Superstar Character Breakfast @ Cafe La Bamba - full review with pics

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

Life is short. Live it well.
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
We attended the Superstar Character Breakfast on Friday, April 29th. This is my review of the event :).


The park opened at 8 am that morning, but our breakfast reservations weren’t until 8:45 (which was the first seating of that particular day). We arrived at Universal, parked the car, and were through the turnstiles by about 8:20 thanks to no traffic on the I4 and no lines to enter the park.


The boys had humoured me and I was thrilled to have us all decked out in matching Minions wear for our final Universal park day :goodvibes. Jake was clear that his participation in my Minions mania was limited, and he had brought a t-shirt to change into once our breakfast was over :laughing:. Hey, I could live with that.


Since we had lots of time until our breakfast seating, we stopped at the park entrance for a few final pictures with our Photoconnect annual pass. This had offered us AMAZING value over the course of the past year, especially since we had been able to purchase it at a promotional price of $49.95 (for comparison purposes, I think the current price for the same product is somewhere around $150). There’s no better souvenir in my book than memories preserved in photo form :thumbsup2.


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We took our time strolling over to Café La Bamba. The park was very quiet and peaceful that early in the morning. I would assume most of the crowds had headed straight to Diagon Alley following the 8 am park opening.





The restaurant itself wasn’t open quite yet, and didn’t open the doors until literally two minutes before our 8:45 reservation time. While we waited, we sat in the courtyard and soaked up the fresh air and warm breeze of the beautiful morning as other guests also began to arrive.








The process to check in for our reservation was very quick, and once confirming our last name against their master list we were ushered to our table. We were very impressed by the inside of the restaurant…..it was bright and airy and really quite pretty :).





We also loved that the tables were nicely spaced and not crammed closely together. After many a Disney character meal where we were jammed in so tightly that we could hardly move our chairs out when we needed to stand up :crowded:, this was a marvelous surprise. It was refreshing to be far enough away from our neighbours not to hear every word of their conversation during our meal. On that specific day and time, the restaurant was nowhere near at capacity, either…..despite the initial influx of guests on opening, it was only perhaps ¼ full at most.





We had an awesome server for that meal that ensured our beverage requirements (and any other needs) were efficiently attended to throughout our breakfast. All of us ordered glasses of milk: white for Steve and I and chocolate for Jake. Just an aside about the chocolate milk in Florida: we find it very interesting that every chocolate milk we ordered in a restaurant was served as white milk flavoured with chocolate syrup, rather than pre-mixed chocolate milk from a carton or jug. We found that odd. Not a bad odd, just a different odd :scratchin.


As we entered the restaurant, we immediately noticed the music playing and it created an atmosphere that was very upbeat and fun.....it had virtually the same effect as when you hear the initial sounds of the parade music before the floats appear from the back-stage area. A most excellent host (who was equipped with a microphone) was milling about the rooms keeping a general flow and control over the whole experience, and she did a fabulous job throughout the morning. She had the perfect personality for this task….friendly, energetic, but firm when needed…..and she really helped with the transition periods between character groups. 4 characters appeared at any given time, and when those four swapped out, an additional set was just minutes behind.


Our server had barely disappeared to fetch our beverages when the first of the characters came bouncing over to our table….and much to my delight, it was Kevin the Minion! :hyper:











Let me tell you, this guy was a fan favourite: it was immediately clear that despite an incredible 8 different characters at this breakfast, Gru and his Minion were the stars of the show ::yes::. Kids and adults alike were clamoring for hugs and photos.


I will also mention that there was something else that Universal did for this character meal that I thought was a really nice touch….each character (or pair of characters) toured the restaurant with their own dedicated TM. While this had multiple benefits (including protection of the character itself…..some people just do not set any boundaries for their children, sadly :sad2:) it was particularly nice from a photo standpoint. After capturing pictures with each of the characters individually, the TM offered every single time to get a family shot. So awesome! Wouldn’t it be nice if Disney did the same?





Gru showed up right after Kevin had moved on to the next group of guests, and I have to say…..Gru was a highlight for all of us. His character interaction was simply superb, and was something we will remember fondly for a very long time. Gru, you might be a villain, but we can’t help but love you :love:.











