Disney Wish Breakfast and Lunch Guide for Families with Young Kids
My family recently returned from sailing on the Disney Wish. At the time of our cruise, our kids were 5 and 2 ½ years old, and like many young kids, they can be extremely picky eaters. One of the things I worry about most when we travel is whether we’ll be able to find foods they’ll actually eat while we’re away.
Before our cruise, I spent a lot of time looking into the dining options available on the Disney Wish so I knew what to expect. We planned to enjoy the rotational dining restaurants for dinner, (you can read more about how Disney Cruise Line rotational dining works here), but I wasn’t as sure about our options for breakfast and lunch.
Thankfully, the Disney Wish offers several complimentary breakfast and lunch options ranging from quick-service favorites to a quieter sit-down meal that many first-time cruisers don’t realize is available. In this post, I’ll share the breakfast and lunch locations we tried, what worked well for our family, and a few tips for dining on the Disney Wish with toddlers and preschoolers.
Breakfast on the Disney Wish
When you’re traveling with toddlers and preschoolers, getting a good breakfast to start the day can make all the difference. If your kids are picky eaters like mine, breakfast can also be the most challenging meal to figure out.
The good news is that there are several different breakfast options on the Disney Wish. We found ourselves choosing different locations depending on what we had planned for the day. Some worked better when we wanted to get moving quickly, while others were worth slowing down for.
Here’s what we tried during our sailing and how each option worked for our family.
Marceline Market
Marceline Market is located on Deck 11 and offers a buffet-style breakfast. There is seating inside Marceline Market, but if you arrive during popular breakfast times, it can be difficult to find an open table.
There are a variety of options available including classics like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and Mickey Waffles, along with fresh fruit, pastries, oatmeal, an omelette station, and more. Some offerings can be found every day, while others change from day to day. There are also beverage stations inside with juice, soda, tea, and coffee. For our family, this ended up being one of the biggest advantages of Marceline Market. With two picky eaters, it was helpful to have so many choices in one place. There was usually something everyone was willing to eat, even if it wasn’t the same thing.
One special breakfast item to keep an eye out for is the Mickey churro waffle. These are typically only available in Marceline Market on the last full day of your cruise. They’re the same shape as a regular Mickey waffle, but made with churro batter and covered in cinnamon and sugar. They are easily one of my favorite breakfast items and something we look forward to on each of our Disney Cruises. They are definitely worth trying during your trip.
Marceline Market is quite large and actually has more than one of each counter in an effort to reduce lines. If you continue walking through the entire restaurant, you’ll find the same options repeated again. This helps spread guests throughout the space and keeps the lines moving.
Even during busier times, we never waited more than a few minutes for food. Finding a table inside Marceline Market was usually more challenging than getting through the serving lines.
To avoid that problem, if we found ourselves eating around 8:00 or 8:30 AM, which seemed to be the time everyone else chose to eat as well, we would skip looking for a table inside Marceline Market altogether and head straight to the seating areas on Deck 11. While those tables aren’t air conditioned, we had an easier time finding a place to sit, and most tables have great ocean views. We usually stayed close to the Marceline Market entrance in case someone wanted to go back for seconds or grab something else.
Overall, Marceline Market ended up being our go-to breakfast option on the Disney Wish. The variety made it easy to accommodate our picky eaters, and we never had trouble finding something everyone was excited to eat before starting our day.
Continental Breakfast Delivered to Your Stateroom
After visiting Marceline Market on our first island day, we decided to try the complimentary continental breakfast on our Lookout Cay day. We thought having breakfast delivered to our stateroom might be a good way to avoid some of the breakfast crowds and get a quicker start to the morning.
Ordering it was really simple. Disney leaves an order card in your stateroom that you fill out the night before. You can choose from items like fruit, pastries, toast, bagels, cereal, juice, milk, coffee, and tea, then select a delivery window for the next morning. We hung our card outside the door before bed and breakfast arrived right on time.
For our family, it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. The portions are fairly small, and there aren’t any hot food options available. My kids weren’t interested in trying the fruit, muffins, or pastries, which honestly wasn’t a huge surprise. With picky eaters, breakfast can already be a challenge, and I knew we’d have better luck finding something they would eat elsewhere on the ship.
