***1st Week of December Thread ADR Plans, Park Hours, and dealing with Pop Warner***

[PolyRob]

I wasn't around earlier on, so I know I missed a lot of the ADR discussions, but I was wondering what are your opinions on PPOs? Good idea? Or not really worth it?

Like @Candycane83 mentioned, if you are an earlier riser, I think they would be great! I did CRT during my last trip at 8:10am since I was staying on the monorail. The park was beautiful with hardly anyone in it and I was able to ride Space Mountain with virtually no wait.

My family and I are more night people so we like to stay up late, shower, and go to bed ready to hit the parks. If we did a PPO at Epcot for 8am from GF, we would have to probably leave latest 7am, which means getting up 6/6:30am. The 10am will allow us more flexibility and time to sleep.

@Candycane83 I posted this elsewhere (for dining package calculations). It's not completely set in stone. I do have the ADRs for everything listed, but just put the Average Service meals where I don't have an ADR and/or am unsure. I would love to add either California Grill or Narcoosee's (or both!) somewhere into the mix, which would likely result in cancelling 1 or 2 from this list.

Please share yours too!!

Yes, please share!

 

[Candycane83]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Care to share your plans too? Loving everyone's dining plans!

 

[Candycane83]

@Talby forgot to ask, which dining plan are you looking at? The regular one?

 

[Talby]

Thanks!! I've never even been to Disney and needed reservations! ( last went about 20 years ago . So I'm not sure about any of this really. I keep second guessing times for meals, and hoping I don't have to change park days based on opening times. I really do not want to rush either! I'm really hoping to just be able to get the " good" rides that I think the girls would like with fast passes. .... We're just really REALLY early risers, so the earlier the breakfast the better.

I'm a little bit jealous actually (but happy for you!) I realllly was hoping to get a PPO for the experience. Maybe I still will; there's time and I'm persistent! I would DEFINITELY go and enjoy every minute of it, however it works out. I think it's very normal to second guess oneself in this multifaceted planning process. There is just so much to consider! At least I hope it's normal because I do it pretty much daily!

 

[Talby]

@Talby forgot to ask, which dining plan are you looking at? The regular one?

It's just never a simple answer! lol At the moment, we are on the regular dining plan. I crunched a bunch of numbers, secretly sorta kinda hoping the DxDP would work in our favor if I'm being completely honest. Turns out, the regular dining plan is about the worst option and paying OOP seems to make the most economical sense for us.

Our Wave reservation is at 8 that morning. When is your family's ADR?

 

[rasadkowski]

Sure! lots of character meals
We recently changed dates a bit. So, I'm still trying to secure some other reservations. As of right now This is what we have..
Dec 3 chef mickeys dinner
Dec 4 ohana breakfast and early 1900 park fare dinner
Dec 5 ppo Crystal Palace breakfast and Liberty tree dinner
Dec 6 kona breakfast and Ohana dinner
Dec 7 ppo Akershus and Biergarten dinner
Dec 8 Tusker house breakfast and.. ( can't decide between Boma or Yak and Yeti dinner? ) suggestions??
Dec 9 CRT late breakfast and BOG dinner
...this is all still a work in progress

 

[Talby]

@Candycane83 and @rasadkowski and @PolyRob
I must say, everyone has the best taste around here! Great plans everyone. Really enjoy seeing what others are planning.

Wish I could help you out with that decision @rasadkowski; have never been to either but I sure do hear a lot of good things about both places. I think that's a win-win situation either way.

 

[Candycane83]

It's just never a simple answer! lol At the moment, we are on the regular dining plan. I crunched a bunch of numbers, secretly sorta kinda hoping the DxDP would work in our favor if I'm being completely honest. Turns out, the regular dining plan is about the worst option and paying OOP seems to make the most economical sense for us.

Our Wave reservation is at 8 that morning. When is your family's ADR?

Are you on free dining plan package by any chance? It is such a difficult decision and a bit of number crunching and research. I'm sure you would be able to figure it out I wanted to do a lot of TS and didn't really like QS choices too much so we went with the deluxe plan... It was either that or OOP.

We have a 9am reservation. It's our move day so I have to repack before moving to CR. Might be there a little early but we might miss each other by a hair

 

[Candycane83]

Sure! lots of character meals
We recently changed dates a bit. So, I'm still trying to secure some other reservations. As of right now This is what we have..
Dec 3 chef mickeys dinner
Dec 4 ohana breakfast and early 1900 park fare dinner
Dec 5 ppo Crystal Palace breakfast and Liberty tree dinner
Dec 6 kona breakfast and Ohana dinner
Dec 7 ppo Akershus and Biergarten dinner
Dec 8 Tusker house breakfast and.. ( can't decide between Boma or Yak and Yeti dinner? ) suggestions??
Dec 9 CRT late breakfast and BOG dinner
...this is all still a work in progress

Great plans!! I think we have have a few restaurants that are the same! (All character dining of course, lol) we coincide on Akershus PPO! On your AK day, I see a lot of great reviews on Boma and Yak&Yeti. However, I think that the food seems very similar with Tusker and Boma. It's something to consider.

