We had a 9:10 priority seating for Minnie and Friends Breakfast at the Plaza Inn with the intention that we would be in the park before 9 am so waiting wouldn't be long but we got held up at the hotel room and got there right at 9:10. If you can stand to wait until around 9:30 or, better yet, 9:45 for your seating time might I suggest that you DO IT!! There's no point in rushing to get there by 9:10 only to have to wait to be seated anyways. If you still want to have the first seating (9:10 is the first seating) then make sure you're the first in line or close to it.
Like I said, we got there right at 9:10 to wait in a line just to check in for our reservations and we weren't seated until around 9:40 which wasn't a big deal for my group (we had 4 adults and none of us are really big breakfast eaters) but I could see that being a problem for a family with hungry kids. We were never given the spill on how the character meal works, or if they did I wasn't paying attention. I had been to 3 other character meals before, one at Goofy's Kitchen(brunch) and the other 2 were at the Plaza Inn just with different characters (the first time was Pooh and the Hundred Acre Woods Friends and the 2nd time was for the Princesses) so I knew how the meal works and had already explained it too the rest of my group.
After we paid, they did tell us what they had on the buffet and where the juice was and all that good stuff. As the hostess was taking us to our seats, I asked if we were going to be sitting on the porch and she said that's exactly where we were going. Now, in my opinion, the porch is the BEST place to sit. There is limited seating on the porch (I would say no more than 26 people on one side) which means less people to wade through to get to your table or to get up for more food or juice.
Since you're outside, you get a nice refreshing breeze but since it's on the porch you're shaded from the sometimes blinding Californiasun. Also with the porch seating there are more direct lines for the characters to follow, they can only go in one direction which means your table won't be skipped (unless you run back inside to grab the autograph book and the camera leaving just a tray with food on your table!). This also allows kids and parents at tables behind you to see the direct path of the character so are more likely to wait their turn. The inside and patio (and by patio I mean the tables in the "yard" area with the umbrellas on them) aren't set up in direct lines and the characters pretty much have to rely on their memory of which kids/tables they've seen/been to. There seemed to be less bustle on the porch also, a bit more relaxing than inside.
The food was okay, most like your typical buffet style food. The waffles were cold but I think we got some that were sitting there for a bit, I saw on a second trip some waffles that the butter was melting on so I think it's just the luck of the draw. The biscuit sand gravy were quite yummy as were their hash browns (I got seconds on those and pretty much forced them down they were so good!), bacon was a little salty but still good. The guys had omelets made to order (on aside note, there are 2 lines for omelets, don't do what the guys in my group did and stand in the longer line!!) and the omelets were huge and tasty! I want to say they had sausage and scrambled eggs also.
Now, my favorite thing when I ate there with the Princesses was these cream puff swan pastry thingies. Well, those are gone and they were replaced with these little cheese Danish things, at least that's what they all told me. I didn't have one (note the "forcing" of the second helping of hash browns) but everyone else in my group said they were delicious. Now lets talk about the characters.
We saw (and took pictures with every character present): Minnie, Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Hook, Chip and Dale, and Fairy Godmother. Tigger even came back by our table because when he came outside everyone was still in getting food, or the camera, so no one was actually at the table. The only one we really waited on was Fairy Godmother and we asked a cast member for her to come over for my birthday (hey, you gotta use it!!). We were actually there about an hour and 15, maybe 30 minutes and we got all the autographs, took pictures, and stuffed ourselves silly!!
The character interaction was WONDERFUL!! Like I said, we were in a good seating area and the characters came by and the kids at the other tables around us waited their turn(well, they didn't get up, there was a cute little girl that said good morning to every character she saw before they got to her table, it was really adorable!!). Now, the last time I went for the Princess Breakfast, there were hordes of kids following the princesses around trying to take pics and get autographs and their parents were encouraging it. This time I saw one lady getting autographs and pics for her daughter who sitting at the table eating, cast members were quick to usher her back to her seat explaining that the characters will come to her.
Another thing we noticed was the side gate to the "yard" area. People were just opening that gate and coming in to get autographs and pics for their kids. Once again cast members quickly and politely ushered them out telling them that these characters were eating breakfast with us and that they would have to pay for a breakfast to do the same.
Now, there was one guy that seemed pretty upset that the characters didn't come by their table (he was seated in the "yard" area) but I know for a fact we watched every character walk through those areas at least twice to make sure they got everyone so I don't know if he just sat down and was already complaining or what.
Another member of my group said she saw a lady and her son come out onto the porch and she told the mom that the characters come to their tables if they just wait there (the mom and son were taking time away from the family seated behind us) and the mom was like we've been in there (they had been seated inside) for 45 min and only one character came by.
Like I said, the porch is the best seating in my opinion. At one point we had Chip and Tigger at our table at one time and about 15 min later, we had Chip (the Chips swapped out) and Dale were there together. I didn't have any problems with waiting on characters. Oh, and thanks to Fairy Godmother, I found out that the cast member you check in with can give you a birthday sticker so you don't have to stop by City Hall.
All in all, I would go back. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the character interaction. Food wasn't as good as Goofy's Kitchen but it's nice that as soon as you're done eating, you're already in the park so that's a fair trade, in my opinion!
(Review written by 34Angels from the
DisneyMouseLinks.com Forums)