ADRs, why do you pick what you pick?

[disneydremr]

Just wondering, as we've never done ADRs before, and I've seen comments on here about people using spreadsheets, and planning meals with FP, etc. Looking at the restaurant descriptions on Disney, they don't really show why certain ones might stand out. We have a 3 year old, so we probably would want to experience at least some character dining, but how would you even begin to know what to choose!

 

[quagmire0]

You post here. Also, I'd HIGHLY recommend the Unofficial Guide to Disney World.

We have done breakfast at 'Ohana (Lilo/Stitch/Mickey, etc.), Crystal Palace (Pooh, Tigger, etc.), and Hollywood and Vine (was Little Einsteins, not sure what it is now). Of those three, I'd rank them Crystal Palace, 'Ohana, H&V. H&V was just kind of small and cramped. Crystal Palace has more opportunity to see the characters and also gets you into the park early if you make an early reservation. 'Ohana was great too. Great interactions with the characters and I like the ambiance of the Polynesian Resort.

In terms of character dinners, we've only done Arkershus (Princesses). Our daughter loved that and our son who was a little under 2 at the time was pretty smitten with the Princesses as well. I'd recommend Biergarten in Epcot if you like German food. No characters, but there's a live band that plays and the kids can get out on the dance floor and burn off some excess energy.

 

[Jewel3k]

I would look at the experiences each restaurant offers for the 3 year old and go from there. Character dining is great because it keeps the child engaged while waiting for food. A buffet is nice because you aren't waiting nearly as long for food. Entertaining meals like the Beirgarten or the Japenese Steak House can be fun for your little one to watch while they eat. Some kids like Sci-Fi because it plays movie clips, but a 3 could be scared.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I figure out my touring plan first, then look at what is available in that park. I like to do character meals because I don't like waiting in long lines to meet characters. I read reviews, I find menus online, and then go from there. I show pictures of the restaurants to my children if I'm uncertain (like Sci-Fi--my kids were very excited about eating in a convertible!). If we're on a budget, we take that into account, too.

 

[poohfriend77]

On our first couple trips, when our kids were young, characters were a priority! We picked the majority of our meals based solely on characters. And if the same characters were available at multiple meals, I'd compare menus and read reviews to use food as the secondary deciding factor, lol. We have since made more decisions based on actual food (and sometimes cost), especially since my oldest DD is pretty picky.

All the menus are posted online, and Disboarders have posted some pretty awesome dining reviews under the Restaurants Board. For me, reviews with photos are more helpful than blurbs in a book, because I like to know details like whether the reviewer had kids, how long dinner took, whether servers offered alternative choices for kids, etc. There is also a lot of helpful into about how restaurants handle allergies, if that is an issue for you!

 

[xlsm]

Menu and experience, mostly.
AllEars.net is a great reference for menus, the link is HERE

It's one of my main planning tools.

Good luck choosing and have an amazing vacation!!!

 

[Thing 1]

We pick dining places to reflect where we are going to be that day. We decide what park we will be in at the time we need a meal and choose from that park or a near by location. We do hopper almost always and we use only WDW transport almost always. We do some repeats and try a few new things each trip. We have for the most part, really never had a bad experience at TS, a few CS we have but that is much less money wasted.

 

[lauraaott]

How is crystal palace? My 3yo son doesn't watch Winnie the pooh...do you think he will still enjoy it?

 

[katyjeka]

We love Crystal Palace, its a must each trip. 'Ohana for dinner is another one we won't miss.

 

[Baklava]

As a first timer, most of my choices are based on menus. Some are character interactions- it doesn't matter what the food is like at H&V for example, that's my DD's big "must have" and we're doing it. We chose as many things that are different, especially cuisines that are harder to get at home.

We have lots of excellent Chinese, Italian and Japanese near us, so we mostly skipped those. We *did* do Indian because it's our favorite, but we tried for some new things like Marrakesh.

 

[Baklava]

Oh- and we skipped several of the nicest places because they are not going to be enjoyable for DD.

 

[design_mom]

Another consideration, especially for character dining, is how the food is delivered. Some are buffet and some are family style.

When the kids were little, I much preferred the family style meals. The menu on the buffet is wider (might be a consideration for picky eaters) but we always had plenty that our kids would eat in the family style meals. At buffets, it always seemed like one of our adults was at the buffet getting something for someone, since the kids were too little to go by themselves. And then you were always hoping the characters didn't stop by while you were gone. (Most of the time they follow a path around the restaurant so you can kind of gauge when they'll be getting to you, but we've had a few surprises.) With the family style meals, they bring the food to your table in skillets/bowls. You can get more of what you want, but you don't have to leave the table to get it.

