Calling all WDW Vets-PS Question

[Castillo Mom]

I need your help! Our first trip to WDW will be 8/2004 and I'm doing all of the planning for our family of five. Here's my dilemma: Hubby is not into specific touring plans for a vacation, he likes to be spontaneous. After doing the research, I've learned the importance of planning ahead for certain things, especially the " must dos." Since I don't really know what parks we'll be doing on specific days, it's difficult for me to be able to make PSs. The only one I have set in stone is Hoop Dee Doo Review. Our must dos for restaurants are O'hana, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, California Grill and Kona Cafe. Technically I could go ahead and make the PSs when it's time and hope that my husband will come around and see the importance of planning ahead. If he doesn't and I've already made them, how hard is it to change them once we're there? Will there be availability for the places we want to go or will we be out of luck? How busy do the restaurants get? For instance, if I know today that tomorrow we'll be going to MK, would it be too late to make PS for O'hana? Help! It's so hard to plan when you're married to a stubborn nonplanner.

 

[ead79]

Unfortunately the answer to your question is really "it depends." Not exactly what you're looking for, huh? My best advice is to make a rough plan (perhaps keep your hubby out of the loop) for each day--basically just what park you plan to go to on each day. Then you can make priority seatings accordingly. If you do need to add/change any priority seatings once you get to WDW, it's not a problem at all. You can call Disney Dining from your room phone, and they also have phones in the parks you can call from. Some restaurants will likely be booked solid, so last minute PS's won't be a possibility. It has been my experience that 'Ohana in particular is very popular. I would imagine that the same is true of California Grill and Chef Mickey's. I think in general you'll be okay without a PS at Kona Cafe. Hope this helps!

 

[BabyMo]

I found myself in a similar situation. DH and I went last August and made all our PS arrangements ahead of time but found ourself changing our plans around a lot because of weather, sleeping in, etc. Sometimes we were able to reschedule and change our plans around and other times we were out of luck.

How long is your trip? It seems to me that you don't have so many "must-dos." You could easily be spontaneous and visit all of your must-do restaurants.

 

[DebbieB]

I would rough out a plan and hope your husband comes around. I always plan each day and there is usually at least one day I move around while we are there because of weather or what we've already done or missed. I would definitely make PS's for your "must do's" and try to take it from there. You can sometimes make last minute PS's but not for popular places. I was able to switch a lunch PS last month from Mexico to Canada the same day because we decided to skip dinner at Canada the night before. I just called from the room before we left.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Babymo, our trip is ten days. I didn't have that many must dos because I know if I have too many the planner in me will just get frustrated. I don't want to be too rigid in our schedule but the restaurants I listed are ones that I definitely want to try and ones which I'm sure my husband and kids will enjoy based on their taste.

Thanks for all of your replies. You're all a great group and I've learned so much from you vets already!