Brand New Here w/ Dining Plan Question

[afrazier]

Hi Everyone,

I have read some of this forum and find it overwhelming to say the least, so this may be dumb to ask but I will anyway and hope you guys will have mercy on me.

We are headed to Disney World on Sept. 14 for 4 nights at Pop Century w/ a 3 day Hopper for the Parks. It is our first real trip there and we know very little, though I am trying to educate myself quickly.

We got the Free Dining Plan and everything I keep reading is about making reservations for Table Service Meals. Well, we have no idea where we will be at different times or what particular park on what day. Do we have any hope of actually getting a table at any of these nice restaurants by just winging it or will we be very sorry and end up frustrated as all get out? The answer to this may be buried somewhere in this forum but hopefully someone will get me up to speed without too many more hours of digging.

All advice and insight is appreciated. This is a surprise trip for my 2 wonderful sons, ages 7 and 9 complete with their first airplane flight. Their Dad and I can't wait to see the look of a dream come true in their eyes when we board that plane. I want to do all possible to make sure all runs smoothly and we get the most out of our dream vacation.

Thanks in advance,
Angie

 

[Dodie]

Well, we have no idea where we will be at different times or what particular park on what day. Do we have any hope of actually getting a table at any of these nice restaurants by just winging it or will we be very sorry and end up frustrated as all get out?

I predict that you will be frustrated if you make NO ADRs at all. With so many people taking the free dining offer, reports are that table service and character meals reservations are hard to get at 90 days out, so I think that there won't be a lot of walk-ups available.

Since you have kids, couldn't you at least plan one day of your trip, so you can reserve a character meal using the plan? Maybe you could read sample itineraries here and try to loosely plan what day you'll be where, so you can try to schedule some sit-down meals? You shouldn't have any trouble using your counter service credits.

WELCOME TO THE DIS!!!!

 

[LiteBrite]

Why don't you make a post over on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board asking for help to make a plan? If you give a little background on who's going to be with you, what attractions are most important to you, and some restaurants you might want to eat at, I imagine people would be happy to help you come up with at least a loose plan (what park on what day, whether to use extra magic hours, etc.) You wouldn't have to stick religously to the plan, but at least it would be in place if you need it, and you could make some Advanced Reservations (ADRs) for restaurants. Once again, you don't have to use them if your plans change, but at least you would be guaranteed some place you could get in to use those dining credits.

 

[Beauty]

I have a friend here who booked the first week of September and has yet to make her ADRs. I have warned her and warned her and hopefully she has done it this week.

I also think you won't have a chance getting into some of them without ADRs. I'm still not 100% sure about a few places we are eating but I have ADRs anyway so I know we have something. I strongly suggest trying to make a plan of where you will be and go ahead and make ADRs.

Oh and Welcome to the DIS!

 

[LAWalz23]

Since you have four night and only a 3 day hopper you should plan for one meal outside the parks. My family's traditional first night meal is at Chef Mickeys (located at the Contemporary Resort). You will see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale and usually Donald Duck at this meal. It is a buffet and the food is pretty with the desserts being above average.

 

[LAWalz23]

Also allears.net has menus for all the restaurants and many counter services if you want to look at them. I would also suggest going to your local library and getting one or two of the guidebooks so you can guage what your sons might want to do. Be aware that in September the parks start to close early but since you have a hopper, you can go to Animal Kingdom early then switch over to EPCOT later as it is always open until 9pm.

 

[44disney]

With the ages of your kids, I would imagine you will be spending at least 1 full day (and probably the 1st day of your trip) at the Magic Kingdom. I would think that your kids would still enjoy a character meal (my son is 8 and he is very excited about going to Chef Mickey's in Oct) so this is what I would do (and is, in fact, what we will do): make the latest possible reservation at Chef Mickey's (or Crystal Palace, which has Pooh characters) for their breakfast buffet (usually 11:20) and treat it as your lunch. You can be at MK for the opening, enjoy a few hours of rides with minimal lines, then hop on the monorail for a nice meal and an air conditioned break.

