Arrival and departure day meals....

[INmomto2]

What would you suggest be our arrival and departure day meals? Dinner for sure on arrival, possibly lunch. Breakfast on departure and possibly lunch. We will have park tickets but will probably be arriving afternoon or so and leaving about the same. TIA

 

[Hootch]

the parks on the day of arrival or departure. It seems we're always arriving late in the afternoon and checking out of the hotel early to hit the road. We have been going to RFC in DTD. RFC is not the best food, but it does provide diversion for the kids. We mix in a little shopping that first day. I'd probably substitute the Boardwalk area once the kids get older. The last morning is a later breakfast at Chef Mickey's and some final shopping at DTD.

 

[Wild4Walt]

In the past we have done Raglan Road at DTD on our arrival day, but that is because we usually arrive too late to get into any of the parks.

For our departure breakfast we have done Kona Cafe so I can take one last spin on the monorail.

 

[shane&jakesmom]

On our last Disney trip, 7/08 after we checked in around noon, we ate at the Pop Century food court. When went to Ohana's for an amazing dinner. On
our last nite we went to 1900 Park Fare. The day we checked out we were leaving early so we ate at the food court again. Usually we have eaten at Captain Jack's in downtown the first day, and ESPN the last nite.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

I like for my arrival day to be relaxed. We usually arrive for check-in around 2pm, tour our resort grounds (because we are always on the go there days just to get to the parks), then a nice dinner at one of the deluxe resorts.

Then on departure day, we usually drop our bags off, have a nice breakfast at one of the other resorts, and maybe pick one last park to visit. Usually it's the one that we missed an attraction at or maybe we saw something that we wanted to buy, but didn't when we were at that park before. Then it's off to the airport around 2 or 3pm.

Have a great time!

 

[angiedora]

We don't do the parks on arrival and departure day either. Our first year our arrival dinner was at Boma, yummy!
Departure, breakfast at Chef Mickey's
2nd trip Arrival Dinner: Kona Cafe
Departure: Earl of Sandwhich DTD (We love to shop our last day)
This trip Arrival Dinner: Cookes of Dublin CS DTD (then off to see Cirque!)
Departure Lunch: Wolfgang Puck Exp.

 

[Coconuts]

Departure day we usually only have time to eat at the resort food court; one time at the Poly we had character breakfast at Ohana. Arrival day we usually jet over to MK and have a character meal somewhere ; the last 2 trips we hit 1900 Park Fare and LTT. Always good to start off the trip with some Disney character magic!

 

[Erin1700]

We love a nice character meal (1900 for dinner and then CP for lunch) on our arrival and departure days!

 

[LittleBigTig]

I'm arriving on 09/12/2008 and I have late night reservations at Tokyo Dining, 10 minutes before Illuminations start. My so/fiance has never been, so I'm hoping this will blow them away on our arrival.

 

[DISNEY1975]

What I usually do on arrival day is a dinner show.

We travel from MA, usually an early flight. Trying to get 2 teenaged boys out of bed at 4:30am is not fun. They need to get themselves showered and dressed and get their toothbrushes to me by 5:00am. You would think I was asking for the moon. Getting our last minute bags and my 4 year old daughter together, myself, and make sure my husbands clothes are something he can wear in public (when hes not working, anything goes with him) is not easy either with a deadline. Then I have to get breakfast out, listen to the usual "I dont like this cereal, can you make me ________ "(all in cranky/tired tones).

Im the one who has to check in at the airport while the rest of the family sits comfortably in chairs near the gate. When we get the Orlando, the kids grab the luggage while I wait in line for the rental car. I usually go through a small battle with them too as either the car we reserved is not available or the price is higher than expected etc...

We finally arrive at the hotel and I again, have to do the check in and all the unpacking.

At this point (and yes, it happens during every vacation!) Im pooped and the last thing I want to do is go to a restaurant and have a dinner conversation with people I want to strangle.

