• Controversial Topics
    Several months ago, I added a private sub-forum to allow members to discuss these topics without fear of infractions or banning. It's opt-in, opt-out. Corey Click Here

Help me narrow down these ADRs

I was wondering if you could share some of the logic behind why you chose the restaurants you did. It would better inform my suggestions for which ones you should sacrifice, if it comes to that, but let's hope it doesn't.

Sure!! With Hoop De Doo it just seemed like classic disney and I thought my DH and kids would enjoy the show. With Prime Time I thought it seemed to get pretty good reviews and very interactive. For Sci-Fi, I thought the kids would get a kick out of the cars however I was kind if concerned that the old movies would freak out DD. Cape May, convenience since we r at BC and the characters seemed cute. 1900 PF just because my DD loves the step sisters.

I am leaning towards ditching Sci Fi and 1900 at this point. I am open to other suggestions as well.

We are not hard to please or too picky when it comes to food.

Thanks
 
50's is a very good and cheap, by Disney standards, TS lunch.
I didn't care for the 1900's PF breakfast. Haven't done lunch.
Haven't done Sci Fi.
Love HDD. I'm not sure about the seating category/time available with the dining plan, though.
Cape May is great for a buffet dinner. Haven't done breakfast.

We also like Boma for dinner. Kouzzina is just over at the Boardwalk and very good, too. Flying Fish is fantastic.

If you are taking the free dining discount instead of a resort discount, your best bang for the buck will be to do some dinner buffets with those four adults and a child instead of breakfasts. Otherwise, you'll want to look closely at the numbers.
 
Is 1900 Park Fare open for lunch? :confused3 I didn't think that it was.

Here goes (not in any particular order)

Sci Fi - lunch
Prime time - lunch
1900 Park Fare - lunch
Hoop De Doo revue - dinner
Camp May - breakfast

I originally wanted Chef Mickeys for breakfast and BOG but didn't get either of those.

Thanks for your help!:thumbsup2 Also, I am up for suggestions or opinions on any others.
 
50's is a very good and cheap, by Disney standards, TS lunch.
I didn't care for the 1900's PF breakfast. Haven't done lunch.
Haven't done Sci Fi.
Love HDD. I'm not sure about the seating category/time available with the dining plan, though.
Cape May is great for a buffet dinner. Haven't done breakfast.

We also like Boma for dinner. Kouzzina is just over at the Boardwalk and very good, too. Flying Fish is fantastic.

If you are taking the free dining discount instead of a resort discount, your best bang for the buck will be to do some dinner buffets with those four adults and a child instead of breakfasts. Otherwise, you'll want to look closely at the numbers.

Thanks! :)

Is 1900 Park Fare open for lunch? :confused3 I didn't think that it was.

Yep, you're right....Dinner for 1900 (not lunch):thumbsup2
 


Sure!! With Hoop De Doo it just seemed like classic disney and I thought my DH and kids would enjoy the show. With Prime Time I thought it seemed to get pretty good reviews and very interactive. For Sci-Fi, I thought the kids would get a kick out of the cars however I was kind if concerned that the old movies would freak out DD. Cape May, convenience since we r at BC and the characters seemed cute. 1900 PF just because my DD loves the step sisters.

I am leaning towards ditching Sci Fi and 1900 at this point. I am open to other suggestions as well.

We are not hard to please or too picky when it comes to food.

Thanks

I have never done Hoop De Doo, but if you are looking for classic Disney I agree it is a good choice.

I asked for additional information about your choices because I think each selection you have made has different strong points. For example, Prime Time is a very good themed meal with the potential for some fun cast member interaction. That being said, you're not guaranteed great server interaction. Whispering Canyon and Prime Time both rely on a great server who is on their game to pull off that extra magic. On my last trip, the Whispering Canyon server was just so-so and the Prime Time server was great. The trip before, it was reversed. If you are looking just to try a meal with a server driven experience and you are trying to keep the actual price tag on the meal down, then consider Whispering Canyon Cafe for Breakfast. Entrees range $10 to $15 at Whispering Canyon Breakfast vs. $15 to $20 at Prime Time. I am not saying the restaurants are just alike or that Prime Time isn't worth the price tag. But if you end up not doing the dining plan and need to keep your table service within a budget, this might be a way to get in more dining experiences while staying in budget.

