Cape May Café Character Breakfast Review
Cape May Café is located in Disney’s Beach Club Resort at Walt Disney World. This post reviews the all-you-can-eat Minnie’s Beach Bash Character Breakfast, which features Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy, and of course, Minnie Mouse. Here, we’ll share thoughts on whether this character meal is worth the money, and provide thoughts on food and character interactions. (Last updated June 17, 2018.)
As noted, Cape May Café serves all-you-care-to-eat buffet cuisine in an airy oceanside atmosphere at Beach Club Resort. Minnie’s Beach Bash Character Breakfast participates in the Disney Dining Plan. It also accepts the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount. Like most character breakfasts, it’s not a good value on the Disney Dining Plan, but it’s not a terrible value, either, especially with kids.
Minnie Mouse and “and her friends” which are almost always Goofy, Donald, and Daisy Duck (although that’s advertised as being “subject to change”) meet and greet guests during this Disney Character Dining experience, which serves a variety of breakfast favorites, including Mickey Waffles, a fresh fruit and yogurt bar, fresh-baked pastries, breakfast pizza, biscuits and gravy, and other options.
We’ve visited Cape May Café a few times, including on our honeymoon when we stayed at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort. We first began dining here out of necessity, because we wanted to do a character meal but couldn’t grab reservations anywhere else.
Since, we’ve found that it’s one of the best character meals on Walt Disney World property, with great breakfast food variety, fun costumes for characters we like, and a lack of crowds as compared to more popular options like Chef Mickey’s or ‘Ohana (or literally anything in-park).
Like the rest of Disney’s Beach Club Resort, the ambiance and atmosphere at Cape May Café is nice. Pastel-colored umbrellas, beach chairs, and croquette clubs decorate the restaurant.
These really set the mood nicely for the meal, although some of the window-facing ones appeared a bit sun-faded. Obviously a very minor observation, but for the prices charged, Beach Club should always be in tip-top shape.
Another nice element of the ambiance (in a way) is that Cape May Café is tucked away and often is far less busy than popular locations like Chef Mickey’s.
Characters spend more time with guests, there are shorter waits to be seated, and the buffets in general aren’t as busy. At least on the occasions when we’ve gone. During the free dining promotion, it’s probably much busier.
When we first started dining at Cape May Café, the restaurant featured Minnie, Goofy, Chip, and Dale all dressed in very cool swimsuits. Unfortunately, Chip and Dale are no longer regulars–perhaps because it was ecologically-improbable to find chipmunks at the beach? (Then again, whatever kind of half-man, half-dog creature Goofy is is also illogical if you want to break it down!)
As of Summer 2018, Minnie’s Beach Bash Character Breakfast now features Goofy, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. Donald’s costume is awesome (possibly the best of the bunch), and Daisy is likewise a solid addition, so it’s tough to get too worked up over the loss of Chip & Dale.
Luckily, the breakfast has remained as excellent-as-ever over the years. Cape May Cafe has quite possibly the most extensive character breakfast menu of all character breakfasts, with ~44 items on the menu!
The buffet is divided into a cold bar, hot bar, yogurt bar, and dessert bar. There truly are too many items to name, but some of my favorites include the Biscuits with Home-style Sausage Gravy, Bacon Gruyère Casserole, Mickey Waffles, Breakfast Potatoes, sausage, and bacon.
As you can tell, I don’t mess around at Cape May Café–I order mostly meats and other delicious (and unhealthy) hot-items. Let someone else have all the bananas and oatmeal!
At various times, Cape May Café has also offered a breakfast pizza. I don’t want to fixate on this too long, because it’s not always available, but if it is there, make sure to try it. It’s incredible. A genius combination of cheese and egg and “other stuff” that is absolutely not to be missed. I know the description (and even the concept) may sound suspect, but few things in this world beat a good Cape May Cafe breakfast pizza.
The other breakfast items aren’t too shabby, either. There’s the Disney breakfast standby, the Mickey Waffles, along with some other more unique items like the Bacon Casserole and Breakfast Potatoes. These have always been great when we’ve tried them, never cold or “old” tasting, even when we’ve gone on days that Cape May Café hasn’t been overly-busy. I am not too high on breakfast at Disney regardless of where it is, but the options at Cape May Cafe are definitely solid.
