It’s one of the age-old questions asked about a Disney vacation: Which is better, to eat breakfast at one of the resorts, or to eat breakfast at one of the parks? As is so often the case when you are talking about this or that with regard to Disney, the answer is an unequivocal “It Depends!”
However, a case can be made for both of these scenarios, and for this post, I’m going to show both sides of the equation with my real-life experiences so that you can understand that when it comes to dining at Disney, all of your options are prime spots!
Typically, when we go to Disney, I like to take one of our table service meals and book it for breakfast. Last June, during our trip with my niece Stephanie, we looked at the options, and decided to try out the Cape May Café for breakfast. We had never eaten there before, and looking at the Disney website, it really looked like it would be a good place to try out. Well, we tried it, and we loved it! Cape May is a Character breakfast, and for this location, we had Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy showering Sophie with all sorts of attention because it was her birthday week! We got some really great pictures, and the costumes for the characters, particularly for Minnie, were really cool. The food at Cape May Café is your typical Disney Buffet (which isn’t a problem in my book, I love the breakfast buffets that you can get on Disney property); delicious Mickey waffles, excellent sausage and bacon, eggs (which I don’t care for), great pastries, and good juices and milk. Suffice it to say that I ate my share of food for breakfast, and did not leave the place hungry!
The atmosphere at the Beach Club resort (the home of the Café) was really relaxed for our breakfast. I think that many people don’t think of eating at places like Cape May Café because it’s over at the Boardwalk area, and the crowd at the Café was quite sparse. I will definitely eat there again! We elected to drive over because we had an early morning reservation time, and afterwards we walked on over to Epcot and entered via the International Gateway entrance.
I really enjoyed our breakfast at Cape May Café, and will do it again in the future.
Another location that we ate outside of the parks was breakfast at ‘Ohana over at the Polynesian Resort. The difference between the two locations was night and day – being so much closer to the Magic Kingdom, our ‘Ohana breakfast was much busier, but the food and service were still excellent. As I remember, the ‘Ohana breakfast was served as a family style all you can eat breakfast; the sausage was extremely good, as were all of the other things. I even at a bite of eggs here, and it wasn’t terrible! The characters at ‘Ohana were Lilo and Stitch and Mickey and Pluto, and it was a lot of fun seeing them, because Lilo and Stitch are characters that we don’t see very often.
On the flip side of the coin, we have had breakfast at Restaurantosaurus in 2007 (our first trip where we stayed on property), and had a good breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. At that time, the breakfast was located in DinoLand, U.S.A., but that was the only part of the park we could go to because the park itself wasn’t open yet for the day. When we finished breakfast, though, the park was open and we were free to go to our favorite locations. For breakfast, that one was good, but not great. The food was the same selection, but there was something off about it; I really think in the end the theming of the location was what kind of made me not so interested in it as much. I don’t think that they do breakfast here anymore; now it is Donald’s Safari Breakfast over at Tusker House.
The last place that my family ate at for breakfast was the Princess Storybook Dining over at Akershus. For this trip, in 2005, there were only four reservations; two for my wife and daughter, and two for our friend and her daughter. As a result, I wasn’t able to eat at that breakfast; however, I wasn’t all that upset about that. I was able to take in some of the World Showcase at a time that I had never experienced before – before it was open for business. When you dine at Norway before the park opens, you are allowed access to part of the Showcase – not all of it, but enough that you can take a nice stroll. Additionally, some of the food carts are also open, so I was able to purchase a nice breakfast cinnamon roll and a juice to enjoy. It was nice because of one of the biggest things about enjoying breakfast in the parks is that you are able to avoid the crowds. If you are really interested in taking in the parks before rope drop, especially Magic Kingdom, plan ahead and schedule breakfast at Cinderella Castle for a time before the park opens. You will be able to walk to the Castle, and get some absolutely incredible shots that you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise – shots of the buildings without people in them.
In the end, it is important to realize that there are some really great breakfast locations, both inside the parks and at the resorts. My suggestion is that you try them both out, and enjoy what each one has to offer. What tips do you have to share on your favorite locations to eat breakfast?
Related articles
- Help with Disney Dining Questions (chipandco.com)
- 24-Hour Dining Option at WDW: A Tip From the DFB Guide (disneyfoodblog.com)
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I have never been to Cape May Cafe, but will try it next trip! We can’t go a trip without eating at Crystal Palace and it’s usually for breakfast.
My breakfast at WDW, staying at the Pop Century is a quick trip to the food court, get an applesauce, yogurt, banana and a couple of boiled eggs. Not particularly interesting but having food allergies makes going out for breakfast too frustrating, no gluten (or rice) means no pancakes, waffles, sticky buns, muffins, sausages, toast, french toast – see my point! I have even gotten hives from eating country style hashbrowns – turns out they were made from reconstituted potatoes with flour added to hold their shape. I would rather save my appetite for lunch and dinner.