How to get to early am character breakfasts

[Madzac]

Does anyone know if it is possible to get to an early am character breakfast without a car? I am looking at doing the AK breakfast at 8am so we can be nearly done by the time the park opens at 9am. We will be staying at CSR and will not have a car... I know the buses start around an hour earlier but not in time to get there by 8am. Any thoughts? Would we be better off doing it later or on another day?

Also, if we would want to take a taxi to this or possibly home from an evening meal, can our 4 and 1 yr old ride in the taxi without carseats or will they be required to have them? If so, the taxi idea will be out as we wont have seats with us.

Thanks for any advice, help, etc.

[Zippy 1]

When we there several years ago we did breakfast at Animal Kingdom at 8 am and used the buses to get there and had no problems. We were actually early arriving!:mickey:

[TheDuckRocks]

We had 8 AM ADRs in Jan. at Animal Kingdom. We stayed at POR and went down to the bus stop a little before 7 AM and the buses for charater breakfasts started at about 7:15. This was the morning of the marathon when the streets were closed in sections. We got to AK in plenty of time to get in and walk back to Tusker House in a timely manner.

[joonyer]

We have used our car when we wanted to be sure to get there on time for our 8am character breakfast at AK, although they say they buses will get you there in time. But then we always drive to WDW, so using our car isn't a big deal. Other than that or trusting the buses, your only other option is using a taxi.

[bkfree]

We have always used the buses and had no problem arriving in plenty of time for early am breakfast.
Remember all the TS Breakfast places start at
8am, so Disney is well prepared to get you there in plenty of time for your ADR.

[Aggie97]

When we were there in June, we were told the buses start running a good 45 minutes before the first breakfast ADR at each park. We had no problem getting to DHS early one morning! :mickey:

[KAT1811]

When we were there in June, we were told the buses start running a good 45 minutes before the first breakfast ADR at each park. We had no problem getting to DHS early one morning! :mickey:

That is what I have heard as well. My family would never make an 8:00am ADR so we've never tried it but I'm sure that guest services at CSR will be able to help.

[Mickeydream]

We had no problem with an 8 am ressie at Tusker House in AK last November. We stayed at CBR and the bus got us there in plenty of time. We look forward to eating there for our next trip in Nov of '09 (so far away!). We just love the atmosphere, variety of foods, and of course... the characters! :mickey:

[jonahbear2006]

we have two breakfasts that start at 730 and 735, in september, so they do start earlier than 8am, at least during free dining season. So, I hope they are running busses earlier during this time in order to accomodate the free dining schedule! Anyone know?

[Madzac]

Thanks so much everyone!:mickey: Sounds like we have nothing to worry about and can plan to make that early morning breakfast!

[minnie1956]

The "new" bus schedule is an hour before Parks open. They DO NOT have the Character Meal busses anymore.
If Magic Kingdom opens at 9 and you have 7 at Chef Mickey, you have a problem.
Double check the open times of the Parks where you are eating. Better do that than have to cancel like we did because of no busses running. They weren't sympathetic at all to us having no car, no way to get around other than their busses and not being able to get to our ressie.

[TheDuckRocks]

The "new" bus schedule is an hour before Parks open. They DO NOT have the Character Meal busses anymore.
If Magic Kingdom opens at 9 and you have 7 at Chef Mickey, you have a problem.
Double check the open times of the Parks where you are eating. Better do that than have to cancel like we did because of no busses running. They weren't sympathetic at all to us having no car, no way to get around other than their busses and not being able to get to our ressie.

When did this happen to you and at what resort/park?

[Disney Doll]

I am so glad that someone brought this up because I hadn't even thought about it. We have a 8:00am character breakfast at Crystal Palace, but MK doesn't open until 9:00am that day. Does that mean we won't have bus service? I don't mind taking a taxi, but then I need my car seat and we were planning not to bring one. Sounds like I better see if I can move my ADR back. I really hope so because this was my son's birthday breakfast.

[joonyer]

I am so glad that someone brought this up because I hadn't even thought about it. We have a 8:00am character breakfast at Crystal Palace, but MK doesn't open until 9:00am that day. Does that mean we won't have bus service? I don't mind taking a taxi, but then I need my car seat and we were planning not to bring one. Sounds like I better see if I can move my ADR back. I really hope so because this was my son's birthday breakfast.

No need to worry, even though the MK doesn't open until 9, the buses will still run early enough for you to make it to your 8:00 ADR at CP. Mickey knows that a lot of folks need to get there early for ADRs and schedules the buses accordingly..

[minnie1956]

Double check w/ CRO. I'm telling you it was awful telling DD and niece that we had to cancel Chef Mickey because we couldn't get there. And sorry to say, while Mickey cares whether or not you get to eat with him, the bus schedule doesn't.
Just double check, that's all I'm saying.
The bus schedule changed about 2 years ago, so the CRO person "kindly" informed me.

Good luck!

[TheDuckRocks]

We were down in Jan. and the character breakfast buses started running at 7:15 AM. This may have changed since our trip. Before changing my ADRs I would call down to the resort I was staying at and ask to speak to someone at bell services, these were the people the front desk referred us to when we want to know the bus schedules. My son-in-law and grandson had 7 AM reservations for the Train Tour at MK and they had to take a taxi to the Contemporary and then walk over to the gates, bell services were able to help us with the arrangements the night before.

[Disney Doll]

I called POR and asked to be sure. I was told that buses start running about 45-60 min prior to the first ADRs so if the park opens at 9:00am and you have an 8:00am breakfast the buses should start running around 7:00am. Whew, what a relief. As usual Disney has thought of everything.