Advice on one more reservation needed

[jvz82]

We just decided to upgrade from a quick service plan to one sit-down meal a day plan. Since it's less than 180 days and the week before Christmas, many reservations are booked so I'm trying to decide which one to do. We got our top choices already, we just have one dinner left to reserve.

We arrive on Sunday morning and check into the hotel sometime that day. Currently we are going to Epcot on Monday and eating dinner at the Garden Grill. Tuesday we are going to MK and we don't have anything planned for dining. Wednesday we are taking the day off from the parks and having breakfast at Cape May Cafe. Thursday we check out of the hotel and then spend the day at MK again. My daughter and I will have lunch at CRT. My boys aren't really interested, and they also didn't have any open reservations for parties more than 2.

So at this point we've booked 14 of our 20 sit-down dining credits. We have enough for one more place. The only character dining open on our Tuesday at MK is Crystal Palace. My kids aren't into those characters so I'm not sure how I feel about going there. We could possibly eat at a non-character place? But also not sure I want to give up MK time for something we're not really into. Another option would be on our day "off" from the parks (Wednesday) we are doing a breakfast, but we could also do a dinner somewhere else. The only thing I found open was Garden Grove.

Sorry this is so long, I'm basically just wondering what to do out of the limited options we have. There are other places I would prefer to go, like Chef Mickey's or Be Our Guest, that are not available for a party of 6. Should I wait to see if one of those places opens up? Or just book something else. This is my first time doing a dining plan so I'm a little lost!

 

[MagnoliaBend12]

I think you're right about not wasting park time at MK on your checkout day unless a reservation opens up that you really want. You could do a dinner on your "off" day (Wed.) but you're going to have a big breakfast. What about dinner at one of the resorts or Disney Springs on your arrival night (Sun)? Keep checking every day. Lots of people tweak their plans and cancel reservations. You'll be surprised what will show up as available even days before your trip so don't give up.

 

[ALittleWhistle]

You can always book whatever reservation you can get and keep checking for the ones that you want. Don't forget to look at the December Cancelled Dining Thread as well.

I agree with the other poster about Disney Springs; lots of options there for all ages.

 

[Axel]

Consider a quick resort hop to one of the MK area resorts on your Tuesday for a dinner meal. With the ages of your kids, maybe dinner at 1900 Park Fare (depending on the interest in the characters from your kids) or even a dinner show at the Hoop Dee Doo. Or Whispering Canyon is a fairly fun meal for a family. I enjoyed my meal at The Wave in October, if you're looking for something with a few more "adult" offerings for you rather than just aiming for what the kids will like.

 

[Baklava]

Splitsville and Raglan Road were huge hits with our 5 year old as well as our 3 adults. What are the boys doing while you're at CRT? Mine went to Crystal Palace during my mommy-daughter lunch at CRT.

 

[hjvigz72]

I'd keep checking, but on Tuesday - would you consider Be Our Guest for lunch (It takes a quick service credit) and maybe hop over to the Polynesian for dinner at O'Hana? Quick ride on the monorail and great family fun.

 

[amy1981]

You said you arrive Sunday morning and will check in the hotel, but will you be visiting a park? If not, that might be a good day to plan a sit down meal at DS or a resort. The resorts will all be decorated for Christmas so it might be nice to have a meal at one that your not staying at to see decorations. Also, if you don't have park time scheduled that day you could eat at an off time and maybe find more availability than during prime dinner time. As to Crystal Palace on your MK day...I can see not wanting to give up park time to eat at a place no one's anxious to try, but since things are getting tight in terms of ADRs, I'd probably book Crystal Palace just to ensure we had a place to use our credits so they wouldn't go to waste and then keep looking for something else to open.

 

[jvz82]

Splitsville and Raglan Road were huge hits with our 5 year old as well as our 3 adults. What are the boys doing while you're at CRT? Mine went to Crystal Palace during my mommy-daughter lunch at CRT.

They will probably just do a quick service meal, although I am not sure on that yet! If they went to Crystal palace, we wouldn't have enough credits left for us to do any other meals, since CRT is 2 credits.

I'd keep checking, but on Tuesday - would you consider Be Our Guest for lunch (It takes a quick service credit) and maybe hop over to the Polynesian for dinner at O'Hana? Quick ride on the monorail and great family fun.

I checked into Be Our Guest and it was full every time I checked, but can you also just go there with a quick service credit? O'Hana was full every time I checked too. At least for a party of 6.

You said you arrive Sunday morning and will check in the hotel, but will you be visiting a park? If not, that might be a good day to plan a sit down meal at DS or a resort. The resorts will all be decorated for Christmas so it might be nice to have a meal at one that your not staying at to see decorations. Also, if you don't have park time scheduled that day you could eat at an off time and maybe find more availability than during prime dinner time. As to Crystal Palace on your MK day...I can see not wanting to give up park time to eat at a place no one's anxious to try, but since things are getting tight in terms of ADRs, I'd probably book Crystal Palace just to ensure we had a place to use our credits so they wouldn't go to waste and then keep looking for something else to open.

