First timers ADR's now updated thanks to TGM!

[thefaultline]

Well, thanks to my tgm membership I've changed things a bit and now have a few days with no adr's.

8/10 - Sunday - Lunch at POP, Dinner Chef Mickey's @ 5;30PM, Nighttime visit to MK for parades and fireworks if we are up to it.

8/11 - Monday - Epcot day - Dinner at Coral reef @ 4:40PM

8/12 - Tuesday - Hollywood studio's day - Mama Melrose @ 5:10 for dinner, Fantasmic package.

8/13 - Wednesday - Magic Kingdom Day - Breakfast at Ohanna @ 8:30am.

8/14 - Thursday - DS has the pirate cruise at the GF between 9am - 12pm. Breakfast at Kona for me at 10:00AM OPP The rest of this day will be spent at epcot or h.s depending on DS response to those parks. Dinner @ MK in the Chrystal Palace 5:10pm - will consider changing this


8/15 - Friday - Animal Kingdom Day - Dinner @ Whispering canyon Cafe 6:50pm adr.- will consider changing this adr

8/16 - Saturday - MK day Dinner @ Liberty Tree Tavern 6:55PM. - will consider changing this adr


8/17 - Sunday - we leave extra early.. so breakfast at the airport it will be !

[GatorLady]

The first thing you should do is go to allears.net where you will find all the menus and pricing. That's the only way you will actually know if the DDP will work for you. You will just need to do the math. Remember when you compare, you need to look at how you and your son would actually eat, as if there wasn't a plan to compare to.

There is a lot to choose from! Maybe pick some restaurants that look good to you and come back here for advice. Keep in mind everyone likes different things for different reasons. I wouldn't wait long before trying to make some reservations, you can always make changes if you need to.

Try not to feel overwhelmed. Some of us here think planning is part of the fun.:)

[kmurawski]

Definitely do Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. You'll love it!

[CJ]

What many people recommend is saving the Magic Kingdom and seeing the other parks first. The reason being that after MK, your son might be disappointed with anything else.

Unless both you and your son are big eaters, I would think twice about the dining plan. Disney portions tend to be huge! You might be able to share some meals for sure. I know when my children were seven, their appetites weren't huge and the kid's meals are certainly not expensive. If you plan to do a lot of "set price" places (ie buffets, character meals), I would still price it out beforehand to see if the DDP is cost efficient.

My kids favorite TS places to eat when they were little were the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner, Prime Time Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Crystal Palace (if your DS likes Pooh characters), San Angel Inn in Mexico, and Teppanyaki in Japan.

Counter service: Cosmic Ray's (Sunny Eclipse is fun), Casey's, Toy Story Pizza Planet, Pizzafari, and any stand with Mickey & Minnie bars!;)

If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to help but my DS is already 25 and DD is almost 22. But our very first trip was when she was 7 as well!

[crazykids]

I don't understand why people keep saying the dining plan is too much food - you get lunch, dinner, & a snack? :confused3 The kids DDP is only $10/day, I would think that you'd end up paying way more than that if you chose to go out of pocket. The only credits we ever have left over is the snacks & that's because dessert comes w/ each meal & we're really not hungry after that for another snack. We end up using these credits for bottles of water & items to bring home for souveniers. Another fun way to burn those snack credits w/ kids is the "make your own snack" at Goofy's Candy Co. at Downtown Disney. I always try to make at least one trip here w/ the kids on each trip.

As to your original question - my kid's favorite character meals are Crystal Palace & Chef Mickey, both have similar food just different characters. As a suggestion, when I plan out our dining, I first look at the park hours & try to figure out which parks I want to visit each day. I'll then try to plan restaurants either in that particular park or a nearby resort. If not, you'll find yourself running all over the place trying to get to restaurants & waste valuable park time.

[Aliceacc]

This is my first trip since 1990, so take it for what it's worth. But here are my August ADRs-- all at around 5 pm, after a mid afternoon dip in the pool. Oh, and we're on the dining plan too:)

-arrival day: Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary (easy to reach by monorail from Magic Kingdom)

-The Coral Reef in Epcot (gorgeous aquarium fills one entire wall)

-Fantasmic Dinner Package @ Hollywood & Vine in HS

-Cinderella Gala at 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian--easily reachable by monorail from MK)

-Le Cellier in Epcot (great steaks for my son, to make up for Cinderella dinner)

'Ohana in the Polynesian (easily reachable by monorail, sounds like a lot of fun.)

Hope that helps a bit!

[christa112]

Our favs are. We have 3 children 9, 7 & 4

Chef Mickey's--(Contemporary)
Donald's Breakfast--Tusker House (Animal Kingdom)
50's Prime Time (Holywood Studios)
Liberty Tree (MK)

We are trying this time around:

Whispering Canyon
Beaches and Cream.

