ADR's for all meals?

[chewreck]

My wife, DD (3 years old), and myself are staying at Wilderness Lodge December 12-19 this winter (w/ free dining plan).

I've been to Disney many times when I was younger (20+ times prior to 2004), but we never made many meal reservations prior to our trip except for character meals, so I've got a few questions:

1. Is it necessary to book any and all TS meals with an ADR?
2. Are meals at the hotel restaurants now requiring ADR's to get a seat?
3. Is Breakfast or Dinner better at CRT?
4. If you could pick one restaurant in DHS to eat with a 3 year old, which would you pick?
5. Same question for Animal Kingdom?

The meals we're definitely going to (try to) book are:

Breakfast at Akershus
Breakfast or Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table
Breakfast at Crystal Palace (for the characters, is Mickey at this breakfast or only Pooh and friends??)
Lunch or Dinner at Tutto Italia (wife's favorite)

Final question: We have the DDP and our trip is 8 days, 7 nights, so I guess that means we have 7 TS meals each. I think the only meal that we are planning for that requires 2 TS credits is CRT. Do we need to book meals for all our TS credits with ADR's?


Thanks in advance for anyone's help or suggestions!

I found this website this week and have been reading posts on here every night to get as much information as possible. Lots of good tips and tricks on here!

 

[Fortune1211]

If you want to be able to use your TS credits then yes you do need to book ADR's. In the past when we've gone in September during free dining they've let you trade your TS for a CS and a snack and last year we got a bag I think, woo-woo! Anyways yes book them, you most likely will NOT get a seat without them, including resort restaurants.

We've only done dinner at CRT, to me not worth the 2 TS. I would do breakfast as you get all the princesses!


Does your 3 year old like Little Einsteins or Jo Jo's Circus? I would do the Play and Dine breakfast at DHS then. Food was ok 2 years ago but the character interaction was great!

No suggestions for AK, we always leave mid-day and eat elsewhere.

And again, yes make allllll of your ADR's. Please



Shannon

 

[MickeyNicki]

Is it necessary to book any and all TS meals with an ADR? Yes and no....I am a freak about reservations but sometimes DH changes things up on me and wants something else, we have been able to walk in and get a table at opening time...I would say about 80% of the time

Are meals at the hotel restaurants now requiring ADR's to get a seat? Same as above

Is Breakfast or Dinner better at CRT? I have seen 50-50 reviews for both...I say go for breakfast because of the Princesses

If you could pick one restaurant in DHS to eat with a 3 year old, which would you pick? My then 3 year old was super picky so breakfast character meals worked out best for us. Her fav and the one she remembers 3 years later is the Norway Breakfast.

Same question for Animal Kingdom? Same answers for any resort.

 

[chewreck]

Thanks for the responses so far!

1. Are the dining plan credits for TS, CS, and Snacks able to be used on any day of your trip? i.e., if you don't use one on Monday, does it roll over for the rest of your stay or does it expire? (we haven't used a dining plan before)
2. Any idea when the hours for each park will be released for December? I hope they're available prior to September 13 (our ADR date).
3. Other than the definite meals in our original post, any suggestions for the rest of our meals? Looks like we'll have 2 or 3 available for meals without characters.
4. Is CRT breakfast only one TS credit? I know dinner and lunch are 2 TS credits.
5. Originally, we had thought we'd just eat most breakfasts in the hotel room and that our TS meals woulld be lunches or dinners in the parks, but it sounds like the best character meals are breakfasts. Is it everyone's recommendation to do these meals as breakfast?
6. How many character meals is too many?

Sorry for so many questions! Thanks for your help!

 

[ses1230]

My wife, DD (3 years old), and myself are staying at Wilderness Lodge December 12-19 this winter (w/ free dining plan).

I've been to Disney many times when I was younger (20+ times prior to 2004), but we never made many meal reservations prior to our trip except for character meals, so I've got a few questions:

1. Is it necessary to book any and all TS meals with an ADR?
   
   Yes, it is necessary to book all TS meals, esp. during free dining. You risk getting turned away from the restaurants if you don't have ADRs.
   
2. Are meals at the hotel restaurants now requiring ADR's to get a seat?
   
   Mostly yes. For the charcter meals, definitely!
   
3. Is Breakfast or Dinner better at CRT?
   
   There are no princesses at dinner, so if that's important to you, that might be the deciding factor. Dinner is Cinderella downstairs in the lobby for the photo, then Fairy Godmother, Suzy and Perla upstairs in the dining room. FGM does a little "show" but does not circulate for photos or autographs.
   
4. If you could pick one restaurant in DHS to eat with a 3 year old, which would you pick?
   
   Can't help with this one, I've eaten at Mama Melrose and they had decent things for the kids. Maybe the Playhouse Disney character meal?
   
5. Same question for Animal Kingdom?
   
   Tusker House, without a doubt. The character breakfast is great, my DDs had a great time!

The meals we're definitely going to (try to) book are:

Breakfast at Akershus
Breakfast or Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table
Breakfast at Crystal Palace (for the characters, is Mickey at this breakfast or only Pooh and friends??) Only Pooh and Friends at all meals
Lunch or Dinner at Tutto Italia (wife's favorite)

Final question: We have the DDP and our trip is 8 days, 7 nights, so I guess that means we have 7 TS meals each. Yes, credits are per night of your stay.
I think the only meal that we are planning for that requires 2 TS credits is CRT. Do we need to book meals for all our TS credits with ADR's? Yes


Thanks in advance for anyone's help or suggestions!

I found this website this week and have been reading posts on here every night to get as much information as possible. Lots of good tips and tricks on here!

Have a great trip! The holiday lights on the castle are beautiful!

