ADRs & first visit to WDW

[UsNew2Disney2008]

I am taking my DS to WDW for his 4th birthday. Would anyone mind looking at our ADRs and tell me if you think that we have too many or if you would not do the duplicates that we have scheduled?

Arrival day - Dinner at Crystal Palace
DS Bday - Breakfast at Tusker House; Dinner at Chef Mickey's
Day 3 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace; Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
Departure Day - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

Right now he is really into Tigger and Pooh and wanted to eat with them his first day in. I originally booked BF at Chef Mickey's on the departure day and then snagged a late dinner on his birthday (8 pm) and figured this would be a great way to end the day. Breakfast at CP is before MK opens, so I thought it would be cool to walk into the park before it opens. DS LOVES the food that WCC has, and is into Woody now, so I thought the theme there would be fun.

Any thoughts/ideas would be great. I've never been before either, so this will be a new experience for both of us. I didn't know if this plan is "too much" or not a good mix.

Thank you very much for your help!

And if it helps, DS isn't afraid of characters. He LOVES all the Sesame Street ones!

 

[MariDisney]

Since it's such a short trip, you may find that you don't like spending quite so much time in restaurants. Personally, I would drop the Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey ADRs thate aren't the "special" ones. Maybe try and move WCC to your first night. Since it's your first day, you'll be tired from traveling and won't want to spend much time (if any at all) in a park. But, a fun dinner before an early bedtime may be the way to go. That way you'll be all ready for your early morning at AK the next day.

Whatever you decide, I am sure you'll have a magical trip!

 

[gatorfreud]

Logistics of getting to/from sit down meals (whether in the park or not) is often semi-difficult. And everything at Disney takes way longer than you'd thinnk... we do one table service per day and it is still sometimes rushed.

I would dump the Chef Mickey's dinner and the CP breakfast. WCC is very fun, but you might want to pick something else that's in the park you will be at that day to cut down on logistics.

Just remember to go at a relaxed pace and enjoy yourselves!

 

[Jazmine8]

I am taking my DS to WDW for his 4th birthday. Would anyone mind looking at our ADRs and tell me if you think that we have too many or if you would not do the duplicates that we have scheduled?

Arrival day - Dinner at Crystal Palace
DS Bday - Breakfast at Tusker House; Dinner at Chef Mickey's
Day 3 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace; Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
Departure Day - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

Right now he is really into Tigger and Pooh and wanted to eat with them his first day in. I originally booked BF at Chef Mickey's on the departure day and then snagged a late dinner on his birthday (8 pm) and figured this would be a great way to end the day. Breakfast at CP is before MK opens, so I thought it would be cool to walk into the park before it opens. DS LOVES the food that WCC has, and is into Woody now, so I thought the theme there would be fun.

Any thoughts/ideas would be great. I've never been before either, so this will be a new experience for both of us. I didn't know if this plan is "too much" or not a good mix.

Thank you very much for your help!

And if it helps, DS isn't afraid of characters. He LOVES all the Sesame Street ones!

You did not say what time you are arriving in orlando and if you plan to do the parks as soon as you get there. So if you plan on going to MK when you first get there than go ahead and do CP. If you are arriving later try doing another place like Chef Mickey's for example. Since his favorite characters now are tigger and pooh, keep your ADR's for CP. If that's who he likes than that's who he should get to see and have interaction with. Just beware of the people who will follow behind the characters or let there kids do it at CP. I don't know about Chef's Mickey's and CP not being the "special" ones, but the moments that are created by families and characters determines what an individual would deem "Special" to them. So go with gut instinct, also search out the threads for others opinions about this. Have a magical vacation with your son

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

we arrive at 11 am. I'm pretty sure we will go on to MK since checkin isn't until 4 at our resort.

Do others think dumping CM for dinner is the way to go? I've heard this is one of the best ones!

 

[Jazmine8]

Well here's my ADR's for my 2 weeks in Orlando

Date Place
June 22 - Sun Day 1 Travel to Orlando 1900 Park Fare Grand Floridian – Dinner

June 23 – Mon. Day2 Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace – Character B reakfast, Crystal Palace – Dinner

June 24 – Tues. Day 3 Sea World 9a-10p

June 25 – Wed. Day 4 Holy Land / other attractions / Titanic Exp Bomas Breakfast

June 26 – Thurs. Day 5 Shopping / I-Drive Bomas Breakfast

June 27 – Fri. Day 6 Universal Studios

June 28 – Sat. Day 7 Islands of Adventure

June 29 – Sun. Day 8 MGM Chef Mickey’s Breakast, 50’s Café – Dinner

June 30 – Mon. Day 9 Epcot Garden Grill The Land – Lunch, Sunshine Season’s – Dinner no ressie needed

July 1 – Tues. Day 10 Animal Kingdom Kona Café Breakfast Polynesian

July 2 – Wed. Day 11 Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace Breakfast, CRT Lunch, Plaza Rest Dinner

July 3 – Thurs. Day 12 Downtown Disney / Disney Quest Bongos

July 4 – Fri. Day 13 Shopping / other attractions / relaxing WWhispering Canyon Café Wilderness Lodge – Lunch

July 5 – Sat Day 14 Travel Home

Whew! that's enough, don't ya think? (sorry if the spacing is out of whack) Kim

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

WOW! It sounds like fun though!

