Should You Book Breakfast or Dinner for Disney Character Dining?

Character dining is a great way to experience meeting some of your favorite Disney characters without waiting in any lines. Families with small children love character dining because they get personal one-on-one time with Disney characters while their children are comfortably indoors, and the whole family is being fed! There are several character dining experiences throughout Disney World. Typically, these experiences are limited to breakfast or dinner. However, there are a few restaurants that feature all-day character dining. But when should you book character dining for your family? During breakfast, or dinner? Continue reading for our thoughts!

Breakfast

There are several advantages in booking a character breakfast. Families with small children typically prefer early-morning dining for several reasons. The main reason being that character dining being the first thing you do upon entering the park ensures that your child won’t be tired or overstimulated after spending long hours playing at the parks. Stopping for character dining first thing in the morning means that nobody is hot or cranky, and it also allows families full flexibility for the rest of the day.

Some restaurants only offer character dining during breakfast. If you are interested in popular character dining experiences like Topolino’s Terrace, Ohana, or Cape May Cafe, then breakfast is your only option. Another restaurant with character dining features different experiences for breakfast and dinner. Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios features Disney Jr. characters like Vampirina and Fancy Nancy during breakfast hours, whereas dinner features Mickey and his pals.

Another benefit to experiencing character dining in the morning is that you are able to enter the parks prior to opening in order to experience your reservation. If you have an 8am breakfast reservation at a restaurant at Magic Kingdom then you can enter the park as early as 7:45am. You will have to walk directly to your reservation and you won’t be able to experience any attractions, but you might have time to snap a quick photo on a nearly empty Main Street U.S.A.!

Dinner

While there are many benefits with character breakfasts, there are still many good reasons to wait until dinner time! While breakfast is a good guarantee that kiddos are in good moods for the meal, dinners offer a great break from the parks just as kids (and adults!) are beginning to wear down. Dinner reservations can be scheduled as early as 3:45pm at most restaurants which is the perfect time for a sit-down break.

If you don’t have children with you or your family enjoys staying up late, dinner reservations can also be made quite late in the evening. Guests can book dinner as late as 9-9:50pm, depending on what time the park is closing. One benefit with late dinners is that guests leave the restaurant after most guests have already gone home, making for great photo opportunities in a nearly-empty park!

Which Should You Choose?

There is not “correct” answer to this question, as the answer is entirely dependent on your family and their needs. We recommend exploring your options and determining which character dining experience you wish to enjoy and then consider which time of day your family would most prefer.

Do you typically book character breakfasts, or dinners? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured Photo: Megan Woodard