 

[Fortune1211]

Are the dining plan credits for TS, CS, and Snacks able to be used on any day of your trip? i.e., if you don't use one on Monday, does it roll over for the rest of your stay or does it expire? (we haven't used a dining plan before)

Yep, you could save all your snacks till the end of the week and make yourself sick with Mickey bars if you wanted! They expire the night you check out.
Any idea when the hours for each park will be released for December? I hope they're available prior to September 13 (our ADR date).

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say they'll be out by then. The November hours didn't come out until the 4th I believe it was but I sure am hoping they don't wait till the middle of the month to release December hours!

Other than the definite meals in our original post, any suggestions for the rest of our meals? Looks like we'll have 2 or 3 available for meals without characters. You can try Whispering Canyone Cafe, it's in your hotel and so no travel We also like Kona at the Poly and we're trying the Grand Floridian Cafe this time as well
Is CRT breakfast only one TS credit? I know dinner and lunch are 2 TS credits.
Breakfast is 2 as well. The Castle has very high upkeep costs
Originally, we had thought we'd just eat most breakfasts in the hotel room and that our TS meals woulld be lunches or dinners in the parks, but it sounds like the best character meals are breakfasts. Is it everyone's recommendation to do these meals as breakfast? I think the best bang for yoru buck so to speak is to eat dinner on the dining plan but there are some meals you just aren't going to see some of the characters at. Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys are both great for dinner and breakfast and same characters!
How many character meals is too many?That's a personal choice really. One thing you have to keep in mind is that not all 3 year olds are going to be super duper happy to see Mickey in real life. If that happens with your daughter and you've got character meals scheduled all week, well it could be a long week Princesses look like regular people but those other guys can be scary for kids! Just something to keep in mind!

Shannon

 

[djp0630]

You got some good answers so far, but thought I would add since I am going with DD3 in Sept.

First, absolutely book all of your ADRs. You are going during Free Dining and so everybody is booking so that they can use their ADRs. There is always a chance you could walk-up, but usually it's when they first open, and you could have a long wait, even if you do get a walk-up. Personally, there is no way I am waiting a long time with DD 3 at WDW. Just because you book an ADR, doesn't mean you can't cancel your ADR later or while at Disney if you decide to switch things up. But if you want to use all your credits, then definitely book ADRs.

Breakfast at CRT is 2TS. Since it includes tax & tip, plus the pictures, it's 2TS. Plus it's the castle. That's the only one that you are planning that is 2TS.

As for which meals are best on the DDP, it's total personal. I am doing a mixture. We are doing 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches & 3 dinners. For us, I have a 1 & 3 year old, breakfast & lunch are good since the kids are fresh. Dinners can be iffy, but I have booked them a little early (before 6)

As for meals, I can tell you what we are doing:
Crystal Palace breakfast
CRT lunch
Akershus lunch
1900 Park Fare breakfast
Sci-Fi lunch
'Ohana dinner
Chef Mickey's breakfast & dinner
Teppan Edo dinner

We are paying some out of pocket. So a few suggestions are 'Ohana dinner or Teppan Edo dinner. Both fun for kids. Sci-Fi lunch seems like fun for kids. All not character meals. 1900 Park Fare seems neat, as DD wants to meet Alice. It's Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Pooh, Tigger & Mary Poppins.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[chewreck]

Everyone, thanks for all the great suggestions.

As long as the hours for the parks are available prior to my reservation date, I should be good to go.

I'm thinking the following breakdown will work for our 7 TS meals:

Breakfasts:

Cinderella's Royal Table (2 TS) (Magic Kingdom)
Akershus Princess Storybook (Epcot)

Lunches:

Playhouse Disney meal (Hollywood Studios)
Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom)

Dinners:

1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian)
Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge)


Now, the question is whether or not to book additional OOP table service meals on top of the dinner plan. If I book additional meals, what is the cancellation policy? Can I cancel day of?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Jenngoofys]

Everyone, thanks for all the great suggestions.

As long as the hours for the parks are available prior to my reservation date, I should be good to go.

I'm thinking the following breakdown will work for our 7 TS meals:

Breakfasts:

Cinderella's Royal Table (2 TS) (Magic Kingdom)
Akershus Princess Storybook (Epcot)

Lunches:

Playhouse Disney meal (Hollywood Studios)
Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom)

Dinners:

1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian)
Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge)


Now, the question is whether or not to book additional OOP table service meals on top of the dinner plan. If I book additional meals, what is the cancellation policy? Can I cancel day of?

Sorry for all the questions!

You can cancel at any time. I dont think I would pay OOP. I think you could be just as happy having free time in the park and choose your meal time with a counter service. Depending on what park you are at they have many great counter service places (especially in Epcot's World Showcase)
Hope this helps Enjoy your trip

 

[ToddyLu]

You can cancel at any time. I dont think I would pay OOP. I think you could be just as happy having free time in the park and choose your meal time with a counter service. Depending on what park you are at they have many great counter service places (especially in Epcot's World Showcase)
Hope this helps Enjoy your trip

You have made great choices and I agree with the above, I wouldn't worry about paying OOP. Even the CS meals are sometimes enough for two people. THere are usually enough fries and burger to split. And yes you can use your meal credits all in one day or however you want to...

As a tip.....and this is important.....be careful with the receipt that the server gives you. Many times it will have an 18% 20% tip on the receipt for you to circle. DO not write in a tip AND circle the suggested tip or you will be charged both. THe receipts in the past have been very tricky...or you could scratch through the suggested tip write "cash" and pay cash for the tip. Had it not been for the Dis Boards last year I would not have realized what was happening and written in a tip.

 

[chewreck]

I assume tips are excluded from the dining plan and are added at the time of each meal?