My KIDS FIRST TIME! (DS 2yo, DD 4yo) Are these good choices?!!?!?!?!?!??! HELP!

[paskitti]

Staying at Wilderness Lodge October 1 - October 8

Just want to do ONE sit down per day. ADVICE?!?!?!

1 - Trail's End (Dinner)
2 - Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3 - Mickey's Backyard BBQ (Dinner ... obviously)
4 - Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5 - Kona (Then Movie on Beach, Fireworks from Beach) (Dinner)
6 - Tusker House (Breakfast)
7 - Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8 - Whispering Canyon (Check-out day @ VWL) (Breakfast)

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[juliebug1997]

I've read a lot of bad things about Mickey's Backyard BBQ. I would consider Hoop De Doo over it.

 

[Hook326]

Staying at Wilderness Lodge October 1 - October 8

Just want to do ONE sit down per day. ADVICE?!?!?!

1 - Trail's End (Dinner)
2 - Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3 - Mickey's Backyard BBQ (Dinner ... obviously)
4 - Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5 - Kona (Then Movie on Beach, Fireworks from Beach) (Dinner)
6 - Tusker House (Breakfast)
7 - Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8 - Whispering Canyon (Check-out day @ VWL) (Breakfast)

Thanks for the help!!!

We've been to BoG, CP, & TH with our young kids & all were great! Have fun!

 

[paskitti]

thanks for the info on backyard bbq. I just liked the idea of having some free-range space for my kids where they can be away from the parks and run around and dance. I'll definitely look into it!

 

[jenifferf00]

We went last September and my kids were 2 and 4, both girls. We did CP and MBYBBQ, Crystal palace was nice, the food was eh, but the kids (especially the 2 year old) loooovvvveeeddd the interaction. The BBQ we did our first night there, and we did not do a park that day. It was cute, and the dancing was fun, but... we're doing Chef Mickey's this go around.

The BBQ is a pain to get to, and the interaction is ok. The lines to actually meet the characters are still pretty long, and while the dancing with the characters is cute expect to divide an conquer with the kids. One will want to dance over by Mickey, and the other by Goofy and there's a whole lot of other kids and parents in-between them. The food was ok, but nothing to write home about; and we were so busy trying to keep up with the kids that having a glass of beer or wine was impossible.

We had free dining and used 2 credits for this, and honestly I just don't think it was worth it. I would rather do an Ohana breakfast, or Chef Mickey's breakfast or dinner and use less credits (or spend less oop).

We are doing redoing this trip Akershush, and T-rex Cafe because they were both such big hits with the kids.

 

[Wendy31]

Staying at Wilderness Lodge October 1 - October 8

Just want to do ONE sit down per day. ADVICE?!?!?!

1 - Trail's End (Dinner)

Trail's End is at Fort Wilderness which is a boat ride away from the Wilderness Lodge - Fort Wilderness is nice & can be fun for kids. However, since you're also doing Mickey's Backyard BBQ (or Hoop Dee Doo ), I wouldn't also do Trail's End. It's a buffet, &, while it's a relatively nice buffet in a nice setting, it's not extra-special or anything, if that makes sense.

Have you considered Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary instead? The Contemporary is also a boat ride away from the Wilderness Lodge. And it's also a buffet, but there are characters - which would be fun for your first night. And it's the only character meal where you can see both Mickey & Minnie; the other characters are Donald, Goofy, & Pluto. And the setting in the Contemporary is neat w/ the monorail running through - very "Disney-ish". The breakfast buffet normally gets better reviews than the dinner buffet, but I still think it would be fun for your 1st dinner in Disney.

Or another idea! Switch your Whispering Canyon Café to dinner on this night - dinner at WCC is generally "more fun" than breakfast - & do breakfast at Chef Mickey's on your last morning. You could hang out at your resort for your 1st night. There are movies on the beach, & you can see the high fireworks from the beach as well.

Also, after dinner, you could take the boat to Fort Wilderness - there's a nightly campfire "singalong" w/ Chip & Dale w/ marshmallows for roasting.

2 - Be Our Guest (Dinner)

We are hoping to try Be Our Guest for the 1st time on our upcoming trip too! It is VERY HARD to get an ADR, so, when you make your ADRs, you need to make this one first.

If you can't get an ADR, you can always stop by for lunch - it's a quick-service for lunch. Also, if you can't get an ADR, you could try Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK - the food is served family-style (traditional "Thanksgiving" fare) in a colonial American setting or Tony's Town Square in the MK - it's Italian w/ a cute "Lady & the Tramp" theme. Our younger DS loved the Mickey ravioli.

3 - Mickey's Backyard BBQ (Dinner ... obviously)

We have not been to any of the dinner shows, but Mickey's Backyard BBQ generally does not get very good reviews. Instead of the Backyard BBQ, I would do Hoop Dee Doo - it normally gets great reviews - and it's also at Fort Wilderness.

