Which Plaza Inn breakfast time?

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The staff came around and let us know when they were going to close the buffet, but it was somewhere around 11:30? Best guess.

You are correct. Food service stops at 11:30. You don't ever have to really leave, but the characters leave just before noon and then they let everyone in for lunch. There was a line of people waiting today, like a rope drop for Plaza Inn.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Glad it worked out for you. Hope you had a great character breakfast.

 

[Mamato4boys]

Hmm... I was planning on doing 7:10 reservation on a MM day that we don't have entrance to (our last day), but now I'm wondering if we should do a 10:30 on our first day (after using our MM at 7).

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Hmm... I was planning on doing 7:10 reservation on a MM day that we don't have entrance to (our last day), but now I'm wondering if we should do a 10:30 on our first day (after using our MM at 7).

I think a 10:30 reservation on a day you do MM sounds perfect to me! We treated ours as an early lunch. By the time you check in, take photos with Minnie, pay and get to your table, it will probably be 11:00 before you get your food. We made sure to load up our plates (and get made-to-order omelettes) before 11:30 when they stopped serving food and then just leisurely ate while enjoying the characters. It was a really nice time.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hmm... I was planning on doing 7:10 reservation on a MM day that we don't have entrance to (our last day), but now I'm wondering if we should do a 10:30 on our first day (after using our MM at 7).

We have done this in the past and enjoyed that extra early start. We were usually done between 7:55 and 8:10 depending on whether we wanted to linger over our food or had to wait for a final character or two. We enjoyed that this did not seem to be a particularly crowded time at the restaurant. This was a few years ago though, so I don't know if anything has changed regarding how many reservations they allow for the early hour.

 

[lcp9]

Hmm... I was planning on doing 7:10 reservation on a MM day that we don't have entrance to (our last day), but now I'm wondering if we should do a 10:30 on our first day (after using our MM at 7).

If you can get to MM early enough (6:30-6:45), it's totally worth it to be there for a 7am MM. We did that on Halloween and got a picture in front of the pumpkin AND the castle with NO OTHER PEOPLE. It was crazy. We did Minnie's at 10:40 after a 7am MM and it was perfect - right when it started to get crowded.

 

[Mamato4boys]

We have done this in the past and enjoyed that extra early start. We were usually done between 7:55 and 8:10 depending on whether we wanted to linger over our food or had to wait for a final character or two. We enjoyed that this did not seem to be a particularly crowded time at the restaurant. This was a few years ago though, so I don't know if anything has changed regarding how many reservations they allow for the early hour.

We did this on our last trip and it worked great for us, as well. We finished up just after the park opened and went right to our first ride. It was nice to not "waste" valuable early morning park time.

But... the thought of spending 3 or so hours going on rides then taking a break for a character brunch sounds really nice, too!

Decisions, decisions... Good thing I have awhile to decide.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Most weekdays they don't offer breakfast reservations before 8:10 am. They haven't allowed breakfast reservations into the park before official park opening in several years. The exception is during EMHs. You can reserve a table during EMHs. The earliest it is available is at 7:10am only on the days the EMH starts at 7:00am. If EMH starts at 8:00am then the first breakfast seating is at 8:10am. Different then WDW Crystal Palace early dining procedures I know. I haven't tried to go to the restaurant during EMH without having EMH access so I can't say if you can get "in" to the park an hour before your "supposed" to if you don't have EMH access.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I haven't tried to go to the restaurant during EMH without having EMH access so I can't say if you can get "in" to the park an hour before your "supposed" to if you don't have EMH access.

You can if you have a reservation for the character meal. I have done it a couple of times. You go to the first turnstile where there is a special sign directing people for character meal check-in. They did check that we had reservations and then scanned us into the park and told us to enjoy our meal.

 

[Tanya Tink]

Has anyone done the Plaza Inn character breakfast more recently and still recommend the later reservation times (like 10:30 or 10:40 am)?

 

[ktlm]

Has anyone done the Plaza Inn character breakfast more recently and still recommend the later reservation times (like 10:30 or 10:40 am)?

