Tips about Caribbean Beach and Epcot

I recommend making a reservation for the character breakfast with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace on a morning that the Magic Kingdom does NOT open early. My family and I went in August and made reservations for 8:15 a.m. We were allowed to enter at 8 a.m. With the extra time, we took a nice group photo on an empty Main Street with one of the photographers. By the time we finished breakfast, it was 9 a.m. We took advantage of our location and went to Fantasyland, where we walked onto the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and had a minimal wait time (5 minutes) for Dumbo. - Diane Suznovich

To those Disney enthusiasts who know about the suspension of early entry days [Editor's Note: this was written during the time that early entry or Extra Magic Hour as it is now know was not being held], it didn't matter during this time of the year. Besides, we encountered a lovely way to enter the park early... Character Breakfast. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom one day about 35 minutes before the turnstiles were open. We saw people going in so we headed in that direction. We were told that only people with breakfast priority seating were able to enter early, so we made them. That's right! We made them at the gate and entered into the park and got a 5- minute head-start on everyone who didn't have priority seating. Our breakfast was at the Crystal Palace and we loved every bit of it. The food was good and the characters were everywhere. Because it was not 100% full, the characters made many rounds to the tables and all the kids got hugs, autographs, and pictures. It was awesome! We decided right then and there that we were going to have Character Breakfasts every morning for the rest of our stay and we did and we loved it!!!! - Skipbroome

One more tip: Schedule your character breakfast just before lunchtime. We had ours at Hollywood & Vine (in Disney's Hollywood Studios) at 11 a.m. We were seated by about 11:15 and were able to enjoy the breakfast and lunch buffet. It was great! - Barb Jensen

EDITOR'S NOTE: This tip applies to all the other character breakfast locations.

EPCOT - On every trip to Epcot we try to collect different things from each country, but I'm beginning to run out of space. So this year we decided to collect candy from each country. We usually picked up two different candies at each country. The only country that did not have candy was Morocco, so we bought a pastry. It's a tasty treat that you can enjoy at the park and later at home. I took some to my family and we had a contest to see what country they thought the candy came from. So, in essence it's a treat, collection, and later a game, but only needing short-term storage space. What a fun, tasty thing to do -- my family enjoyed it! - Kelly Adkins

EPCOT - On every trip to Epcot we try to collect different things from each country, but I'm beginning to run out of space. So this year we decided to collect candy from each country. We usually picked up two different candies at each country. The only country that did not have candy was Morocco, so we bought a pastry. It's a tasty treat that you can enjoy at the park and later at home. I took some to my family and we had a contest to see what country they thought the candy came from. So, in essence it's a treat, collection, and later a game, but only needing short-term storage space. What a fun, tasty thing to do -- my family enjoyed it! - Kelly Adkins