Overall, Cape May Café is a great option for breakfast, regardless of whether you have kids. At nearly $30, it’s rather pricey for breakfast (a dinner clambake is a non-character alternative), but this is par for the course with character meals. It’s difficult to ding it too much for the price since it is in line with other locations, but at the same time, we always do find ourselves with a bit of “sticker shock” when we receive the bill, and I think Disney typically does not do breakfast nearly as well as other meals (for comparison’s sake, we typically pay less when we dine at Beaches & Cream for dinner, even when we order decadent ice cream treats–and we usually leave both restaurants about equally full).
Luckily you can eat as much as you want, so make sure to stick around for a while so you get your money’s worth. That said, the food is excellent, the characters are fun, and it’s always nice to head over to Disney’s Beach Club Resort. It’s one of our favorite character breakfasts thanks to its mix of food, characters, and crowds. If a character breakfast with fab five characters in awesome costumes is what you want, this is the meal for you. Plus, it’s a short walk to Epcot, so you can easily hit the parks after your meal!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts…
What do you think of Cape May Cafe…is it a great, quiet character meal, or is it an inferior experience to the “big” options like Chef Mickey’s and Cinderella’s Royal Table? Any questions about the experience at Minnie’s Beach Bash Character Breakfast? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Hi Tom,
What do think the chances are of breakfast buffets returning by, say, November 2021?
Went there for breakfast a few years ago. Food was OK, the service on the other hand was sub-par. We were a party of 12 on the dining plan so the tip was 18%. I usually leave a larger tip (25%) if service is good. Bottom line, the gratuity was printed on the bottom of my tab, (there were 2 of us) I left the requested amount less the $.52 (that’s right $.52) since I left all the cash I had with me as a tip. The waitress chased me down and tapped my arm and very loudly said “you did not leave enough tip (I think I left $ 11.00). It was a buffet, service was terrible. I borrowed $ 1.00 from my granddaughter (10 years old at time) and gave her the $.
I will never go back to Cape May Cafe and will NEVER recommend to any one.
Have you been to the dinner time Cape May Cafe buffet?
Tom, thank you for this review. My husband has a conference in Orlando this Spring and I’m looking to plan some out of the park Disney fun with my 5year old and 2 year old while daddy is at his conference. I am attracted to the Cape May breakfast because my kids love the Fab 5. It’s hard to find much Info on this breakfast so I really appreciate your review. It sounds like it could be a good option!
We have very fond memories of Cape May Cafe’s character breakfast, as it was one of the character breakfasts we went to on our kid’s first WDW trip, 10 years ago. Unfortunately we’ve not been back (for breakfast; we were there 3 weeks ago tomorrow for the dinner clambake, which was very good). We had an ADR scheduled for it on our next trip, the morning of our last day, but it was sacrificed for more park time, and it we didn’t schedule it the next time we went (Tusker House made the cut instead).
Cape May is a great character breakfast to schedule if you’re doing Epcot (or to a lesser extent, Hollywood Studios). The problem is that it’s up against a really good lunch/dinner (we’ve never done the breakfast) at the Garden Grill, and the allure of princesses at Akershus. The other issue for us was that our kid’s favorite park was the Magic Kingdom, so it made more sense to be able to schedule more character meals in that area than in the Epcot area.
My advice is to firmly tie your Cape May breakfast to then going to Epcot or Hollywood, and doing it fairly early in your trip, so it doesn’t get cut on a flexible day.
Drue
My wife, my 2 year old and myself ate here last week. We arrived for our 7:30 ADR at 7:15. They explained that we would be seated once the restaurant opened. At 7:30, sure enough, we where the 1st ones seated. Our waitress was wonderful, I forget her name but she was from Germany. Took our drink order, explained the buffet, and told us the characters should be with us very quickly. Literally they where all three there before I could fix a plate. I literally started to the buffet twice and had to turn around because Donald or Minnie where coming our way. Both Minnie and Goofy made it by our table twice before we left. The interaction was great and our server was always around to take pictures for us, which I know was above and beyond what we have received at other character meals. I thought the food was very good. Great pastries, Mickey waffles and meats. It’s by no means as good as the dinner buffet, but no breakfast at Disney is. I highly recommend. Especially if you are preparing to go to Epcot via the international gateway.
I was glad to get reservations to meet the characters here in the “beachy” atmosphere. The characters interactions were great… willing to take lots of pictures and even a surfing dance with Minnie. After reading some reviews on the food offered here, I was quite dissapointed with the selections of food… not so much variety than your typical breakfast foods. I would have expected much better for the high price charged per person.
