A kid-oriented dining plan!

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

AWESOME reviews! I don't have any kids, but me and DBF are eating at a few of your choices next month, and now I am so excited for Ohana, Crystal Palace Breakfast and Chef Mickey Breakfast! Everything sounds so yummy and the character interaction sounds great

 

[apirateslife4us!]

Thanks so much seetheworld and kimwim8! I'm glad they're useful because I really like writing them... and when I was planning I loved reading about everyone's trips!

DisneyJo Electric Umbrella really hit the spot that day! I can't see how it could disappoint, it has everything!

Eeyore's Tailfinder, you and DBF must be too cute! If I could go backwards I would definitely have done this trip at least once before having kids! We saw lots of couples on our trip, too! You two will have so much fun and the characters will be adorable, I know you'll love it!

goofy4themouse thank you! To answer your question in as many words as possible I was also confused about how the DDP allotted different meals, so at check-in I asked how it worked and the CM explained that all the meals are on everyone's tickets/room keys. One person with their one room key can order everyone's food, or you can split up and each use your own key, either way doesn't matter because when it is run through the system it will charge the credits as they are used...it's all attached to your room, and not really attached to each person's key at all. As for how the adult vs. kids meals work, she said that we had 15 snacks, 15 counter service, 10 adult table service and 5 child table service. She told me that at a counter service that offered a kids' menu, we would have to order the third meal from the kids' menu. I had originally thought that we had 10 adult counter service and 5 child counter service (just like the table service), but in actuality counter service meals are all pooled together and not divided into kids and adults. So it just so happened that our first meal was Pizza Planet, which offers no kids' menu. Being my first day I was still confused, and I told the CM at Pizza Planet that I wanted to use two adult credits and one child credit. The CM there again explained that all counter service credits were pooled together, so there was no way to put it in as "adult" or "child", although if he wanted he could scroll back and review what I had ordered in the past, but in any case I was only obligated to order from a kids' menu if I ordered three meals at once. GREAT, I had been the lady that held up the line about the dining plan, but now that I really understood I stopped worrying about it and figured we would order two adult meals and share from then on, and get more bang for our buck. We could always go back and order the kids meal afterwards if needed, but knowing we could snack and our kids being munchers this never happened, we all felt comfortably full after our meals. Doing it that way I anticipated the third meal as a breakfast that we split in the mornings, so it was really convenient for our family and we spent zero out of pocket for food or meals, and got to eat each and every day, and never felt like it was too much food at all! Hope that helped, or at least didn't make things more confusing!!!

I'll try and get the Pop Century food court stuff up soon... thanks as always for reading!

 

[momtoccc]

Thanks for clarifying the CS credits.. I've been a little confused also. We will be traveling with 3, (2 adults and 1 child) and I plan on sharing CS credits as well if it is too much food.

I will probably use 1 CS for breakfast to share and 2 CS at lunch to share. It sounds like I only need to order a child's CS if I order 3 CS meals at the same time. Correct?

 

[goofy4themouse]

Thanks so much!! That answers a lot of questions. We had the free dining plan last year and loved it. I knew that they were changing it so that people could not abuse the system but I did not know what the changes were. Thanks again and I look forward to your next report.

 

[workinmomof2]

This was absolutely wonderful of you. I am planning for October 2008 when my boys will be 5 & 3 and this is the type of info I have been looking for.

 

[wilma-bride]

Hey Wilma, you and I must have had our taste buds separated at birth! I see you'll be going to Disney in another month, where are you going to eat?!! *Sighhh* I can't wait to go back

Hey there. Just seen this. We are trying to eat at places we haven't before on this trip, seeing as we have the free dining plan. So far, we have ADRs at:

Kona Cafe
Crystal Palace (for breakfast)
Le Cellier
Wolfgang Puck Cafe

We are also planning to go to Planet Hollywood and Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch, if we can get last-minute ADRs.

It does sound very much like we have the same tastes. We are planning a 2 week trip for next year with family and I am anxious to try lots of new places then too.

I have really enjoyed your reviews and I am sure it will help me when planning where to eat with our kids

 

[dspads]

Loved reading your reviews! We are going in Dec and my boys are similar ages to your children. Looking forward to Ohana and CM. Your counter service reviews were very helpful, too.

