ADRs - please critique!

[uandmfan]

Hi everyone,

These are the ADRs I was thinking of making but now I think it might be overkill. My kids will be 5 and 2.5 (so the baby is free). We plan on going back in 2-3 years so this won't be a once and done trip. But, my daughter likes princesses now and I don't know if she will later.

• Hollywood & Vine pre-park opening breakfast. Is this really good for kids that age? They like the characters but they aren't character favourites.
• CRT pre-park opening breakfast. This will eat into some early touring time but we do plan to be at MK for 4 days during the week. The pro this time is the baby's free. But I'm not sure we'll want to spend this kind of money on breakfast more than once (I think it will be over $300 Canadian by the time we're done). However, if we wait and do it when the kids are older, we'll have to pay for my son who I don't imagine will be super into princesses.
• Crystal Palace pre-park opening breakfast. They both love the characters and I liked the food last time.
• This is the one I'm iffy about - Akershus for a pre-park opening breakfast. I've had mixed opinions on whether to do 2 princess meals in one trip. Also, some day we do plan on doing the dining plan, so we could go there then. thoughts? We will be going to see ETB so we'll meet Belle then.
• We'll have to go to MK on a non-recommended day. I'm thinking we'll take advantage of EMH and then book lunch around noon at BOG to get a break from the crowds.
• Chef Mickey at 730 one day and then walk over to the MK. This is because my kids love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it's the only place with all the 5 characters. Mickey is a must do for the baby at any rate. I'm not a huge fan of the food but the breakfast is tolerable.

We won't be on the dining plan as we plan on being at a DVC resort and cooking in the room. The kids can't handle dinners out after a day at the park. I chose breakfasts mainly because of the costs but I'm nervous about eating up early morning park time with breakfasts. Last time we were done at CP around 915 or so, which wasn't so bad.

Thanks!

 

[jim o'reilly]

i found that my 4 year old didn't really care about which specific characters were at the meals, it was that there WAS a character at each meal. for example, she has never seen Winnie the Pooh but loved all the characters at CP for lunch. She loves Disney Jr channel and loved all the characters at H&V and had a equally great time at each. It depends more about your timing, food is about the same at each buffet location in my opinion and the prices were identical. I would think that eating quick (which is almost impossible with toddlers) and beating the lines at MK would be more to your benefit that DHS? Both locations were very accommodating to our dietary restrictions

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I, personally, would swap Akershus for Garden Grill on your Epcot day, or drop CRT in favor of Ohana breakfast.

Pros in each case would be "saving money, because I know the state of the Loonie," and "princess overlap at CRT and Akershus is pretty heavy." Ohana and GG both get you Mickey Mouse.

 

[uandmfan]

I edited my previous post. I forgot to say we are also planning on CM to get the fab 5. I am leaning towards not doing both Akershus and CRT but I can't decide if i'll regret it or if it really matters!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

We did Akershus and CRT and my DD (3) enjoyed both - didn't feel like it was overkill. Who knows how long she'll like princesses so we happily did both. If you can swing it, I'd say do it. We did avoid CRT for breakfast as it's easily a 2-hour gig. But if that's the only slot you could get, I would definitely keep it. Just know that you won't be out of there until about 10:00.

I wasn't crazy about H&V but the character interaction was very good. And if you're going to HS anyway, it's a good way to get in the park early.

 

[amym2]

Definitely do the princess meals now! My DD was done with wanting to eat with princesses (she still likes Ariel and Belle) by age 7. That said, that's a lot of pre park opening breakfasts. My kids were early risers at those ages, but we could never have made that many early meals.

 

[Michele Christian]

If your daughter likes princesses, I would keep both CRT and Akershus. We did both on our last trip and it was not overkill. My daughter loved it! However, my son could have lived without either, just as you mention. I like your strategy and getting these meals out of the way when your little guy is free!
If you are looking to drop any of the meals, I heard that the food at Hollywood and Vine is not so great.

 

[jimmytammy]

I no longer have little ones, but I would say thats overload on Character meals. For the most part, they all taste the same, just different characters. Go to 2, maybe 3. The if breakfasts are meals of choice, try Kona, The Wave or Trails End. Stay with CRT for said reasons, then CM for same, forego all others or maybe put CP back in mix if this is a must do.

