Some people like rest days because they can go shopping at the dozens of speciality stores at Disney Springs. Other people like rest days because they can enjoy the gorgeous pools at their Walt Disney World resorts. But the B Family? The B Family likes rest days for the food.
Specifically, the food at other resorts.
Double specifically, the food at character meals at other resorts.
Day 3 of the B Family Vacation started with a great meal at Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast (trying saying that five times fast. Or even one time fast) at Cape May Cafe.
Cape May Cafe is located at the Beach Club Resort, which is in the Epcot area. Now, you’ve heard me go on and on about the wonders of Disney transportation. Fair warning, this post will be no exception. If you’ve got a reservation for a meal at another resort, don’t be intimidated by the bus system. There are two options for you. The first option is the Breakfast shuttle. This is a bus that runs from your resort to various other resorts so that you can make your breakfast reservations on time. I confess, due to timing and extreme luck, I have never taken the breakfast shuttle but going off reports from others it is real and very helpful. Make sure to ask the front desk folks about it.
The second option, my preferred route, is to take a bus from your resort to a park, and then from that park to the resort where your reservation is. It will look like this.
- I have reservations at Cape May Cafe. Yay! Where is Cape May located? At Beach Club. Where is Beach Club located? Epcot area. Great.
- Take a bus to Epcot.
- Take a bus to Beach Club.
- Eat a delicious breakfast.
Buses start running two hours before the park opens. Plan on your bus trip taking about an hour. It probably won’t, but even if you’re early, there are enough cool things to see at the resort that the wait won’t be a pain.
Here’s what happened for us. We had a 9:05 reservation at Cape May Cafe. At the bus stop, ready to go by 7:40. At 7:45, a bus that says Epcot pulls up. We get on the bus. Its completely empty. A little spooked by the empty bus, I say to the driver, “We are on our way to the Beach Club. When we get to Epcot there will be a bus to take us to the Beach Club, is that right?” The nicest bus driver on Earth assure me that is the case, greets my little princesses, and tells us to enjoy the ride.
And do we ever enjoy it. We are the only people on this bus, remember, so my girls are singing, telling stories about what they’re going to say when they meet Minnie, looking out the window and exclaiming at any Mickey shaped thing they see. We’re living the dream. The World’s Best Bus Driver does a wicked Donald Duck impression, so he’s getting on the intercom, telling the girls jokes in Donald Duck’s voice and they are losing their minds.
But then Mr B says, “Wait, where are we? Aren’t we going to Epcot?” My heart drops as a I realize that Spaceship Earth is nowhere in sight. Instead, I am greeted by some very pretty, clapboard style buildings. As the bus slows down, it starts to dawn on me…
“Last stop, the Beach Club,” says Donald Duck.
The Nicest Bus Driver at Disney took us straight to the Beach Club, ya’ll. I thanked him profusely and he assured me it was no problem at all, that he had cleared it over the radio while the girls were singing. He then tells the girls that Donald cannot wait to meet them. And we are about an hour early for breakfast.
We checked in early, and were told they would have a table ready for us soon. Magic on magic! We decided to check out some of the amazing decor at the Beach Club.
Anyone need a lift?
How many little Bees does it take to drive an old timey car?
Who: Minnie’s Beach Bash Buffet at Cape May Cafe
What: Character meal buffet for Breakfast and Seafood Buffet for Dinner. Note, characters ONLY appear at Breakfast.
Where: The Beach Club Resort, in the Epcot area.
How: Cash, Credit, and the Dining Plan accepted.
When: Open daily, Breakfast 7:30-11,Dinner 5-9.
Disney says: “Minnie and some of her friends have gathered at the Cape May Café to start the day with a Beach Bash Breakfast! They are all dressed up in their beachy best—and you are invited to join the fun! Create unforgettable memories, get autographs and photos—and enjoy menu offerings including Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, sausage, oatmeal and more.