Now that the kids are old enough to go to the buffets on their own, we do more buffets. There is usually a wider selection of foods on the buffet and the kids enjoy trying a little of this and a little of that.

 

[ariane37]

As you can see by all the posts, there are quite a few factors that go in to choosing ADR's for most people! When DS's were really small we did choose some based on characters but still kept location in mind-where would we be, what restaurants were easy to get to. Menu's were important too, but mainly for DS's. If it wasn't a character meal we did often try places with some type of entertainment they might like, such as Biergarten with the band and Coral Reef with the huge fish tank. As they're older now the focus is more on the food and what we all like, plus mixing revisiting favorite restaurants with new places we'd like to try. Sometimes we make an ADR based on where we'll be; other times we base where we'll be on where we want to eat! Nice and easy, right lol. As others suggested I would check out Allears.net and maybe read some of the dining reviews here. They're informative and interesting

 

[worm761]

My budget is my deciding factor but I do it based on tradition and food. We always do a Tusker House breakfast. DH requests to for his birthday dinner to be 50's Prime Time every year so we will do that. From there I just look at menus and decide. We're going back to Via Napoli because we really liked it. But we aren't doing any other table service this time. We will hit up the Food and Wine festival booths. DD is being a super picky eater lately so there isn't much she will eat. I plan to have peanut butter sandwiches for her in my bag.

 

[dhardawa]

I'm a very picky eater, so I pick based on whether there is anything on the menu I'll actually eat.

 

[Fantabulously Cherry]

I'm s spreadsheet person. LOL! I do plan what meals we do each day in relation to which park we will concentrate on that day. In years past, it's been about trying new restaurants. This year since it's our 2YO DD's first trip, we are doing all character buffets, with exception to Sci-Fi Dine-In and Beaches n' Cream. We are doing Akershus breakfast, Tusker House breakfast, 1900 Park Faire dinner, Hollywood & Vine lunch, 'Ohana breakfast, Chef Mickey dinner and Crystal Palace dinner for character meals. I have done a few of these in the past, but it's been a few years.

 

[mandis77]

My first step is to chose what parks on what day (based on crowd calendars on Touring Plans and Easy WDW). Then I do my ADR's. You have a 3yo, so character meals are such a great way to get in those visits without waiting in line. Basically it boils down to who you want to see. You can read lots of reviews here - also AllEars.net has pictures and menus so you can look at everything ahead of time. Also, if you are paying out of pocket remember character breakfasts are the least expensive. Our favorites are Akershaus (princesses!), 'Ohana and Chef Mickey's. Most character meals are buffet so it is nice to fit in a few "real" sit down meals too. Be Our Guest isn't technically a character meal but definitely a must see - plus you can get a pic with the Beast at the end!

 

[LaurenLC]

We have two kiddos, 5 and 3.. We do a lot of character dining because our children love the characters and we hate standing in line to see them! Character meals are a win, win for our family!

 

[Carrie Gruber]

I started by researching menus and reviews for the restaurants we were interested in, like the Unofficial Guide, the podcast and WDWinfo.com. When the park hours are released, I figure out what parks we'll be at on each day. This year, I did Touring Plans so I'd know about where we'd be and when, so I could see which locations we'd be near around our normal meal times. This allowed me to narrow down the times I needed to try for. This year we are going to Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh & friends), Tusker House (Donald & friends), Be Our Guest (Beast) and Ohana (Lilo & Stitch). Our last trip we did Chef Mickey's and had a wonderful time (we don't mind noisy, we have small children after all!) plus we did Akershus for the princesses and it was more than worth it! Way more reasonable than Cinderella's Royal Table. We got to meet Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora AND Belle...the place exceeded my expectations. At the time my daughter was 6 and my son was 3. This go-around the older ones are 8 and 6, plus we'll have a 1 yr old in the mix. Most little ones are not hard to please, just do your research so you know what to expect and what each venue offers.

 

[Pesky]

Several things come into play:
1. The food! Stuff that I think will appeal to the whole family, places that get good reviews for the food.
2. The family. What kind of ambience do I think the whole family will enjoy? The food at some of the steakhouses look good but the kids would be bored. Coral Reef with a giant fish tank to watch or Biergarten with the show? Less bored.
3. Money. We're not made of it. So that means I pick and choose a few nicer restaurants and skip some others.
4. Schedule. Where do I think we'll be that day? Are there good QS/CS options around?
5. Cancellation possibility. How many potential cancellations do I want to deal with?
6. For characters, what characters are there? This also gets weighed against the food quality. I've heard great things about CP re the food but my kids are not into Pooh and friends. So doesn't make a huge amount of sense to spend the money on that character meal.