Can I Get Some Opinions on Dining Reservations?

[michelle1177]

Hi!

I'm hoping that some of you experts can help me! I have not been to Disneyland in over 10 years so I feel like a newbie to planning a trip. We are not going until August but I am trying to figure out if this will work and I'm totally obsessing over this! It's going to be me, my husband, and 4 year old daughter. We are not on a tight schedule and are not early birds (although I'm sure my daughter will be on this trip).

Anyway, we get in on a Friday night at 6:00 and leave in the evening that following Wednesday so my questions are....

1 - Should I get the 6 day Park Hopper? What are the odds of going to the park late on Friday night? Or should I just do the 5 day and maybe do Downtown Disney on Friday night?

2 - I wanted to start off the trip with a character breakfast so I was thinking the Minnie one. We are not super early people, what's a good time to book breakfast?

3 - Would I be silly to do 2 dining reservations in one day? I thought it would be fun to do the WOC show and eat at the Wine Country Trattoria to get the FP. I figure we'll go back to the HOJO midday for a break so we can be up late. What's a good time to do a dinner reservation there?

4 - Sunday we wanted to go to the Angels game. How would we get there from HOJO? Would we just take the ART?

5 - Monday I wanted to book the BBB for my daughter in the morning and then do lunch at Ariel's Grotto. How much time do I need between BBB appointment and lunch reservation?

6 - That Disney convention is the same weekend that we booked our trip. Do you think that the crowds going to be busier than usual?

Thank you so much for your help! I'm so excited for this trip that I have widget on my phone telling me 73 days until we leave!

 

[Jynxed]

I usually do not do parks on the day of my arrival, I usually don't like anything planned so if the flight is delayed or anything goes wrong I dont feel like I missed anything. Plus, I like unwinding at the hotel a bit and not to feel rushed. I would do a relaxed DTD day for that Friday.

2 sit down dinners is too much for me in one day. I would space them out. While I love sit down dinners, I feel it eats too much time away from touring.

 

[skiingfast]

Anyway, we get in on a Friday night at 6:00 and leave in the evening that following Wednesday so my questions are....

1 - Should I get the 6 day Park Hopper? What are the odds of going to the park late on Friday night? Or should I just do the 5 day and maybe do Downtown Disney on Friday night?

It depends on how late the 4yo will stay up. With the park open to 12am that is plenty of time to get some rides in or the fireworks. Will she sleep all day while you travel? Plus it doesn't cost much more for a 6 vs 5 day PH.

2 - I wanted to start off the trip with a character breakfast so I was thinking the Minnie one. We are not super early people, what's a good time to book breakfast?

With Minnie on a Saturday a 7:10 reservation is great. You don't need to use your MM credit, can go in and eat and then go right to the rides while MM is still going on. It's a trick to get extra MM. Otherwise a late breakfast so you don't waster early park hours at breakfast. Might depend on if you are up late the night before or not.

3 - Would I be silly to do 2 dining reservations in one day? I thought it would be fun to do the WOC show and eat at the Wine Country Trattoria to get the FP. I figure we'll go back to the HOJO midday for a break so we can be up late. What's a good time to do a dinner reservation there?

That sounds fine to do 2 in a day. For a WoC dinner package you are kind of limited to when you eat by the shows. Make sure you have eat at least two hours before the show, so you have time to eat and get a good spot to watch from. WoC superthread.

4 - Sunday we wanted to go to the Angels game. How would we get there from HOJO? Would we just take the ART?

ART because I'm guessing you don't have a car seat for a taxi.

5 - Monday I wanted to book the BBB for my daughter in the morning and then do lunch at Ariel's Grotto. How much time do I need between BBB appointment and lunch reservation?

Because BBB can take a long time I aim for a 2 hour difference.

6 - That Disney convention is the same weekend that we booked our trip. Do you think that the crowds going to be busier than usual?

Not too much, while the convention is going on that where they will be. On the shoulders a little more than usual.

 

[michelle1177]

Thank you so much Jynxed and skiingfast for your input! The planning is overwhelming so your answers to my questions is definitely appreciated! Thank you so much!!!

 

[Ariel224]

One of two things is likely to happen with your 4yo that first evening, lol! From HOJO she is going to see the Monorail and Matterhorn and may drive you nuts not understanding why you can't go to the park right away. In this case you will be very glad for the extra day on the tickets.

I see that you have not budgeted any time for the HOJO water slide area. If there is ANY chance at all that this will interest your little one, make time for it as soon as possible. There have been several reports on the boards, and I have first hand experience with this, that some kids are much more interested initially in the water slides than Disneyland, especially if the weather is hot. Our kids hounded incessantly during our first full day at the parks about going back to the hotel to swim and slide. We ended up back at the hotel at about 1:30 and they played for 5+ hours. Once they got it out of their systems that day, we could finally enjoy Disneyland. It wasn't clear if your flight is arriving at 6 or if you are getting to HOJO at 6. If the latter, the slides might be a good activity for that evening. The slides are usually open until the sun goes down.