My Favourite Character Breakfast - Topolino's Terrace
I have been to most character dining meals across Walt Disney World, but was genuinely surprised just how magnificent Topolino's Terrace proved to be. I want to share my experience with you and if you haven't been here yet, then I would suggest that you push it up your list, ready for your next trip!
Topolino's Terrace is located on the 10th Floor of Disney's Riviera Resort at Walt Disney World. It boasts stunning views from the top, but inside the restaurant is exceptionally pretty too!
The restaurant opens for both breakfast and dinner, but offers two very different experiences. Breakfast is served with character; four Disney characters to be precise! Dinner is more of a formal affair, with no characters, but is a delicious signature fine dining experience. The dinner menu is inspired by French and Italian cuisine.
Topolino's Terrace is POP-U-LARRR! So I highly recommend grabbing this breakfast reservation 60 days out. If you can't get a reservation, keep checking the My Disney Experience app, even whilst you're at Walt Disney World, as you can quite often snag somebody else's cancelled plans!
If you're not staying at Disney's Riviera Resort, then this is a little out of the way, but it is totally worth the effort in my opinion. You can get to the Riviera either by car, ride share, taking a Disney bus from any theme park (or from Disney Springs), or using Disney's SkyLiner. You can even walk there from the Caribbean Beach Resort too!
As I said, Disney's Riviera Resort is a SkyLiner resort and so you can hop on the SkyLiner at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, as well as Disney's Art of Animation and Pop Century Resorts too.
Once at the Riviera Resort, Topolino's Terrace is situated in the East Wing Tower, on the 10th Floor. The East Wing is the tower further away from the SkyLiner station. And if you are looking at the resort from outside, it is the taller of the towers.
Topolino's Terrace is an elegant restaurant and one thing that I really like about Topolino's more than anything, is that despite it being a character dining breakfast, it is very very civilised. You didn't feel crowded, with tables close together, and there were no kids running around. As it wasn't a buffet style meal, everyone was sat at their tables and it just felt very calm and a tranquil breakfast experience.
Now this is one of the newest character dining meals offered at Walt Disney World and the restaurant is very new, clean and modern. Other than the re-imagined 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian, this is the newest character experience.
I haven't had dinner at Topolino's yet, but will give you a review of that once the opportunity arises. So today, I am purely talking about this restaurant in terms of the breakfast offering. A very good breakfast offering!
Topolino is actually an Italian word, which means "little mouse". So despite four character's appearing here, this really is Mickey's place.
When you arrive, there is a nice check in podium and waiting area. I enjoyed having a look around the displays in the waiting area, which showcased colourful pasta, as well as wines served in the restaurant. There was also some lovely Disney artwork to admire.
We were seated efficiently and in accordance with our reservation time. We were then introduced to our server, Ashley. She was really lovely; she was kind, friendly, helpful and interested in our experience. This really does make all the difference!
So the deal here, is that it is a fixed price for breakfast. Currently priced at $52 per person, plus tax and gratuity. So it's not a cheap breakfast, but comparable with other Disney character dining breakfast experiences. They do offer a 10% discount here for Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members too.
If you are using the Disney Dining Plan, Topolino's Terrace will cost you one Table Service credit. Of note, dinner here would cost two Table Service credits.
For the set price, you get a little basket of pastries, an entreé, as well as all normal breakfast drinks included - coffee, tea, fruit juice etc. And the best news of all is that they serve the POG juice here! For those who may not know, POG juice is a blend of passionfruit, orange and guava - and it's delicious!
The pastries we had were fresh and delicious. I doubt that they were house made, but they were good and served as a great appetiser whilst waiting for our entreés. We each had a croissant, a chocolate chip muffin and an apple and cinnamon strudel type muffin too. They were served with honey butter, jam and nutella, all in individual little pots.
The entreé menu was interesting and offered some unique options, with menu items not found at other restaurants across Walt Disney World. You can view the full menu here but highlights include, Sour Cream Waffles, Bread Pudding Brûlée, Quiche Gruyère & Wood-Fired Steak and Eggs with Polenta.
Of course, for those of you who know anything about me, will know how much I love some of the sweeter breakfast offerings in America. We have things like pancakes and waffles less here in the UK, so when in Rome, I have to eat like the Romans of course. I chose the Sour Cream Waffles.
The waffles were the lightest waffles I've ever had the fortune to taste. Our server told us that was due to the sour cream! The were piping hot, incredibly light and tasted great. The waffles were served with roasted apple, raspberries, Chantilly cream with super light nodes of vanilla, and then a little jug of orange maple syrup. They came with the choice of smoked bacon, sausage, plant based sausage or ham. I chose the sausages for my breakfast.
Ashley asked if I would also like some eggs with my entreé and I greedily asked for a side of scrambled eggs. There was no additional charge for the eggs.
Now I have heard it said that Topolino's isn't as good value for money, as a character dining buffet. Of course, this is true and with unlimited food on a buffet, you can eat until your heart is content and your eyes are bigger than your belly. But with the pastries, waffles, sausage and eggs, I was unashamedly full up. I couldn't even finish the eggs. I really tried, but it was more than enough food and I still left feeling a little bloated. So whilst you will get more food and more variety at a buffet, I think the portions here are more than adequate. And I am quite a big eater to be fair!
My fiancé David, went for the Avocado on Toast. This menu item is no longer available, as he ordered it, and has been updated to Avocado and Smoked Salmon on Toast instead.
The Avocado on Toast was avocado, prosciutto, poached egg, toy box tomatoes, fennel, with harissa vinaigrette on a ciabatta bread. Let me tell you that he didn't leave a single scrap of food on the plate. I didn't try this, but David was very satisfied with this plate of deliciousness. The current menu item appears to drop the poached egg and prosciutto, replacing them with smoked salmon instead.
So, one of the biggest reasons that this is my favoured character breakfast, was because the food was amazing. As Disney Adults, we are a little less about the characters and more about the food. Of course, it's a character meal so we will meet the characters. David finds it quite awkward when the characters come around, but he boldly goes with it and poses for a photo with them. I am a little more into it, but the food is ALWAYS my main focus. The food here is better than any character breakfast that I have been to. A great menu, quality ingredients, well presented on the plate and full of deliciousness!
Speaking of the characters, as after all this is a character meal, you get to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy and they come around to your table, wearing their cute artistic costumes. Mickey is an artist, Minnie is a poet, Donald a sculptor and Daisy is a Ballerina. The outfits are unique to Topolino's Terrace and super cute if I do say so myself!
Now not only do you get to meet the characters here, but they also put on a little show too. Every time that they arrive or leave the restaurant, each character takes a corner of the restaurant and then dances, to an adapted version of Italian operatic song Funiculì Funiculà. The song has unique lyrics for Topolino's Terrace. The characters then rotate around the restaurant, until each character has performed in each corner, dancing for every diner. Of course, the opera adds to the sophistication here as well!
The last thing that you really do need to see when visiting Topolino's Terrace, is the view from the outdoor balcony. You can look in every direction and the views are stunning. Don't miss the opportunity to go outside and have a look. We even caught a Space X launch in the far far distance!
So there you have it, Topolino's Terrace is the best character breakfast at Walt Disney World. If you haven't been, might you add this to your list for your next trip? And if you don't agree that this is the best one, where would you say is? Let's hear your opinions in the comments section below!
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