 

[crabbygal902]

• Hollywood & Vine pre-park opening breakfast. Is this really good for kids that age? They like the characters but they aren't character favourites.
• CRT pre-park opening breakfast. This will eat into some early touring time but we do plan to be at MK for 4 days during the week. The pro this time is the baby's free. But I'm not sure we'll want to spend this kind of money on breakfast more than once (I think it will be over $300 Canadian by the time we're done). However, if we wait and do it when the kids are older, we'll have to pay for my son who I don't imagine will be super into princesses.
• Crystal Palace pre-park opening breakfast. They both love the characters and I liked the food last time.
• This is the one I'm iffy about - Akershus for a pre-park opening breakfast. I've had mixed opinions on whether to do 2 princess meals in one trip. Also, some day we do plan on doing the dining plan, so we could go there then. thoughts? We will be going to see ETB so we'll meet Belle then.
• We'll have to go to MK on a non-recommended day. I'm thinking we'll take advantage of EMH and then book lunch around noon at BOG to get a break from the crowds.
• Chef Mickey at 730 one day and then walk over to the MK. This is because my kids love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it's the only place with all the 5 characters. Mickey is a must do for the baby at any rate. I'm not a huge fan of the food but the breakfast is tolerable.

H&V: I haven't been to Play and Dine but good friends were recently there. The kids enjoyed the characters because they are really into the whole Disney Jr. thing. They said the food was "eh".
CRT: There is nothing like eating in Cinderella's Castle! Again....I haven't done this one but good friends have. They love it! If you want to eat in the castle, breakfast is the most cost-effective way to do it while paying OOP. Good thinking about considering your 3 year old and having to pay his meals next trip.
CP: Now, here's one I can talk about intelligently. The characters are great, the food is pretty good...but the atmosphere is too chaotic and loud for my tastes.
Akershus: I love this one. The face time with the princesses is terrific and I like the food and setting.
BOG: my favorite CS!
CM: I know it gets a bad rap, but we love it. I don't know why I can tolerate the chaos here and not at CP. I guess the monorail whizzing by calms me!

Another thought: we adore the 'Ohana breakfast. No one has to get up to fill their plate (which is fantastic with little ones who need help at the buffets) the food is simple but good, and we like the characters.

I think that loading up on the character meals at breakfast is great! Where else can you do this but Disney? Take advantage while you can. The kids will be rested and fresh. Think of all the character meet and greet lines you can skip in the parks!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

My two cents: your plan sounds great to me!! My kids loved the princess meals all the way from 15 mos. to 7yrs (or so)!

Two princess meals in one trip?? No problem!! My daughter loved meeting the princesses, and my son seemed to love to charm them! LOL!!

• And we still do the CP breakfast every trip (kids now 9 and almost 11) -- we love the buffet there, and it's always fun to see pooh and friends.
• We still periodically do a CRT breakfast for the atmosphere -- always nice to eat in a castle...
• Chef Mickey's is still an every now and then for us -- also a nice buffet.
• Akershus and Play n Dine were one-time-only ones for us; nice to do once, but the food wasn't enough to draw us back

Hope you have an awesome trip!!

 

[ariane37]

My 2 cents: keep the CRT breakfast because, as a pp said, there's nothing like eating in the castle! I don't think 2 princess meals is overkill but then again I have no girls and 4 boys lol. We did Akershus twice when my boys were younger and the princesses were great with them, so if you do skip it and do it when your son is older he may very well enjoy it, even if he isn't particularly "in to" princesses. My boys are 10 & 13 now (stepsons 24 & 27) and I guilted them into doing CRT breakfast back in Nov. since mom had never been able to eat in the castle and really they didn't have a bad time at all. Once we got upstairs it was less than an hour total, that included eating and seeing the 4 princesses. What took time was actually being called up after we saw Cinderella.

Also just to confuse you a bit more, we did the "new" GG breakfast in Nov. and it was delicious. You don't get the fab 5 but you do get Mickey in his farmer outfit, Pluto, Chip & Dale. Just something else to think about