Am I overdoing it with the ADR's??

[JFlo]

Okay, I'll be honest with you, I'm really just looking for some validation for the excessive food intake we will be experiencing on our week long extravaganza. We are going in February and are doing the Dining Plan. I was able to get all of the ADRs I wanted, plus a couple we will be paying OOP. My DD3 is a Princess FANATIC and my DH is a MAJOR FOODIE. We don't know when we will be able to make our way back to WDW, so this may be our only trip for a LOOOOOOONG time. So please tell me how worth the extra dollars and the extra pounds will be!! We will be going to...

Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast
Chef Mickey's Dinner Buffet
Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner
Play N' Dine Breakfast at H&V
50's Prime Time Cafe
Le Cellier
Akershus Princess Storybook Breakfast
Rose & Crown (7:10 ressie in hope of getting outdoor seating)
Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare
and
Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table
(Actually my parents will be taking DD to 1900 Park Fare while the foodie and I do the coveted Chef's Table.)

So tell me...will it feel like all we are doing is eating???

 

[S.Poppins]

I also have one TS planned for everyday of our trip. The great food is part of the vacation for us. I say enjoy it!

 

[monorailsilver]

I'd probably say yes only because you have a 3 year old in tow.

If it was just you & dh then I'd say go for it.

But having to deal with a 3 year old sitting & being good all those times just isn't possible in my eyes.

BTW, I have a 5 yo, a 3 yo (next week actually) & a 6 month old & I dread going to too many places with them.

 

[MariDisney]

Looks awesome to me!! Your DD will have an amazing time with all the character experiences. We like to do a lot of TS too, even when we're not on the DDP.

 

[Wooden Eye]

Flo, I don't see anything wrong with your plan. Sounds like you guys are really looking forward to this trip - planning your dining experiences is a lot of fun.

I say eat rabbit food and lay off the greasy stuff for the next few months - that way you'll be ready to belly-up and hit the food trough in Feb.

 

[robinb]

Yes, I think you'll be doing nothing than eating! You also have WAY too many character meals. Pick either Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast or Akershus Princess Storybook or Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare. They are really all the SAME character interaction! Breakfast Chef Mickey's Dinner Buffet or Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner. Again, the SAME character interaction. For Pete's sake ... she's only 3 and she really won't know that she'll miss out on two out of the three Princess meals and saw Mickey and his friends only ONCE.

Now for the rest ...
Play N' Dine Breakfast at H&V -- Your SIXTH character meal. Yikes!
50's Prime Time Cafe -- Your foodie husband will be disappointed. It was the worst meal of our last trip.
Le Cellier -- This restaurant goes hot and cold for me. I keep on getting so-so meals and I keep on hoping that it will get better ...
Rose & Crown (7:10 ressie in hope of getting outdoor seating) -- again ... Foodie DOES NOT EQUAL English fare. Really. OK but nothing special.
Victoria and Albert's Chef's Table -- Ah! Heaven!

I would recommend Boma's for dinner, it has great food for foodies, regular Joe's and kids alike. It's one of my favorites. Teppanyaki in Japan is also one of my favorites, but I am not sure if it is still on the Dining Plan. I will also go out on a limb and recommend Tony's in the MK. My DD loved the pasta and I loved the lamb shank. Another option would be 'Ohanas or Roaring Forks for dinner. Both offer good, stick to our ribs meals with a big dose of fun!

 

[thunderbird1]

You should do whatever sounds fun to you, regardless of what others think. It does look like you have a lot of character meals, but honestly, going with a 3 yo is the perfect time to do more dining--it's the older ones that are going to want to be doing something every minute of every day. Especially all those character meals--they'll keep her entertained while you get to eat eat eat!

My advice? Keep all your ADR's for now, but be open to cancelling if you feel like all you're doing is eating. We love to eat, so had 12 TS meals booked for 10 nights, and we ended up cancelling 3 of them because we just couldn't eat any more.