4 - Crystal Palace (Breakfast)

We love Crystal Palace!! We've done both breakfast & lunch here, & the food at both was great! The characters can sometimes take awhile to make it around all the tables though.

5 - Kona (Then Movie on Beach, Fireworks from Beach) (Dinner)

I love the idea of hanging out at the Poly -sounds fun! However, have you considered 'Ohana instead of Kona? 'Ohana is more of an "experience" type restaurant while Kona is simply a restaurant - although the food is really good. But, for your 1st time, I think you'd enjoy 'Ohana - there's entertainment & fun for the kids like coconut races. And the dessert is wonderful!!!!

6 - Tusker House (Breakfast)

We did the character breakfast at AK years ago when it was at Restaurantasauras, & it was fun then! The Tusker House character breakfast gets great reviews, so I think this is a great choice!

7 - Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)

We also really like CRT! It's one of our must-do character meals - we've done breakfast, lunch, & dinner here, & it's our current "first MK night" dinner now! Your little princess will love the princesses!

8 - Whispering Canyon (Check-out day @ VWL) (Breakfast)

WCC is a fun, family restaurant! And I would definitely do either breakfast or dinner here, especially since you're staying at the WL.

Thanks for the help!!!

(My comments are in red.)

I think you've made some great choices - the only ones I would really reconsider are Trail's End, Backyard BBQ (trade for Hoop Dee Doo), Kona (trade for 'Ohana), & adding in Chef Mickey's somewhere (either for dinner on your 1st night or breakfast on your last morning). Hope this helps some!

Also, we love, love, love the Wilderness Lodge!! It's our favorite resort, but, since our younger DS is over 3 now, we can no longer stay there! But you'll love it! The boat ride to the MK is so nice, & the Lodge is just gorgeous! Enjoy!!

 

[juliebug1997]

There is also Garden Grill at Epcot with Chip and Dale and Mickey and Pluto. Best character interaction at a meal hands down. They usually can make it around to your table twice in an hour.

Also, something that our waitress told us the last time we were at Crystal Palace that, if we saw the characters coming to consider staying put. It could take them an hour to get back around to you.

 

[jennylyn_b]

I just want to ask do you know how your kids will react to the characters? If they love them then that's great but if not then the character meals are going to be stressful for everyone in your group and upset kids don't eat well. Just a warning when I see first timers planning a lot of character meals.

 

[paskitti]

That's a great question, but they'll LOVE the characters. A TON!

 

[Heather1979]

I think you've made some good choices. Last year I went with a 2 year old and a 15 month old, and the only reservation I wouldn't do again with young kids is the hoop de doo. It wasn't anything bad about the show or the food, but my kids-- after they eat they want OUT, and the show was still ongoing after the dinner part was served. It was kind of dicey keeping them entertained once they were ready to leave (usually at a quieter sit down restaurant we would let them listen to DVD on headphones or leappad). I'm skipping the backyard BBQ this year too. In theory it seems nice, but between it being outside (we go when it's hot and I like sitting down in a cool place to eat and recharge) and it seems a bit chaotic for little ones.

One of my kids loved the characters, the other? not so much. But even though he was not a fan of the characters, we got some great pics with the characters. Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, and Daisy Duck gave us some awesome poses despite the kinda freaked out toddler at the table. Hope you guys have a blast!

 

[DCbride]

I would skip Trail's End too. Either 'Ohana (even though I saw your are at Kona) or Chef Mickey will allow your kids to eat and dance (or at least move around) during the meal. I see no reason to go to Ft Wilderness 2x just to eat.

Hollywood and Vine also offers a character meal that gets the kids up and dancing with the Disney Junior characters (Jake, Oso, Einsteins)

Enjoy!

 

[DJBass]

We went to MBYBBQ. The food is disgusting unless you want to just ear corn on the cob and watermelon. Ribs are soaked in brine, picnic tables messy, parents rowdy, and hard to get to. Not worth 2TS credits. Dancing very fun though, a highlight for my kids once they got past country music. lol

 

[Docmom]

My kids liked the dancing and interaction at Mickey's Backyard BBQ but the food wasn't very good and certainly not worth the 2TS per person. It's one of those places we won't go back to. Crystal Palace has always been a favorite; food not great but better than MBYBBQ and they get to march around with the characters so is fun. Garden Grill at EPCOT is good too and also character dining. We found T-Rex to be loud when we went years ago and my youngest daughter who was 3 at the time was terrified of the dinosaurs; same thing at Rainforest Cafe when oldest daughter was 2. Both like them now but keep in mind they are very loud.

 

[paskitti]

I COMPLETELY AGREE with all of your comments regarding MBYBBQ. I was hesitant. I just wanted a dinner close to somewhere OPEN where the kids can run around and not be overstimulated ... at least for just one night. So what do you all think about this change:

1-Whispering Canyon (Dinner)
2-Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3-Trail's End (Dinner - then campfire program - so they can run)
4-Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5-Kona or Ohana (Dinner - then movie on beach, then fireworks on beach)
6-Tusker House (Breakfast)
7-Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8-Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)

Thoughts?!?!? THANKS SO MUCH!

