1st time vistor needs your opinion on ADRs.

[tidwelhm]

My family (husband, 2 boys ages 5 and 8) and I are making our first trip to Disney May 14-20. Here's what I have planned so far:

5/14- T-Rex Cafe at 1:30pm
5/15- Chef Mickeys at 11:00am
5/16- Whispering Canyon at 1:15pm
5/16- Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at 9:00pm
5/17- Hollywood & Vine Character Lunch at 12:25pm
5/19- Sci-Fi Theatre at 1:50pm

Here are my questions (what I'm stressing over):

-We arrive the the 14th at 12:00pm. Will an hour and a half be enough time to pick up rental car from Alamo and get to T-Rex Cafe by 1:30?

-I plan on being at Magic Kingdom for the rope drop on the 15th and following the touringplans.com suggestions. Will a 11:00 reservation mess my timing up? Is the park already crowded by then? I don't want to be eating at a time that I should be touring.

-If I do the Hollywood & Vine character lunch on the 17th, can I automatically pick up the reserved seat tickets for Fantasmic or do I need to call the restaurant and specifically ask for this package?

-The 19th will be Star Wars Weekend. My boys love star wars. I mainly made a reservation this day because I've read the lines can be long everywhere for food if you don't have a reservation. If anyone has been during SW weekend, please let me know your thought on this decision.

I think that's it. Thanks in advance to everyone who chimes in. My husband thinks I'm crazy with all the planning, but I just want everything to be special!

 

[ses1230]

Imo, you are cutting it close on your arrival day. You are going to get your bags, your rental and get to DTD in 90 minutes? That doesn't take into account any delays you might encounter.

I think you can plug in a meal break in touringplans.com, you might want to try that.

You have to specifically reserve/ask for the Fantasmic package. Having an ADR at one of those restaurants does not automatically get it.

Sorry, I don't know about SWW.

Don't worry, for me planning is half the fun!

 

[djblu883]

Sorry to burst your bubble but I think you are going to find that driving over to have lunch your first day is not going to work, and that all your lunch day ressies are kinda going to be inconvienient. Good choices for places to eat but we find much more time consuming in the middle of the day at the parks...and if you are at a park and your lunch is at another location it really messes up your day! WDW is huge and driving/parking and getting to ressies is very time consuming!

 

[figment_jii]

-We arrive the the 14th at 12:00pm. Will an hour and a half be enough time to pick up rental car from Alamo and get to T-Rex Cafe by 1:30?

I agree with the PPs that this will be cutting it close. I would either find a later time for lunch or perhaps switch to dinner.

-If I do the Hollywood & Vine character lunch on the 17th, can I automatically pick up the reserved seat tickets for Fantasmic or do I need to call the restaurant and specifically ask for this package?

You need to specifically reserve this package. You can either do so on line or by calling Disney Dining (you can't call the restaurant directly). H&V is a buffet (fixed price), but I think the package costs a few dollars more (you might want to check to see how much it is).

 

[buffettgirl]

one more comment re: Chef Mickey's. You know you will have to actually leave the park and walk over to the Contemporary Resort for this, right?

Considering that you should arrive about 15 min early for your ADR to check in and get your photo taken, you're going to want to be near the front of the park by like 10:15-10:30 or so depending on how fast you all can walk. If you're way back on the other side of the park you might actually have to start your walk to the front around 10. If you get to rope drop at 9 you're only going to have a decent hour to tour MK. Before 11 the crowds are still very low and you'll really be missing good opportunities to do rides.

 

[tidwelhm]

Thank you for your insights. I guess I have some changes that need to be made

We can't check into our hotel (we're staying at Caribe Royale) until 4, so I thought I'd kill the time by having lunch at T-Rex (on the 14th). Do you think I would be safe if I moved the reservation to 2 or 2:30?

Based upon your comments, I moved my reservation for Whispering Canyon to 2:30pm. I plan on leaving MK for the day at that point and going back to the hotel and resting since we have the fireworks dessert party that night. Thoughts? Does the time switch make it a better option?

I'm really torn on Chef Mickeys. I know it's expensive (were not on Dining Plan) and the food reviews aren't that great, but it seems like such a fun experience. I realized it was in the Contemporary, but didn't realize I would have to leave the park around 10, to make it there on time. (All the reviews make it seem like the Contemporary is RIGHT there.) Do you think there is any chance the schedule will change and MK will open at 8 that day (May 15th)? I guess I'll keep checking to see if a 7:00 am reservation opens...

Thanks again. I truly appreciate your opinions!

 

[ses1230]

The walk from the main gate at MK to the CR should take 10 minutes, give or take. We timed from the BLT front door to the main gate and it took us about 8 minutes at a comfortable pace pushing a stroller.

I agree that you should be at the front of the park by 10:15-ish. Then you have a meal at least 60 minutes long.

I think it is great to experience Chef Mickey's but I think the posters want to make sure you know how much time it will take.

 

[buffettgirl]

Thank you for your insights. I guess I have some changes that need to be made

We can't check into our hotel (we're staying at Caribe Royale) until 4, so I thought I'd kill the time by having lunch at T-Rex (on the 14th). Do you think I would be safe if I moved the reservation to 2 or 2:30?

Based upon your comments, I moved my reservation for Whispering Canyon to 2:30pm. I plan on leaving MK for the day at that point and going back to the hotel and resting since we have the fireworks dessert party that night. Thoughts? Does the time switch make it a better option?

I'm really torn on Chef Mickeys. I know it's expensive (were not on Dining Plan) and the food reviews aren't that great, but it seems like such a fun experience. I realized it was in the Contemporary, but didn't realize I would have to leave the park around 10, to make it there on time. (All the reviews make it seem like the Contemporary is RIGHT there.) Do you think there is any chance the schedule will change and MK will open at 8 that day (May 15th)? I guess I'll keep checking to see if a 7:00 am reservation opens...

Thanks again. I truly appreciate your opinions!

right, I didn't say you'd have to leave the park by 10, but that you should plan to be there at Chef Mickey's by 10:45 and depending on where you are in the park you may need to start your walk to the entrance of the park by that time, and be at the entrance by 10:15 to 10:30 or so, depending on how fast your family walks, on the early side if you have slow walkers. Once you get to Contemp, you have to get inside, let your kids go "OOOH " at the monorail, take an elevator upstairs, check in, get your photo taken, etc. But pretty much after 10:00 you'll be watching your watch thinking "do we have time to get on one more ride????"