You mentioned bringing your stroller into restaurants a couple of times and I am just wondering what type of stroller you used. I haven't decided on bringing 2 singles or renting a double. I can't imagine one of those giant park doubles fitting into a CS place though. And that would be a negative! Did your 5yo use a stroller or just the little one?

Thanks for great reviews!

 

[apirateslife4us!]

momtoccc yes, you're correct if my experience is anything to go by. You only need to ever use the child's meal at counter service if you order three meals at that particular establishment. And splitting one breakfast and two lunches was exactly what our family did, and it worked great!

No problem goofy4themouse! I'm not sure what meal plan changes there could have been, but that is how it worked from June 11 through June 16. Any other questions just let me know!

workinmomof2 thanks, that was nice! I know I searched through these boards looking for a family with young kids experience, and I'm happy to help out!

Wilma-bride, I can't wait to try Le Cellier someday! Didn't I read somewhere about a soup with cheese in it

dspads, oh the nights I spent worrying about the stroller issue! So here's my answer in too many words, as usual: What we finally decided, after a LOT of Googling and asking on message boards, was to do what was right for my kids. A double umbrella stroller! What a wonderful invention! So compact and easy...sure, it wasn't perfect (wheels would get stuck when you first start pushing, mainly, but this was really minor), but it was just what our kids needed. I read through some posts about five year olds walking, and it seems to be a hot button for some people. I just didn't want walking to be what Tink remembered most about Disney, ya know what I mean? She doesn't use a stroller at home, but we don't walk for miles a day at home for six days straight! And boy am I ever glad I had that double stroller for her. She used it almost the whole time and we didn't have to get angry with a tired kid for not wanting to walk. So anyway, we bought a Kolcraft, it cost me $59 at Kmart, and I can't believe how great it was! I looked on Ebay, but a lot of the side by side doubles were the non-umbrella kind, and I already know about those (they fold up so big and bulky!). The ones that were umbrella doubles were either as expensive as the brand new Kolcraft, or else they didn't recline. That was one thing I thought was really cool about the Kolcraft, because when Peter fell asleep I didn't have to worry about him lolling forward. I ruled out the tandem strollers (front to back) doubles, just because they are even bulkier than non-umbrella side by sides. I hate to gush about this wonderful stroller, but it really IS wonderful if your kids are big enough to not need all the storage space and amenities of bigger strollers. It folded up really easily and compact, as small as two regular umbrella strollers pushed together, so at places like Casey's it was no big deal to fold it up. And it was cheaper than renting from Disney, plus it was more comfy for the kids than the Disney rentals. At babies-r-us they didn't sell this model, they had a jeep double umbrella that was $119. The clincher for me, other than price, was that the jeep model had a more complicated folding system, so I thought it would be a pain when I was trying to quickly get the stroller folded up. The double umbrellas aren't super easy to find, but definitely test out the one you want before deciding. Good luck, and I hope you and your boys have an awesome time!

 

[apirateslife4us!]

Pop Century Food Court
Various breakfasts and one “to-go” lunch

Food-
Kid Rating: * * * * *
Parent Rating: * * * * *

Atmosphere-
Kid Rating: * * *
Parent Rating: * * *

Would we come back?
Kids: Yes
Parents: Yes

FYI- All the adult dining plan breakfasts here come with two drinks, awesome! You can choose the tiny milk/juice/etc or the large 16-ounce milk/juice/etc, so keep an eye out for the DDP symbol and get the bigger option where available.

What we ate:

Breakfast Tuesday: Box of one dozen donuts (1 snack credit), one large orange juice (1 snack credit), two large milks (2 snack credits)

Breakfast Wednesday: Pancakes with topping and sausage. Came with four small pancakes with strawberry topping and whipped cream, and two sausage patties. Used one counter service credit, which included two drinks, so I got two large orange juices (16 oz container) and the kids still had one whole leftover milk from the day before (we had a small soft-sided collapsible cooler which we used to keep milk and stuff in).

Breakfast Thursday: Waffle with topping and sausage platter, 2 large chocolate milks (Now we were the ones with an extra OJ in the room). This meal came with a nice large waffle that’s sort of pre-split into four pieces, convenient for our sharing habits, with strawberry topping and whipped cream. Also two sausage patties.

