Character Breakfast Coming to BoardWalk
Walt Disney World announced today that a character breakfast will come to Trattoria al Forno at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, starting in late Spring 2017. The breakfast will feature princesses and princes, and while the exact lineup is not yet know, it’s expected to include Rapunzel and Flynn (who alone would make this popular due to his ‘rareness’) from Tangled as well as characters from The Little Mermaid.
It’ll be interesting if the experience does include an equal balance of princes and princesses, as this could potentially give it more appeal to families with both boys and girls. Although there’s certainly nothing wrong with taking boys to a “princess meal” the practical reality is that many girls prefer princesses; and boys prefer princes…or talking cars.
This could be a chance for Walt Disney World to test the waters of more diverse royalty meals to see what kind of cross-appeal they have. The source movies most certainly appeal to all kids, regardless of gender, so including a wider range of characters from those films would ostensibly make sense.
Personally, I’d love to see fur characters included as well, since I find it super-awkward to meet a human character who can talk back to me. And who doesn’t want to meet Max (Prince Eric’s Old English Sheepdog)?! I’d do a ~$40 breakfast just for that, and I’m not even kidding.
Speaking of price…while details have not yet been announced, it’s safe to expect this to be either a buffet or a fixed price, prix fixe breakfast rather than the current a la carte menu at Trattoria al Forno. It’s also safe to expect the average cost of breakfast to double or triple in the process. It’s currently possible to do a <$20 breakfast at Trattoria al Forno–we’d expect the price to jump to around $40 per adult.
While Trattoria al Forno has become a popular ‘hidden gem’ breakfast spot for some Walt Disney World guests, it’s still not all that popular. By contrast, other character breakfasts around Walt Disney World, including those in the hotels, are coveted Advance Dining Reservations, some of which still need to be booked months in advance.
This will be a nice counterpart to Cape May Cafe (a fun breakfast that we really enjoy) on the character dining front, and will still leave (the seriously underrated) Captain’s Grille as a suitable non-character breakfast option. We probably won’t make it a priority to dine at this new princess and princess meal due to the cost (unless Max is added!), but it’s nonetheless nice to see Walt Disney World addressing the demand for character meals.
From that perspective, we can see the rationale for the change here. It’s probably a justifiable move for the majority of Walt Disney World guests, even if it does mean removing a non-character breakfast option and a price increase. We remain hopeful that Walt Disney World will continue tweaking the Crescent Lake dining situation, as there is no adequate counter service/food court among the three Disney resort hotels in this area. (Until then, we guess we’ll just be “forced” to eat cupcakes from BoardWalk Bakery for breakfast…) We expect more details to be released about this new character breakfast at Walt Disney World in the next few weeks, and we will update if/when that occurs. In the meantime, what do you think of this news?
I would love to do this breakfast with my girls on our next trip, but what concerns me is how difficult it would be to get there. The transportation was a bit overwhelming for us this past trip, and when you stay on property, you are really limited as to how you can get from place to place efficiently. We typically stay at CBR, so I am guessing we would have to hop on a bus and go to a park, then wait for a bus to take us to the resort? When you want an early ADR, this may be difficult to accomplish.
If you take a bus to Hollywood studios then hop on a boat from there to Boardwalk. There’s also a path that you can walk from HS to the boardwalk.
You should definitely take an Uber or taxi, and then plan on walking to Epcot afterwards.
I couldn’t agree more! We have done Disney transportation from Art of Animation to the Cape May Cafe breakfast but now we grab a taxi to do the trip. For around $10, it’s definitely worth the price!
Also, we’re crazy excited about the new character breakfast!!!!
We ate here in the fall. Took a bus to HS and walked the path to the Boardwalk. It was about a 15 minute walk.
You said this was expected in early spring. We are planning a trip at the end of March. Do you think they will have thisbup and running by then? If we were to make reservations now, and they decided to make this a character breakfast in the meantime, before our arrival, do you think they would notify us?
I’ve tried, and they are currently saying “Reservation not available” for spring time dates. I’m sure once the schedule and details are confirmed reservations will open
We are going March 3rd… I too am wondering if we book an early morning appt. if it is character then if they will notify us. They have reservations as early as 7:30 but it doesn’t mention “character dining”.
When I originally tried to book an ADR (we are staying at Boardwalk in August) on 2/6, it said nothing was available. But it appears reservations are all opened up now for those trying to book them.
