Tips about Caribbean Beach

For anyone dining at the Tusker House for Donald's Safari Breakfast, please be aware that the buffet is not your typical 'stand in line' type of buffet. While we were at the AK last week eating, cast members at the Tusker House kept announcing that we did NOT have to just stand in line waiting to get to the food we wanted. Rather, the buffet was a free flowing buffet -- you could just jump in line where you wanted and grab a plate. Unfortunately, not many people were listening and some guests got very angry when I stepped in line to get some scrambled eggs for my daughters... So, the moral of this story is, please listen to the cast members at the Tusker House breakfast buffet! And be kind to other guests. - Traci Curth

For character breakfasts, I would recommend letting girls wear their princess dresses to the princess meals because it helps with the magical aspect of it. However, on extremely hot Florida days, try putting it on over their clothes a few minutes before your reservation or once you are seated. It will only take a moment and it will save the headache of your child whining about being hot. I put my daughter's dress on her after we sat down because I watched a slew of little girls crying outside while waiting in their hot and heavy dresses. - Mendy776

Tip for first timers at a Character Meal -- understand that the characters have a predetermined rotating path around the restaurant. It would be helpful if you assure your kids that their turn is coming soon. There was one family [at our character meal] who felt they were being skipped over and continually sent their kids to interrupt the characters at our table! If your meal is complete and you have not visited with a certain character, just let your server know. They typically do all they can to remedy the situation ASAP. - Jennifer Shepard

Try to go to a character breakfast in one of the parks for the first 8 a.m. seating before the park opens. You get to enter the park around 7:45 a.m., get your stroller/wheelchairs, eat a great breakfast and be in the back of the park riding the rides at opening time while everybody else is waiting in lines and just starting to come into the park. For a great photo opportunity, eat at the Crystal Palace and on your way there take a picture of your family in front of the castle -- since the park isn't open yet, your family will be the only ones in the picture. It's the only time you can ever do that! - Elizabeth Donoho

We took our 3-year-old son to lunch at the Garden Grill. The character interaction was fun and he really enjoyed it. One tip for those with young kids: ask to be seated in the upper tier if you want a high chair. We went without and he felt free to hop down and run to the edge of the restaurant a lot. It would have been nice to keep him in one spot. All in all, this is a good meal, lots of fun and well worth your time. The character interaction was first-rate and our son was charmed by how the restaurant rotated. We were still full well into the evening. - Jennifer Maxwell

We like to do the character meals not only for the characters, but for the food as well. Many of the meals are buffet style, and that's great for children (and hungry men!). You know up front what it's going to cost. You're not limited to choosing one entree, and you don't need to wait to be served. The entertainment is just the "icing on the cake"! To me, these are plenty of reasons to do more than one character meal. It really makes you feel like you're in Disney!- Angela

We just returned from WDW, and wanted to tell everyone interested in character dining to not give up, thinking it is too late to get reservation for a meal. My girlfriend called at 6 p.m. and got us a reservation for 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty Tree Tavern. So even on the day of, and just hours before, it is still possible. Never assume that it is too late. - Dustin Wilson

I recommend making a reservation for the character breakfast with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace on a morning that the Magic Kingdom does NOT open early. My family and I went in August and made reservations for 8:15 a.m. We were allowed to enter at 8 a.m. With the extra time, we took a nice group photo on an empty Main Street with one of the photographers. By the time we finished breakfast, it was 9 a.m. We took advantage of our location and went to Fantasyland, where we walked onto the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and had a minimal wait time (5 minutes) for Dumbo. - Diane Suznovich

To those Disney enthusiasts who know about the suspension of early entry days [Editor's Note: this was written during the time that early entry or Extra Magic Hour as it is now know was not being held], it didn't matter during this time of the year. Besides, we encountered a lovely way to enter the park early... Character Breakfast. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom one day about 35 minutes before the turnstiles were open. We saw people going in so we headed in that direction. We were told that only people with breakfast priority seating were able to enter early, so we made them. That's right! We made them at the gate and entered into the park and got a 5- minute head-start on everyone who didn't have priority seating. Our breakfast was at the Crystal Palace and we loved every bit of it. The food was good and the characters were everywhere. Because it was not 100% full, the characters made many rounds to the tables and all the kids got hugs, autographs, and pictures. It was awesome! We decided right then and there that we were going to have Character Breakfasts every morning for the rest of our stay and we did and we loved it!!!! - Skipbroome

One more tip: Schedule your character breakfast just before lunchtime. We had ours at Hollywood & Vine (in Disney's Hollywood Studios) at 11 a.m. We were seated by about 11:15 and were able to enjoy the breakfast and lunch buffet. It was great! - Barb Jensen

EDITOR'S NOTE: This tip applies to all the other character breakfast locations.