An Adventure of a Character Breakfast…
Erica Kocher8.13.19This past April, during a trip to Walt Disney World, we decided to try a new character meal. My family tends to be creatures of habit and go to the same restaurants that we’ve loved for years of traveling to WDW. As my daughters get older, I am trying to get them to break from the habit and explore new experiences on our vacations. In researching other reviews of restaurants, we decided that even through the Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno came with many mixed reviews that we loved the characters enough that we would try it. Each day, the breakfast features Ariel & Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Tangled. (Note: Disney Characters join Guests for breakfast only. Character appearances are subject to change.)
Trattoria al Forno is located on the waterfront boardwalk at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. Our reservation was at 9:00 AM, but we decided to head down to the boardwalk early and soak in the atmosphere. I highly recommend doing this! There were other guests doing the same thing as we did, but it was still quiet and relaxing. The early morning temperatures were so enjoyable that we decided to grab a coffee and sit at a table and enjoy the morning air. The view of the water, sound of the boats coming in, and smell of the spring flowers was a refreshing start to our first day on vacation.After checking in for our reservation, we stood in awe of what we saw. The Entrata has some fantastic brick work that is amazing to look at, but what really caught my attention was the wine cabinet that extends across the entire back wall. Also, off the entry was a small shop selling merchandise from The Little Mermaid and Tangled. Even though we waited 20 minutes past our reservation time for a seat, we were filled out time be going into the shop, taking pictures by the wine wall, and being entertained by the characters as they came in and out of the dining room in fun ways that showed their personalities.
The breakfast has a very creative menu with items including King Triton’s Shipwreck al Forno (a breakfast calzone), Tangled Eggs, Two-Eggs Poached Underwater, and Tower of Pancakes. The table gets a skillet of assorted pastries to share and everyone gets to choose one starter, either a cup of fresh fruit or a yogurt parfait with berries & granola. Breakfast is a prix fixe price, running $38.34 for adults and $22.37 for children ages 3-9 (plus tax) or one dining credit per person. Kids under 3 can either share a meal with someone else, or they can get their own kids’ meal for free. (These prices were accurate as of August 16, 2018.)Our server was one of the best servers we have had at a Walt Disney World restaurant. She explained the menu and tips (such as, with the meal plan and having 3 “adults” under the age of 21, the adults over 21 could use their alcoholic beverage credit for a second drink). Even though the restaurant was very busy, she was always right there as soon as our pastry skillet or water glasses were empty. Of the six of us at the table, 4 ordered the Tower of Pancakes (fluffy buttermilk pancakes and seasonal fruit compote with bacon or sausage) and 2 ordered the Royale Breakfast (oak-grilled steak, cheesy-egg torte, and fonduta with breakfast potatoes and crispy onions). I am going to be 100% honesty in saying when our food arrived the it was perfectly displayed but the serving size was smaller than what I would have expected. With that said, the food was delicious, and the serving size was enough to fill our stomach. It was the perfect amount of food.As the characters started coming around, our girls, aged 14, 13, & 11 were just as excited as the table next to us with young children. The characters spent just as much time at our table talking to the girls about their hair, what it is like under the sea, and what the other characters (from their respective movies) were doing. This has become one of my top three favorite character meals because of the character interactions. Our table gave it 12 thumbs up and it was teenage approved.Are you thinking about a visit to Walt Disney World? I am an agent with Wishes Family Travel, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. As your agent, I’ll be on hand to help you with everything from finding your perfect package to grabbing those hard-to-get dining and FastPass reservations. I work with all Disney Destinations around the globe. Best of all, my services are absolutely FREE. You can contact me at 1-618-514-5536, by email at erica@wishesfamilytravel.com or through my Wishes Family Travel – Erica Facebook group.