And I told myself I wouldn't do this.....

[AmericanIron]

Sorry to be repetitous and start another thread of this sort but I'm a Disney "virgin" and am looking for some advice from some of you veterans. The DW and I are taking our DD8 to WDW 9/22/07 - 9/30/07. NONE of us have ever been there before and I have struggled with ADR decisions - thank the good Lord for this board or we would be in serious trouble! At any rate, it would be greatly appreciated if you could give me some feedback on our ADR's (your feedback will likely allow me to let this go and get some sleep at night! ):

9/22 - we arrive at 7 pm (let the games begin)
9/23 - CRT breakfast
9/24 - CM dinner
9/25 - Princess breakfast; LeCellier dinner
9/26 - Sci - Fi lunch
9/27 - We're off property to Cape Canaveral and what not.
9/28 - Liberty Tree before MNSSHP
9/29 - Donald's breakfast; Wolfgang Cafe dinner

As you can see, character meals are abundant at the request of DD and I certainly don't mind going as long as she is happy (it's all about the kids right??? ). Also we are staying at POR and I assume we'll grab some light meals there as well.

Thank you so much in advance for all of your assistance. What I have read on the boards up to this point has really been a lifesaver!

 

[i3utterfli82]

I think your ADRs look great...Really!

 

[La2kw]

Have you ever done a character meal before? That seems like an awful lot of character meals, you'll miss some of the best dining at WDW, like Chefs de France, LTT lunch, Kona Cafe, etc. I don't agree that it's all about the kids- the adults need to have some fun too!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Have you ever done a character meal before?

The OP said that him and his family are Disney virgins and have never been to WDW before.

 

[La2kw]

The OP said that him and his family are Disney virgins and have never been to WDW before.

I realize that, but there are character meals at other parks, Disney isn't the only place where one can dine with characters.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Your child will be very happy with the abundance of characters!

However, here are a couple of things to mull over. Does your child distract easily? If so, there won't be much eating at the meals.

Some of the meals are buffets. (Donald's for example). Are you ok with that? Not everyone enjoys eating from a buffet, although WDW buffets usually are pretty well kept.

The food at the character meals is secondary to the characters. That generally means it's not the tastiest you will find on property.

Have a great time where ever you end up dining!

 

[Christine]

I like your ADRs (with the exception of Liberty Tree).

I think for a Disney "virgin" with an 8 year old, you can't have too many character meals!! You will be sick of them by the time you leave, but your 8 year old will just LOVE them this trip. When we first used to go, and the kids were younger, we would do a lot of character meals and it was fine.

I would not do one anymore as I've had it with them, but I think that you'll love it.

Although, I might drop one and that would be LTT because the food, to me, is rather yucky. I personally think an 8 year old would LOVE the Hoop Dee Doo Review, or even 'Ohana. So I might drop the LTT ad add one of those in.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I love the POR food court for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We have eaten there many times and it is always good, large portions and great prices.


We took our nieces to the Princess Breakast and they had a blast, the Princesses were so great with the girls....the food was very good too.

Le Cellier is our fav, enjoy it!

Donalds is very good too, 3 kinds of Krispie Kreme donuts, YUMMY!

 

[daisyduck123]

I don't think you've got too many character meals.


My family does about 6 of them during an 8 day trip to WDW.

My DD12 & DS9 love them, so that's what we do.
There may only be a few more years where they want to do them.
We'll have plenty of years later to try the "other restaurants".

**We love LTT, it's one of the few places my kids will be able to see Chip & Dale...now that I've heard on the DIS that they are gone from CM!

 

[pumba]

my hubby and I are lovers of all character meals........sometimes we take the grandkids and sometimes we dont......we went in May and December and now in two weeks.......can hardly wait..

main thing is to have a great time and by the sounds of it.......YOU WILL!!!!

 

[5disneyfreaks]

On our first trip, we did almost all character meals, and we all enjoyed them. Now that includes,at the time, ds-15,dd-11,dd-8,dh-35,and me-35.
We were just at WDW for my birthday, and dh planned our trip, including meals. (I had no say. ) On my birthday, we went to Garden Grill and had a wonderful time! We all enjoyed the meal and the characters. (Got a kiss from Dale. )
I think you will enjoy your meals. In fact, I would suggest that everyone in your family get an autograph book.

Then again, that is just my 2 cents.

 

[Jubilee]

I think they look great... the only thing I'd say is that you have 3 ADRs (2 of which are in a row) at MK... just pointing it out though really... it's a good lineup

Out of those, I have eaten at LC and LTT and I loved both!

 

[goodferry]

You will get so many opinions here! My family LOVES LTT, they love the food and the characters. On the other hand, CM isn't our favorite, the food is OK (buffet), but it is loud and overwhelming. If I were to pick one to change, I would put 'Ohana or Whispering Canyon Cafe in there for dinner, not a character meal, but still fun, and it's great to see other resorts. The only thing to keep in mind about sit down meals is they take FOREVER. We count on the mornings for touring, so we have a sit down breakfast one morning, and do character meals for dinner if we want one. I would consider the Cinderella meal at the Grand Floridian over the castle since the price has gone up so much. (We loved Sci-Fi for lunch BTW)

 

[3jsmommy]

I am also prone to losing sleep over my ADR's We have three kids under 7 & we really enjoy all the character meals. Especially for a first trip, soon enough our kids will be too old to appreciate the magic of meeting the characters like they do now. I have to agree with a previous post about LTT. Unless DD really likes that Stouffers kind of Thanksgiving I would consider 1900 Park Fare. It would be a nice opp. for you to check out GF & I hear the food is good. I'm sure a girl can never get too many princess meals! I wouldn't know I have 3 little HAVE FUN & stop obssesing(like me!)

 

[alldiz]

I think your ADR's look fine....

Best tip I can give you....
RELAX....Dont feel the need to do everything while you are at wdw....

You can stay 1month...and not see everything....
Remember there is always a next time....hopefully...

Pick out a few Must Do's at each park....then go with the flow...
Have a great trip....wdw is truly magical
Kerri

 

[3jsmommy]

I just realized your LTT ADR would be before MNSSHP. I would probably stay in the park to eat too then. See how I drive myself crazy!! Have fun at MNSSHP we loved it!! We ended our trip w/ it & the kids still talk about trick or treating in the MK 2 years later!

 

[AmericanIron]

Thank you so much for the excellent feedback! I can actually feel my blood pressure returning to normal.

As far as character meals, we have never done such a thing. The closest interaction we have ever had with any "characters" was at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City when my DD was 4. They have the Peanuts Gang there and it was less than desireable.......I vividly recall that Charlie Brown had a large dent on the side of his head and Snoopy was missing half of his tail I'll take it for granted that the Disney characters will have all of their appendages and be "dent free!"

Thanks again for all of your assistance. I had no idea how much planning was involved, thank goodness I stumbled across this board. Prior to finding the boards my mindframe was rather simple - resort ressie? check. airplane tickets? check. park tickets? check. Yippee we're done look out Disney here we come! And then I read that not only should I make ADR's but there are over 100 restaurants to choose from! Overwhelming for a newbie. Thanks for spoiling me - I could not imagine doing all of this without all of the tips and opinions that I have picked up from these boards!