 

[Talby]

Are you on free dining plan package by any chance? It is such a difficult decision and a bit of number crunching and research. I'm sure you would be able to figure it out I wanted to do a lot of TS and didn't really like QS choices too much so we went with the deluxe plan... It was either that or OOP.

We have a 9am reservation. It's our move day so I have to repack before moving to CR. Might be there a little early but we might miss each other by a hair

Oh how I wish we had free dining! Alas, we do not. There's really no other way to truly know aside from considering what one's own family's preferences are, both food wise and touring style wise, and doing the math! I was somewhat surprised but that calculator is the bomb!

It would be so fun to meet fellow DISsers! Who else can relate to this level of crazy?!

 

[Candycane83]

@Talby i totally agree! Really love seeing everyone's plans! We are all really uber planners

Looking at these plans, I think I'll be seeing you guys around! @Lisa F and I have Narcoosee's dinner on the same day same time frame, @Talby wave breakfast and @rasadkowski akershus PPO!

 

[rasadkowski]

Great plans!! I think we have have a few restaurants that are the same! (All character dining of course, lol) we coincide on Akershus PPO! On your AK day, I see a lot of great reviews on Boma and Yak&Yeti. However, I think that the food seems very similar with Tusker and Boma. It's something to consider.

Thank you! That makes complete sense! And I know I have a ton of buffets! I don't want everyone to be buffeted out! Yak and Yeti it is. Or if we're tired...I made some extra Kona reservations, just in case the kids are too exhausted to leave the resort again!

 

[PolyRob]

It's just never a simple answer! lol At the moment, we are on the regular dining plan. I crunched a bunch of numbers, secretly sorta kinda hoping the DxDP would work in our favor if I'm being completely honest. Turns out, the regular dining plan is about the worst option and paying OOP seems to make the most economical sense for us.

Our Wave reservation is at 8 that morning. When is your family's ADR?

I crunched the numbers for my last trip so many times. I would have easily needed deluxe dining due to multiple signature restaurants and the Spirit of Aloha Show. I ended up not doing the dining plan, upgrading to an AP (free PhotoPass+ for a year included and Club Villain discount paid for it in one day), and purchased Tables in Wonderland. I already made back what I had spent on the TIW card, plus $50-$70? Now everything is a bonus.

The thing that would not have worked well for my family was the dessert for each person with each meal. If anything, we maybe got 5 desserts total for an 8 day trip? I mean we could have eaten them, but it was not necessary for us.

I would have gladly taken a free dining plan (and paid upgrade to deluxe) this time around. Unfortunately, my check-in date fell outside of the window. I would have had to split a 5 night stay (2 nights regular and 3 nights Club Level) and my mom did not want to hop, from the same resort, to a more expensive package. Hoping for an AP room only now

Sure! lots of character meals
We recently changed dates a bit. So, I'm still trying to secure some other reservations. As of right now This is what we have..
Dec 3 chef mickeys dinner
Dec 4 ohana breakfast and early 1900 park fare dinner
Dec 5 ppo Crystal Palace breakfast and Liberty tree dinner
Dec 6 kona breakfast and Ohana dinner
Dec 7 ppo Arkeshus and Biergarten dinner
Dec 8 Tusker house breakfast and.. ( can't decide between Boma or Yak and Yeti dinner? ) suggestions??
Dec 9 CRT late breakfast and BOG dinner
...this is all still a work in progress

I love all of your character meals! I feel like I may regret not doing 'Ohana for at least one meal this trip... we shall see!

For AK, does having to leave the park for and ADR or stay in the park for another help make the decision? Or a buffet vs an a la carte? I dined at Yak and Yeti and it was very enjoyable, but I have also heard Boma is good.

 

[rasadkowski]

I crunched the numbers for my last trip so many times. I would have easily needed deluxe dining due to multiple signature restaurants and the Spirit of Aloha Show. I ended up not doing the dining plan, upgrading to an AP (free PhotoPass+ for a year included and Club Villain discount paid for it in one day), and purchased Tables in Wonderland. I already made back what I had spent on the TIW card, plus $50-$70? Now everything is a bonus.

The thing that would not have worked well for my family was the dessert for each person with each meal. If anything, we maybe got 5 desserts total for an 8 day trip? I mean we could have eaten them, but it was not necessary for us.

I would have gladly taken a free dining plan (and paid upgrade to deluxe) this time around. Unfortunately, my check-in date fell outside of the window. I would have had to split a 5 night stay (2 nights regular and 3 nights Club Level) and my mom did not want to hop, from the same resort, to a more expensive package. Hoping for an AP room only now



I love all of your character meals! I feel like I may regret not doing 'Ohana for at least one meal this trip... we shall see!

For AK, does having to leave the park for and ADR or stay in the park for another help make the decision? Or a buffet vs an a la carte? I dined at Yak and Yeti and it was very enjoyable, but I have also heard Boma is good.

