Breakfast Choices at Disney Parks

A typical quick breakfast for us on a Disney trip would be a Rice Krispie treat! Not very nutritious I know, but it gives us the required sugar boost and takes the edge off early morning hunger. With the advent of the Dining Plan, (which has been free for us Brits over the last few years), we find we are dining at least once "properly" during the day, so we don't feel too bad just picking up snacks for breakfast.

When we were in Disneyland, California for the first time last October, we discovered a wonderful breakfast opportunity at the Pacific Wharf Café in Disney California Adventure, one of the few dining locations in that park that serve breakfast. Initially, we ordered the breakfast croissants, which did look delicious -- soft and fluffy croissants, filled with bacon, scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese, for $5.99.

But then we saw the egg and bacon boules, a sourdough bread bowl filled with scrambled eggs and bacon, with grapes and orange slices on the side, so we managed to change the order to those, particularly as they were the same price. They were massive! And with hindsight, probably we should have shared one – I couldn't finish all the bread and had to wrap half of it up in a napkin, thinking I would eat it later, (it ended up in the fridge for a few days, and in the end my husband finished it off late one night). The bread is made on site, (you can watch the process in the Boudin Bakery tour next door). The bacon was really crispy, and the eggs were fluffy and not at all heavy or lumpy. The bread was very fresh, although a little strong-tasting, but this was balanced out nicely with the fresh fruit. We thought this was excellent value for money, particularly with the addition of the fruit, and it kept us going for many hours that day!

In keeping with our theme of rather unhealthy breakfasts, one morning we visited Flo's V8 Café in Cars Land for apple and cheddar pie, and pumpkin pie. Both of these were lovely; not too sweet, and the crisp and fresh-tasting pastry helped to keep us full for longer.

Usually by the second week of any vacation we take in the USA, I have moved on from Rice Krispie treats and aim more towards other treats for breakfast. In the Magic Kingdom, for example, at Goofy's Candy Company on Main Street, there is a section at the back of the store that has fudge, cookies, etc., and I can usually pick up a milk chocolate patty filled with caramel and cashew nuts for a snack credit, as an alternative breakfast.

In the Hollywood Studios, there is a definite lack of places to pick up breakfast, and we usually end up at Starring Rolls. We once had cupcakes from here as our early morning start, but found they were too big and too sweet for us, so last year we tried the Danish pastries. These were still big, but were a better option as they weren't quite as sweet. The red cherry ones are gorgeous!

Paradise Pier breakfast bowls

Bacon, scrambled egg, sourdough bread bowls, fresh fruit, coffee - yum!

On a couple of other days, we had booked a very early lunch at, for example, Tusker House at Animal Kingdom, where we ate at 11:15 am, so those days we skipped breakfast altogether.

And when all else fails, and we have a day off from the parks, there is always Denny's or IHOP, two franchises we don't have in the UK, so we always enjoy dining there!

About the Author: Carolyn is a life-long Disney fan from the UK, having made many visits to the parks in Paris, Florida, and now California.  Next year should see her first visit to the Disneylands in Tokyo and Hong Kong, hopefully!  Her wonderful husband is also a huge Disney fan, although he claims he only goes along with her plans to keep the peace!  Carolyn is the author of "Tiggerific Travels", an e- journal of trip reports dating from 2006-2010, with a second volume due out shortly.