Somewhere along the lines, in the middle of all the fun, we remembered OH YEAH! We’re here to eat :rotfl2:. Before the next characters came dancing over, we sidled up to the buffet to see what was on the menu.





A word of caution that Steve made me promise to extend: see those monitors above the buffet? They pose a hazard to anyone more than 6 feet tall. Steve knocked his head on one so hard that I thought he might be concussed……I felt so bad for the poor guy. Considering at least half of the guests here would be children, and few adult visitors would probably be 6’3, it probably won’t be an issue for most. That said if you’re tall: beware :crazy2:.


The buffet items were limited in comparison to the super-extensive spread at places like 1900 Park Fare, but all the standard favourites were there and everything was being served up fresh and hot in small portions. The chefs were constantly refilling each items so nothing tasted as if it had been sitting around under the heat lamps. We all found lots of stuff we liked and there wasn’t one negative comment among us in regards to taste or quality.








On my second trip up to the buffet, they had a different item that hadn’t been there on the first run-through, but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. I inquired to one of the chefs, who said it was an apple-oatmeal flan, so I thought I’d give it a try (it sounded good to me). It’s the item on the right of this picture:





It was SO GOOD :worship:. I would have seriously eaten an entire plate of these if they had been there on my first run through the line. Something quite different and surprisingly yummy….especially when I don’t normally embrace “different” very easily :rolleyes1.


Once we returned to our seats, Fluffy and EB from HOP were the next to come by for hellos, hugs, and photos.








I seriously have to watch this movie someday. These two bunnies are just the most fun, friendly, playful and energetic pair of characters you will ever meet. I have to also give a HUGE shout out to Fluffy, who captured my heart not just from her interaction with OUR family, but how she handled a young fellow and his mom at the table adjacent to us.





There was an extended family seated next to us, with several sets of parents/grandparents and multiple kids of varying ages (spectacularly behaved with impressive manners, I will add). One little fellow was about 4, and while his siblings and cousins were revelling in the characters as they came by, he was completely overwhelmed and buried his head in his Momma’s shoulder as the tears streamed silently down his face. You could see on his mom’s face that she was crushed: I’m sure she had been eagerly anticipating this experience as well and what a disappointment to see her little one so upset.


Well, poor EB & Fluffy did their level best to engage this little guy but he wasn’t having anything of it…..he kept his arms firmly around his mom’s neck and his shoulders and his face buried from sight. After finishing with photos and autographs with balance of their family members at their table and then making her way around to the other guests in the room, Fluffy returned and gave Momma a much-needed hug from her opposite side. She then quietly pulled up a chair next to where they were sitting, sat herself down, and gently rubbed the little guys back without making so much as a peep. There they sat, with the fun music still playing and all the happy chaos continuing around them, but those three just had a private moment all to themselves. I can only imagine how much Fluffy’s personal attention touched that mother, because the whole exchange nearly squeezed happy tears out of MY heart. So precious :cloud9:.


Speaking of Fluffy, she’s quite a hoot as well. More than once, she would come sneaking up to our table with only me witnessing her approach (Steve and Jake were seated on one side of our table, while I was on the other), motioning to me with a finger to her mouth in an exaggerated “Shhhh!”. Then she’d pop up behind Steve and start massaging his head, or take Jake’s hat and pretend she was going to toss her pink beret and wear his instead. Gru, too, provided us with some impromptu fun moments, and he especially took a shine to Steve’s pin-laded chapeau, helping himself to it from the corner of our table and parading around the restaurant:





The character interaction throughout the whole breakfast was simply amazing. Unlike the Disney breakfasts where the characters generally visit, sign autographs and pose for pictures, and then they’re gone…..the interaction here happened throughout the meal and in a much less formal and much more spontaneous fashion. It was much more than a one-stop-at-your-table experience.....and it quickly vaulted this to our favourite character meal experience, EVER.


At this point in the morning, we were only half way through meeting all the characters who were featured at the event. Part two of the Superstar Character Breakfast to be continued in the next post.
 
Friday, April 29th: Superstar Character Breakfast, continued


When it was time to swap out Gru, Kevin, EB and Fluffy for the next set of characters, the host had everyone wave goodbye to them and readied the crowd to welcome the next round of special guests: Dora, Diego, Spongebob Squarepants and Squidward Tentacles :banana:. Many were sad to see the minion take a break, but she assured everyone that they would return in about 10 minutes for more breakfast fun. During the brief lull between groups of characters, Steve and Jake both took the opportunity to dash up and refill their plates once again. The buffet line was never busy and they were able to go through quickly each time.


