Character dining....

[maurihart]

We have never been to Disney - ever! So when booking ADRs I for sure wanted to have some character meals. I have some questions though but here's the schedule right now.....any advice is totally welcome!!

Trip October 14-19

Monday 14 - dinner Ohana 8:30
Tuesday 15 - breakfast Hollywood and vine 8:05, dinner at scifi 5:20
Wednesday 16 - no reservations - Epcot day and resort pool day, maybe night time visit to MK for parades.
Thursday 17 - dinner rainforest cafe 7:30. (this is our big MK day but no princess meals - might try to do BOG QS for lunch)
Friday 18 - dinner house of blues 6:40 - hubby and son both big music guys (think I might pay this one out of pocket because the character meals are way more expensive)
Saturday 19 - breakfast tusker house before heading home 10:15.

I'm plus one on table service meals. I think I'm ok
Though. I like the idea of starting with a character meal and ending with one.

 

[navywifetill2002]

We have never been to Disney - ever! So when booking ADRs I for sure wanted to have some character meals. I have some questions though but here's the schedule right now.....any advice is totally welcome!!

Trip October 14-19

Monday 14 - dinner Ohana 8:30 You mentioned starting with a character meal, you do realize that Ohana isn't a character meal for dinner just breakfast right?!?

Tuesday 15 - breakfast Hollywood and vine 8:05, dinner at scifi 5:20 We had lunch at HV in September and we were not impressed. It was one of the meals I don't care to repeat. I didn't think the character interaction, servers, or food was anything to write home about (DD did like seeing Jake). If the Disney Jr character's aren't high on your list I'd skip this one for sure. We're trying Sci-Fi this year so I can't help there!

Wednesday 16 - no reservations - Epcot day and resort pool day, maybe night time visit to MK for parades. I liked having an ADR each day. We didn't go back to the room for a break (it just didn't work with our DD3) so having an ADR was a nice way to have a break and relax a little each day

Thursday 17 - dinner rainforest cafe 7:30. (this is our big MK day but no princess meals - might try to do BOG QS for lunch) Do you have a Rainforest anywhere near you? I know some people think this is a must do for WDW but for me it's not exciting enough to take time out of my WDW trip for.

Friday 18 - dinner house of blues 6:40 - hubby and son both big music guys (think I might pay this one out of pocket because the character meals are way more expensive) Grandma and Grandpa went here without us last year and said the food was ok, nothing special though. They were also expecting live music but there wasn't any that night (can't remember what night they went).

Saturday 19 - breakfast tusker house before heading home 10:15. We Did TH for lunch last year and LOVED it! The food was good and the character interaction was fun.

I'm plus one on table service meals. I think I'm ok
Though. I like the idea of starting with a character meal and ending with one.

Whatever you decide have fun!!!

 

[mrsannb]

I would suggest planning one park per day. You'll save money by not needing the park hopper option, and with it being your first time there, you don't need to be wasting time jumping around.
Keep O'Hana and Tusker house, those are good ones. For your big MK day I would recommend 1900 Park Fare. For the 16th I would definitely make a reservation in Epcot. We like seafood and enjoy Coral Reef, but there is lots to choose from. 1900 Park Fare has Cinderella and her family, but if you want more princesses than that a great one is the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Akershus (sp? it's in Norway.)
On your day at Hollywood studios, both those restaurants are mediocre at best. Choose one if you want to try it, and go to Pizza Planet (get the cupcake!!) or out of the park for your other meal.
Chef Mickey is good if you want to see all those characters, but I think you'll have it covered with Tusker House.
Another option, if you like Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger is Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. It's a step up from Hollywood and Vine, but only worth it if you really want to see those characters. Food is better elsewhere.

 

[maurihart]

Yes I knew Ohana for dinner isn't character. I tried to get 1900 park for Thursday for MK day but it's emh so I really want to be at the park super early and stay all day. Plus we have no princess lovers with us. DD is nine and not into that at all. DS5 is all about Disney jr though so that's why I thought H&V. Thanks for the advice! I'll keep working on it.

 

[maurihart]

Oh and we don't have a rainforest cafe around us and none of the kids have been to one so that's why I thought we would go there.