Breakfast Friday: A big box of donut holes (1 snack credit), a large orange juice (1 snack credit). The kids still had the extra chocolate milk in the room, which they drank.

Breakfast Saturday: Adult breakfast platter with ane large OJ and a large chocolate milk (1 CS credit), and a croissant (1 snack credit). The platter came with eggs, potatoes, a biscuit and either 2 bacon strips or only one sausage patty. I chose the sausage patty since the bacon looked kinda limp.

To-Go Lunch Saturday: Turkey Ciabatta sandwich (we asked her to wrap it up in plastic wrap, which she did), one drink and one side (1 CS credit). The side could be any snack item marked with a DDP logo, and because the point of this meal was to take on the plane with us, we chose a big box of donut holes. For the drink we asked if we could get another snack instead, and the CM said it was fine, so we chose a container of grapes (after all, the airline at least gives out beverages!).

Food Details
No complaints here, it was all pretty good. Lots of selection and the quality was at least as good as any other food court I’ve been to, and better than a lot! The turkey ciabatta had a lot of onion in it, and in retrospect I’d have grabbed a turkey wrap from electric umbrella instead, but the ciabatta was tasty too. The breakfasts were all tasty, and splitting between the four of us one platter was enough to get us through to lunchtime, especially since most of the time we have toast or cereal at home. On Saturday we used the croissant to make an egg sandwich for the kids to split, and Donald and I ate the rest. On Tuesday and Friday we didn’t use counter service credits since we had reservations for character breakfasts anyway, and we just needed snacks to get us going. We couldn’t finish the dozen donuts on Tuesday morning, and we munched those for a few days too!

Atmosphere Details
This seemed like a nice, although busy, place, but technically we never ate here, we ate in our room! I would wake up first, turn the TV on and get ready, then head over to Everything Pop and get the food, then take it back on a tray to our room. By then if the kids/Donald weren’t awake with the TV, they’d get up with the smell of food. This was the fastest way to get ourselves up and going, so that the kids and I could eat while Donald took a shower, then Donald could eat while I got the kids ready, and we didn’t have to hassle about getting everyone ready and then starting with lines at the food court. From what I could see, the dining area got kind of crowded after about 8am or so, and it was the usual tables and chairs waiting game that most counter services had. Also, there are different food “stations”, I think four of them, and each one serves a different kind of food (one had only waffles, one had only pancakes, one had omelets, and one had eggs and potato kind of stuff I think). There was a line for each, so if you bring the whole family and someone might want pancakes and someone else might want waffles, be prepared to split up. I saw a few other solitary moms and dads getting trays with platters loaded up and avoiding the whole family standing in different lines thing, so I definitely wasn’t the only doing room service, and I’ll do it again in a heartbeat when we go back!

Other Details
A word about the mugs. We didn’t end up getting the refillable mug, though I did second guess this decision a few times. I think if we could do it again we still wouldn’t have gotten it, even though every time we came back to the hotel for a midday break we would have liked a soda…but then again we stopped by the hippy dippy poolside bar and asked for a few cups of ice water instead and this worked out fine (especially since it was delicious filtered water and not the Orlando tap water you get from the food court and everywhere else). As far as staying hydrated goes it was better that we drank water instead of soda, but we were lucky enough to be right at near the hippy dippy pool so one of us could always grab a few more cups whenever we wanted more. This wouldn’t have been as easy if our room were somewhere far. Also, since we don’t drink coffee and we got so much to drink at breakfast we didn’t really need the mugs in the mornings. If you’re debating it, just think about how often you’ll be at the hotel and whether asking for ice water all the time will bother you more than spending the money.

The Final Word
We loved our stay at Pop Century, and the food court never let us down! The Pop will be our resort of choice unless we can afford a monorail resort someday (we can dream!).

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your reviews! We also eat our breakfasts in the room. It is a major time saver when traveling with kids. Although I always drool over the wonderful reviews of places like California Grill, Jiko, etc... it was so nice to have a review of places we will actually be eating on our upcoming trip. I figure the kids are only kids for such a short time and I really like to pick dining places that are special for them (but still have good food for us grown-ups!). Thanks again!

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Thanks
Have fun on your trip 2scottishprincesses!!!!! I know exactly what you mean by "fever pitch", you could cut the excitement in our house with a knife right before our trip (and the kids didn't even know!). I can't wait to hear how your trip goes and again, HAVE FUN!!!!