Another suggestion would be to share meals at Prime Time and Sci Fi. Portions tend to be generous and most families won't clean their plates if everyone orders a meal. So if you want to maximize the number of restaurants you visit and minimize the hit to your wallet. Maybe consider splitting entrees at each restaurant, so you can keep both in your plan. Another suggestion would be to visit one restaurant or both for a snack only. For example, go to Prime Time and split a shake and dessert. You do not have to order a full meal. This lets you keep the experience in your itinerary without blowing the budget.

Sci Fi is a neat restaurant. If you are looking for burgers and not sick of them or hugely opposed to Disney burgers, then the themeing makes up for alot. Personally, I cannot stand the food. But I am a little more picky and you said you tend to be laid back. I like burgers, but the ones I have had there just weren't good enough to justify the cost. That being said. I make reservations for this restaurant every trip. I won't order a meal but it is great for a milk shake and the appetizers tend to be pretty good. But even more than the themeing or the food, the cold dark restaurant is a welcome relief from the Florida heat and a tough day of touring. I think this experience does more to recharge your batteries than Prime Time does. However, Prime Time's food is much better.

The old movies are clips and the effects are so bad and they jump around so much, I think your daughter will be fine. If you are worried, you can go on you tube and show her some of the clips before you go and see how she handles it. If it freaks her out, then definitely skip this restaurant until she is a little older.

I have never been to Cape May, but if you are looking for a convenient character breakfast, I think you have made a good choice.

1900 Park Fare Dinner is expensive. However, since you mentioned your daughter loves the step sisters specifically, then I would consider leaving it in. The reason being that the characters your children react to are the pictures and the memories that you will treasure the most. So if your kids aren't crazy about Mickey Mouse, I would drop Cape May before dropping 1900 Park Fare. Mickey is all over the parks, you can get pics with the Fab 5 if you want them. The step sister's are a little harder to find and so I think you will treasure that experience just a little bit more.

So my recommendation for the chopping block would be Cape May. And then share or just do snacks at Prime Time and Sci Fi.

Hope this helps and that I didn't just confuse you more.
 
I have never done Hoop De Doo, but if you are looking for classic Disney I agree it is a good choice.

I asked for additional information about your choices because I think each selection you have made has different strong points. For example, Prime Time is a very good themed meal with the potential for some fun cast member interaction. That being said, you're not guaranteed great server interaction. Whispering Canyon and Prime Time both rely on a great server who is on their game to pull off that extra magic. On my last trip, the Whispering Canyon server was just so-so and the Prime Time server was great. The trip before, it was reversed. If you are looking just to try a meal with a server driven experience and you are trying to keep the actual price tag on the meal down, then consider Whispering Canyon Cafe for Breakfast. Entrees range $10 to $15 at Whispering Canyon Breakfast vs. $15 to $20 at Prime Time. I am not saying the restaurants are just alike or that Prime Time isn't worth the price tag. But if you end up not doing the dining plan and need to keep your table service within a budget, this might be a way to get in more dining experiences while staying in budget.

Another suggestion would be to share meals at Prime Time and Sci Fi. Portions tend to be generous and most families won't clean their plates if everyone orders a meal. So if you want to maximize the number of restaurants you visit and minimize the hit to your wallet. Maybe consider splitting entrees at each restaurant, so you can keep both in your plan. Another suggestion would be to visit one restaurant or both for a snack only. For example, go to Prime Time and split a shake and dessert. You do not have to order a full meal. This lets you keep the experience in your itinerary without blowing the budget.