Yes-- we had a 10:40 reservation on Labor Day weekend. It was great. We had plenty of time to eat before the buffet shut down and we saw Minnie, Daisy, Max, Susie, Chip, Dale and Tigger. Pluto was there too, but he accidentally skipped our table- he went to every table in the room except us. We were in a corner table and I'm sure he didn't see us-- Daisy almost missed us too, but we called her name.

 

[gmi3804]

I'll echo many of the above. Unless you're there just for breakfast, it's probably not a good idea to waste the early touring times. You can get a lot done before 10:40, and you'll also be good and ready for a break at that time.

 

[alleighboo]

We did Plaza Inn at 9:50. A little earlier than recommended times but we got a ton done before then with rope dropping and had plenty of time to eat, rest, and get back to riding. Before our reservations we did: Indy, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Pirates, and AstroBlasters. We sat and ate for a little over an hour. I loved it and we are for sure doing it again our next trip!

 

[Tanya Tink]

For those of you who did a 10:40 am reservation, how long did they keep the buffet open and the characters out for? And was the food still pretty fresh and not all picked over?

 

[ktlm]

For those of you who did a 10:40 am reservation, how long did they keep the buffet open and the characters out for? And was the food still pretty fresh and not all picked over?

The food was out until 11:30. It was plenty of time for us. It was all fresh. We did not feel like anything was missing. We left while they were still picking up the food-- probably 11:35 or 11:40. The characters were still out greeting the last guests. We did not feel rushed at all. We had plenty of time with the characters as they came through. Also, when the reservations were all seated, Minnie came in from her picture spot outside and made the rounds at the tables. I would probably pick 10:30 if I had my choice of times, but 10:40 was what was available. I was originally unable to get a later time and was set at 9:00, and I set alerts until I picked up a time after 10:00.

 

[Pluto468]

I have a reservation for 10:20 but now I wish I'd gotten a slightly later one. Does anyone know if the Fairy Godmother still goes to Plaza Inn? I really want to meet her!

 

[Tanya Tink]

Anyone who has had an earlier reservation at Plaza Inn and really liked it? I’m curious because we have a party of 6, so the latest time we could get was 8:20 am. I had just looked at other days the same week of our trip and kept seeing 8:30 am as the latest when I checked right at 6 am as well. So they may just put a limit on the reservation slots for larger groups We have a 5 day park pass that week, so could be a good day to sleep in a little and just get to the park for our reservation rather than trying to do as much possible prior to a reservation. And it’s Thanksgiving week. So it may be pretty busy pretty at the start of the day already anyway.

 

[gmi3804]

Anyone who has had an earlier reservation at Plaza Inn and really liked it? I’m curious because we have a party of 6, so the latest time we could get was 8:20 am. I had just looked at other days the same week of our trip and kept seeing 8:30 am as the latest when I checked right at 6 am as well. So they may just put a limit on the reservation slots for larger groups We have a 5 day park pass that week, so could be a good day to sleep in a little and just get to the park for our reservation rather than trying to do as much possible prior to a reservation. And it’s Thanksgiving week. So it may be pretty busy pretty at the start of the day already anyway.

Why does it matter if anyone liked it? That time works for you and sounds perfect for your situation. Relaxing mornings in the park are vastly underrated. Enjoy!

 

[Tanya Tink]

Why does it matter if anyone liked it? That time works for you and sounds perfect for your situation. Relaxing mornings in the park are vastly underrated. Enjoy!

Haha very great point!

 

[redleader74]

We are going the week after Thanksgiving with our first park day on 11/28. I heard that the earliest you can make a reservation is 60 days out, which would have been yesterday, 9/28, but in fact, the reservation calendar didn't include 11/28 until 6:00AM (PST) today, 9/29. Anyway, I managed to grabe a 9:30 AM reservation at Plaza Inn. It seemed like a reasonable time (not so early we risk oversleeping and not so late that we're rushed to eat). Hoping we get a good table where the characters can easily see us. This is our first time doing Minnie's breakfast. Just to confirm, it is a buffet, right? Anything else we should know? Are characters constantly roaming about in the restaurant or are there set times that they come and go?