That said, I can definitely see why some families enjoy this option. If you’re someone who likes starting the day with coffee or tea, it would be nice to have breakfast delivered and enjoy a quiet morning on your verandah. I could also see it working well as something to hold everyone over while you’re getting ready for the day, especially if your kids wake up early and need a snack before heading to a larger breakfast.
I’m glad we tried it because the process was incredibly easy and convenient. It just wasn’t quite enough to be a complete breakfast for our family, and we ultimately ended up stopping at Marceline Market afterward anyway.
Complimentary Sit-Down Breakfast at 1923
On our first Disney Cruise, I had no idea that one of the rotational dining restaurants offered a complimentary sit-down breakfast. It’s not something Disney really highlights, and I think a lot of cruisers miss it. After learning about it later, I made a note to try it on our next sailing. On the Disney Wish, breakfast is offered at 1923.
There are no reservations required. Simply check the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app for the breakfast hours and head to the restaurant during the serving window. A Cast Member will seat you when you arrive.
For our family, the biggest advantage was the atmosphere. Instead of searching for a table or carrying plates through a busy buffet, we could sit down, relax, and have breakfast brought to us. We actually visited 1923 during a popular breakfast time when we likely would have had trouble finding a table at Marceline Market, but we were seated immediately, even with a group of seven people.
The menu offers a variety of breakfast favorites including eggs, waffles, French toast, omelets, fruit, oatmeal, and more. Many of the meals can be customized, which was helpful with our kids. We ordered chocolate chip pancakes, Mickey waffles, and French toast, and the chocolate chip pancakes were a huge hit.
We chose to have breakfast here on our day at sea when we weren’t in a rush to get anywhere. It ended up being a relaxing way to start the morning before exploring the ship. They can also provide booster seats and high chairs if needed, and there’s space to park strollers outside the restaurant so you don’t have to return to your stateroom afterward.
Of all the breakfast options we tried on the Disney Wish, this was probably the one that surprised me the most. If you have the time to slow down and enjoy a sit-down meal, I definitely recommend giving it a try.
Lunch on the Disney Wish
Lunch ended up being one of my favorite meals on the Disney Wish. Between Marceline Market and Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods, there were so many different options to choose from. We often found ourselves coming back to the ship hungry after spending the morning exploring Castaway Cay or Lookout Cay, and it was nice knowing everyone could find something they wanted to eat.
We tried a few different lunch options during our sailing. My picky eaters were happiest with pizza, but there were plenty of choices available no matter what everyone in your group was craving.
Marceline Market
Similar to breakfast, Marceline Market also offers a buffet-style lunch. It’s a popular spot, so you may have to spend a few minutes looking for an open table, but we actually found it slightly easier to find seating at lunch than we did during breakfast. Our group of seven was able to grab a large corner booth without too much trouble.
One of the things I liked most about Marceline Market was the variety. There are familiar options like chicken tenders and fries, mac and cheese, pasta dishes, and plenty of desserts, along with other offerings that change from day to day. Whether you have picky eaters who want something familiar or family members who enjoy trying new foods, there are usually plenty of choices available.
The chicken tenders were especially popular with our group and are a Disney Cruise Line favorite for a reason. There are also lots of desserts available, including cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats if you’re looking for something after your meal.
One of the things to keep in mind is that not every food option on Deck 11 is located inside Marceline Market. When we ate lunch there, there wasn’t any pizza available inside the buffet. Instead, we grabbed pizza from Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods and brought it back to our table for the kids. It’s nice having the option to mix and match from different places to find something that everyone enjoys.
Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods
Located on Deck 11, Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods features several different quick-service food locations, each with its own menu and theme. There are tables located around Deck 11 on both sides of the ship, making it easy to grab food and enjoy it by the pools or while watching a movie on Funnel Vision.
During our sailing, these were the available food locations and operating hours:
Daisy’s Pizza Pies(Open from 10:45 AM - 6:00 PM; 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM)
Offers a variety of pizzas, with cheese and pepperoni being the most popular. This was easily my kids’ favorite lunch option and they ate pizza almost every day of our cruise. The late-night hours are also nice because pizza isn’t available through room service.
Donald’s Cantina(Open from 10:45 AM - 6:00 PM)
Offers build-your-own burritos and rice bowls with a variety of proteins and toppings. This ended up being my favorite lunch option during the trip. It had a little bit of spice without being overwhelming.