Then you can decide to what you want to do for the rest of the day and just eat a counter service meal for supper.

There is no penalty for not keeping your reservation so you lose nothing by doing this, though it is polite to cancel if you realize that you will not eat there.

Have fun!!!

 

[Amyg]

I've no experience but from the info. gathered for the last six weeks you might be able to get a table service meal for late breakfast, early lunch or early dinner.

But as posted earlier, you should at least make ressie's for one character meal and do counter service meals the rest of the time.

 

[HaleyB]

I think planning which park you will be in which day is as important or more important than getting your dining reservations made.

Crowd levels vary a great deal from day to day in each park. This information is fairly easy to come by, although not everyone agrees. Just ask over on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board for some help.

Frustration is finding out on your last day how to best use the Fast Pass system. Frustration is missing half of what you wished to see because you picked the worst day to go to the MK (Monday, as far as I can tell it is 100% agreed to be the worst day for the MK). Frustration is standing in the middle of Epcot wondering what to do next. Planning is the key to a relaxing, fun time at WDW. You are here, so I bet you like to plan at least a little.

Two recomendations- Buy and read The Unofficial Guide to WDW. At least skim it. AND Pay for access to www.tourguidemike.com (about $22). You may find people who claim one is all you need, but I find both to be extreamly helpful. If there is no way you are going to do both, go with tourguidemike. But really, do both.

 

[afrazier]

Thanks so much for the help and suggestions. I am now working out a plan and have made some ADR's. I am also trying to add an extra day to our hopper passes and an extra night to our stay at Pop Century with the free dining...hopefully I can finalize that after Dreams Unlimited gets their servers back up again. Here is what I have so far:

Sept. 14 arrive - dinner at Concourse Steakhouse 5:40pm
Sept. 15 - Magic Kingdom, Character dinner Liberty Tree Tavern 5:10pm
Sept. 16 - Animal Kingdom, go to Epcot 7pm dinner at Teppanyaki
Sept. 17 - Epcot - dinner 5pm at L'Originale Alfredo di Roma
Sept. 18 - trying to add on so we can spend time at MGM or move around the parks hitting favorites again....need a dinner suggestion though if anyone has one.

I am also getting some Disney guides through our library, should be getting those by the end of the week. I see now that good planning is key and glad I have still a month to get that done.

 

[oogieboogie]

looking at your tentative plan, I just have a few questions:

1. Sept 14 - what time do you arrive? Are you taking DME or renting a car? Timing is crucial because you have to add transportation/driving time to anything you do.

2. Are you going to the parks from opening to closing or will you be going back to the resort for breaks?

3. Have you checked out the menus at http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

You will get overwhelmed, but take a breath every so often and you'll be good to go! Yes, good planning and lots of planning is key to WDW. You'll be overwhelmed at how big it is overall.

 

[afrazier]

Our plane comes in at 3:15pm and we are renting a car. I thought we would check in at Pop Century and then go to the Concourse restaurant.

We are planning on spending all day at the parks, but depending on how late they are open, we might take a break and come back for dinner, then stay til close. On the day we go to the Animal Kingdom, a friend told me that park closes earlier and that it is a shorter day, so I thought we would leave there for the day by 5:00-5:30, then make our way to Epcot for our dinner at Teppanyaki.

I did check out the menus at Allearsnet and picked the restaurants based on that, the only bad thing is my 9 year old is going to be frustrated at the kid's menu. He loves good food and not just chicken legs and mac and cheese. I plan to share my steaks, etc if need be with him so he can have the good stuff too. The counter meals will be especially wearing on him I am afraid since it seems that there are no kid's menus for counter meals that offer a cheeseburger.

