ADR advice for a newbie

[Lolsmum]

We're taking our first Disney world trip in August. We've got free dining.

The plan originally was 4 of us for 10 nights, but we've added 2 more for 6 nights and maybe another during those nights too. We'll have 5 adults and 2 children, aged 5 and 6 1/2.

I've made and cancelled so many ADRs now I've forgotten why I chose some and not others. Getting reservations for 7 this close is tricky too.

Here are the current plans:

26th: Sci Fi for lunch for the 4 of us that will be there. My son really wants to try this one.

27th: Nothing yet. We had early breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace but I couldn't get another person added so we'll just go for rope drop and do that later on.

28th: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for my Alice and Mary Poppins loving daughter.

29th: None. This is planned to be a beach day with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes for my pick.

30th: Early breakfast at Tusker house for 4 of us with a slightly later breakfast reserved for another 2. They are trying to add our 7th person.
Early dinner at Boma for all 7 of us.

31st: Lunch at Prime Time, mainly for my dad.
Dinner at Whispering Canyon. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge but this is the first day I can get all 7 of us in for dinner at an hour that works for small children.

1st: Breakfast at Crystal Palace before rope drop. This is the last meal for 7.

2nd: Late lunch at T-Rex for my dino lovers.

3rd: Dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

4th: Nothing planned. We fly home in the afternoon.

We have 2 meals of table service credits left. I'm not sure where to spend them, or if we might be able to just walk up to a couple of restaurants in the park some meals.

Any advice? Anything I should try to change?

 

[shannonstar]

26th: Sci Fi - Heven't evder done this one. We are a party of three and not one of us is willing to sit by themselves
27th: The Sleepy Hollow has these crazy wonderful waffle sandwiches. It's not sit down, but you might try them.
28th: 1900 Park Fare One of my favorites for Breakfast
29th:
30th: Tusker House/Boma Two of our favorites
31st: Prime Time Never been, my son would freak if someone started yelling at him Whispering Canyon Pretty good. Nice interaction for kids
1st: Crystal Palace Before rope drop is perfect
2nd: T-Rex A new staple for us. Decent food, great atmosphere
3rd: 1900 Park Fare We haven't ever done dinner here. Mixed reviews on the food, but the character interaction is supposed to be awesome.
4th: Nothing planned. We fly home in the afternoon.

 

[minnie mum]

we're taking our first disney world trip in august. we've got free dining.

26th: Sci fi for lunch your ds should really enjoy this
27th: Nothing yet. realize it's very late to be making adrs, but would you consider a lunch or dinner adr at another mk restaurant like the plaza or ltt? I'd highly recommend ltt

28th: Breakfast at 1900 park fare . should be fun.

29th: None.
30th: Early breakfast at tusker house early dinner at boma for all 7 of us. great choices.

31st: Lunch at prime time, mainly for my dad.
Dinner at whispering canyon. love 50s ptc. Not a huge fan of wcc but lots of peole enjoy it.
1st: Breakfast at crystal palace before rope drop. love this!
2nd: Late lunch at t-rex for my dino lovers.

3rd: Dinner at 1900 park fare.

4th: Nothing planned. We fly home in the afternoon.

We have 2 meals of table service credits left. I'm not sure where to spend them, or if we might be able to just walk up to a couple of restaurants in the park some meals. one way of using up your extra 2 credits would be to select a signature or other 2 ts credit meal on the 27th (since you currently have nothing booked that day). Perhaps HDDR or Cali Grill? I strongly recommend that you DO NOT ATTEMPT a walkup at any park restaurant during free dining. You will have practically no chance of getting a table. It would be a shame to lose those ts credits.

hth

 

[Hoosier Mom]

You said you are staying at Wilderness Lodge? We found out we really enjoyed the breakfast at Whispering Canyon. My husband got a yummy ommlette, our son got the child pancakes, and the rest of us had the breakfast skillet which included the mickey waffles. Very enjoyable.

Sci-Fi is a fun one for burgers and fries. I was a bit disappointed in the shakes as compared to the shakes at Primetime. But I think I read that Sci-Fi makes theirs with soft serve ice cream.

We loved 50's Primetime. Had the fried chicken dinner, but substituted the greens for some green beans. I had a chocolate shake for dessert but it was too chocolately, so the next time I got a black & white shake and it was perfect! Our server gave us the perfect amount of "grief" over my complicated order! She was fun!