Sci Fi is a neat restaurant. If you are looking for burgers and not sick of them or hugely opposed to Disney burgers, then the themeing makes up for alot. Personally, I cannot stand the food. But I am a little more picky and you said you tend to be laid back. I like burgers, but the ones I have had there just weren't good enough to justify the cost. That being said. I make reservations for this restaurant every trip. I won't order a meal but it is great for a milk shake and the appetizers tend to be pretty good. But even more than the themeing or the food, the cold dark restaurant is a welcome relief from the Florida heat and a tough day of touring. I think this experience does more to recharge your batteries than Prime Time does. However, Prime Time's food is much better.

The old movies are clips and the effects are so bad and they jump around so much, I think your daughter will be fine. If you are worried, you can go on you tube and show her some of the clips before you go and see how she handles it. If it freaks her out, then definitely skip this restaurant until she is a little older.

I have never been to Cape May, but if you are looking for a convenient character breakfast, I think you have made a good choice.

1900 Park Fare Dinner is expensive. However, since you mentioned your daughter loves the step sisters specifically, then I would consider leaving it in. The reason being that the characters your children react to are the pictures and the memories that you will treasure the most. So if your kids aren't crazy about Mickey Mouse, I would drop Cape May before dropping 1900 Park Fare. Mickey is all over the parks, you can get pics with the Fab 5 if you want them. The step sister's are a little harder to find and so I think you will treasure that experience just a little bit more.

So my recommendation for the chopping block would be Cape May. And then share or just do snacks at Prime Time and Sci Fi.

Hope this helps and that I didn't just confuse you more.

Thank you so much for your opinions! They are very helpful!!:thumbsup2
I never even thought of just going for dessert/app?!:woohoo: Do I still need the ADR to do that? Do they care what you order?:confused3 My kids are burger fans so that is good to know about Sci - Fi.

The one reason I think I want to leave 1900 Park Fare in because she loves the stepsisters and that is what she still talks about from last time we were there. That time we just saw them for 10 minutes in the park too! I am gathering though that the food is not that great so I will have to be fine with that if we keep it.:)

Have never even given Whispering Canyon a thought so I will check on that one.:thumbsup2

Thanks again!!!:dance3:
 


I think that if you're looking for the best character meal for kids your ages, 1900 Park Fare is the way to go. I'd be shocked if one of the stepsisters doesn't try to get one of your sons to propose. :rotfl: It's always been a great time, but no the food isn't the best. We know going in that it's about the characters and we're never disappointed.

Cape May would be a great ending to the trip.

The Hoop dee Doo is awesome, but it'll be there for the next trip right? Your kids may only want to dine with characters for a short time.

As a previous posted stated, try BoG for lunch. You might have to wait in line for a bit, but you get the experience without the tough to get ADR.

50s and Sci Fi would both be fun, but again they'll still be there if you choose to skip them this time around. :goodvibes

I think you're making solid choices. If you do get free dining though-well we'll have some work to do! :rotfl2: It's so fun to plan isn't it??
 
We have eaten at SciFi for lunch (twice & love it), 1900 Park Fare was so fun & the food was better than expected (the characters were awesome!!), hoop de doo was great (and we got to participate). The others I've never done-sounds like you've made se great choices! We always like to try new places & it sounds like you have a good mixture! Have fun!!!
 
I think that if you're looking for the best character meal for kids your ages, 1900 Park Fare is the way to go. I'd be shocked if one of the stepsisters doesn't try to get one of your sons to propose. :rotfl: It's always been a great time, but no the food isn't the best. We know going in that it's about the characters and we're never disappointed.

Cape May would be a great ending to the trip.

The Hoop dee Doo is awesome, but it'll be there for the next trip right? Your kids may only want to dine with characters for a short time.

As a previous posted stated, try BoG for lunch. You might have to wait in line for a bit, but you get the experience without the tough to get ADR.

50s and Sci Fi would both be fun, but again they'll still be there if you choose to skip them this time around. :goodvibes

I think you're making solid choices. If you do get free dining though-well we'll have some work to do! :rotfl2: It's so fun to plan isn't it??