As a comparison, we had spent the same amount the night before at Garden Grove with character dining and ate the seafood buffet that included half a lobster and mixed fried seafood per person. The cost was well worth it this time than the breakfast we had at Cape May.
Does Cape May Café offer character DINNER as well? Do ALL the characters meals do breakfast AND dinner? Like Chef Mickey does both, correct?
Cape May Cafe offers only character breakfast. Chef Mickeys offers character breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Hi. Thanks for the great review. Trying to find someplace better than chef mickey’s where my 3 year old daughter can meet Minnie and mickey. Thoughts?
We LOVED the Tusker House
A little lAte to the party, but . . . seconded for tusker house. Probably the best buffet at Disney world, plus an incredible setting, and characters. What more could you want?
I third Tusker House! The food was amazing and of course we got to meet the characters too.
Gonna have to throw a vote for Hollywood and Vine dinner (and lunch starting in May 2017) for Minnie’s dinner party.
Go to Tusker house in Animal Kingdom. It has the main characters and a mix of American and African foods that are all great.
Just went for the second year in a row. and it was just as good as last year. I love the breakfast here. They offer so many different varieties of food. I came with very picky eaters & a few foodies this year and everyone was pleased
Have you been here for dinner. I love seafood and was thinking of making a reservation for dinner. Do you think its the worth it?
It’s SO worth it for dinner!! Fresh steamed crab legs all you can eat! We go there for our birthdays every year cause we are locals! Best seafood buffet in town.
Thanks for these reviews!! We had the Chef Mickey booked for our upcoming trip and after reading your hysterical review about disappointing food. I’m glad to know there is another restaurant with great food and characters. I took your advise (along with many others) and cancelled my Chef Mickey and booked Cape Cafe Character breakfast! Looking forward to it 🙂
Thanks for the great review! We made a reservation for the day that we are leaving, and it’s the only character meal we have booked. Can’t wait to try it and prolong the magic just a bit longer!
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet for the first time in January. We scheduled the latest possible time (10:40) so the meal was more of a brunch. Then we had a small dinner later in the day. Using it as a combined meal (breakfast & lunch), the cost doesn’t seem as bad. Overall I think this is a better meal than Chef Mickey’s & Crystal Palace. I thought the food was a little better and the atmosphere wasn’t as chaotic.
I am glad to see this show up again as I never saw it the first time around. This is a really great review and good info. Our last time at Beach Club we managed to never eat at Cape May (breakfast or dinner) which I thought was a shame. This time I was planning dinner for sure, but sounds like I need to add breakfast in. Sounds awesome!
I think what appeals to me most is that you can have an earlier character breakfast than is offered in the parks, so you can be a little more leisurely about it.
It’s also nice to be able to walk to DHS or Epcot right after breakfast to start the day! No bus needed!
Great Review! Our family had an extra TS credit with the dining plan and just kinda stumbled upon Cape May in trying to find a reservation at the last minute. We truly had the BEST time and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Love the outfits and the themeing and the great selection of food choices. Also, our server was just fantastic…so personable and friendly. Cannot wait to go again. Thanks for the great pictures, too!
Agreed that Cape May is a neat little restaurant that’s a bit different than the other character meals. Really gets you in the “beach-y” mood!
Super fun review!!
Awesome review and photos!!!! Cape May Cafe is my favorite character breakfast BY FAR for all of the positive reasons you stated! I really wish I was there right now, enjoying some Mickey Waffles. The characters are great there and spend so much time with you. Donald, especially, always puts on a good show. Thanks for sharing this great review!
Glad you liked it!
Our family loves this Charc. Breakfast as well! I do like all the egg, waffle, meaty stuff too BUT I really enjoyed the oatmeal becvause they gave you so so many sides to mix in with it… Sadly this past Sept. I noticed there were not nearly as many sides for the oatmeal 🙁 We love seeing all the characters in their swim suits and the hotel is beautiful!
Great review!! We tried this breakfast for the first time last December and loved it. We are going back in May. The characters are wonderful here, wonderful interactions and the food is great.
AHHH!!! I LOOVEEEEE the breakfast pizza! Sorry for the caps but I seriously love that pizza as well. When we went for the first time in about ten years a few years ago we stayed at the Yacht Club and went here for the buffet. The characters were awesome and I lvoed their outfits, and I did insist we go back when we went a year and a half later so I could have that breakfast pizza again. 🙂