A look at the Topolino’s Terrace character breakfast at the Riviera Resort:
I just recently returned from Disney World, and one thing on the schedule was the Topolino’s Terrace character breakfast! I’d previously had dinner at Topolino’s Terrace and it was one of the best meals I’ve had at Disney World, so I had high hopes for breakfast. The characters looked adorable in their outfits here and luckily the food did not disappoint. By far one of the better character meals I’ve been to. I’m very excited to share the details with you today!
Location
Topolino’s Terrace is at the new Riviera Resort on Disney property. If you’ve got a reservation there are a few different ways you could get here. If you have a car they will let you park with a reservation. If not, you can either take a bus to a theme park and then switch to a Riviera bus or you can take the Skyliner. The Skyliner runs from Hollywood Studios and Epcot and goes to the Riviera, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, and Art of Animation. If you’re staying at one of these resorts it’s easy to take the Skyliner there, which is what we did from Pop Century.
Tip: If you’re staying at a Skyliner resort but have an early reservation and the Skyliner isn’t officially running yet, they’ll still let you get on if you show your reservation number.
We had a reservation at 8:50, and left Pop Century a little after 8am. The Riviera is on the Epcot Skyliner line which didn’t start running until 10am that day. However we just showed our reservation and they sent us off. Since there was no wait there or at Caribbean Beach we got there super quickly.
Once you arrive at the Riviera just go to the main building and follow the signs. Topolino’s is on the top floor, floor 10, so just head to the main elevators and go up!
Atmosphere
Topolino’s is a really pretty restaurant both inside and outside. The inside is very spacious and large windows are all around. They have shades that they pull halfway down on one side of the restaurant so that no one is blinded by the sun. In the other direction you can see so much. We were by a window and could spot Epcot and many of the buildings around World Showcase, the Tower of Terror, and even Galaxy’s Edge.
There’s also an outdoor patio which has a bar area that operates in the evening. During the day you could just go outside to enjoy the view for a little bit after your meal, which we did. “On a clear day you can see forever,” or so it feels up there!
Topolino’s Terrace also has an interesting balance between feeling upscale but also friendly and warm. The characters at breakfast definitely help with this, but they didn’t feel out of place. The chandeliers are fun and look like pasta. There is upbeat Italian music playing and announcements as each character enters during breakfast.
How does Topolino’s breakfast work?
The Topolino’s Terrace character breakfast is a bit of a unique experience in how they approach it. Many character meals are buffets, but this is a plated breakfast. Everyone gets their own entree, and there is a pastry basket brought to the table as well. You pay one set price for the meal (though there are some fancier drinks you can order for an additional cost).
Currently the character experience is a little different due to COVID protocols, but you’ll see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. Normally they’ll come around to the tables like traditional character meals (though they never signed autographs in an effort to get them around as quickly as possible).
Keep in mind that this is a popular dining location and reservations go quickly – be ready to book right at 6am the first day you are able to do so!
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Characters
While the food is great, and we’ll get to that soon, the main reason why people come here is for the characters! And they are fantastic. I’m particularly in love with the Minnie Mouse poet outfit. In fact they sell plushes of them as you leave the restaurant and I was tempted to buy a Minnie Mouse (but my suitcase was already too full as it is!).
What characters are at Topolino’s Terrace?
You get the chance to see Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck – but they aren’t in their traditional attire. Each of them has a different “artist” role: Mickey is a painter, Minnie is a poet, Donald is a sculptor, and Daisy is a dancer. Their outfits are unique and some of the best I’ve seen.
Modified character experience
Currently Disney is doing modified character dining. The characters don’t come right up to your table and take pictures with you. Each one enters the restaurant and then walks around near each table. They pose and you can take pictures of them, as well as selfies with the character over your shoulder.
I was impressed with how interactive and fun they were still able to be from a distance. We still felt like we had some interactions with them and we saw some cute things happening with other tables as well. While it might be nice to have a picture of yourself right next to a character I really didn’t feel like I was missing out on much.
They come out one at a time and make a loop around the restaurant. Once all four of them have been through a song comes on and they do a bit of a dance around with some hand motions which encouraged the diners to join in.
They also get through quickly now, so we actually had the chance to see each character twice. We saw the song and dance once and saw it happening again when we were outside on the patio after our meal taking some photos.
Breakfast only
Keep in mind that the characters are only there at breakfast and not at dinner when you are booking your meal. The breakfast is known as “Breakfast à la Art with Mickey and Friends” while the dinner is a quieter more upscale affair with some fantastic pasta dishes.
Drinks
Most of your basic breakfast drinks are included in the price of the meal, so if you want things like coffee, tea, juice, water, or soda there’s no additional fee. As part of your meal you can get the “POG juice” here (also known as Jungle Juice or other names throughout the parks). It’s a passion fruit, orange, and guava juice.
There are some specialty brunch-style cocktails on the menu as well as some non-alcoholic specialties that are an extra fee. You’ll also find some premium coffee drinks that cost more like lattes and the like. We opted for the french press for 2 of the Riviera blend coffee. It was very good though not quite as good as Kona coffee!
Food
Characters and coffee are great, but now we’re on to my favorite part – the food! Your meal begins with a pastry basket brought to the table. For us this included croissants, a danish-type filled pastry, and mini chocolate chip muffins. There were also three spreads – honey butter, a strawberry jam, and a nutella-like hazelnut spread.