Thanks for your post! My boys would love a proposal from one of the step sisters...:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2: Okay, I might definitely keep that since the food in not that important to us. :thumbsup2

We have eaten at SciFi for lunch (twice & love it), 1900 Park Fare was so fun & the food was better than expected (the characters were awesome!!), hoop de doo was great (and we got to participate). The others I've never done-sounds like you've made se great choices! We always like to try new places & it sounds like you have a good mixture! Have fun!!!

Thanks! I am feeling better now!!:)
 
I never even thought of just going for dessert/app?!:woohoo: Do I still need the ADR to do that? Do they care what you order?:confused3 My kids are burger fans so that is good to know about Sci - Fi.
:dance3:

You do still need an ADR, even if you go in and all you order is a coke. They do not care what you order or how much. If you just order appetizers then they will turn the table faster, so they don't mind. We enjoy taking a break and getting to experience some of the neat restaurants inside the parks. The only restaurants in the theme parks we haven't been to is BOG (too new) and Mama Melrose. Both are scheduled for our next trip. But we never let cost stop us from experiencing one of the cool ala cart restaurants. AYCE restaurants, that is a different story.
 
Hi everyone,

We are traveling to the world in October. I went ahead and made ADRs hoping to receive FD. Not sure if that will happen yet or not. We are staying at BC though and I have gathered that sometimes it is more economical to go for the RO dsct. If so, I need to narrow this down to 2-3...

We have my Dh, myself, and DS13, DS11, DD7

Here goes (not in any particular order)

Sci Fi - lunch
Prime time - lunch
1900 Park Fare - lunch
Hoop De Doo revue - dinner
Camp May - breakfast

I originally wanted Chef Mickeys for breakfast and BOG but didn't get either of those.

Thanks for your help!:thumbsup2 Also, I am up for suggestions or opinions on any others.

I really think with your family size fd will be the better deal unless you are staying in 2 rooms. What I would do is get an idea by pricing out both fd and ro with the september discount codes. Then you can get a better idea of how many ADRs you want. Of your choices, I would have a hard tome narrowing down. Maybe get rid of either 50s or sci fi if you absolutely need to.
 
You do still need an ADR, even if you go in and all you order is a coke. They do not care what you order or how much. If you just order appetizers then they will turn the table faster, so they don't mind. We enjoy taking a break and getting to experience some of the neat restaurants inside the parks. The only restaurants in the theme parks we haven't been to is BOG (too new) and Mama Melrose. Both are scheduled for our next trip. But we never let cost stop us from experiencing one of the cool ala cart restaurants. AYCE restaurants, that is a different story.

Thanks! Good to know!:thumbsup2


I really think with your family size fd will be the better deal unless you are staying in 2 rooms. What I would do is get an idea by pricing out both fd and ro with the september discount codes. Then you can get a better idea of how many ADRs you want. Of your choices, I would have a hard tome narrowing down. Maybe get rid of either 50s or sci fi if you absolutely need to.

That is a great idea! I have ran it both ways and it is a toss up! I really am not tied to all these dinners and would just be doing lots of them if FD is involved...:cool1:
The RO would be 30% I believe if offered so I really need to figure out how much we would eat without the DP. The other kicker is we are staying CL so we will be able to have light breakfast, appetizers, desserts and drinks that way too so I am not sure how many ADRs I want....Decisions...:dance3::dance3:
 
The other kicker is we are staying CL so we will be able to have light breakfast, appetizers, desserts and drinks that way too so I am not sure how many ADRs I want....Decisions...:dance3::dance3:

See now that changes everything. I would go RO then. Especially if it is close price wise. We always get the dining plan, but never have and very likely never will stay concierge. I can tell you my Mom would never do HDDR again. She got very sick for several days after and was convinced it was the food. I don't think it was, because the rest of us were fine. We enjoyed HDDR, but it is not a must for us.
 