I was thinking that keeping CM for dinner his birthday night would be a fun way to end the day - and he'd love that sundae bar, I'm sure. I would hate to "overdo" it by visiting the same place twice if that would ruin it for him.

Now here is another question to those who point out the timing for TS meals. I was thinking it wouldn't be much more than a CS while dining with a 4 yr old. At least at Char meals, there is a bribe there. (Eat so Mickey will stop by). Do those of you who have went think you can eat at CS quicker, or is it about the same timing?

 

[daisy112878]

I would the CP twice since he loves pooh and tigger but only do the chef mickey's for dinner. Maybe do O'hana for breakfast your last day. You get to see Stitch, Lilo, Mickey and Pluto. It's usually a really good breakfast.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Where are you staying? The PP are correct that it can be time consuming getting to other resorts for meals if you are depending on Disney transportation.

You are also going during a very busy time at Disney.

Spending time at a character breakfast does eat up valuable (and cool!) morning park times. As the day progresses, the parks get more and more crowded.

Can your 4 yo stay up for an 8pm dinner after spending all day in the parks?

I would do CM and CP once during the trip, not twice each.

Your DS is going to have so much fun, have fun planning and let us know what you decide. When you get back, let us know how it went!

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Jody,

Thank you so much for your help! We are staying at ASmo, and using transportation from Disney, so that will need to be a factor for us. As far as that 8 pm dinner, I felt that we would need an afternoon break for sure that day to make it work. I've heard that sometimes you still have to wait 30 minutes after your ADR to get seated and that part worries me.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

I just checked on bfast at the Poly as well as moving the CM up. Everything is sold out at this point.

 

[skier_pete]

It's tough to know the right questions to ask when you have never been, but you are doing a good job. It takes about 60-75 minutes to eat at one of the buffet since you have to wait for all the characters to come around. It is good for little kids, but they (at least ours) still do get impatient waiting for the characters to arrive. I would not normally recommend two buffets (or even two sit down restaurants) in a single day, as it is a LOT of food and very expensive, but that is your call. With travel you could spend 2-3 hours on a meal. CS meals are typically a lot faster depending on crowds/lines. Usually you'll spend 45 minutes, and you don't go too far out of your way. Some of the food is surprisingly good. We ate dinner one night at Pinnochios Village haus in FantasyLand at MK. You can eat overlooking the boat launch for It's a Small World, and our daughter totally loved waving at the people on the boats. The sandwhich's there were surprisingly tasty, too, as were the french fries.

I think that you should only do Chef Mickey's once. It is quite nice, but somewhat inconvient to get to from your hotel. (If you are not at MK that night, you will have to get a bus to MK, and then take the monorail to the Contemporary.) As a PP said, everything at WDW takes longer than you would think, especially with little children. You are doing Tusker House (Breakfast) and Chef Mickey's which both have the classic characters. I would cancel one of the two Chef Mickey's if I were you. If you were going to try and go to a park on your last day, you may want to skip the CM breakfast, as that will take up most of your morning, which is the best time to be riding rides in the parks. I also wouldn't be all that high on doing CP twice either, but that again is your call. Definitely keep CP for dinner on your first day. CP has the best (dinner) buffet food in WDW in my opinion. We go there every visit (as our DD4 likes the Pooh-bear and friends). The CP breakfast ressie is toss-up. You do have it for before the park opens, so you don't miss ride time for that.

Do you have a plan for what parks you want to go to each day? And did you buy park hopper passes or just one pass per day? That plan would affect how I would recommend the other ADRs. If you are planning a day at the studios, you may want to think about breakfast or lunch at Hollywood and Vine if your son likes playhouse disney. It has June and Leo from Little Einstiens, and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's circus. (The dinner there doesn't have characters.)