Dora was the first of group 2 to visit our table. Now, our trio is pretty far beyond the Dora the Explorer TV show stage, but she was cute and sweet nonetheless. She’s not the reason we would book this breakfast but it was still fun to meet her, and I’m sure small kids would be overjoyed that she was in attendance.








Apparently even Dora the Explorer is taller than me. Sheesh!! :rolleyes2





Diego, not surprisingly, was the next character to drop by. The only one missing was Boots!








Spongebob Squarepants was much more of a hit with Jake, as he often watched that Nickleodeon show with the residents at the group home he worked at. He didn’t need any coaxing to join in for photos with this guy:





Spongebob was actually a lot of fun. Every once in a while, the music would pick up to something really catchy and he’s just start dancing in the middle of the restaurant. The host would excitedly announce that it was a “dance break!” and all the kids got up and danced right along with him :dancer:. It was fun to watch and the kids had a ball.








Our server returned with fresh refills of milk during one of these little sessions, and happily chimed in with a delighted “Yay! It’s a Dance Break! I love those!” as she deposited our full glasses on the table and cleared the others away with a grin. She, too, danced her way back to the kitchen to the beat of the music and left us smiling at her enthusiasm.





Squidward Tentacles was our last character of the morning, and the boys quite enjoyed this opportunity to meet him :). Steve was happy to strike a serious pose with the equally serious Squidward :smooth::





Of course, you know how this is going to go…..like father, like son :cool::





I tried to make him smile, but alas….it didn’t work. Unless, of course, he was smiling on the INSIDE…yeah, that’s it ;).








After the last character had left, our server dropped by to encourage us to relax and enjoy as much more from the buffet as we wanted or more time with the characters as they milled about. She assured us there was no rush to leave and to take as much time as we wanted. We did sit for a while longer to let our breakfast settle a bit before heading out to enjoy the rest of the park, and while we lounged I squeezed in one last opportunity for a hug from Kevin…...because you can’t get enough minion love :blush::





I can’t say enough positive things about this meal…..we loved everything about it from the food to the character interaction to the atmosphere :worship:. Even as three adults with no kids, it was a highlight of our vacation: and that’s saying something, because we did a ton of awesome stuff over the course of our 10 day trip. All in all, we couldn’t have picked a more amazing way to kick off our final day of fun at Universal…..and we would absolutely, positively recommend it for anyone seeking a character dining experience as part of their Universal vacation.




Note…..I do see that the price has increased substantially since we were there in April. Our tickets were $25.99 each, while current pricing on the Universal website is $34.99. That’s a really steep increase. At $25.99, it was a great value…..at the new higher cost…..well…..that seems like a LOT.
 


Great review! Thinking of doing this on our next trip. The website states it includes access to an exclusive viewing area for the parade. Did you take advantage of this? If so, was it a good viewing area for the parade? Thanks :)
 


Great review! Thinking of doing this on our next trip. The website states it includes access to an exclusive viewing area for the parade. Did you take advantage of this? If so, was it a good viewing area for the parade? Thanks :)

Yes, I totally forgot to mention that access to a reserved parade viewing area was also included with the breakfast. It had to be used on the same day of the breakfast and was in the New York area, if I remember correctly. A separate "ticket" was issued for this. We had caught the parade earlier on our visit so we didn't take advantage of that perk, but it was definitely provided.
 
Great review. I'll have a 10th birthday for my daughter coming up on our trip in August. This may be an option as a special experience for the day.

Unfortunately turning 10 means she's an adult in theme park terms and paying that adult price at a buffet is not a great value for her.

Regardless, this review and the pictures really helps to get a sense of what the experience is. Thanks for posting it.
 
Great review. I'll have a 10th birthday for my daughter coming up on our trip in August. This may be an option as a special experience for the day.

Unfortunately turning 10 means she's an adult in theme park terms and paying that adult price at a buffet is not a great value for her.

Regardless, this review and the pictures really helps to get a sense of what the experience is. Thanks for posting it.