We did breakfast at Cape May in May, 2012. Food & service were both very good. DGD loved the characters, but sobbed her little heart out when Minnie left - she stretched out her hand as far she could reach and sobbed, "hug".
Tried SciFi some years ago - was not impressed at all. It's pretty much permanently off my list of 'possibles' when it comes time to make ADRs.
50s Prime Time - food was very good (love the milkshakes!). Not sure how impressed DD7 would be about the black & white clips of old TV sitcoms. Other than that, it's a good choice as long as you're not looking for diet-friendly! LOL

The Garden Grill in Epcot is very good, & they put characters back in.
ADRs for this year:
Rainforest Café (AK) - lunch
Cinderella's Royal Table - lunch on DGD's 4th birthday
Boatwright's - dinner
Be our Guest - dinner
Mickey's Backyard Barbeque - dinner
Garden Grill - dinner
Chef Mickey's - breakfast

Will probably try for HDDR on our next trip. Haven't done that in about 25-30 years so I imagine a LOT has changed. It was definitely fun before, although food was only so-so (cold sandwhiches back then for lunch).
 
Sci Fi - lunch
Prime time - lunch
1900 Park Fare - lunch
Hoop De Doo revue - dinner
Camp May - breakfast

I've eaten at both Sci Fi Dine-In and 50's Prime Time. We didn't really like either. Yes, they were both fun, but we like going to restaurants because of the food being good.

We had the ribs at Sci Fi, and they were so fatty, we couldn't eat them. :scared: It was fun to eat in a car though. It would have been nice if the waitress offered us something else, because we ate only one bite...

The food at 50's PT was ok. I'm from the south, and we couldn't help but to compare to my grandmother's cooking. The service is fun. Keep your elbows off the table!

I would suggest:
Kona Café- wonderful food and great atmosphere
Coral Reef- yes, a lot complain, but we've never had bad food (only bad service) here, and you can't beat the atmosphere next to an aquarium
Teppan Edo- the service is always excellent and so is the food
Yak & Yeti- the food here is good and the fried wontons are to die for!

If on the DP, we don't really like going to buffets. The food is never that good, except for Boma.
 
Hi HBG!

If your daughter loves the stepsisters, then keep 1900! We have not been there in a few years, but the character interaction was incredible! The stepsisters are the best part; super funny and entertaining. Great pictures. Even my 7 year old son at the time, enjoyed it. Its the best character interaction between guests and between each other, that I have ever seen.:thumbsup2

Our overall favorite character meal is Garden Grill at Epcot.;) We will be doing Tusker House for lunch for the first time for DS's 2nd birthday.:cool1:

Good luck!!
 
Hi HBG!

If your daughter loves the stepsisters, then keep 1900! We have not been there in a few years, but the character interaction was incredible! The stepsisters are the best part; super funny and entertaining. Great pictures. Even my 7 year old son at the time, enjoyed it. Its the best character interaction between guests and between each other, that I have ever seen.:thumbsup2

Our overall favorite character meal is Garden Grill at Epcot.;) We will be doing Tusker House for lunch for the first time for DS's 2nd birthday.:cool1:

Good luck!!

Is tusker house still breakfast only with characters or did they change that?
 
Hi everyone,

We are traveling to the world in October. I went ahead and made ADRs hoping to receive FD. Not sure if that will happen yet or not. We are staying at BC though and I have gathered that sometimes it is more economical to go for the RO dsct. If so, I need to narrow this down to 2-3...

We have my Dh, myself, and DS13, DS11, DD7

Here goes (not in any particular order)

Sci Fi - lunch
Prime time - lunch
1900 Park Fare - lunch
Hoop De Doo revue - dinner
Camp May - breakfast

I originally wanted Chef Mickeys for breakfast and BOG but didn't get either of those.

Thanks for your help!:thumbsup2 Also, I am up for suggestions or opinions on any others.

The only one I have gone too is Cape May for breakfast. It is very good and the character interact is great!
 
I would definitely keep 1900 for the step sisters. My family hated the food at SciFi so we will never go back there again! Prime Time we always do and Whispering Canyon. Not sure how pricey Whispering Canyon is (Make sure someone asks for ketchup and either a large or small drink) but it's lots of fun and great food! I have never done HDDR nor Cape May so can't comment on either one but hear great things about both of them!


Good luck!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top