Crunch Time - Where to eat???

[queencorkle]

We only have a couple of weeks before we make our reservations. We're on the Dining Deluxe plan and would love your opinions!!!

 

[nklooz]

If you are on the deluxe plan, I would take advantage of having the 3 meals/day and do a lot of the signature or dinner show options.

There is no way you'll actually want to eat 3 full meals a day, WAY too much food.

So, if it was me, I'd try some of the following:

-Artist Point
-Narccossee's or Cali Grill to watch Wishes
-CRT for character dining w/Cinderella
-Hoop-De-Doo Review or Spirit of Olaha for a fun and interactive dinner show
-Jiko

 

[robinb]

First of all ... it is not "crunch time"! I am one of the biggest planners there is and I am still tinkering with my early January reservations. That's only 3 weeks away!

If it were me, I would balance eating at great Signature Restaurants with ... well ... seeing WDW. If you "sit down" for every single meal then you are spending your whole day eating!

How many nights will you be there? Do you have any food preferences? I see it's your first trip. Perhaps the Deluxe Plan might be a bit too much eating for you and not enough park fun.

 

[Maggi May]

Since you're staying at the AKL, dinner at Boma and Jiko and breakfast at Boma are must do's.

Without knowing much about your family, food preferences, etc, I'd suggest trying a variety of places --- kitschy fun at Sci Fi Dine-In or 50's Prime Time Cafe - ethnic eats at Morocco, Germany, UK, heck even Irish Food at Raglan Road - and character breakfasts and dinners.

Does the Deluxe Dining Plan let you substitute some of the table service meals with counter services? As a prior poster suggested, if you try and eat sit-down meals morning, noon and night, you'll be worried about getting to your next meal all the time and not enjoy the parks as much. There are some excellent counter service options in the parks and even at some of the resorts.

Hope you have a great trip and enjoy the AKL It truly is a special place.

 

[hddanis]

You may want to think about scheduling TS meals for Breakfast and dinner and then do CS for lunch (or skip lunch altogether some days..)

Our must do's for this trip were 1900 Park Fare (2 words - Strawberry Soup), Le Cellier, CRT, and Kona Cafe.

Whispering Canyon is a lot of fun.

Artist Point is great. DH and I went there on our night out (kids had a sitter in the room) and we enjoyed everything (although the dessert was just so-so)

 

[queencorkle]

Thanks for the info! We've picked a few character breakfasts we want to do and will do as someone suggested and just use our snack credits during the day and eat nice meals at dinner. We wanted to go to the Concourse on our first night but I see it's closing. The Deluxe plan lets you use your credits however you want, so that gives us flexibility. I haven't looked into the Artist Point yet, so I'll certainly do that. What time does Wishes start? Keep the suggestions coming!!

 

[nklooz]

We have never wanted to spend the time to eat more than 1 TS a day, just takes up too much time, and, it is too much food!

That's why I suggest trying some of the Signatures for dinner, to get the most out of your Deluxe plan.

Someone mentioned Raglan Rd., just wanted to note that it's a really fun place, with great food, Irish Music and Irish Dancing, I second that as a place to give a try!

 

[robinb]

I want to caution you not to waste your mornings at character meals. You're going in mid-June the start of the summer vacation season at WDW. It will be mobbed. I have found the best way to see things at WDW when it is busy is to get to the parks early when they open. Lines are very short then ... I can do all of Fantasyland in the very first hour. I don't know if you have kids, but my DD still loves Dumbo. Heck, I loved Dumbo before she was born, LOL. The wait for Dumbo is less than 15 minutes at park opening and 45 minutes around noon.

Would you rather eat with Mickey or stand in line? Actually, you can do both! I select one of the late breakfast seatings or early lunch seatings. That gives me enough time to get into the park, do some attractions, grab a Fast Pass or two for later use and then have my meal.

I would say that the only ADR you will need to make when your ADR window opens up would be Cinderella's Royal Table.

 

[nklooz]

I totally agree on the breakfast point, we've never done a character breakfast. And, would also say that if you really want to do CRT but want to stay away from breakfast, we really enjoyed CRT at dinner. The character interaction w/Cind. was great during picture time, being in the castle at night was so magical, the show w/the fairy godmother was adorable! So, IMO, don't feel that you have to do CRT at b'fast or lunch, if it works better to do in the evening, just a thought.