SkierPete

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

It's tough to know the right questions to ask when you have never been, but you are doing a good job. It takes about 60-75 minutes to eat at one of the buffet since you have to wait for all the characters to come around. It is good for little kids, but they (at least ours) still do get impatient waiting for the characters to arrive. I would not normally recommend two buffets (or even two sit down restaurants) in a single day, as it is a LOT of food and very expensive, but that is your call. With travel you could spend 2-3 hours on a meal. CS meals are typically a lot faster depending on crowds/lines. Usually you'll spend 45 minutes, and you don't go too far out of your way. Some of the food is surprisingly good. We ate dinner one night at Pinnochios Village haus in FantasyLand at MK. You can eat overlooking the boat launch for It's a Small World, and our daughter totally loved waving at the people on the boats. The sandwhich's there were surprisingly tasty, too, as were the french fries.

I think that you should only do Chef Mickey's once. It is quite nice, but somewhat inconvient to get to from your hotel. (If you are not at MK that night, you will have to get a bus to MK, and then take the monorail to the Contemporary.) As a PP said, everything at WDW takes longer than you would think, especially with little children. You are doing Tusker House (Breakfast) and Chef Mickey's which both have the classic characters. I would cancel one of the two Chef Mickey's if I were you. If you were going to try and go to a park on your last day, you may want to skip the CM breakfast, as that will take up most of your morning, which is the best time to be riding rides in the parks. I also wouldn't be all that high on doing CP twice either, but that again is your call. Definitely keep CP for dinner on your first day. CP has the best (dinner) buffet food in WDW in my opinion. We go there every visit (as our DD4 likes the Pooh-bear and friends). The CP breakfast ressie is toss-up. You do have it for before the park opens, so you don't miss ride time for that.

Do you have a plan for what parks you want to go to each day? And did you buy park hopper passes or just one pass per day? That plan would affect how I would recommend the other ADRs. If you are planning a day at the studios, you may want to think about breakfast or lunch at Hollywood and Vine if your son likes playhouse disney. It has June and Leo from Little Einstiens, and JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's circus. (The dinner there doesn't have characters.)

SkierPete

Thank you so much for your help! I think the "unknown" part of this is what has had me worried. I honestly wouldn't have ever thought it could take 2-3 hours to do a buffet Char meal! That is good to know on the front end, because yes, that would take up most of our time.

We were thinking of skipping DHS. I was planning on it just to see Lightening, but have heard he is out for 6 weeks and only Mater is there. I'm not sure how DS would handle that.

Presently, here is how I have planned the parks/adrs. We do have hoppers.
arrival - MK (mostly to get a look around) dinner at CP and then leave
day 2 - AK, Bfast at Tusker (he REALLY wants to eat with Donald & Daisy), CM for dinner. (If we were to do DHS, we would probably do it in the pm this day)
day 3 - MK, BF=CP, DIN=WCC. Honestly, my only reason for doing the BF here is the early entry to the park. I was thinking that would put us ahead of the crowds?
day 4 - MK, BF=CM. Like I said, I'm a little iffy on this one. I think there is more fun to be had inside the park.

YOu raised some wonderful points, and I really enjoyed your thoughts. Thank you so much for helping. It is so hard to plan a "perfect" trip for a birthday when you are dealing with the newness of WDW! We do plan on coming back in a few years with the whole family, but DS will be 6 by then and maybe out of some of the things that will be so fun now at 4!

Any other tips would be great! I appreciate all the help I can get!

 

[Mom2JPL]

Here's my opinion (and that's all it is!):

Arrival day - Dinner at Crystal Palace - sounds great!, my son LOVED it here last year, and we're booking it again for this year!

DS Bday - Breakfast at Tusker House; Dinner at Chef Mickey's - breakfast sounds good, I'm just worried that an 8:00 dinner adr is going to be too late for a 4yo; we made our breakfast adr's for really early, and our dinner adr's for around 5ish; I would try to get an earlier adr for Chef Mickey's or change WCC to this day at an earlier time.

Day 3 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace; Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe - try for an early Chef Mickey's this day (which you may have already done) or maybe Liberty Tree Tavern with the characters?

Departure Day - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's - I'd keep this - great way to end your trip!

Whatever you end up doing, I'm sure you'll have a great trip!!

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

if you have an ADR, how long do you typically have to wait to get a seat?

 

[skier_pete]

I think you are in very good shape with your plan. Many people starting out on their first trip don't have a clue, and you seem very knowledgable. The best thing to say is don't try to do too much, you have small children and a limited time. And be flexible with your plans. You can always keep both reservations at each restuarant, and then cancel the ones you decide not to use. (BTW, I don't think there is any problem with making more reservations than you are going to use, but you should ALWAYS call and cancel the reservations once you decide not to use them, this gives last minute folks a shot at getting into places.)