Just back and had a fantastic time , your reports were right on the money! We did Akershus for breakfast and it was wonderfull, CRT for lunch was good but thought Akershus character interaction was better, less rushed. We did a few of the places you did, we also did both lunch and breakfast at WCC as we were staying at the lodge and the character breakfast at Cape May Cafe, you should try both of these when you go back as we all oved the atmosphere and food selections at both of these, DD's especially loved all the antics at WCC infact DD2 can now whoop "YEE HA" better than any of the CM's who work there.

Thanks again for all your help.....regards Kirsteen

 

[wilma-bride]

The Final Word
We loved our stay at Pop Century, and the food court never let us down! The Pop will be our resort of choice unless we can afford a monorail resort someday (we can dream!).

Really loved your reports - very informative. I will be attempting a dining report in September, when we return and I just hope my report is half as good as yours

And our dream is also to be able to afford a stay at a monorail resort too. We are hoping that DVC at the Contemporary will be announced soon

 

[dellasgirl]

Great reviews and very helpful

 

[pmaurer74]

Thank you for sharing your trip details, you went to a lot of the places we plan to go.. I am wondering now about the Norwegian Storybook place.... We have the Cinderella's Royal table day #1 for lunch, Chef Mickey's for breakfast one day and 1900 fare for dinner one night. I was wondering if 4 character meals were too many.

 

[apirateslife4us!]

Hi Dellas, thanks again for stopping by

Hi Pmaurer! Here's my long answer In my kids' opinion, there was no such thing as too many character meals!! But my DH and I aren't in any hurry to take a trip to WDW for ourselves. From our experience during our 2007 trip, we are very much "for the kids," meaning our favorite parts of visiting Walt Disney World was giving the kids the most special experience we could. The kids are going to grow up before we know it, and character meals may or may not still be something that appeals to them, so I say visit the places you think your kids will enjoy!! That being said, places like Sci-Fi Drive-In and 'Ohana have no characters but were huge hits with our kids! Last thing to consider, Akershus is a princess meal, so you'll want to take that into consideration if you have boys. On our upcoming June 2010 trip, we are limiting to one princess meal because the boys aren't interested at all. Since we've never experienced Cinderella's, we're not visiting Akershus this time around. In conclusion, you know your kids best and your family best, and truly, I don't think there's a real "wrong" choice at Disney World! Everything is fantastic!

 

[pmaurer74]

Hi Dellas, thanks again for stopping by

Hi Pmaurer! Here's my long answer In my kids' opinion, there was no such thing as too many character meals!! But my DH and I aren't in any hurry to take a trip to WDW for ourselves. From our experience during our 2007 trip, we are very much "for the kids," meaning our favorite parts of visiting Walt Disney World was giving the kids the most special experience we could. The kids are going to grow up before we know it, and character meals may or may not still be something that appeals to them, so I say visit the places you think your kids will enjoy!! That being said, places like Sci-Fi Drive-In and 'Ohana have no characters but were huge hits with our kids! Last thing to consider, Akershus is a princess meal, so you'll want to take that into consideration if you have boys. On our upcoming June 2010 trip, we are limiting to one princess meal because the boys aren't interested at all. Since we've never experienced Cinderella's, we're not visiting Akershus this time around. In conclusion, you know your kids best and your family best, and truly, I don't think there's a real "wrong" choice at Disney World! Everything is fantastic!

No boys here except my husband. We have two princesses and one of them calls herself a princess... sigh. I actually enrolled her in the dancing princess week long summer camp where I live and am getting her a Cinderella dress for it so I think she will be thrilled. I am signed up for 3 princess events right now but will most likely cancel the 1900 Fare one.

 

[apirateslife4us!]

Two little princesses!! Well in that case, Akershus and Cinderella's table would be amazing for them! We are doing the Cinderella one this time because my daughter longed for it so much the last time... if I could get away with a second princess meal it would definitely be Akershus The interaction was phenomenal, and the food was great too. I can't speak for 1900 Park Fare, since I haven't been there myself, but since your little princesses will see Cinderella at her castle already, I would go with Akershus. (Or keep all three ) Good luck deciding!! I'm sure there isn't a "wrong" choice at Disney World!