Have the breakfast the day before her birthday! :)
 
It's really under-rated, even with the recent price increase. Enjoyed it so much last November, shocked as to the amount of character FaceTime, even got asked to dance with squidward lol.
 
what a fantastic review!!! thank you for sharing this...... I didn't know this existed and I think now we will have to do this for sure. We're huge Despicable Me fans and my daughter is still a huge Spongebob fan. why, I don't know..... :rolleyes1 but this looks like a great time!
 
Have the breakfast the day before her birthday! :)

Good suggestion. I'm using a child multi-day ticket for her since we'll be starting our visit on the day before she turns 10, so this would certainly make sense too.

I've noticed that the price for this character breakfast is actually more than most of the WDW character meals. In fact I could go later in the trip when we are moving to WDW, pay the adult price for her and still pay about the same cost overall for our 3 person group compared with paying the child price for one of us. I guess the Universal breakfast comes with the reserved area for the parade later, but I'm not sure how much value there is in that or if it makes a difference in the parade viewing.

So many choices and variables....
 
it was a great breakfast at the price before the increase.

for what they charge now, not worth it unless your main intent is to see the characters and get pictures of them.
 
Good suggestion. I'm using a child multi-day ticket for her since we'll be starting our visit on the day before she turns 10, so this would certainly make sense too.

I've noticed that the price for this character breakfast is actually more than most of the WDW character meals. In fact I could go later in the trip when we are moving to WDW, pay the adult price for her and still pay about the same cost overall for our 3 person group compared with paying the child price for one of us. I guess the Universal breakfast comes with the reserved area for the parade later, but I'm not sure how much value there is in that or if it makes a difference in the parade viewing.

So many choices and variables....

We didn't bother with the parade viewing area, never an issue to have nice walk up viewing areas in less crowded spots. An advantage on holidays, etc.

Have you priced them out recently? Pricing comparison depends on the buffet @ WDW, quite the range there. Off top of my head, Donald's Safari & Cape May breakfast likely lower, Crystal Palace & Chef Mickey's probably in same ballpark. If you throw in the princesses all bets out the window as in CRT & Arkeheus (which I feel is better value than CRT btw). Let me toss in how breakfast with no characters @ BoG is $24 +. Yikes. Only worth it for a jump start into the park IMO.

The allure of LaBamba is it's rarely crowded & has superb character interaction (the only reason I'd ever bother with an over-priced breakfast in the parks). We laughed that we almost had to shoo them away so we could eat. Food is certainly more limited than WDW breakfast buffets but adequate.

Bottom line is the kiddos usually are the ones clamoring for character meals, wise to just let them call the shots & pick one within your price-range and smile, even though it may hurt $-wise lol. One and done is my new mantra with GD unless I'm feeling it since it seems to often be the same food on the Disney character buffets (other than Arkeheus yum)
 
Friday, April 29th: Superstar Character Breakfast, continued


When it was time to swap out Gru, Kevin, EB and Fluffy for the next set of characters, the host had everyone wave goodbye to them and readied the crowd to welcome the next round of special guests: Dora, Diego, Spongebob Squarepants and Squidward Tentacles :banana:. Many were sad to see the minion take a break, but she assured everyone that they would return in about 10 minutes for more breakfast fun. During the brief lull between groups of characters, Steve and Jake both took the opportunity to dash up and refill their plates once again. The buffet line was never busy and they were able to go through quickly each time.


Dora was the first of group 2 to visit our table. Now, our trio is pretty far beyond the Dora the Explorer TV show stage, but she was cute and sweet nonetheless. She’s not the reason we would book this breakfast but it was still fun to meet her, and I’m sure small kids would be overjoyed that she was in attendance.








Apparently even Dora the Explorer is taller than me. Sheesh!! :rolleyes2





Diego, not surprisingly, was the next character to drop by. The only one missing was Boots!








Spongebob Squarepants was much more of a hit with Jake, as he often watched that Nickleodeon show with the residents at the group home he worked at. He didn’t need any coaxing to join in for photos with this guy:





Spongebob was actually a lot of fun. Every once in a while, the music would pick up to something really catchy and he’s just start dancing in the middle of the restaurant. The host would excitedly announce that it was a “dance break!” and all the kids got up and danced right along with him :dancer:. It was fun to watch and the kids had a ball.








