Big change in plans....

[mself145]

so our june trip will have the quick service dining plan. 1 day in each park, 1 in downtown disney and an extra in magic kingdom.

We will only be able to do one or maybe two out of pocket table servic meals for dd almost 3 at time of travel. Loves all disney and has a great appetite, loves all food! And my hubby is making his first trip, desperately wants a picture with goofy.
We are no gourmet eaters, what would you suggest would be best for our money oop, and worth it of only choosing 1 or 2 expieriences?

 

[UnderTheRialto]

I would either do an 8am Tusker House meal on your AK day or Chef Mickeys on your Downtown Disney or an MK day.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I agree with 8Am Tusker House. I think Cape May breakfast would be a better option than Chef Mickey for a DTD day. If your husband is a Goofy fan, Goofy in beach gear is extra fun, and the vibe is chiller and the food is better than CM.

 

[supersnoop]

With a two year old, and not "gourmet" eaters, I'd recommend you stick to buffets. Kids two and under eat for free at buffets (technically they eat off your plate).

Did you get the dining plan for free? The quick service plan is the worst value of all plans, especially if you don't have any children aged 3-9. You might want to look up the menus and do some math to see if it is really cost effective.

 

[hammie59]

Cape May=better food
Chef Mickeys=better atmosphere for kids

You can always find Goofy at the Character Spot in EPCOT and I'm pretty sure he's still in MK over at the circus tent in Fantasyland. In June they had Minnie, Daisy, and Goofy in a permanent location over there.

 

[nkereina]

Where are you staying? I like Cape May but not sure I'd go out of my way to go there before a park day if I wasn't staying in the Epcot resort area. We like Chef Mickey's which would be ideal for your MK day. If you can get Tusker House on your AK day, then you could also look into Crystal Palace at MK. It has Winnie the Pooh characters but pre-park opening is cool there since you get some great pics on Main St with little to no people around. For your QS restaurants, I would definitely try to do a BOG lunch on one of your MK days.

 

[ncc1701]

OP your Downtown Disney would be the day to go to either Chef Mickey or Cape May for breakfast. While in Downtown Disney go to Wolfgang Puck Express ( the one in the Marketplace by the Christmas store). Best use of a QS credit. We eat there 3 to 4 times a trip with no dining plan (we stay at POFQ so it is an easy boat ride). Great pizza, pasta and other entrees along with sandwiches and salad. Plus you order get a table and they bring the food to you.

 

[Nancyg56]

With a two year old, and not "gourmet" eaters, I'd recommend you stick to buffets. Kids two and under eat for free at buffets (technically they eat off your plate).

Did you get the dining plan for free? The quick service plan is the worst value of all plans, especially if you don't have any children aged 3-9. You might want to look up the menus and do some math to see if it is really cost effective.

I agree. Especially if you have to also pay OOP for TS meals.

OP- I would run some mumbers to see if it pays to upgrade your plan so that you do not need to pay OOP for the additionals TS meals.

 

[dpswift]

I would say Tsuker or Cape May. Cape may has a great selection of food, and is much less hectic than Chef Mickeys. (cheaper too). My kids prefer Tusker and Chef Mickeys because of nostalgia purposes and because our Cape May was a last minute comp after we had done 3 character meals. They are older and were character mealed out.

Another plus to Cape May is that the characters were not as rushed

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

1. I don't know if you will actually prefer quick service. Some people find it easier with a toddler, but we do NOT. We like having a table with a high chair ready for us and have someone else bring us our food. We hardly eat any quick service in the parks: we do late breakfast, early dinner, and treat snack most days. Or we do quick service breakfast at resort, lunch and dinner, we will do lunch somewhere less expensive like Plaza.

2. Restaurants with Goofy, I would suggest Tuskerhouse. We love it and eat there every trip. We prefer breakfast because I like the ham as the meat over the roasted beef thing.

3. I do NOT blanket recommend an 8am breakfast. Prepark meals are good if you are commando. You should not try to be commando with a 3 year old. It's not going to happen. Also, I don't know what time your baby wakes up in real life or if you are on a time change. These are all factors to consider. Try to time your meals to when your kid eats in real life. We don't switch our baby for Disney.

 

[mself145]

We are staying at art of animation. My parents are paying for QS as a christmas present to us. As a surprise for dd. Actually the whole trip is a christmas present to us. As they are coming too, i dont want to seem ungrateful. By upgrading what was already given to us.

My daughter wakes early 630 on a nornal day, it is hard to get her to sleep late on weekends. And there is an hour difference, so maybe an early breakfast might work.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

We are staying at art of animation. My parents are paying for QS as a christmas present to us. As a surprise for dd. Actually the whole trip is a christmas present to us. As they are coming too, i dont want to seem ungrateful. By upgrading what was already given to us.

My daughter wakes early 630 on a nornal day, it is hard to get her to sleep late on weekends. And there is an hour difference, so maybe an early breakfast might work.

If your daughter wakes up early, then I would definitely suggest a Pre park opening breakfast as early as possible. Does she have a firm nap time? Keep that in consideration.

I'm with you about the gift thing, I would just accept it and let it be.

 

[Nancyg56]

If your daughter wakes up early, then I would definitely suggest a Pre park opening breakfast as early as possible. Does she have a firm nap time? Keep that in consideration.

I'm with you about the gift thing, I would just accept it and let it be.

Me too. A few OOP meals is a small price to pay for such a lovely gift.

 

[amylevan]

My daughter wakes early 630 on a nornal day, it is hard to get her to sleep late on weekends. And there is an hour difference, so maybe an early breakfast might work.

If you are saying an hour's difference, then wouldn't she be waking at 7:30 in ET?

I'm only asking because we live in EST, and we are early risers, but we still never make 8 am breakfast reservations at WDW. It's too much, too early. We much prefer to grab a quick snack, make rope drop so we can hit as many attractions as possible, and save our TS meals for lunch or dinner.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Cape May Cafe is going to be very difficult to get to without a car, and even with a car with the short amount of time you are there it doesn't make sense to me to waste that much time driving to/from the Beach Club. I'd pick Tusker House if you want to meet Goofy during a meal simply because you don't have to leave the park to eat there. Chef Mickey's is very close to the Magic Kingdom, but will still take some time to get there and back, unless you plan on ending your day at CM's and heading back to the resort right after, or else do a pre-rope drop breakfast ADR before the MK opens. Either way that can be a very long day with such a little one. Time is of the essence with your trip, though, so really take that into consideration when deciding.

If your daughter is into the Pooh characters then you might want to consider The Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[ncc1701]

OP if you do Cape May rather than driving or dealing with Disney buses take a taxi then a Disney bus to whatever park you are going to. Of course if it is Epcot you can walk or DHS take the boat. I used a taxi this year from POFQ to GF for a 9:00am spa appointment. So much easier and quicker , in fact we used a taxi after lunch at Cat. Grille to go back to our resort rather than going back through Epcot or over to DHS to catch a bus. After multiple trips not using taxis at Disney from now on if we have ADRs at a resort taxis will be in the mix depending on our plans.