 

[aubriee]

One thing you might consider changing is exchanging Chef Mickey's for Concourse Steakhouse for your first night. They are right next door to each other and if your boys hear all the fun and see the characters next door, they might get upset and wonder why they can't go over where the characters are. My GD is 8 y/o and we did Chef Mickey's for our first night this past January and I can still see the look of wonder on her face when she saw all the characters. If we had then had to tell her we weren't eating there, but was instead eating in a 'stodgy, boring' steak house right next door, we would have had a riot on our hands. She's a great kid, but would definitely had thrown a temper tantrum worse than any two year old at that point. Starting the trip off by seeing and getting to hug Mickey and Donald your first night just starts the trip off right. Just a suggestion, but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when those boys of yours see the characters and can't go over to interact with them.

 

[califred]

It is probably not going to be possible for you to get from the airport (assuming your flight is on time) to POP to check in, to the Contemporary in two hours.

Im so happy you've made some plans though

Have a fabulous trip!!!

 

[oogieboogie]

I agree with Califred. I don't think you'll have time to make your ADR time. If your plane gets in at 3:15pm without delays, then you get your bags, get your rental car, you're looking at at least 4pm by the time you get out of MCO.

Then it takes at least 30 minutes to get to POP by car. That puts you at 4:30pm. Check in could be long so give or take another hour to get settled in to your room and then get ready for dinner. Then it takes another 10 minutes to drive to Contemporary, find parking, walk to the lobby, up the escalator to Concourse.

I think you should move it a little bit later, maybe 6 or 6:30pm. That way you give yourself some breathing room.

I also agree with Aubriee... if you can get Chef Mickey's, I would go there instead for dinner. There are a lot of options for the food, and the kids could eat from the adult selection as well. The atmosphere is definitely can't be beat. You can always pick Concourse for lunch if you want, or if you're looking for steaks, Le Cellier at Epcot is a great choice too.

 

[afrazier]

I just wanted to post on this one last time to say thanks for all the good help and suggestions. I think I now have us all set with a good start on the planning and the ADR's completed. We originally were going to stay offsite our last day in Orlando and not do Disney but with the dining plan being so fantastic, I have now added us an extra nite to Pop Century and a 4 day Hopper instead of 3. We are just going to soak up all the Disney we can get, because you never know when you will get to do a trip like this again (at least some of us don't).

Here are my ADR's after the help and fine tuning of earlier posts. I wanted to tell you this info below so you guys would know I really took your suggestions to heart.

Sept. 14 - arrive, Chef Mickey's at 6:20pm
Sept. 15 - Magic Kingdom, Character Dinner at Liberty Tree 5:10pm
Sept. 16 - Animal Kingdom (leave for the day in time to go to Epcot and have dinner at Teppanyaki 7pm)
Sept. 17 - Epcot, dinner at Alfredo di Roma 5pm
Sept. 18 - Park Hop to our favorites, maybe MGM and Maya Grill 6:30pm

Angie

 

[kaylie&laurensmom]

Great plan!

 

[TinyToonThor]

Listen closely. If you are willing to eat early, you do NOT need ADRs. I didn't have them last October, and I won't be having them this October. We had zero problems last year. Walked straight in to several TS restaurants.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I have a friend here who booked the first week of September and has yet to make her ADRs. I have warned her and warned her and hopefully she has done it this week.

I also think you won't have a chance getting into some of them without ADRs. I'm still not 100% sure about a few places we are eating but I have ADRs anyway so I know we have something. I strongly suggest trying to make a plan of where you will be and go ahead and make ADRs.

Oh and Welcome to the DIS!

I waited until almost the last minute (well, for me ) to make ADRs. Over Labor Day weekend, Le Cellier is completely booked for dinner already.

 

[RickinNYC]

Listen closely. If you are willing to eat early, you do NOT need ADRs. I didn't have them last October, and I won't be having them this October. We had zero problems last year. Walked straight in to several TS restaurants.

And now for a defering opinion. And I won't tell you to "listen closely". Epcot will be hosting the Food & Wine Festival in October and early November. I highly recommend you make reservations for any Epcot sit down restaurant and for any restaurants along the Boardwalk. Two years ago, we weren't able to get in anywhere without considerable wait times. You should consider making ADR's.