Best character breakfast outside of the parks

[abckid]

We are not doing any character breakfasts on the days we are going to the parks because we prefer to sleep in, eat some cereal in our room, and then hit rope drop. However, we will have 1 day away from the parks that we are going to travel to a nearby beach for sun, sand, and ocean fun I was thinking it would be nice to have 1 breakfast out instead of all cereal, kwim? It doesn't necessarily have to be a character breakfast, but I'm still deciding

I'm leaning toward 1900 Park Fare. The food sounds good for everyone in my family, seems to have great reviews, and I heard the Mad Hatter is pretty funny.

On the other hand, Chef Mickey's has the traditional characters that I think my kids would relate to more than Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland. They have seen both movies though, so maybe they will enjoy seeing the characters. Plus, we will likely do at least 1 other character meal while we are there and they will see plenty of the classic characters in the parks as well.

I've heard great things about Ohana, but my kids are picky and I'm afraid the food selection is not the best for them. In addition, Lilo and Stitch are not even on my kids' radar.

I haven't heard much about Cape May, but it has some classic characters and typical buffet food that my kids would love.

So what is your recommendation

 

[WDW1]

Denny's FTW!!!

No, but I prefer Chef Mickey's

 

[lovetogowdw]

Where are you staying and do you have a car? How old are your kids? For you is it more about the characters, the food, the overall experience, etc.?

My personal favorite for breakfast for food and overall experience is Ohana. The best part -- breakfast is served family style. Everything is fresh and they bring you as much as you want. Your family actually enjoys eating breakfast together at the same time, rather than someone always being away at the buffet. The tonga toast is to die for. The juice is amazing. My oldest son stuffed himself silly on fresh fruit and tonga toast. (Youngest has never been yet.) And the huge windows/laid back atmosphere and the character parade that the kids join definitely make the experience a winner.

For character interaction, then it is a toss up between 1900 and CM. They both have more characters/variety than others. Personally, I loved the loud silliness of the Mad Hatter, but some children are quite afraid of him. But I don't like "feel" of 1900 at breakfast. The room seems dark/crowded. And Chef Mickey's is always soooo loud. Too much for me before coffee. There are also some interesting breakfast food options for the adults at 1900. You also get quicker access to a "beach" at the Grand Floridian when breakfast is over.

Cape May's offers some of the best breakfast buffet food options for adults at WDW. And I adore the costumes the characters wear. But there are fewer characters and if you don't have a car and aren't staying at a Boardwalk area hotel, this one can be a challenge to get to using WDW buses.

If your one day is a Saturday or Sunday and you want the option of ordering off the menu (they have a buffet, but they've also let us order off the menu), you can always go to the Garden Grove at the Swan. Only a couple of characters, but it was fun/laid back. And they have a great sand area with a seal (or is it a sea lion) squirt fountain outside and the mini-golf course is just across the street. A great non-park morning.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

1900 Park Fare is our fave non-park character breakfast. If we hadn't had such bad service on our last visit, it would leap frog Crystal Palace for overall fave character breakfast.

Pecan sticky buns and smoked salmon are the number 1 reason I love it, but we've also had really good character interaction there on our visits (even though we had a bad Mad Hatter each time). On our first visit, we had a Pooh who kept returning to our table and was so much fun...last trip, Alice had our girls on the floor cracking up b/c she kept playing tickle monster with them and Mary Poppins actually sang with my girls.

Chef Mickey's is our #2 fave outside of the parks and #3 fave overall.

 

[sukhakuli]

We loved Cape May. The food and atmosphere was great. They had the same number of characters that Ohana had, too. It seems as though the character meals are getting to where they have fewer and fewer characters over all as the years go by.

Ohana was a good meal, but it takes over an hour for the characters to make the rounds. There are only 3. The meal takes forever. And the food options are limited since it is family style.

We haven't been to chef Mickeys in years, but it was just OK the last time we went.

We've only done 1900 Park Fare for dinner, but it was fun.

 

[LaurenT]

I think Cape May would be my choice. You must have a car if you're headed out to the beach that day, so getting there will be no problem.
You get Minnie, Goofy and Donald and may also get Pluto or Mickey.
The buffet is excellent and the coastal beach theme is a perfect way to start your day!

 

[deb010305]

I think Cape May is the best. The food was great, it seemed like it was a better quality than Chef Mickeys.
And the atmosphere was more relaxing than both Chef Mickey's and Ohana.
At Ohana we may have just had a bad server, but breakfast seemed to take forever.
We don't go specifically for the characters as the kids are older, but I still like to squeeze in a character breakfast, and Cape May is one of my favorites !

 

[lovetogowdw]

When I reread this it hit me that you aren't dead set on a character meal.

If your children are in the 4 to 10/12 year old range, have you considered letting them go on one of the pirate cruises while you enjoy a nice and peaceful breakfast? The kids get snacks (I wouldn't really call it lunch) while on their cruise, too.

http://allears.net/btp/spcruise.htm
then scroll down to the kid ones leaving from Grand Floridian, Yacht Club, etc.

One of my favorite WDW morning memories is having a quiet breakfast and sipping a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper (alone) and then seeing the huge smile on my son's face when he came back from his cruise.

 

[CDsSleepingBeauty]

Outside of the parks, we love Cape May Cafe and 1900 Park Fare. The food and character interaction is great at both!

 

[Bonniec]

O'Hanas was my favorite. They also had Mickey and Pluto. The food was sausages, scrambled eggs, fruit, potatoes, and Mickey Wafffles.

Chef Mickeys was WAAAY better than I expected it to be. After so many bad reviews I expected it to be worse than a Golden Coral, lol. It was actually very good and I would say a must do at least once for your kids.