[deslynnpatterson]

We have our ADRS for Sept booked-- i hope this might help i will explain what each restaurant is

9/5 Earls of Sandwhich ( counter Service at downtown Disney
9/6 Liberty Tree Tavern ( Character dinning in Magic Kingdom set in the colonial days family style dinning great for kids)
9/7 50's Prime Time ( in Disney Studios a 50 themed restaurant with fun antics)
9/8 Coral Reef ( Epcot dine watching the fishes this is a steak and sea food place)
9/9 Spirit of Aloha show ( this is at the resort poly and is a all you can eat meal served family style and they perform a hawaiian show)
9/10 Sci- Fi dinner ( Disney Stuidos- sit in old fashioned cars and watch old sci-fi movies while you ear)
9/11- Le Cellier ( epcot- a steakhouse in the section of Canada in the countries very good food )
9/12- Mama Melrose ( Disney Stuidos- Italian restaurant that includes a fantasic package if avaliable)
9/13- Garden Grill ( Epcot a restaurant that rotates-- and show you different scenes from the land-- this is a family style meal that is also a character dinner)

Let me know if you need any other help:):)

[Whitaker24]

Where is Chef Mickey? where is contempary(sp)?

I know we will need to make reservations for Chef Mickey, but what about Breakfast with Donald?

thought adult DDP was like $70 a day and Childs was like $35?

[Aliceacc]

Yes, Chef Mickey's is in the Comtemporary.

The regular Dining Plan is $40 per adult, $10 per child. Are you thinking Deluxe?

[Whitaker24]

What is contempary? where is it what park?

We have a 4 year old will be 3 of us all together, we were thinking of doing breakfast in the room some, and planing on 1-3 character dining meals for the kid, one donald breakfast and chef mickey another night and mix an match days.

see if this is close...
2 adults and 1 kid at chef mickeys- $60+25 for kid 85 we woud be better to have meal plan right?

compare the regular plan to deluxe?

[Aliceacc]

The Contemporary is a Deluxe resort. It's on the monorail line, easily reachable from the Magic Kingdom.

You'll have to look at the numbers yourself, but we opted to go on the regular plan-- it would cost your family 40+40+10 or $90 per day. For that, you would receive 1 table service meal (tips NOT included), 1 counter service meal, and one snack. I'm thinking of having breakfast goodies delivered to our room-- Poptarts and juice boxes and donuts type of stuff, in addition to bottled water.

I love the convenience of the meal plan, in addition to all the great restaurants we probably wouldn't bother with if we paid Out of Pocket. Some of the other meals I think we'll enjoy are at the Coral Reef (huge aquarium on one entire wall), 'Ohana (at the Polynesian, also on the monorail line) and the Cinderella dinner at 1900 Park Fare (at the Grand Floridian, also on the monorail line.)

Here's a breakdown of the two dining packages: http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/packages/2008-packages.htm#mypd

This may help you get organized: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1715551

[Whitaker24]

thanks i have read that thread up down and sideways, i think ive got a grasp on the trip planning until my wife starts asking 1000 questions. We were thinking of doing most breakfast in the room ourselves and mostly CS stuff for food but once we get there me might wish we would have went with food plan.

Think we might go with basic DDP and try it the 1st time and see how it goes.

[Aliceacc]

Either way, make advance reservations for any Table Service meals you're thinking of. You can make them 180 days before you arrive. From what I understand, it's incredibly difficult to walk into a Disney restaurant without them.

Here's a link to the character meals: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Just_for_kids/character_dining.cfm

[JennPaMom]

We are going the same time as you are! I also have a son we will be 7 at time of trip. We all enjoyed the Garden Grill in December, the food was great and the character interaction was wonderful. We will be going there again. We also loved the Breakfast w/ Donald at the Tusker House@ AK. We will be trying Liberty Tree and Chef Mickey for the 1st time. HTH.

[donalds girl]

All right everyone,

This will be the first ever trip to Walt Disney World for myself and my then 7 year old son. We are traveling from August 10th - August 17th. Our flight arrives at MCO around 9:30AM on the 10th, and we depart Orlando on the 17th at 8am and will be staying on site at pop.

I am trying to keep this trip a suprise for my son, but don't know if I'll be able to do so :banana:. I know my DS will probably want to visit MK on our first day...but other than that our days are wide open! I would like DS to do the pirate cruise at the grand Floridan once during out trip. We have the dining plan because it seemed like a good idea when I made my reservation..now I'm not so sure.

What I need is someone to plan our reservations!. I love to try all types of food, so I am not real picky, but my son is a cheeseburger, pizza, and hot dog type of kid. We would love to do a few character meals. We are fine with eating late dinners, breakfast will mostly be pop tarts or something, maybe a few late character meals..

Can anyone help a newbie out? I'm feeling overwhelmed here and i know I'm already within the booking period for ADRS.

I'm booking the Deluxe package, it works for us, we're 'Foodies' from NYC. Lots of the better dinning spots take 2 shots at your meal ticket for one meal, because of the price of eating in, say California Grill (one of my fave restaurants in the USA, swear!)
The other booking at The Brown Derby, that's two hits on the punch card, too, so this is worth it for us... I think!