The croissants were decent but really just the vessel to best enjoy those spreads! I’m a huge fan of honey butter and very much enjoyed that. The nutella was excellent as well. The strawberry jam was fine though it didn’t seem like anything special. Mixing it with the nutella on a croissant was pretty good though.
The filled pastry took us both by surprise, as we were guessing from the color that it was apple or possibly apricot. It actually was caramel and really good. The chocolate chip muffins we didn’t touch as there was so much food at this meal. Really the only disappointment was that they weren’t served in the cute paint bucket dishes I’ve seen in other photos!
While almost all of the restaurants at Disney are still on a modified menu and don’t have as many dishes on offer as they normally do, Topolino’s has a large variety. I believe there are only one or two dishes missing from the original menu and we had plenty to choose from. At the time we dined the options included:
- Quiche Gruyère
- Wild Mushroom Scramble
- Smoked Salmon
- Spiced Sausage hash
- Two eggs any style
- Sour cream waffles
- fruit plate
- Wood-fired butcher’s steak
So many delicious sounding options! It was hard to choose. A couple of notes: the mushroom scramble is vegan and made with plant based eggs and sausage. The two eggs any style is your typical breakfast and has eggs, potatoes, and breakfast meat. While I love fruit, I can’t really see the value in getting this as your meal for the cost here. The steak would probably be your best use in terms of money but we didn’t try it this time.
Tip: though not advertised, you can usually get more than one entree or a half size of something in addition to your meal – just ask!
We each ordered an entree and then asked if we could get a side of the waffles since they sounded so good but I didn’t want a full plate of waffles as my meal. Our server was more than happy to accommodate. I’ve seen lots of people post about getting two entrees as well. However, one person informed me they asked and were told it was one per person, so it may be dependent on the server.
Of course they have a children’s menu as well but we did not have any children (despite the fact that it was Mother’s Day so there were plenty of kids in the rest of the restaurant!).
Dishes we tried
For my meal I went with the Quiche Gruyère (House-made Pancetta, Roasted Potatoes, Field Greens, Lemon Vinaigrette):
When I ordered it our server, Chris, mentioned that it was currently more like a frittata than a quiche because it didn’t have a crust. I was totally fine with that and frankly it didn’t need it (especially with all of the pastries we already had!). This was absolutely fantastic. It had a very rich, robust flavor thanks to the gruyere, and the pancetta added a little bit of bite and even more flavor. The potatoes were very good though I didn’t eat many of them. the greens had a really nice lemon vinaigrette but when you’re at a Disney meal and you only have so much stomach space sacrifices have to be made – and greens are the first to go.
My dining companion had the Spiced Sausage Hash (Poached Hen Egg, English Muffin, Potatoes, Pearl Onions, Choron Sauce, Fines Herbes):
Chris suggested two eggs instead of one as he finds the hash a little dry with just one. I think this was probably a good choice as the dish seemed delicious the way he delivered it. I stole a bite and it had a ton of great flavor with a good kick to it, and my friend seemed to like it a lot. I’m not a big fan of onions and the flavor is definitely there so I’m not sure I would order it myself but if you like onions that’s probably a bonus. There’s also an English muffin buried underneath all the hash, which is kind of like a little surprise. I’m not sure the dish needs a muffin in addition to everything else though.
Finally we got a side portion of the Sour Cream waffles (Roasted Apple, Chantilly, Orange-Maple Syrup, and served with choice of Smoked Bacon, Ham, Sausage, or Plant-based Sausage):
I’m not a huge fan of waffles but these were some of the best I’ve ever had. The waffles themselves were good but they weren’t the standout to me – that was really accompaniments. I tried that chantilly cream and basically wanted to lick the plate. I believe the cream had some orange flavor in it. The orange maple syrup was excellent too. I actually didn’t love the roasted apple just because there were so many other great flavors going on and I’m not a huge apple person.
Is Topolino’s Terrace character breakfast worth it?
These sorts of questions are very subjective but I’m always happy to give you my personal opinion. The breakfast is $42 per adult and includes all of the food, basic beverages, and the character interactions and ability to take photos. We also paid $9 between the two of us for a french press coffee.
I feel this was definitely money well spent as I really enjoyed everything I had here. I would definitely make a point to come back in the future. Honestly, even without the characters I would probably be willing to pay around $35 for this meal because the food was just excellent. Certainly one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in Disney. That being said, if you’re not an adventurous eater or you prefer the typical bacon and eggs you might not feel you get your money’s worth.
Really the bigger problem for me if I come back here for breakfast is what I’ll order – the quiche was so good and impressed me so much I’d hate not to get it, but I also like to try new things. I’ll need to go with a group of people next time so I can try some of their dishes as well!
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Have you been to the Topolino’s Terrace character breakfast? What do you think of it?
“I’ll need to go with a group of people next time so I can try some of their dishes as well!”
*fills in volunteer form*
Ahhh, excelllllent 😉
Do you think buffets will come back to Disney restaurants?
If it makes sense for them financially… probably.
The food sounds amazing!! And those ears you are wearing are so cute!
Thank you so much! I got the “artist” ears as a gift and figured this was the perfect time to wear them!
We are a group of 4 adults, 3 children 2 aged13, 1 age 11. Are the children offered child rate? Or or they considered adults and therefore each person costing $42 per person for breakfast? If so that is a very expensive breakfast!
There is a child rate for those ages 3-9: children are $24 currently. However kids over the age of 9 are charged the adult prices.