It should help make the decision! haha I am so up in the air about what would work best for us, since it's our first time there. from past experience with other trips, we usually head back to the hotel to just rest and change before dinner. So, we could go back to the park or off to another site. (we are not park hopping though.) But, I definitely want to try to add some a la carte meals in there ! The girls love asian food too, so I think Yak and Yeti seems like a good fit .... our schedule will be a work in progress up until the 24 hour mark of canceling without penalty. I'd be that one hovering over the cancel button at midnight.

 

[BDFmom]

Everyone has great plans!

I'm hungry after reading them all. Still debating on a couple of days. Getting a BOG dinner on 12/4 has put a wrench in my plans. That was originally supposed to be our F! night. Now there are no more available packages on alternate nights.

 

[BDFmom]

Here are my plans as they stand.....
11/26 - arrival day land at 3pm
Wishes Cruise ...
11/27 - can't decide
11/28 - can't decide
11/29 - am can't decide
Evening Sanna dinner and Starlight Safari
11/30 - MK day Skipper Dinner
12/1 - am rest, pool, maybe resort hop
Pm CRT dinner and MVMCP
12/2 - MK EMH am
Epcot pm Chef de France Dinner
12/3 - AK Yak and Yeti Lunch
Possibly Tokyo Dinner or ROL if that opens
12/4 - this was supposed to be our HD day with a F! package but I snagged a BOG dinner
12/5 - MK am
Epcot PM Akurhaus dinner
12/6 - cry all the way home back to reality

I'm waiting to finalize to see if EMM and SWDP are extended. I feel so much pressure to decide so that we can choose the fast passes.

 

[Talby]

Thank you! That makes complete sense! And I know I have a ton of buffets! I don't want everyone to be buffeted out! Yak and Yeti it is. Or if we're tired...I made some extra Kona reservations, just in case the kids are too exhausted to leave the resort again!

Great call! I'm so excited about trying Yak and Yeti. I love that you have a back-up plan with those extra Kona reservations. Sometimes the reality of things is a bit different than how it looks on paper and we can't always predict everything. I think the back-up plans help with a go-with-the-flow approach.

 

[Talby]

I crunched the numbers for my last trip so many times. I would have easily needed deluxe dining due to multiple signature restaurants and the Spirit of Aloha Show. I ended up not doing the dining plan, upgrading to an AP (free PhotoPass+ for a year included and Club Villain discount paid for it in one day), and purchased Tables in Wonderland. I already made back what I had spent on the TIW card, plus $50-$70? Now everything is a bonus.

The thing that would not have worked well for my family was the dessert for each person with each meal. If anything, we maybe got 5 desserts total for an 8 day trip? I mean we could have eaten them, but it was not necessary for us.

I would have gladly taken a free dining plan (and paid upgrade to deluxe) this time around. Unfortunately, my check-in date fell outside of the window. I would have had to split a 5 night stay (2 nights regular and 3 nights Club Level) and my mom did not want to hop, from the same resort, to a more expensive package. Hoping for an AP room only now



I love all of your character meals! I feel like I may regret not doing 'Ohana for at least one meal this trip... we shall see!

For AK, does having to leave the park for and ADR or stay in the park for another help make the decision? Or a buffet vs an a la carte? I dined at Yak and Yeti and it was very enjoyable, but I have also heard Boma is good.

Number crunching was a huge eye opener, that's for sure! So the only "AP" lingo I know is annual pass holder but I'm not sure that is correct in this context--is it? I keep seeing "Tables in Wonderland" or TiW referenced all over these boards. I'm sure there's somewhere that explains it in depth, but would mind sharing just a nutshell version? The number of desserts on these plans is pretty extraordinary! Personally, we would never eat that many either. I believe I read they are changing things up on that front for the 2017 plans; I think it's fewer desserts but more snacks? That seems more appealing, I think.

 

[Talby]

Here are my plans as they stand.....
11/26 - arrival day land at 3pm
Wishes Cruise ...
11/27 - can't decide
11/28 - can't decide
11/29 - am can't decide
Evening Sanna dinner and Starlight Safari
11/30 - MK day Skipper Dinner
12/1 - am rest, pool, maybe resort hop
Pm CRT dinner and MVMCP
12/2 - MK EMH am
Epcot pm Chef de France Dinner
12/3 - AK Yak and Yeti Lunch
Possibly Tokyo Dinner or ROL if that opens
12/4 - this was supposed to be our HD day with a F! package but I snagged a BOG dinner
12/5 - MK am
Epcot PM Akurhaus dinner
12/6 - cry all the way home back to reality

I'm waiting to finalize to see if EMM and SWDP are extended. I feel so much pressure to decide so that we can choose the fast passes.

The pressure is real! lol Sounds fantastic so far! There truly are so many options that is really can be challenging to decide. Have you been on a cruise before? That's on my bucket list most definitely!

 

[Talby]

Everyone has great plans!

I'm hungry after reading them all. Still debating on a couple of days. Getting a BOG dinner on 12/4 has put a wrench in my plans. That was originally supposed to be our F! night. Now there are no more available packages on alternate nights.

Oops--wanted to respond to this too. The juggling act is also real! I laugh when I look at the first draft of our itinerary. With the various wrenches that have come into play and/or me simply changing my mind, things look very different than when I started. Good luck getting things just right and how you want them.