All of the restaurants accomodate kids, even the California Grill (did I say it was on my Top 10 list of Restuarants?). It was a great experience for the kids, and a wonderful time for me and DH...

[dspads]

If I were going with a 7yo boy:

MK - I'd eat a dinner at Tony's, just in time to come out and get a spot for Spectro

AK/DTD - Rain Forest Cafe -although I don't think on the dinning plan

Epcot - If you like Mexican and there is something on the menu he'll eat eat in Mexico! It is a neat atmosphere, like you are outside at night. Great food IMO. Or take a break from EPCOT and walk to Spoodles at the Boardwalk.

DHS - I'd do Sci-Fi because of the cars.

Character meals - I'd do Chef Mickey's for dinner -great dessert bar for kids (and adults) and/or the Ohana Poly breakfast on your way to a park.

Maybe a meal at GF since you'll be there for the pirate cruise.

Have fun!

[thefaultline]

Thank you to everyone for the advice given so far :thumbsup2

I was to book dinner at Chef Mickey's for dinner on the night of the 10th of august at 6:00PM, I also was able to make an adr for coral reef on the 12th of august.

I did weigh the cost of the plan over paying out of pocket and I think that even with adding in a tip for the server, i still come out ahead or just where i would like to be. My son is a picky eater who sometimes just grazes his food, so only paying $10 a day for two of his meals saves me a bit of money, it also will allow us to do character meals that I otherwise would not be able to afford.

So, right now I am also considering placing adr's for:

Le Celler - dinner
Ohanna's - breakfast with lilo and stitch
Liberty Tree Tavern - dinner
Crystal Palace - breakfast
Rain forest Cafe at AK for dinner if it is still on the dining plan? I know its not Disney specific, but I know my DS would love it and we do not have one locally.
Whispering Canyon café - dinner
Sci- Fi dinner
Garden Grill
1900 Park Fare - breakfast

Using table service credits,I believe I get 14TS credits during my stay for myself and 7 for DS? we check in on the 10th and leave very very early [probably a 5:30AM pickup from ME!] on the 17th.

The list I have above puts me over on TS credits, so I'd have to remove a few of the above from my list :sad2:

For my Counter Service choices:

Tusker House -
Pizza Planet -
Cosmic Rays -
Electric Umbrella -
Pecos Bill -
Restaurantosaurus -
Everything Pop food court- breakfast?

I'll be having a package mailed to the hotel with bottles of water and red bull, along with some pop-tart type snacks DS could munch on during the ride to breakfast or between parts.

[tlriv5]

We are going to Chef Mickey's this year for first time and can't wait. We are also going to try Crystal Palace for breakfast (we've done lunch) and 1900 Park Fare (but we will do dinner) and Sci Fi. So, I think those are all great choices.

He will love Coral Reef, nothing better than watching fish and giant turtles swimming around while you eat! We also liked Ohana breakfast and Whispering Canyon! Liberty Tree Tavern was great for character interaction and loved the way they were dressed, not our favorite food though. But I'm glad we went. I know you all are going to have a great time! I was overwhelmed our last trip too, it was our first time also. I'm still a little overwhelmed planning our second trip. There are too many good/fun places to eat. Oh, and I don't believe Rainforest Cafe is on the dining plan. It is fun, but they do have those other place besides disney, so I would find another disney restaurant.

[thefaultline]

I think I have everything planned now..:rotfl:

ADRs as of 04/06

8/10 - Chef Mickey's - 5:30PM
8/11 - 50's Prime Time Cafe - 6:05PM
8/12 - Mama Melrose - 5:10PM Fantasmic Dinner Package
8/13 - Ohanna's - 8:30AM / Coral Reef - 4:50PM
8/14 - DS Pirate Cruise at GF 9:30AM / Crystal Palace - 5:10PM
8/15 - Whispering canyon Cafe - 6:05PM
8/16 - Liberty tree tavern - 6:55PM

I know I have one TS meal too many for my dining credits, but I figure I can pay OOP for 50's prime time, though I may cancel that ADR.. I have two dinners at Hollywood studios back to back and am not sure how that will work when I'm actually at WDW!

And a question for everyone here... while DS is on his Pirate Cruise, would I be able to grab breakfast at Kona? or would attempting to book an appointment at the spa at the grand Floridan be a easier idea? The cruise is only 2 hours.

[Nancyg56]

Where is Chef Mickey? where is contempary(sp)?

I know we will need to make reservations for Chef Mickey, but what about Breakfast with Donald?

thought adult DDP was like $70 a day and Childs was like $35?

I know that you did not ask but I would suggest that you pick up a guide book or sign up for Tour Guide Mike before your trip. I was able to get so much information here on the DIS but I also was able to visualize it all by using The Unofficial Guide and the Passporter. Too much had changed from our last trip which had occurred 18 years prior for me to be able to plan without them. Have a great time!

[thefaultline]

Updated on page 1

*bump*