Goofy’s Grill(Open from 10:45 AM - 10:00 PM)
Serves family favorites like burgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs, and fries. Some items, like the burgers, are made to order, so they can take a few extra minutes compared to some of the other locations.
Mickey’s Smokestack Barbeque
We didn’t have a chance to try this one during our cruise, but it offered options like ribs, pulled pork, cornbread, and baked beans.
Sweet Minnie’s Ice Cream(Open from 10:45 AM - 10:30 PM)
Serves soft-serve ice cream in a cup or cone. They offer favorites like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, along with occasional rotating flavors. During our cruise, we tried a blueberry flavor that was surprisingly delicious. Unlike on the Disney Fantasy where guests serve themselves, a Cast Member serves the ice cream on the Disney Wish.
Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods ended up being our favorite lunch option on the Disney Wish. My kids could grab pizza from Daisy’s Pizza Pies while the adults tried completely different foods from the other locations, and we could all still eat together. With picky eaters, that flexibility was hard to beat.
We also loved how convenient it was when spending time on Deck 11. We could grab lunch, watch a movie on Funnel Vision, spend some time in the pools, and then grab ice cream before moving on to our next activity. It became one of our favorite parts of the day.
Another advantage is the operating hours. Marceline Market is typically only open for lunch from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM, while many of the Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods locations open earlier and stay open much later. If you’re returning from an excursion, working around a nap schedule, or simply have hungry kids before noon, having those additional options can be really helpful.
There are also beverage stations nearby that offer water, soda, iced tea, lemonade, coffee, and more. One of our best tips is to bring a refillable water bottle and refill it throughout the day. We often stopped by the beverage stations to get some water when heading back to our stateroom for the evening.
Note: Restaurant hours can change from sailing to sailing. These were the hours during our cruise, but be sure to check the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app for the most up-to-date information during your trip.
Room Service
Disney Cruise Line offers complimentary room service 24 hours a day, making it another convenient dining option for families.
While we didn’t use room service for lunch, I could see why some families might choose to. If you’re looking for a quieter afternoon after a busy morning on one of Disney’s island destinations, or you’re trying to work around a nap schedule, having food delivered directly to your stateroom can be a great option.
We tended to order room service later in the day, and our experience was always very positive. There’s a menu available in the Navigator app if you scroll all the way to the end of the dining options. Once you’ve decided what you’d like, simply use the phone in your stateroom to place your order. We found that our food typically arrived in about 30 minutes.
The menu includes a variety of options such as salads, burgers, sandwiches, chicken tenders, and more. There are even a few dessert options, including chocolate chip cookies that are different from the ones typically available in places like Marceline Market.
Most room service items are included with your cruise, although some specialty items are available for an additional charge. While room service is complimentary, it is customary to tip the Cast Member who delivers your order.
Disney Wish Breakfast and Lunch Key Takeaways:
Best breakfast for picky eaters: Marceline Market
Most underrated breakfast: 1923 sit-down breakfast
Best breakfast treat: Mickey churro waffles
Most convenient breakfast: Continental breakfast delivery
Best lunch option: Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods
Kids’ favorite lunch: Daisy’s Pizza Pies
Best dining strategy: Mix and match locations
Best use for room service: naps, quiet afternoons, late night snack
Best packing tip: Bring a refillable water bottle
Final Thoughts
Between the different dining locations, operating hours, and room service, it was easy to find something that worked for whatever our day looked like. Whether we were trying to get off the ship early for a day on the island, enjoy a relaxing breakfast at 1923, or grab a quick lunch between activities, there was always a convenient option available.
One final tip I’d give families traveling with young kids is to bring a few familiar snacks from home. Disney Cruise Line allows you to bring unopened, non-perishable food in your carry-on bag, and having a few guaranteed favorites gave me peace of mind. Sometimes toddlers decide they love a food one day and refuse to touch it the next, and I liked knowing I always had a backup plan if needed.
Thankfully, we didn’t need the backup snacks very often. The variety of food options on the Disney Wish made it easy to find something everyone was happy to eat, while flexible dining hours helped us fit meals around our plans instead of the other way around. While every family is different, we found plenty of options that worked for us and I hope your family discovers a few favorites of their own.