B Family Says: “I’m eating Mickey’s face!”-The Little B Mermaid, age 4. “More bacon!”-The Sweet B Apple, age 2. “Did you see there is frittata?”-Mr. B, lover of eggs. “Is that Biscuits and Gravy? Where did you get that Biscuits and Gravy?”-Kristen B, not good at navigating buffets
As far as Character meals at other resorts go, poor Minnie and crew often get overlooked at Cape May Cafe. Chef Mickey’s features the big guy himself in close proximity to the Magic Kingdom, Ohana’s in one of the only places to meet Stitch on the whole resort, Boardwalk’s Trattoria al Forno has princesses, and 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian has Mary Poppins, Alice, AND Pooh. This is some stiff competition. What Cape May Cafe has going for it is that it’s not an impossible reservation to get!
You might say Cape May Cafe is one of the more underrated character meals, both for food and characters. Character wise you’re getting Donald, Goofy, and Minnie in their fun beach attire, the only place they wear these outfits in the whole park! Other characters might pop up as well, but you are guaranteed to get some face time with Minnie. Her name is, after all, in the title of the event.
We really thought the Sweet Apple was going to launch herself at Minnie.
If you’ve got little littles, character meals are a great way for them to get some interaction with the possibly intimidating fur characters. The littles get to be in control of the interaction in a way they’re not at the meet and greets. The Sweet Apple played a very involved game of Peekabo with Goofy.
When we were there, the restaurant was no where near full. The table on either side of us was empty until right when we were leaving. Because they had less people to visit with, we got a TON of time with the characters. Each character made three rotations through the restaurant, with Donald going above and beyond at 4 rotations!
Check out our plates. We were done with our meal and this was Donald’s 76th rotation.
We spent so much time with Donald he should have just pulled up a chair and hung out. I would have given him some of Mr B’s frittata.
Speaking of frittata, let’s talk about the food. The online menu is pretty vague. According to the website, food featured at Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast includes:
- Sliced Meats
- Assorted Fresh Fruit and Yogurt
- Breakfast Bread
- Mickey Waffles
- Selection of Cheeses
- Cereal and Grains
- Fresh Baked Pastries
- Selection of Breakfast Favorites
I would give you $5 if you could give me a concrete definition of “Selection of Breakfast Favorites”. This menu is technically right. There were waffles and sliced meats (bacon and sausage) and many fresh baked pastries in the form of muffins and danish. But the menu makes it sound a lot less interesting than it was. We had biscuits and gravy, frittata (at this point, I’m just trying to see how many times I had get ‘frittata’ in this blog post), roast potatoes, scrambled eggs, and specialty scrambled eggs, among other things. As far as selection goes, this is one of the wider ranging breakfast options.There are things that both kids and adults can enjoy. Buffets are great values if you have a child under 3, as we did. She can eat from our plates, but because it’s a buffet we can go back and get as many Mickey waffles as we need.
My girls had identical meals. Bacon for everyone.
I swear all that bacon was not for me. It was table bacon.
Part of what you are paying for with character meals is the interaction with the characters. Because let’s be real, you could get some eggs and Mickey waffles at the quick service and save yourself some dollars. But you don’t get moments like these at quick service.
Because of how much time you get with the characters and the variation of food not seen at other restaurants, we have to agree that Minnie’s Beach Bash Breakfast is an underrated gem. It’s a little out of the way if you’re not in the Epcot area, but all you need is some pixie dust and a kind bus driver.
Have you ever visited Minnie and the crew at Cape May Cafe? What did you think? What are your feelings about frittata? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey three years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!
Candice Balderramos says
We love the Cape May Cafe breakfast! We’ve been twice and it was a wonderful way to finish our vacation.
Kristen says
Candice, I love hearing that it is a go-to spot for you! it does have some great vibes for ending a trip…and beginning a trip…and in the middle of a trip… ;)
Melissa says
What a great review! This honestly wasn’t even on my radar but I may add it to our plans for our next trip!!
Kristen says
Thanks, Melissa! Truthfully, it wasn’t on our radar either! It really is a hidden gem.