The timing for a meal all depends on where you are going. For instance, eating at crystal palace while you are in MK is very quick. Going over to CM while you are in MK will add 20 minutes there and back (by Monorail). WCC will add 30 to 60 minutes each way, depending on how you catch the boat. This isn't to say I don't think you should do the character buffets, I actually think that they are an effective way to do two things at once. You could spend 40 minutes waiting in line to see Pooh and Tigger, where instead you get to sit down and enjoy a nice meal while Pooh and Tigger come to you.

Anyways, while I think you are picking good restaurants for your family, I would still lean away from doing any one restaurant twice. I would think the first time will give you a "wow", while the second time not so much.

One possible suggestion for you - I see you are not going to Epcot at all. Since you already have 2 days at MK, consider the possibility of going to Epcot on your last day, and eating at the Garden Grille at the land instead of that 2nd meal at CM. The GG has Mickey, but also has Chip and Dale, and the ENTIRE RESTAURANT rotates. If your DS is like my DD4 and likes fish/Nemo, the Nemo ride and subsequent Turtle Talk with Crush show is an absolute favorite of hers. Both trips we spent about 2 hours in this pavillion alone looking at the exhibits.

A few other comments unlated to dining for someone going for the first time with little children:
1) Don't let it get you down if your DS doesn't like / refuses to do something. Our DD was 3.5 on our first trip, went on the Winnie the Pooh ride on the first day, declared it "Scary" and didn't want go on anymore indoor rides for the rest of the trip. (Though we did get her on the Nemo ride later.) We still had a great time though, we spent more times seeing shows which we hadn't seen before, and really enjoyed them. Just go with the flow.
2) Do not miss the Festival of the Lion King at AK. You will not regret it.
3) If you can, see the Spectromagic parade at MK. Little kids LOVE all the colored lights and characters, and it's pretty amazing to watch as an adult. Don't bother with Fantasmic! though. Too noisy and scary for little ones.
4)If you haven't already bought your tickets, you should consider NOT getting the park-hopper option on your ticket. This option can always be added on later when you decide you want to use it, and you may find you needn't bother. (Hopping is probably favored on these boards about 3 to 1, but we don't do it as I'd rather spend that extra money on souvenirs.)
4) Remember the trip is for you and DH, too. Take the time to use the child swap option, and try a couple of the rides that the kids won't like. Even if you are not into thrill rides, things like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean are amazing to see. With child swap, you don't have to wait in line twice. (See WDWINFO.com and search for child swap for more info.)

Sorry if I get a little long-winded, but I love giving advice to first timers. I'm of the opinion that there is nothing quite like your first trip to WDW, just be sure to take the time to enjoy it, and don't let your planning stress you out. The key of planning is the knowledge you gather, not the plan itself. I am a planner, and i have a plan for every day going in. Some days we follow to the letter, others the plan gets jettisonned 20 minutes in. But we always have a good time.

SkierPete

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Oh, and I think I forgot to post this but I have called and tried to juggle the dates. It must be a crowded season during our stay, because for our dates most things are completely booked. I didn't have any luck moving things earlier.

 

[Mom2JPL]

if you have an ADR, how long do you typically have to wait to get a seat?

The longest we waited last year (in October) was 20 minutes, and that's because we showed up early for our adr (about an hour) and they fit us in!

 

[Jazmine8]

I just checked on bfast at the Poly as well as moving the CM up. Everything is sold out at this point.

You may want to keep trying. I have moved around my ADR's a few times now and have gotten what I wanted. At first I had 15 CM/TS meals. I had to downsize because of budget. I'm the aunt that likes to splurge on vacations and money is usually no object. But 15, that's too much for me alone this year. Everyone has given you great advice and for a first timer you are doing great like other posters have said already.

 

[gatorfreud]

After traveling the parks many times with our now 3 and 5 year olds, cut down on the logistics. We had gone to WCC once, it was fun (we just drove and weren't in the parks that day)... but I would I travel 30-60 to go instead of just staying at the park? Nope. The first time we went, kids were 3.5 and 1.5 and we had 4 days. We had a couple table service reservations, and had to cancel most since their naps/bedtimes were so out of whack (including our CP!). Even last time when they were about 3 and 5, we decided to skip our beirgarten and not wake the kids from a nap... they ended up waking up and we rushed and got there an hour late, and luckily they took pity and still let us in!

Anyway, point is, go in with a plan, but don't push it. Can your kids normally stay up until 9:30 or so (after an 8pm dinner?)... if not, don't even try it. No use having tired cranky kids, nothing is worth that. And even the character sit down meals are hard on the kids I think... I would never try two in a day. With travel time that could easily eat up about 4 hours.

Just remember to take pleasure in what they are enjoying at the moment, even if it's just walking around! Have fun!

Kim