Dinner shows work, as the family watches the entertainment, there is no conversation involved. We get a nice meal and off to bed for a fresh start the next day.

Departure day we usually eat at the resort we are staying at.

 

[sharadoc]

This is a very interesting topic - I hope it goes on for a while.

My kids are going for the first time, so I don't know what would be the best introduction to Disney World for them. My daughter just recently got over being scared of costumed characters - like the cow at Chik-Fil-A or a neighbor in a Spongebob suit at the school luau party! I think she may need to be "eased into" Disney characters, so a character meal is probably not the best choice. But I want them to feel like they are at DisneyWorld, so Disney theming would be great for dinner.

I don't want to just to Downtown Disney shopping, so I'm totally confused We're thinking Boardwalk area or maybe take our chances and go to CM, and ride the monorail to oversee MK to get them psyched for the next day.

 

[JimR24]

We have a reservation at Ohana's for our first dinner and our last breakfast. After the first dinner, I have a Wishes cruise booked. We are under 30 days and my kids have their countdown chains in full swing...

 

[Picabo]

WOW sounds like some fun arrival/departure days planned!

I've been wondering the same thing myself so I'm glad I found this thread! I've heard that it's dangerous to have an ADR for arrival day b/c of so many flights being delayed, etc. That being said, I was THINKING of going to 1900 Park Fare the first night...thought it would be a nice way to introduce the girls to characters (b/c they are people characters and not the big stuffed ones) and to start out the "magic" of the trip.

On the last day, I THINK we'll either go to Crystal Palace for breakfast and maybe give the girls a few last rides before we go OR (depending on flight time) go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast.

 

[DznyDreamz]

We are scheduled to arrive at MCO around 10:30 am. I made our first ADR at San Angel Inn at 7pm. If our flight gets in too late for that ADR, I have bigger problems on my hand then missing a dinner!!

Our departure day I plan to get room service so we can eat and get moving as quick as possible and maybe just maybe end up with a few hours in the park or DTD or the resort to do whatever we want without dealing with a meal.

 

[Munchkin'sMommy]

I was thinking about going to Earl of Sandwich the day we arrive. I thought it would be fun to walk around DTD the day we arrive to kind of get into the spirit of things so to speak. (sorry, I was a cheerleader in high school).

As for day of departure, I was thinking breakfast at our resort or maybe one of the parks. If the flight schedules back to my home city hold up, then we won't have time for breakfast because our flight will leave Orlando at 0630. If that's the case we wil have to be at the a/p VERY
early. And I am NOT a morning person.

Anyone eaten at Earl of Sandwich lately? Is it as good as I have heard/read?

 

[TexasMinnie82]

On our arrival day we didn't get in till nearly 10:30 so we got a pizza from the ASMu food court. It was suprisingly good.

On our departure day, we didn't have to be at ME until 2:00. We went to the Boardwalk at 11:00 and had lunch at ESPN Club. We had just enough time to eat lunch, walk around a little while to check out the Boardwalk and catch a boat back. That was one of our favorite meals. It was a great "last meal" there. Very relaxing. And the kids loved it because they have Playstations at each booth, so the kids got to play CARS while we waited for our food.

 

[Hootch]

This is a very interesting topic - I hope it goes on for a while.

My kids are going for the first time, so I don't know what would be the best introduction to Disney World for them. My daughter just recently got over being scared of costumed characters - like the cow at Chik-Fil-A or a neighbor in a Spongebob suit at the school luau party! I think she may need to be "eased into" Disney characters, so a character meal is probably not the best choice. But I want them to feel like they are at DisneyWorld, so Disney theming would be great for dinner.

I don't want to just to Downtown Disney shopping, so I'm totally confused We're thinking Boardwalk area or maybe take our chances and go to CM, and ride the monorail to oversee MK to get them psyched for the next day.

are scared of costumed characters at a young age. One option is to go to a meal with face characters who are usually less scary. Off the top of my head the only ones I can think of are princess meals and Alice in Wonderland.