Arrival day and Chef Mickey?

[cjackearl]

Our 180 window opens tomorrow, so I've got to get this nailed down. We're checking into BC late morning on a Monday and have tentatively planned to head over to Epcot for the afternoon. We'll be on the DDP. I'm not sure whether it makes the most sense to:
1. Have a light CS lunch in Epcot and make a dinner ADR for Cape May
2. Grab a CS lunch at the resort and make a dinner ADR for an Epcot restaraunt
or
3. Have a CS lunch in Epcot and head to Chef Mickeys for dinner.
We're not going to the MK until Wednesday, and I'm not sure whether my then 4 year old will "need" to see characters before then. Travelling away from the resort would be a little bit more of a hassle, but I'm willing to do it if it would make a difference to my son. What would you do?

 

[Hootch]

option 3. My daughter doesn't think we're at Disney until she sees some characters.

 

[IllumFan]

I vote for option #1. After a morning of traveling and touring in Epcot, it might be too much excitement for a 4 year old to truly enjoy Chef Mickeys. My son would enjoy it more on another day after he was more rested.

We've arrived late morning on a few occasions and weren't able to get into our room until later in the afternoon. The resort will hold your luggage so you can go to the parks but after a few hours of travelling, it's tough to not have a few minutes to relax and unwind in your room. Also, I'm always surprised at how exhausted we are on our "travel" day.

 

[septbaby]

By all means I'd grab lunch at the resort. It will be more relaxing, less crowded and your gang will get to eat sooner and you have quite the gang.

There is a character station in Epcot so take the 4yo there right away. Maybe do that while DH and the older kids ride something like Soarin or Test Track that the 4yo can't ride. Do the Crush/Nemo attractions and have dinner at Coral Reef afterwards.

We did Chef Mickey's for bfast. Our 5/6you was so overwhelmed he didn't eat much. He loved the place but there was so much activity food fell way down on his list of priorities. We just let him have McDonald's later when we went to the Lego store. No problem getting him to eat there.

We definitely recommend Chef Mickey's, you'll just need to decide if its best to do bfast or dinner with your family.

 

[Alesia]

Well, you have a few extra days to plan. The ADR system is still down and the official word is that it won't be up until 12/22. CMs are now saying it will probably be mid January.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I vote for option 2. I didn't like Cape May for dinner. CM is good but we're usually pretty tired on our first day (up early for the flight and such) so being close to "home" (resort) is good for us.