Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast at Disney World

Cape May Café seems to be one of Disney's hidden secrets; this charming restaurant is located at Disney's Beach Club Resort. I have been to Disney World nearly twenty times and never knew about this magical character breakfast until my most recent trip. I think unless you happen to stay at the Beach Club, Cape May Café is definitely an easy piece of Disney magic to overlook. Like most sit-down Disney restaurants, you will need to make a reservation for this one in advance by calling 407-939-3463. But, as I do not think many people know about this delightful little restaurant, reservations do not book up nearly as fast as they do for other character breakfasts. We called the reservation number on the day we were leaving for our trip (which was during peak season), and got a prime breakfast time for only three days later.

If you are staying at a different Disney resort, this restaurant can be a bit difficult to get to, so give yourself a good hour to an hour and a half prior to your reservation time to get there. You can use Disney transportation (the monorail and bus systems) from your home resort, but it does take time. If you are on the monorail line, you can take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Once there, go to the bus pick-up line for the Yacht and Beach Club (most of the parks have both resorts listed on the same bus stop.) If you are not staying at a resort on the monorail line, you will need to get on a bus from your home resort to any Disney park (typically, just jump on the first bus that shows up); and, once at the park, just find the Yacht and Beach Club bus stop. Bus pick-ups and drop-offs vary depending upon specific park hours for the day, so you may want to speak with the front desk at your resort to work out a transportation game plan in advance; they will be more than willing to help you.

Once you arrive at the Beach Club, you will be greeted by a beautiful 1800's inspired New England beachside resort. Give yourself time to explore (either before or after your reservation.) This is one of Disney's prettiest resorts and there are definitely multiple sights to see. You will enter through the main lobby and steer to the right. The Cape May Café is tucked neatly in to a back corner of the spacious and elegant lobby. After you check-in at the restaurant, make yourself at home in one of the over-stuffed chairs and wait on your reservation time. You will feel as if you've stepped back in to time when you take in the surrounding décor and the dress of the Disney staff.

We had a short wait of about fifteen minutes before our buzzer lit up and we were called back to the reservation stand. The interior of the Cape May Café is open, bright, and very welcoming. You will feel as if you've walked in to grandma's kitchen full of appetizing breakfast scents.

Our table, which was covered in a white paper tablecloth, was not too far from the breakfast bar. The waiter came by and took our drink order, drew a big heart on the paper table covering and wrote "Newlyweds" in the center of it. (I believe they give children a few crayons to draw on the paper.) She was great from the beginning; very attentive. She told us we could go to the breakfast buffet as soon as she took our drink orders, so we headed on over right after she left our table.

I have eaten (after this most recent trip to Cape May Café) at every character breakfast on Disney property, and I have to say by far that this one has some of the best food. They have a fresh fruit bar with yogurt and a rather large buffet made up of any breakfast food you could possibly imagine. We literally tried a small sample of everything and it was all perfect. They have a breakfast pizza that I was a little wary to try, but it ended up being one of my favorite choices. It was flat bread covered in sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, and a little bit of white gravy; wonderful! They also have a wide variety of sweets ranging from Mickey Mouse shaped waffles to chocolate croissants to huge, gooey cinnamon rolls.

While you are eating, several Disney characters make their way around the room to visit with you; these characters are unique to this restaurant as they are dressed in their beach décor - very cute outfits that make for great pictures! Goofy was the first to visit our table; he sat down with my husband and "read" a bit of the newspaper that had been left on our table by a member of the wait staff. He spent quite a bit of genuine time with us, signed our autograph book, took multiple pictures, and made a big fuss out of us being newlyweds. We also met Minnie and Dale (from Chip and Dale); they both took their time at each table and visited with the guests. Out of all the other character breakfasts I've attended, these characters spent a lot more quality time at each table.

By the time we were finished eating, we decided to keep waiting to see if we could meet Chip as he had disappeared during our meal. Our waitress knew we were going to sit there and enjoy some relaxing time, and she did not try to rush us out at all. After we waited about 10 minutes to see if Chip came back from his break, our waitress came by and said Chip was gone for the day, but she had pulled some strings and had a surprise for us. She was gone for a few more minutes and came back with Chip by her side. He took some pictures with us; my husband and I spent some time talking about the old "Rescue Rangers" show with him. Well, we talked; he more-so nodded his head and waved his hands in excitement.

This was one of the most memorable meals of our trip; the staff could not have been more accommodating, the characters are adorable in their summer outfits, and the food itself is great. I would recommend this character breakfast to everyone visiting Disney even if you are not traveling with children; it is overlooked way too often, but is one of the best, in my book.

I have heard rumors though that Chip and Dale will no longer be attending breakfast and will be replaced by Donald Duck; so, if you (or someone in your party) has their heart set on meeting Chip and Dale while you are there, you will want to ask the reservation number if that rumor is true or not when you call to make your reservation.