Yes, we arrive Sunday morning and check into the hotel, and we do not have any parks planned for that day. We were going to just do pool time and possibly Disney Springs. That would be a possibility, going out for dinner on Sunday night!

I thought about rearranging stuff... Chef Mickey's wasn't open Sunday night (except 9 pm!) but Cape May Cafe was, so maybe do that for Sunday night dinner, and on Wednesday Chef Mickey's was open at 1 pm so we could do a late lunch on our day off the park. The only problem is the kids were really looking forward to an all you can eat Mickey waffle breakfast and that option would mean no breakfast. So I think maybe I'll keep looking, and maybe book Crystal Palace in the mean time.

 

[jaysmom4285]

For any ADRs that are hard to get, try the touring plans reservation finder (do a google search). You put in what you want, they search and notify you by email and/or text when something becomes available. You do have to be quick to make the reservation, but it's extremely likely they can find you what you want.

 

[suswa]

I would try for Ohana

 

[Malibustyle23]

As far as I know Garden Grove is not on the ddp. Maybe I am wrong though?

Rainforest Cafe and Trex both take ddp but they also have reservations held separately from Disney. You can call them and book directly and still pay with the ddp.

 

[rosiebean]

You could do a meal in Disney Springs on Sunday. We love Raglan Road, but other restaurants there get good reviews as well.

On Tuesday, you could try to get an after-park dinner reservation at a monorail resort outside of MK. Whispering Canyon at WL, for example, is great for kids, or Kona at Poly (if 'Ohana is booked), or Grand Floridian Cafe at GF (if 1900 Park Fare is booked...but you can keep looking for a res to open there, I've found that one easier to get than 'Ohana).

On your day off on Wednesday, you can go to AKL to Boma or Sanaa...and tour the resort and let kids animal watch. Also, Boatwrights at POR is fantastic...you could go to Disney Springs to shop, take a boat to POR for late lunch/dinner, and boat back to Disney Springs after.

 

[jvz82]

You could do a meal in Disney Springs on Sunday. We love Raglan Road, but other restaurants there get good reviews as well.

On Tuesday, you could try to get an after-park dinner reservation at a monorail resort outside of MK. Whispering Canyon at WL, for example, is great for kids, or Kona at Poly (if 'Ohana is booked), or Grand Floridian Cafe at GF (if 1900 Park Fare is booked...but you can keep looking for a res to open there, I've found that one easier to get than 'Ohana).

On your day off on Wednesday, you can go to AKL to Boma or Sanaa...and tour the resort and let kids animal watch. Also, Boatwrights at POR is fantastic...you could go to Disney Springs to shop, take a boat to POR for late lunch/dinner, and boat back to Disney Springs after.

I like the idea of Boma, I don't know anything about that. Can you see the animals from the restaurant or just when you're walking through the resort?

I might look more into Disney Springs too. I haven't been there in years and it might be fun to bring the kids over there.

 

[rosiebean]

I like the idea of Boma, I don't know anything about that. Can you see the animals from the restaurant or just when you're walking through the resort?

I might look more into Disney Springs too. I haven't been there in years and it might be fun to bring the kids over there.

I don't think you can see animals from Boma...the savannah view restaurant is Sanaa. However, Boma is a highly recommended buffet with lots of choices for adults and kids, and there are tons of places to view animals while walking around AKL. AKL is wonderful to visit with lots to see, especially kids.

That said, Disney Springs is fun if your kids like to shop (my boys do!). I love Raglan Road, great food and entertainment, but there are plenty of other restaurants with great reviews there as well.

I don't think you can go wrong with either, depending on your kids' style. Or adult styles .

 

[hjvigz72]

We've eaten at Bomas as well, no animal views, but you can go early and walk around to see them. Food was really good!

Keep trying! Don't give up on the ones you really want...And I believe you can use QS for lunch at Be Our Guest.

 

[Andrea Wright]

For any ADRs that are hard to get, try the touring plans reservation finder (do a google search). You put in what you want, they search and notify you by email and/or text when something becomes available. You do have to be quick to make the reservation, but it's extremely likely they can find you what you want.

I second this - Touring Plans Reservation Finder has been super helpful. I booked our trip about 90 days in advance and during free dining - YIKES - pretty much everything we wanted was GONE. So I use it to try to snag our top 2 wanted meals at any given time (you can only look for 2 at specific meal times). It helped me snag Akershus and Chef Mickey's over the last couple of weeks.

I've heard people tend to cancel a lot around (a) the date final payment is due (so 30-45 days before the date you are looking at), and b) fastpass sign up date (60 days), so you might have a lot of success in October.

Good luck!