This is a disappointing announcement , i understand the reasoning, but still disappointing! During our trip in November 2015 we happened upon an ADR there last minute for breakfast and my husband has been talking at least once a week about how he couldn’t wait to go back. We just booked our trip for food and wine this year, and when i told him about the change he was beyond upset. He wanted to eat breakfast there multiple days of our trip, it was one of his favorite meals. We have done character meals, but don’t plan to do anymore until we have kids, talking to face characters is a bit awkward when you’re two adults. I guess we will have to see how the menu comes out and we may be going to see princesses if they have a similar menu. ..
I’m also a bit disappointed. We also got a last minute reservation there in the fall and the breakfast was fantastic.
I’m very excited to hear this! On your recommendation we are staying on property for the first time this year at the Boardwalk Inn. This will be a hop skip and a jump for us! I’m booking my ADRs next weekend and this one will definitely be in.
It will only be our second visit to Disney World in as many years and we seem to have been bitten hard by the Disney bug!
On a different note, and I may be being a Disney novice here, but are the park times right for August 2017? It says everywhere that Magic Kingdom is opening between 9 and 9. This is very different to what I remember from last year where it stayed open well into the night. Are they having a change of plan? I found Epcot closed for too early at 9 o’clock! Would hate for Magic Kingdom to be following in the same way.
I love reading your blog, it really brings me back to the magic during these dreary winters! Can’t wait to read the next instalment of Tokyo!
Sarah
Park hours are likely to be extended closer to the actual month of travel. I would not expect a 9 pm Magic Kingdom closing unless attendance projections are really low.
So exciting can’t wait to find out who else will be joining Rapunzel and Flynn ….it would be nice to see characters like tink, petter pan and maybe hook. Oh and pinocchico with the blue fairy…he was awesome when we saw him on the disney cruise. Maybe Moanna and Maui?
I can’t wait to see who the characters are. I still would really like to see a character dining option with either the Toy Story gang or Star Wars characters. I have 2 girls and a boy so a really good character spot with boy characters would make me happy, but this might be a good spot for both.
I’m curious to see who the other characters are. This could be huge if there’s also Anna/Kristoff, though I suspect Tiana/Naveen and Cinderella/Charming is more likely.
Back when he still met with Rapunzel, my daughter would only call Flynn by his real name: Eugene. After all, he does say at the end of the movie that he starts to go by that again. It was funny.
Since Princes have disappeared (Eric used to meet as well), this sounds like a good thing. Curious how it will be priced vs Akershus, since there is no potential for early park entry. And it’s bit of a pain to get to for breakfast if you aren’t staying on crescent Lake (probably Uber).
Don’t like this one bit, but I understand why it needs to be done.
We’ve dined here for breakfast and dinner, and if forced to choose, breakfast would win every time. Not because dinner was awful, but because breakfast was so much better.
I’m Italian and as such, hold Italian restaurants to a different standard (meaning the food has to be better than mine). Al Forno’s dinner menu is similar to what you’d find in any decent Italian restaurant at home. But because this is a Disney restaurant, I expect more. That said, I have been always wowed by their breakfast.
I just have to say about time!! My little boy loves the Disney movies so much. He isn’t into Star Wars or pirates or marvel. He is into DISNEY characters. Arlo, Robinsons, Hiro and Yoki, Buzz and Woody, Nick Wilde, Mr Incredible, Flynn Rider, Kristof not Just Olaf, Aladdin , Cars, and more. When I was looking for experiences for him I was disappointed. I’m glad this is a step in the right direction. I know I will be trying to score a seat for our trip in June.
Heck I know it’s a stretch but if we could meet Terrence or Fairy Gary I think we’d be in heaven. Haha
Ah. Dang. This bums me out. I’ve had breakfast there on my list of things to do because I’ve had a friend rave about the food.
Our first trip, last year, included a character meal each of the four days. We are currently planning a trip for August & although we had no plans of going to the Boardwalk, this might be worth a trip.
Thanks for all of the information, Tom. It was a huge help last trip & I am still following you for our next.
P.S. I hope your free dining predictions are correct ☺
With the possibility of Flynn Rider AND Prince Eric?! Sign me up! I’ll be wanting to try it out when the husband and I are there over the 4th of July.
I think those two characters (both of whom I’d expect to be at this breakfast) will seal the deal for a lot of families.