorail, etc.)

Give that a thought.

Thanks. I did eat at Kona in February and while the mimosa flight and the gluten-free Mickey waffles with the strawberry sauce were great, my server was very lackluster compared to the others I could see. I was the only one in her section for about 20 minutes (I had an ADR at opening) and she really seemed annoyed they had seated anyone in her section. So I'm a bit gun-shy to go back.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks guys! I am leaning towards POP right now.

I have Bon Voyage Breakfast scheduled on the Monday I'm there (at more of a brunch time), so I'll get some character stuff in.