Which TS restaurant to add?

[KaLyn]

Hi all! We WERE going to WDW for 5 nights on the DDP but we just added another night. HIP HIP HOORAY! Now, I'm looking for suggestions for another TS restaurant for us and our 2 girls (age 6 1/2 and 3 1/2 at time of travel). We are about 6 weeks out from being able to make our ADRs so I want to start researching my options and get some opinions of what we should add. We are wanting to avoid the 2 credit signature restaurants as we're going to make the 6 day dining plan stretch for our 7 days.

So far we have...
Mama Melrose's (lunch)
Akershaus for Storybook Dining (lunch)
Coral Reef (lunch)
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
Kona Cafe (breakfast)

What would you add if you were us? What are your favorite TS places to eat? Do you think we should we scrap one restaurant and add something else? Any recommendations and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[bmay]

We've always enjoyed the meal at THe Plaza at MK although it is not a Character Meal. Chef Mickey's is always at the top of everyone's list as well as Ohana's.

 

[POTCfan]

Maybe Tusker House breakfast? That would give you a character breakfast at Animal Kingdom.

 

[JACKNAG]

Chef La France Epcot

 

[laliwalden]

Hi all! We WERE going to WDW for 5 nights on the DDP but we just added another night. HIP HIP HOORAY! Now, I'm looking for suggestions for another TS restaurant for us and our 2 girls (age 6 1/2 and 3 1/2 at time of travel). We are about 6 weeks out from being able to make our ADRs so I want to start researching my options and get some opinions of what we should add. We are wanting to avoid the 2 credit signature restaurants as we're going to make the 6 day dining plan stretch for our 7 days.

So far we have...
Mama Melrose's (lunch)
Akershaus for Storybook Dining (lunch)
Coral Reef (lunch)
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
Kona Cafe (breakfast)

What would you add if you were us? What are your favorite TS places to eat? Do you think we should we scrap one restaurant and add something else? Any recommendations and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Thanks!!

Ohana
Tusker house breakfast (character)
Crystal Palace
1900 Park Fare (character)

 

[Pakey]

I would add something for your AK day. Tusker House if you want a character meal. Or maybe travel to AKV and eat lunch or dinner at Sanaa and watch animals while you eat.

 

[akadada]

we were super impressed with Grand Floridian Cafe for lunch.

 

[LuvDisneyMemories]

We really enjoyed Saana, Via Napoli, and 'Ohana.

 

[ABtwinmommy]

Tusker House brunch!

 

[ilovevacation]

We love early reservations (prior to park opening) at tusker house. It is awesome to see the park so quiet and truly enjoy the beauty of the park. Also, chef Mickey is a great option, the kids would love it. They are both characters, tusker is only breakfast, i think, all the meals available at cm. We also enjoyed cape may, but i don't know how much you like sea food.
Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[maryandtyson]

You only have one character meal, so I would add another. Two of our favorites are Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom with Pooh and Friends and Tusker House with Donald, Mickey, Goofy and Daisy in safari attire. Another option is Garden Grill in EPCOT with Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale. Character meals give your kids a chance to meet characters without waiting in lines and the food is good too. I like buffet restaurants because my kids can get some fruit and veggie choices. Have fun!

 

[KaLyn]

Thanks everyone! You were all so helpful! I took all your recommendations and I looked at each menu and then revamped our list. I wasn't expecting it to be so hard to choose! I ended up taking out Coral Reef completely. I am a little sad about it but we only had it on our list because I thought it would have a really cool atmosphere and I thought the girls would enjoy eating in an aquarium. Plus, DH is the only one in our family who likes seafood, meaning the girls and I were going to order chicken or a salad, so out it went! I also added a character meal for my girls to enjoy, I mean, we're already paying for it and they'll love it so why not?!

Here's what we're looking at now...

Day 1 - Arrive at 11:30am - Chef Mickeys (late dinner)
Day 2 - Animal Kingdom - Sanaa (early lunch)
Day 3 - Epcot - Akershus Princess Storybook Dining (early lunch)
Day 4 - MGM - Mama Melrose's (early lunch and hoping to get a Fantasmic package!)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom Day #1 - Liberty Tree Tavern (late dinner)
Day 6 - Magic Kingdom Day #2 - No sit downs, we're skipping a day to make the dining plan stretch for 7 days!
Day 7 - Depart at 9:00pm - Kona Cafe (breakfast)

I think this will work out well for us because...
1 - Adding Chef Mickeys for dinner allows the girls to have to Disney fun since we aren't going to any parks that day and gives them 2 character meals for the trip.
2 - We now have one TS place in each park, which is nice and balanced. I like nice and balanced lol.
3 - We will get to experience two other resorts while not forking over the big bucks to stay there.
4 - There are now 2 adult-ish places included which DH and I will enjoy.
5 - These changes fit nicely into my new loosely mapped out 7 day "schedule". We now have room for breaks each day (naps, swimming, etc) before returning back to the parks in the late afternoon/evening without feeling like we are missing valuable park time.