Our server returned with fresh refills of milk during one of these little sessions, and happily chimed in with a delighted “Yay! It’s a Dance Break! I love those!” as she deposited our full glasses on the table and cleared the others away with a grin. She, too, danced her way back to the kitchen to the beat of the music and left us smiling at her enthusiasm.





Squidward Tentacles was our last character of the morning, and the boys quite enjoyed this opportunity to meet him :). Steve was happy to strike a serious pose with the equally serious Squidward :smooth::





Of course, you know how this is going to go…..like father, like son :cool::





I tried to make him smile, but alas….it didn’t work. Unless, of course, he was smiling on the INSIDE…yeah, that’s it ;).








After the last character had left, our server dropped by to encourage us to relax and enjoy as much more from the buffet as we wanted or more time with the characters as they milled about. She assured us there was no rush to leave and to take as much time as we wanted. We did sit for a while longer to let our breakfast settle a bit before heading out to enjoy the rest of the park, and while we lounged I squeezed in one last opportunity for a hug from Kevin…...because you can’t get enough minion love :blush::





I can’t say enough positive things about this meal…..we loved everything about it from the food to the character interaction to the atmosphere :worship:. Even as three adults with no kids, it was a highlight of our vacation: and that’s saying something, because we did a ton of awesome stuff over the course of our 10 day trip. All in all, we couldn’t have picked a more amazing way to kick off our final day of fun at Universal…..and we would absolutely, positively recommend it for anyone seeking a character dining experience as part of their Universal vacation.




Note…..I do see that the price has increased substantially since we were there in April. Our tickets were $25.99 each, while current pricing on the Universal website is $34.99. That’s a really steep increase. At $25.99, it was a great value…..at the new higher cost…..well…..that seems like a LOT.


Thanks so much for your very detailed review! Are pancakes and eggs the only main dishes? I'm considering cancelling an O'hana for this so I'm kinda torn. Thanks again!!!!
 
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Thanks so much for your very detailed review! Are pancakes and eggs the only main dishes? I'm considering cancelling an O'hana for this so I'm kinda torn. Thanks again!!!!

You will get more food choices here than at Ohana, and a totally different experience. Ohana is not a standard buffet (its served family style to your table) so your platter is limited to the standard items offered. The Superstar breakfast has more choices because its a more typical buffet, but far less variety than similarly-styled meals such as 1900 Park Fare at Disney.

Honestly, we love both Ohana and the Superstar Breakfast. The food was good at both places. I like Ohana's family-style serving (since you don't need to get up and down to get your food) but Superstar had way more characters. Both are LOTS of fun. Parking is free at Ohana and you don't need Disney park admission, where parking is an additional cost at Universal (unless you are an annual passholder) and you need park admission to access the restaurant. I would pick whichever one has the characters you like best and go from there.
 
I would cancel ohana adr in a heart beat for UO character breakfast

So much different totally!
 
You will get more food choices here than at Ohana, and a totally different experience. Ohana is not a standard buffet (its served family style to your table) so your platter is limited to the standard items offered. The Superstar breakfast has more choices because its a more typical buffet, but far less variety than similarly-styled meals such as 1900 Park Fare at Disney.

Honestly, we love both Ohana and the Superstar Breakfast. The food was good at both places. I like Ohana's family-style serving (since you don't need to get up and down to get your food) but Superstar had way more characters. Both are LOTS of fun. Parking is free at Ohana and you don't need Disney park admission, where parking is an additional cost at Universal (unless you are an annual passholder) and you need park admission to access the restaurant. I would pick whichever one has the characters you like best and go from there.

Thanks for your response! We weren't originally planning on going to US on the particular day we have our Ohana reservation. Now that it's a consideration, we thought it might be a nice change (we've gone to Ohana EVERY year for the past 4 years!) And don't get me wrong, I LOVE Ohana breakfast, but the thought of having to leave US to go to our 11:45 ADR and driving back to US doesn't sound fun! lol that's when I started looking at US character breakfast!

I was happy to read your review saying how good the food was, and character interaction was great! Can you please tell me what else was offered other than what's shown? (If any). Just trying to convince my DH it's a good move! Thanks!!!!!
 

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