And IMHO, don't even think about cancelling R&C. We noticed lots of restaurants who had changed their menus just in time for free dining, and the only one that was for the better was R&C. The new and improved cheese plate appetizer is to die for, and the vegetarian dish was my favorite thing I ate all week. If you can't get a table outside (or decide like we did at the last minute that it was just too freaking hot to eat outside) don't worry. They let you go outside on the terrace to watch Illuminations, sometimes getting a better spot than those seated at the less desirable tables outside. Since we were still eating, they even covered our plates for us so our food would stay warm. We liked it so much that after we cancelled our 3d dinner, we booked a lunch at R&C on our last day to use up the leftover credits.

But I do have to second the Boma recommendation. If it's interesting food and attentive chefs you like, Boma is the place for you.

 

[JFlo]

Thanks for the advice and/or approval. I know we have a lot of character meals, but I just couldn't make up my mind about them??!! If anything, I would cancel the Playhouse Disney breakfast, but we are also traveling with another family that has a son who loves JoJo. Of course she is not joining us for the princess meals, so I shouldn't feel bad if we forego the Play N' Dine.

In regard to the Princess Meals, we are definately doing all three; that I have no qualms about. Everything I've read about CRT has been mediocre to awful, but I really want my DD to get to eat at the Castle. I could only get an ADR for our last morning, so I booked the Storybook Breakfast at Akershus for our first morning. And Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 coincides with my DH and my dinner at the V&A Chefs table. All five of us will taxi over to the GF and I will get my DD settled at 1900 Park Fare with my parents and then we will head upstairs for our heavenly feast. According to everything I have read online, the kids get much better interaction with Cinderella at this dinner, plus the Prince and the mice. Besides, my DD has FOUR princess dresses (yeah overkill, I bought two and my mom bought 2), so she needs several places to go that are worthy of her royal stature!!!

And the other two character meals...well there are some differences in the character interaction. To begin with, one has Mickey, the other has Minnie, they both feature Goofy, but one has Chip and Dale while the other has Pluto. (This all sounds so silly!) Chef Mickey's came recommended by my Aunt's family and we are going there on our first evening. The other, LTT, during our full day at MK. I know we are going to be tired and famished, and I think my DD will be far less cranky if she has Goofy to laugh at.

I was actually debating between Teppanyaki and Le Cellier, but Teppanyaki will be closed in Feb. for major renovations. I booked R&C because I my best friend is a huge Illuminations fan, and I wanted to guarantee a good spot for us. She is also a fan of 50's PTC, which I have to admit that I would really like to experience just once. Boma was another restaurant that I was seriously considering. Unfortunately the DDP really forces you to follow a strict schedule, so I would need to change a lot of plans to fit that one in. I think my husband the Foodie is just gonna have to be satisfied by our breaking the bank at V&A's. He's not an obnoxious foodie. He'll actually eat pretty much anything, but he really appreciates fine food.

As for my daughter, the trip is really about her. Yeah, she may not remember much from age 3, but when she sees Mickey, that is REALLY Mickey! Not some CM in a suit. The girl is ecstatic when she sees that scary/ugly Chuck E. Cheese, for Pete's sake! We really don't have the luxury of returning to WDW anytime soon, so I want her to see and experience as much as possible while we are there.

 

[Nancyg56]

Besides, my DD has FOUR princess dresses (yeah overkill, I bought two and my mom bought 2), so she needs several places to go that are worthy of her royal stature!!!

As for my daughter, the trip is really about her. Yeah, she may not remember much from age 3, but when she sees Mickey, that is REALLY Mickey! Not some CM in a suit. The girl is ecstatic when she sees that scary/ugly Chuck E. Cheese, for Pete's sake!

The Princess thing has me chuckling because we did the same thing for my DGD, we bought her outfits that would coincide with her dining "experiences". The only thing I would caution you against is the too much of a good thing regarding the Princess meals. My DGD was 4 and she thought the characters were real. We had lunch on a Tues at thee castle, and then breakfast in Norway on Saturday. DGD was a bit overwhelmed even though the Princesses were different. It was not the charactr thing, as she met the same ones all week long, but the Princesses were a different story. All kids are different, but be aware that it could happen.
Have a great time enjoying her reaction to all of her Disney friends!