 

[Funfire240]

I can only comment on CRT and TH as those are the only two we did but my kids loved them. We went 2 years in a row (DD3, DS1 and more recently 4 and 2). At CRT the princesses made a fuss over DS - it was so cute!.
TH has great food and I love the variety that they had something everyone liked. It was also a lot of fun with Mickey, Donald and the gang.

 

[SpectroMagic*o*]

I think everything you have planned sounds great for the age of your children! You'll have a great time, good choices!

 

[smiths02]

I COMPLETELY AGREE with all of your comments regarding MBYBBQ. I was hesitant. I just wanted a dinner close to somewhere OPEN where the kids can run around and not be overstimulated ... at least for just one night. So what do you all think about this change:

1-Whispering Canyon (Dinner)
2-Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3-Trail's End (Dinner - then campfire program - so they can run)
4-Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5-Kona or Ohana (Dinner - then movie on beach, then fireworks on beach)
6-Tusker House (Breakfast)
7-Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8-Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)

Thoughts?!?!? THANKS SO MUCH!

You may be well aware of this but since you are newer to the boards...I was going to point out that you are using 9 TS credits if you are on the regular Dining Plan (and I believe you would have 7TS-1 per night of your stay)

We really enjoyed CP breakfast, Ohana dinner, and Tusker House breakfast. If you were thinking Kona over Ohana because of the kids choices...we were offered kid choices at Ohana dinner both times we went (our son likes the food though, so DH ended up eating the french fries )

With the breakfasts, we either like to have them before rope drop OR as a brunch (CP we did pre-park opening-8am on a day when MK opened at 9) (Tusker House we did around 9:30/10 on a day where AK had am EMH...we were full until dinner...another bonus is that my son loves breakfast food but doesn't want to eat first thing in the morning so he actually ate...I hear all the stories of paying so much for a character meal and the kid eats 3 grapes and a half a waffle!)

 

[Wendy31]

I COMPLETELY AGREE with all of your comments regarding MBYBBQ. I was hesitant. I just wanted a dinner close to somewhere OPEN where the kids can run around and not be overstimulated ... at least for just one night. So what do you all think about this change:

1-Whispering Canyon (Dinner)
2-Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3-Trail's End (Dinner - then campfire program - so they can run)
4-Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5-Kona or Ohana (Dinner - then movie on beach, then fireworks on beach)
6-Tusker House (Breakfast)
7-Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8-Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)

Thoughts?!?!? THANKS SO MUCH!

I love it! I think it looks great, & you've made some wonderful choices for your children!

I think you'll have lots of fun on the night you visit Fort Wilderness for dinner at Trail's End & the campfire singalong! Fort Wilderness also has a beach area, & there are playgrounds (one is very close to the Trail's End restaurant). One thing to note - the boat will take you from the Wilderness Lodge to Fort Wilderness, & Trail's End is within walking distance of the boat dock. However, from Trail's End, if I'm remembering correctly, you will need to ride one of Fort Widerness's internal buses to get to the campfire. But there will be plenty of castmembers around to direct you! If you want to roast marshmallows at the campfire, you can either purchase some there or bring your own.

Oh, &, when you call to make your ADRs, make Be our Guest FIRST - it's the hardest one to get right now. If you can't get an ADR, remember you can always stop by for lunch.

If you choose 'Ohana over Kona, I would make your ADRs in the following order: Be our Guest, CRT, 'Ohana, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, Whispering Canyon Café, Trail's End.

If you go w/ Kona, I'd make the ADRs in the this order: Be Our Guest, CRT, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, Whispering Canyon Café, Kona, Trail's End.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I COMPLETELY AGREE with all of your comments regarding MBYBBQ. I was hesitant. I just wanted a dinner close to somewhere OPEN where the kids can run around and not be overstimulated ... at least for just one night. So what do you all think about this change:

1-Whispering Canyon (Dinner)
2-Be Our Guest (Dinner)
3-Trail's End (Dinner - then campfire program - so they can run)
4-Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
5-Kona or Ohana (Dinner - then movie on beach, then fireworks on beach)
6-Tusker House (Breakfast)
7-Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast)
8-Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)

Thoughts?!?!? THANKS SO MUCH!

We stayed at the WL last month with our daughter, DSIL, and two grandchildren and 3 and 5. On your list, we ate at Tusker House for breakfast and WCC for breakfast (on our departure day). The Tusker House breakfast was great food. And the food was great. Do not drop this one from your list.

I really want to try Trail's End for their dinner buffet. It is supposed to be pretty good. And there is a really nice playground at Ft Wilderness for the kids. The boat ride was nice, too.

 

[paskitti]

These are GREAT feedback posts! Thanks so much! Also ... we are paying OOP with TIW discount card. So the dining plan isn't a concern for us. Thanks for reminding me though!