On your Crystal Palace day, did you know where you are having your other meals? We tried a couple new places at MK last time. We had lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. My husband had the pot roast and my son and I had the turkey. It was surprisingly good! And we had some good sandwiches at the Plaza. Our son had a mickey shaped peanut butter sandwich so then we went back to the candy store and got a cookie cutter to bring home for mickey shaped sandwiches for his lunch. (I had to get bigger bread to accommodate the mickey cutter. I think I had to get Pepperidge Farms bread!)

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

26th: Sci Fi for lunch for the 4 of us that will be there. My son really wants to try this one.
Great choice! Our kids love this restaurant! Stick to the burgers, onion rings and shakes and you'll be fine.

27th: Nothing yet. We had early breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace but I couldn't get another person added so we'll just go for rope drop and do that later on.
Being at rope drop, I would recommend adding an early lunch ADR at the MK. Maybe, Liberty Tree Tavern or The Plaza Restaurant.

28th: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for my Alice and Mary Poppins loving daughter.
Great choice!

29th: None. This is planned to be a beach day with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes for my pick.
When off property, we love to eat at Celebration Town Tavern in Celebration, FL (the town Disney built!)

30th: Early breakfast at Tusker house for 4 of us with a slightly later breakfast reserved for another 2. They are trying to add our 7th person.
Early dinner at Boma for all 7 of us.
Tusker House is our favorite character breakfast!

31st: Lunch at Prime Time, mainly for my dad.
We didn't like the food here our first time. But, giving it a second chance this fall.
Dinner at Whispering Canyon. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge but this is the first day I can get all 7 of us in for dinner at an hour that works for small children.
We enjoyed breakfast here more than dinner.

1st: Breakfast at Crystal Palace before rope drop. This is the last meal for 7.
We stopped doing pre-park opening breakfast at the MK because we ALWAYS got out of the restaurant once the park was open. We didn't benefit from being there early.

2nd: Late lunch at T-Rex for my dino lovers.
Our kids love this place! Similar menu to the Rainforest Cafe.

3rd: Dinner at 1900 Park Fare.
Great choice!

4th: Nothing planned. We fly home in the afternoon.

Are you going to Epcot? I don't see any Epcot restaurants listed. World Showcase is an amazing place to dine.

Have a magical trip!

 

[nanni]

Seconding the Epcot recommendations. See if you can find something in the World Showcase that appears. I also really like Garden Grill.

 

[Lolsmum]

Thanks all. Good to see no one has said "Are you crazy?" yet. I'm not sure if I'm getting the balance right on character meals or not, but I want things the kids will be happy to sit for.

Oh shoot! Just realised that since both of our 2 meal days are when my parents and sister are with us they might already be running out of credits. Oops.

Any places we really ought to try? I'm thinking we'll add a meal on our last day and maybe Whispering Canyon for breakfast on the first morning if I can move our lunch reservation back a bit. Hmmm...

 

[Lolsmum]

Are you going to Epcot? I don't see any Epcot restaurants listed. World Showcase is an amazing place to dine.

Have a magical trip!

I can't believe I don't have a restaurant for there. Doh! I'm going to have to see which ones my parents and sister want to pay for OOP or skip.

The only place I'm dying to eat at is Sweet Tomatoes. They have no good salad bars in this country (England) and I need to go there. I grew up in Southern California with loads of great salads. I go through withdrawl.

 

[Lolsmum]

I've done a little tweaking, so here's the current plan.

I'm waiting to hear back about whether my dad prefers to go for 50s Prime Time or Whispering Canyon on the 31st, so currently have reservations at both.

25th: Arrive late. No reservations.
26th: Sci Fi for lunch for the 4 of us that will be there. My son really wants to try this one.
27th: Nothing. MK Rope drop day, but no table service.
28th: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for my Alice and Mary Poppins loving daughter.
Dinner at Chefs de France
29th: None. This is planned to be a beach day with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes for my pick.
30th: Early breakfast at Tusker House.
Early dinner at Boma.
31st: Lunch at Prime Time, mainly for my dad.
Dinner at Whispering Canyon. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge but this is the first day I can get all 7 of us in for dinner at an hour that works for small children.
1st: Breakfast at Crystal Palace before rope drop. This is the last meal for 7.
2nd: Late lunch at T-Rex for my dino lovers.
Late-ish dinner at Whispering Canyon, if we don't do it earlier.
3rd: Dinner at 1900 Park Fare.
4th: Nothing planned. We fly home in the afternoon.