Character meals - breakfast vs. lunch vs. dinner

[mom2morgan]

What are you opinions? I had a tough time deciding on this, and hope I went the right way. I see that there are a lot more breakfasts with characters, but doesn't that really break the day up and get you started late? I thought dinner after the park sounds like a way better option, since then we can relax and enjoy and not stress about line ups building while we're eating. The one exception I made was for CRT - I'm so happy to get in I don't really CARE when - but it's kind of nice that I got lunch since we can still arrive early and hit some of the more popular rides early in the day. We're going in December so the parks aren't open super late as it is- the only think dinner will cut into is the chance to go swimming every evening, which is what my kids REALLY long to do (we're in Alberta, so the novelty of outdoor swimming in December is just too precious to resist)

[wdwfansince75]

DW likes to sleep in, so I tend to hit the morning EMH, usually with some of the kids and grandkids, then meet for a late breakfast....We do one or two character breakfasts for the whole family each trip....have done 1900 PF, Chef Mickey's, and our new favorite, the Safari Breakfast.....Usually able to do several rides before breakfast, and get Fast Passes for later in the day....once upon a time, in a Kingdom dear to all of us, we did an early breakfast at Crystal Palace.....would love to do it again, if only I had the courage to wake DW that early!

[joanna71985]

It depends on the character meal. I usually do dinners (I love CP and LTT). The one lunch I do everytime is CRT. I believe for the most part, the character meals have the same characters for B/L/D. The only one that is different is 1900 Park Fare (Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger, Alice and Mad Hatter for breakfast; Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Tremaines for dinner).

[MickeyMomof2]

For the character meals that are breakfasts, we usually get the latest seating possible and count it as our lunch meal. That way, you don't have to get up so early, and you also don't waste the first few hours of park time after rope drop.

[7swans]

On our last trip we had an 8:00 am ADR @ Crystal Palace on a day when MK opened @ 9:00.
It was really nice to be admitted to the park early, seeing Main Street virtually empty was neat.
We enjoyed our meal and were still ahead of the crowds entering the park for the day.
I highly recommend this strategy.

[bkfree]

Ok, I think the most bang for our buck(DDP) is Dinner character meals.

We have done a late brunch,10:30am, seating at Chef Mickey's and this worked out great as it really was a meal that carried us all day and night.

We also love to have an early 8-8:30 am breakfast at Crystal Palace. Because you get to enter the park and be on Main Street before it opens and this is truly magical. We are saving this for the morning of the day we leave. Sorta a Grand Farewell to MK before our evening flight home.

[scootch713]

You get more for your money with lunch or dinner.... but my daughters LOVE the cinnamon rolls at Epcot princess breakfast.... so I got the latest breakfast seating... that way we can get soarin fastpasses, do a few things then still get our yummy rolls. My youngest calls them "cinderella rolls" instead of cinnamon rolls... no matter where we are, mcdonalds, the mall... they will always be cinderella rolls. :cloud9:

[kathiep]

Another vote for an early breakfast. On every trip we go to the Crystal Palace before MK opens. It's really a terrific experience. We are usually done right before the rope drops so we don't lose any park time.

[Stich8818]

...the early breakfast if you can get it. We did the Playhouse Disney at Hollywood and Vine. It was great to get in before anyone else and to see the park at a standstill almost..I got a empty main st of Hollywood Studios it was worth it just for that. I think that we are going to do the same thing next time...maybe CP.