So what do you think? Do you have any other ideas, suggestions or recommendations? I'm open to hear it all!

Sent from my iPad using the DISBoards app.

 

[bennifer]

Here's what we're looking at now...

Day 1 - Arrive at 11:30am - Chef Mickeys (late dinner)
Day 2 - Animal Kingdom - Sanaa (early lunch)
Day 3 - Epcot - Akershus Princess Storybook Dining (early lunch)
Day 4 - MGM - Mama Melrose's (early lunch and hoping to get a Fantasmic package!)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom Day #1 - Liberty Tree Tavern (late dinner)
Day 6 - Magic Kingdom Day #2 - No sit downs, we're skipping a day to make the dining plan stretch for 7 days!
Day 7 - Depart at 9:00pm - Kona Cafe (breakfast)

I think this will work out well for us because...
1 - Adding Chef Mickeys for dinner allows the girls to have to Disney fun since we aren't going to any parks that day and gives them 2 character meals for the trip.
2 - We now have one TS place in each park, which is nice and balanced. I like nice and balanced lol.
3 - We will get to experience two other resorts while not forking over the big bucks to stay there.
4 - There are now 2 adult-ish places included which DH and I will enjoy.
5 - These changes fit nicely into my new loosely mapped out 7 day "schedule". We now have room for breaks each day (naps, swimming, etc) before returning back to the parks in the late afternoon/evening without feeling like we are missing valuable park time.

So what do you think? Do you have any other ideas, suggestions or recommendations? I'm open to hear it all!

Sent from my iPad using the DISBoards app.

Here's my opinion!

Day 1 - Chef Mickey's - YES! We were going to do this on our arrival day, but DH really didn't want to, but when I decided that we would still do it, I couldn't get an ADR and I was sad.
Day 2 - AK - I wouldn't leave the park, even though AKL is so close. AK isn't open late and you'll want to do everything there especially if you'll only have one day. And, who knows if you will get a seat by the windows to watch the animals, anyway. I vote for Tusker House. Great food, great selection for everyone, even the picky eaters. Plus, it's Donald Duck!
Day 3 - Epcot - Akershus - Yes. No question.
Day 4 - HS ( ) - Mama Melrose - Yep!
Day 5 - MK - Liberty Tree tavern -Yes.
Day 6 - MK - If you don't do anything at AK but quick service (Flame Tree is really good), you could always try for BOG. The girls would probably LOVE to see Beast's Castle.
Day 7 - Kona breakfast - another one that we really wanted to get to, but DS was sick so we had to cancel.

Choosing ADRs is the hardest thing about planning the trip!

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks everyone! You were all so helpful! I took all your recommendations and I looked at each menu and then revamped our list. I wasn't expecting it to be so hard to choose! I ended up taking out Coral Reef completely. I am a little sad about it but we only had it on our list because I thought it would have a really cool atmosphere and I thought the girls would enjoy eating in an aquarium. Plus, DH is the only one in our family who likes seafood, meaning the girls and I were going to order chicken or a salad, so out it went! I also added a character meal for my girls to enjoy, I mean, we're already paying for it and they'll love it so why not?!

Here's what we're looking at now...

Day 1 - Arrive at 11:30am - Chef Mickeys (late dinner)
Day 2 - Animal Kingdom - Sanaa (early lunch)
Day 3 - Epcot - Akershus Princess Storybook Dining (early lunch)
Day 4 - MGM - Mama Melrose's (early lunch and hoping to get a Fantasmic package!)
Day 5 - Magic Kingdom Day #1 - Liberty Tree Tavern (late dinner)
Day 6 - Magic Kingdom Day #2 - No sit downs, we're skipping a day to make the dining plan stretch for 7 days!
Day 7 - Depart at 9:00pm - Kona Cafe (breakfast)

I think this will work out well for us because...
1 - Adding Chef Mickeys for dinner allows the girls to have to Disney fun since we aren't going to any parks that day and gives them 2 character meals for the trip.
2 - We now have one TS place in each park, which is nice and balanced. I like nice and balanced lol.3 - We will get to experience two other resorts while not forking over the big bucks to stay there.
4 - There are now 2 adult-ish places included which DH and I will enjoy.
5 - These changes fit nicely into my new loosely mapped out 7 day "schedule". We now have room for breaks each day (naps, swimming, etc) before returning back to the parks in the late afternoon/evening without feeling like we are missing valuable park time.

