Hi Melanie!
Welcome back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Breakfast at Garden Grill Restaurant sounds yummy!
When we visited last summer, we did not use a
dining plan. Our girls were then 10-years old and we did have to pay for them as adults at all character experience meals. Since it was our first visit with them over 9-years old, it was a jolt to the budget, but we had planned for it. At quick-service restaurants, we just chose the meals that had the food they preferred to eat. I would suggest that you check to see how much it would cost to get the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. If you are already planning to pay out of pocket for some meals, it may be worth it to get that plan so that you have three meal entitlements per night of stay. I always call 407-939-1947 to get the buffet prices for the dates of our visit and I check restaurant menus so that I have a good estimate of our food costs.
I do hope you have advanced dining reservations for other character meals! My girls love Chef Mickey's, The Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and Cinderella's Royal Table. We always bring autograph books and love to take pictures with the characters. When you leave your room each day, be sure to pack those autograph books. On more than one occasion, I have forgotten them in the room and had to buy new ones when we got to the park.
Melanie, if you have not booked a pre-park opening dining reservation, consider it. We love to make breakfast reservations at 8:00 a.m. on days that the parks do not have morning Extra Magic Hours so that we can enter the park early. Just be sure to check the
park hours for the dates of your visit. We love to take pictures in the parks when they look virtually empty!
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell