ADR's not on the DDP...Need HELP!!!!

[the4walls]

First trip to WDW and I need some serious help. I have read a lot about ADR's and the DDP. We are staying off-site so I believe we are not elligible for the DDP. It seems like ADR's are very important, but I have no idea what places we would even want to go to. Any advice? I want this to be a great trip for my kids and don't want to miss out on this.

Thanks!

 

[all4fun]

Hi again. I pm'd you. You are correct, you have to be staying on property to be eligible for the Dining Plan.

Also, have you checked out the Restaurant board ?

Here's the Allearsnet Main Dining Page and the Dis Main Dining page

Mousesavers.com also has a lot of info on dining at Disney, how to save $ on meals, as well as ADR info. Mousesavers is also great in general for finding deals on rental cars and other discounts.

hth!

 

[3littleHalls]

I reccomend having ADR's if you have young children. You won't have as long a wait time, and it is one way we keep a regular meal schedule. I would say it helps curb tantrums. They are not needed to get in a restaurant(except for CRT, Victoria and Alberts, etc) but your wait time with an ADR could be 5-20mins, whereas no ADR could be an hour. It depends on the eatery and the time of day. The restaurant bb is great for listings, also there are menus of the restaurants if you click on the dining page at top.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Tell us a little about your family and your eating preferences, and that can help us help you!

For example:

How many kids, how old, do they have favorite characters, do they like the idea of dining with those characters?

Also, what kinds of cuisine do you generally like -- do you like things "exotic" or "familiar", do you particularly like steak or seafood?

Do you like buffets, or would you rather order off the menu, or would you prefer something "different" like O'Hana's where they come around with different kinds of meat and you can have as much as you like.

Finally, would you like some fancier meals? Maybe one for just the adults (with a convenient kids club) or one to which you can take the kids?

If you answer all of these we can make a bunch of suggestions and you can go to Allears and look at the menus.

 

[the4walls]

Tell us a little about your family and your eating preferences, and that can help us help you!

For example:

How many kids, how old, do they have favorite characters, do they like the idea of dining with those characters?

Also, what kinds of cuisine do you generally like -- do you like things "exotic" or "familiar", do you particularly like steak or seafood?

Do you like buffets, or would you rather order off the menu, or would you prefer something "different" like O'Hana's where they come around with different kinds of meat and you can have as much as you like.

Finally, would you like some fancier meals? Maybe one for just the adults (with a convenient kids club) or one to which you can take the kids?

If you answer all of these we can make a bunch of suggestions and you can go to Allears and look at the menus.

We have two boys. They will be 7 and 4 by the time we go. My 4 year old is very picky. If there is not something on the menu that we think he will like we will take a sandwich for him. My 7 year old likes to try new food. We like steak and seafood.

We are also traveling with my in-laws. So there will be 4 adults and 2 children. I think we would like a variety so maybe a few buffets and a few sit down meals.

I don't know if the boys would care so much about the character meals. They like Mickey and Goofy the best.

O'Hana's sounds fun. Is that located in the park?

Thank you all so much for your help. I am getting ready to post several more questions on here. Thanks again.

 

[MissMagnolia]

Ohana's is at the Poly resort. You can get there on the monorail from Magic Kingdom.

Chef Mickey's is a good buffet at the Contemporary resort that has both Mickey and Goofy.

Whispering Canyon Cafe (bbq, chicken, etc.) is a fun restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge that has lots of fun antics that your boys may really like (wooden pony races, drinks the size of small barrels, waitstaff that tease you mercilessly, etc.).

Do check out the menus on the allearsnet. You can make ADRs without staying on Disney property or have the Dining Plan.

In the parks:
Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kindom (also one in Downtown Disney)
Lots of good restaurants at Epcot...Le Cellier is an AWESOME steak house in the Canada region of the World Showcase. ADRs are a must here.
MGM - your boys may like SciFi Dine-In (set up like an old drive-in). You sit in cars to eat and B movies play on the screen. The food has gotten mixed reviews, but people go for the experience. Lunch may be better than dinner.

MGM - we like 50s Prime Time Cafe. Good comfort food. The waitstaff tease you here as well. "Keep your elbows off the table" "Did you wash your hands? Let me check." If not...back to the washroom for you. Lots of fun.

MK - Liberty Tree Taven has Thanksgiving type food. Other good counter service places (Columbia Harbor House, Cosmic Ray's)

Whew...long winded, I know. Good luck choosing!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I have a 7 year old boy who has been twice, once at 7 and once at 6. I can tell you what were hits with him.

1) Chef Mickey's -- buffet dinner or breakfast with Mickey, Goofy and the gang. Goofy is DS's favorite so this is a big hit (we did it twice!). I was really suprised how much my son enjoyed the character meals. On the first trip we only made 1 ADR and he liked it soo much we called for a second from the restaurant. Chef Mickey's is located in the Contemporary Resort which is on the monorail. This trip we did the very last breakfast there one day. We spent a few hours at the Magic Kingdom and then took a nice break in the airconditioning at the resort -- it worked very well.

2) Beaches and Cream -- an old fashioned ice cream parlor with hamburgers, hot dogs etc . . . and delicious ice cream treats. This is at the Beach Club (very close to Epcot) they don't take ADR's -- just walk in.

3) Le Cellier -- a steakhouse in Canada. I'm not really sure why DS loved it, he had a cheeseburger (all Disney cheeseburgers except Beaches and Cream seem to be the same), but he begged to go back, which was fine with me -- the "adult" food was delicious!

4) California Grill -- a very fancy restaurant on the top of the Contemporary Resort. It has a roof top deck where you can see the whole Magic Kingdom. If you make a reservation for dinner you can stay and watch the fireworks from there.

5) Mama Melrose Fantasmic Dinner Package -- "Family Style" Italian food and you get a ticket for reserved seating at the nightime show, Fantasmic. Not having to sit in the heat (we've gone in August both times) waiting for Fantasmic is soo worth it!

6) Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom -- I thought this restaurant was "so-so" but my son loved it. Both times we went to Animal Kingdom I found it to be unbearably hot, so having a slow lunch in the airconditioning was wonderful! If you're staying offsite and don't want to trek back to the hotel for a break I would think the RFC would be doubly welcome.

A few I didn't try but think would be fun.

Teppanyaki -- Japanese where they cook on the table, we like other restaurants like this near us.

Coral Reef -- Inside the Living Sea exhibit at Epcot, you can see the fish swimming around while you eat their relatives! (OK that sounded wrong).

Another thought is if you wanted a special night out with your inlaws, Bluezoo, the upscale seafood restaurant at the Dolphin is supposed to be fantastic and comes with free childcare for 4 and up.

 

[dzorn]

Check on Allearsnet.com has the menus. I would try to make ADR's. Sometime the TS restaruants will not take walk up customers.

Denise