ADR's and toddlers...

[kristenrice]

I am an obsessive planner. My vacation is a year away (368 days to be exact ) and I am already trying to lay out an itinerary. I don't have flights so no arrival or departure times yet, just the days we will be in WDW. We plan on doing the DDP (staying at OKW) and I am wondering how others have planned their ADR's with small children? My DD's will be 2 and 4 on our trip. The TS restaurants I would like to eat at are as follows:
O'Hana (Breakfast) DD 4 wants to eat with Stitch
Akershus (Lunch or Dinner...not sure which yet)
Chef Mickey's (not sure which meal) but DD4 must eat with Minnie too
1900 Park Fare (Breakfast)
Liberty Tree Tavern (Lunch or Dinner)
Hollywood & Vine (for Fantasmic Dinner pkg...don't want to wait 2 hours for show)

As far as the breakfasts go, should we consider the latest possible breakfast at O'Hana on MK morning EMH day? After breakfast, head back for a nap? Or is this not practical...not enough time between opening and seating? I can lay it out on paper but I don't know if it will work in practice.
We'll only have 5 TS credits so one of these has to go (I'm thinking 1900) but do you plan your days around your meals since you have to make your ADR's 180 days out? Or, do you integrate your meals into your touring plans? I hate trying to plan out every hour of my days a year from now, but I also do not want to get stuck with a dinner seating of 9:30pm with a 2 year old either! Any thoughts?

DH and I did the "gold plan" on our honeymoon and we ate at a lot of the restaurants so we have a base knowledge of most of the menus. I think that sticking to buffets and family-style will be the best since DD2 eats like a 5 yo and that way we won't have to order a plated meal for her.
I've rambled enough...hopefully, someone understands what I am trying to ask....I am not even sure that I do Any and all suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!

 

[Barbers2005]

We planned what parks we were going to be in each day and planned adrs around that- except for epcot. (We did two half days there instead of a full day so we could eat at more epcot restaurants) Try to keep the vaca. mealtimes close to when your toddler usually eats to avoid crankiness. With dd4, she was sometimes hungry at odd times (ie- couldn't wait for the next "scheduled" meal) so we bought snacks to tide her over and didn't sweat it if she didn't eat much at mealtime. IMO it was easier to deal with any money that was "wasted" by dd not being very hungry at dinner than it would have been to deal with a whiney, cranky kid.

 

[BostonMickey]

We made our ADRs 20 days out since it was a slow time, but we got stuck with some late meals, i.e. Chef Mickey's at 7:50pm. The latest we eat ever at home is 7:00. We do find, however, that the schedule is adjustable because of all the stimuli, including naps and bedtime. These seemed to be adjusted back an hour or two. Also, like Barber said, snacks can be used as a hold over. We find that we make the ADRs we can and work around that since it is impossible for us to keep a rigid schedule with the boys. We know we have to be at a meal at a certain time. So we get in what we can before and after. If we miss something we don't sweat it. We went to Ohana one year ago and it was great. Both boys loved it. Since we spend 3 days at MK, our family's favorit park, we would schedule Ohana early, 7:30ish and head to MK afterward on a non-EMH day. Your girls would probably like 1900 Park fare as well. I know DW does. DS2 has a crush on Cinderella and we went again this year and it was fun. It does seem to be visited by mostly families with little girls, who dress up as princeses.

Overall, we prefer the buffets over family style (except breakfast). I think we ended up paying for a TS OOP, since we had several TS that we must do and a couple that we wanted to try. To get a better value for the DDP, pay OOP for the TS that is the least expensive, which will most likely be breakfast. Good luck.

 

[soibn]

Me too, I am out of control. I have been planning my trip since August 2006 and we are going in Aug 2007. I have been planning what parks to go to each day, what snacks I am taking, too as many socks and underwear I need to take. I guess I am just to excited. Thats okay guys, I am there right with you on excessiveness.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

NOTHING beats planning a trip...no matter HOW far out! I will be going in August, and I admit that I already want to plan my days. But being that the park hours aren't out yet, it's kinda hard to determine where I will be on each day!

Once the hours come out, my planning kicks into full gear. On another board, I even have a countdown to when I can make my ADRs. ADRs are a MUST for my family. I have a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

I see that you have a lot of character meals picked out. Have you thought of having at least one nice TS meal? ie Le Cellier in Canada...that is my FAVORITE meal in all of WDW! They have meals for the kids and if you don't want to order one for your 2 year old, no worries. You get SO MUCH FOOD on the meal plan that you won't have to! We went in December and my 19 month old can eat as much as my 5 year old! And we never ordered anything separate for her, except for milk. She always ate off of our plates and shared with DS!

As far as getting to Ohana for their latest ADR in the morning so you can enjoy EMH, what time would that be? If you get to MK at 8am, do you think you will be able to cover a lot by 10am so you can hop on the monorail to get to the Poly? Not sure...that's cutting it quite close if you ask me..especially with two young children in tow. But if you think you can do it, go for it!