So what do you think? Do you have any other ideas, suggestions or recommendations? I'm open to hear it all!

Sent from my iPad using the DISBoards app.

Sanaa is not in the park, it's at the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort. I wouldn't leave the park for an early lunch at a resort. I'd try for a lunch ADR at Tusker House or perhaps a late breakfast ADR there (it's our family's favorite character breakfast).

 

[Fivesacharm]

My family does not go to The World without a trip to O'hana. Best restaurant ever. Too bad about Coral Reef...we went there for the first time in July, kind of skeptical about the menu, but wanting to enjoy the atmosphere. The meal was to die for...

Oh and as the above poster pointed out, Sanaa in not in the park, which could make it a pain to leave the park, go eat, and come back (though, to each his own). Yak and Yeti makes a fabulous in-park lunch...

 

[KaLyn]

Day 2 - AK - I wouldn't leave the park, even though AKL is so close. AK isn't open late and you'll want to do everything there especially if you'll only have one day. And, who knows if you will get a seat by the windows to watch the animals, anyway. I vote for Tusker House. Great food, great selection for everyone, even the picky eaters. Plus, it's Donald Duck!

Day 3 - Epcot - Akershus - Yes. No question.

Day 4 - HS ( ) - Mama Melrose - Yep!

Day 6 - MK - If you don't do anything at AK but quick service (Flame Tree is really good), you could always try for BOG. The girls would probably LOVE to see Beast's Castle.

Day 7 - Kona breakfast - another one that we really wanted to get to, but DS was sick so we had to cancel...

I thought about Tusker House, but there's just something about Donald Duck that irks me lol. I'll look back into it!

You know, with my "princesses" we are doing Akershus no matter what people say!

But it's still MGM to me! BTW, is Wreck-It Ralph still there? I think in the Animation building, maybe?

I actually have flame tree listed as a preferred place to eat in AK, if we get the chance. Maybe we could just do QS there and add another TS elsewhere. Hmmmm, more decisions! And I was hoping to do BOG as a QS lunch, even if we have to be in line at 10:30 I'm fine with it since we have 2 days in MK. I thought about doing it as TS but the lunch menu looked more appetizing to me than dinner.

Remember (at least I think) I mentioned that we wanted to go to Ohana? I still do but then I discovered Tonga Toast at Kona and well, that won over Ohana. Maybe I'll still have room for it after all if I cut out my AK TS meal!

Sanaa is not in the park, it's at the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort. I wouldn't leave the park for an early lunch at a resort. I'd try for a lunch ADR at Tusker House or perhaps a late breakfast ADR there (it's our family's favorite character breakfast).

My husband actually suggested it, I was a little "meh" about it. I thought maybe some time out of the park would benefit my wild child if she needed a mini break. But since I took Coral Reef from DH I thought this would be a nice substitution. Notice how I keep trying to fit a meal in for him? I think I'm doing it because if I'm nice and we do some things that he wants to do maybe the price for this vacation not seem as high lol.

My family does not go to The World without a trip to O'hana. Best restaurant ever. Too bad about Coral Reef...we went there for the first time in July, kind of skeptical about the menu, but wanting to enjoy the atmosphere. The meal was to die for...

Oh and as the above poster pointed out, Sanaa in not in the park, which could make it a pain to leave the park, go eat, and come back (though, to each his own). Yak and Yeti makes a fabulous in-park lunch...

Ahhhhh, these decisions are so hard for me! And I'm glad you mentioned Yak and Yeti! I wanted to go so bad, I LOVED their menu when I looked it up. But they aren't listed as a participating restaurant for the 2014 Dining Plans.

Sent from my iPad using the DISBoards app.

 

[Fivesacharm]

Some of the restaurants take a little longer to add to the list (contracts and such have to be renegotiated). We did DDP when we were there in July and ate at Yak and Yeti. Absolutely, no doubt it'll be back on the list.

I highly recommend it!

 

[bennifer]

Yes, Wreck it Ralph and Vanellope are still there! They don't sign autographs (hands are too big) but they give a picture with signatures.

Donald is outside at Tusker House and you get a pic and autograph there. Daisy, Goofy and Mickey come in and visit with you inside if that makes a difference! Plus, again, the food is sooooo very good!

My husband told me again that the only place he insists on going every time is Ohana. It's great because there's so much food and it requires a lot of time, so they have coconut races for the kids and a hula lesson, too, so they don't whine and get bored (i'm thinking of the littler one especially for you) while the parents get to enjoy the food. HIGHLY recommend! Plus it's a quick monorail ride from MK and what kid doesn't love the monorail???

 

[CheshireGrinningCat]

Where is Wreck it Ralph at?

 

[bennifer]

Where is Wreck it Ralph at?

He's in the Animation building by Disney Jr.