Advice Please

[BCMom12]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking around for weeks now and have really enjoyed all the stuff here. I am so excited about our trip in October. We will be taking our DS who will be celebrating his 4th bday while we are there and DD who will be 10 months. We have decided to drive down and will arrive late Friday October the 4th and leaving on October 11th. This is seven TS credits that we need to plan. We will not be there long enough on Friday the 4th to utilize the credit and will be leaving very early on the 11th. This puts us needing to utilize to TS credits on one day. Here is what we have planned thus far.

Saturday Dinner at Garden Grill
Sunday Breakfast at Chef Mickey's (DS birthday)

The remainder days will be planned based on crowed predictions but:

HS day will be lunch at Hollywood and Vine
MK day will be breakfast at Crystal Palace
AK day will be breakfast at Tusker House
We also have a Dinner at O'hana

Now we need an additional reservation. I just can't decide! We are trying to keep travel down to a minimum with the two little ones. I know we will do two days at MK and then an additional day for the kids favorites. I am thinking we might now go to DTD with the extra day.

What restaurants would you all recommend? Any don't miss places? Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

[DEA]

If your Tusker House breakfast is pretty early on your AK day, you may think about a late-ish lunch at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani Village. You get animals outside of the windows, some interesting choices for kids on the menu, and a lovely environment. You can also take a stroll over to the Jambo House at AKL after lunch to check it out; it's a very impressive resort.

This presupposes that you can get your AK touring in between breakfast and an hour or so before your lunch reservation. The bus trip to AKL is only about 5 minutes, but if you have to wait on a bus, it pays to have some time built in to the schedule to accommodate that possibility. Worst case, you're over at the AKL complex a little early, and you could tour Jambo House before heading over to Kidani Village and Sanaa for lunch.

 

[BDL]

Saturday Dinner at Garden Grill
Sunday Breakfast at Chef Mickey's (DS birthday)

The remainder days will be planned based on crowed predictions but:

HS day will be lunch at Hollywood and Vine
MK day will be breakfast at Crystal Palace
AK day will be breakfast at Tusker House
We also have a Dinner at O'hana

Now we need an additional reservation. I just can't decide! We are trying to keep travel down to a minimum with the two little ones. I know we will do two days at MK and then an additional day for the kids favorites. I am thinking we might now go to DTD with the extra day.

What restaurants would you all recommend? Any don't miss places? Thanks so much in advance for your help.

I'd say, if you're spending your whole day at MK, I'd go with Liberty Tree Tavern or Tony's.

 

[BCMom12]

Thanks!! Yes my kids tend to be morning people so the goal is to do very early breakfasts and maybe be done before rope drop. I am hopeful we could get quiet a few things done in the early hours at the park so we can do naps/rest each afternoon at our resort. If we did a lunch at AKL would we have to bus back to AK to get back to our resort? Hope this makes sense! Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[DEA]

Thanks!! Yes my kids tend to be morning people so the goal is to do very early breakfasts and maybe be done before rope drop. I am hopeful we could get quiet a few things done in the early hours at the park so we can do naps/rest each afternoon at our resort. If we did a lunch at AKL would we have to bus back to AK to get back to our resort? Hope this makes sense! Thanks again for your suggestions!

Yes, you would have to go to AK to catch a bus back to the resort (or to Downtown Disney, but that's a much longer ride). It would probably be a maximum of 30 minute trip back to AK if you just missed a bus to the park at the resort. It should be better.

 

[momto3pirates]

Where are you staying? If there is a TS there, you may want to schedule an early dinner and work around nap/rest time.

 

[pumba]

even an evening dinner ...like five or six pm at Crystal Palace would be good and then if it is an early wishes or parade...you could see that also...
We enjoy Crystal Palace for both meals...very very good choices and the characters are fantastic as you will see for your Breakfast...

 

[kimber11]

Be Our Guest is a must at Magic Kingdom and you get to meet the beast afterwards. We ate at Chef Mickeys and Hollywood and Vine and loved both of those. Haven't tried any of the other ones you have planned though. Enjoy your trip!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I would also add a ts dinner on Sunday evening for your son's birthday. Where will you be that day?

 

[BCMom12]

Thank you all very much for your suggestions. We are staying at POP so a TS is out there. I do think a dinner on Sunday would be a good pick as it is his birthday and we will have an early breakfast. I want to spend his Bday at MK because I think it will be his favorite even though he is crazy about many of the characters at HS (which is why we are doing Hollywood and Vine).

I had originally thought we would do Be our Guest as a QS lunch, more to save the TS credit; however, we could certainly add this with the addition of an extra TS credit to use. This would also keep up from traveling outside that park it would also keep us from standing in line for lunch.

Oh WOW at the decisions. I am finding planning this trip is a lot of work (but really fun work!!!)

What a great fourth birthday, breakfast at Chef Mickey's, The Pirates League, and then dinner at Be our Guest. I think this might be the way to go. How will we ever top that!!!

I am also glad to see that someone enjoyed H&V the reviews haven't been that good but I can't turn down the opportunity of meeting Jake, Oso, and Handy Manny!

Thank you all again!

 

[kimber11]

Yes, Hollywood and Vine was awesome for us. I really don't understand why it had such bad reviews. I almost cancelled the reservation after reading all of the reviews. I am so glad that we didn't. This was our very first table service meal and thought it was amazing, so much selection and we loved the soft serve ice cream for dessert. The kids and adults loved it and the entertainment, characters and staff were all wonderful. Would definitely eat here again for sure. We were there for lunch. Enjoy your trip!

 

[denneg]

We do breakfast at H&V at least twice a trip for our now 4 year old, and have never been disappointed. We tend to be up early and prefer breakfast ressies to lunch, so we've never done the lunch, but we always find the food great, the servers attentive, and the character interaction is fantastic. Plus, the kids are up having fun, so they aren't itching in their seats!

I would suggest T-Rex at Downtown for a 4 year old boy - that might be a great birthday dinner too. My son loved it in November, it was fun to look at everything, he liked the food, and he got to do the Build a Dino for being good at dinner (just like Build A Bear).

 

[BCMom12]

I'm seeing conflicting info on H&V with Fantasmic. Can we do the Fanstasmic package with lunch or is that only for dinner? I saw somewhere that it could be done for lunch and dinner but I think I read here that it was only dinner. Anyone know?

We are mostly doing breakfasts but I was hopeful that we could get the Fantasmic package by doing lunch. I also would like a little change from all breakfasts as our TS meals. My son is also a picky eater but loves breakfast food so I am hoping to get him some good meals in before our busy days! Buffets are also good as it is faster and more choice for him.

 

[denneg]

I have seen lunch time table options for Fantasmic, I think it's probably easier to get a time around lunch than dinner.