 

[maurihart]

Monday arrival day (AK) ~ dinner at Ohana @8:30
Tuesday (HS) ~ dinner at Sci-Fi @ 5:20
Wednesday (EP) ~ breakfast at Akershus @8:10
Thursday (MK) ~ dinner at Chef Mickey's @8:10
Friday waterpark day ~ dinner at House of Blues @6:20
Saturday departure day ~ breakfast at Tusker House @10:15

OOP for House of Blues. Really happy with this now! I didn't like all the reviews of how crowded and noisy RFC is. We will save that for later! I want to do as much "disney" stuff as possible and the ONLY reason I"m keeping house of blues is because the food sounds really good and its DTD and I think DH and I will deserve a place like it at the end of the week! Also really wondering if I need park hoppers or not. I don't know that we'll be hopping much but I didn't want to not have the option.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Monday arrival day (AK) ~ dinner at Ohana @8:30
Tuesday (HS) ~ dinner at Sci-Fi @ 5:20
Wednesday (EP) ~ breakfast at Akershus @8:10
Thursday (MK) ~ dinner at Chef Mickey's @8:10
Friday waterpark day ~ dinner at House of Blues @6:20
Saturday departure day ~ breakfast at Tusker House @10:15

OOP for House of Blues. Really happy with this now! I didn't like all the reviews of how crowded and noisy RFC is. We will save that for later! I want to do as much "disney" stuff as possible and the ONLY reason I"m keeping house of blues is because the food sounds really good and its DTD and I think DH and I will deserve a place like it at the end of the week! Also really wondering if I need park hoppers or not. I don't know that we'll be hopping much but I didn't want to not have the option.

May I recommend restaurant.com? I looked yesterday and they have certificates for house of blues! If you can find a promo card you may spend like $7 on it and it's a $50 gift card when you spend $100! Such a great deal and you can really try everything, order drinks and dessert! We just did it in march other than all that maybe with enough savings you can stay at mk for dinner!! CRT for early dinner is such an awesome experience, IMO rainforest can get pricey itself plus you won't want to miss the fireworks they are the Best part of the day!! Enjoy!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[mrsannb]

Monday arrival day (AK) ~ dinner at Ohana @8:30
Tuesday (HS) ~ dinner at Sci-Fi @ 5:20
Wednesday (EP) ~ breakfast at Akershus @8:10
Thursday (MK) ~ dinner at Chef Mickey's @8:10
Friday waterpark day ~ dinner at House of Blues @6:20
Saturday departure day ~ breakfast at Tusker House @10:15

OOP for House of Blues. Really happy with this now! I didn't like all the reviews of how crowded and noisy RFC is. We will save that for later! I want to do as much "disney" stuff as possible and the ONLY reason I"m keeping house of blues is because the food sounds really good and its DTD and I think DH and I will deserve a place like it at the end of the week! Also really wondering if I need park hoppers or not. I don't know that we'll be hopping much but I didn't want to not have the option.

I think you'll be happy with those and it should work out well for your park touring. I think you'll be fine without the park hoppers.

 

[maurihart]

I think I might keep the hoppers solely because of the parades. I was planning to go to MK Wednesday night for the electrical parade and wishes. Thursday night at MK is the Halloween party and I know we aren't going to do that this year. Hmmmmmm....

 

[mrsannb]

What is the price difference of the hopper vs not having it?

 

[maurihart]

What is the price difference of the hopper vs not having it?

About $120 with the waterpark option. But omg I just changed everything up. Moved MK day to Wednesday with breakfast at CM and dinner at crystal palace so we can watch fireworks right after - that will be our longest day. And moved akershus to Thursday dinner so we will do Epcot that day so I could get away with no park hoppers. Even if we do a waterpark on Friday they could pick one theme park to visit early that morning - like HS for emh and then do a few things at AK before tusker house on saturday like ride EE one last time. I'm exhausted thinking about it all!!

 

[mrsannb]

It may be cheaper to pay separately to go to the waterpark than to add it on to your ticket. You are paying for a bunch of "waterpark & more" visits, but only using one.
$120 is a real nice meal at House of Blues (or wherever) or some great souvenirs from Downtown Disney. And with that schedule it doesn't sound like you have time to go "hopping" anywhere! Do not try to do it all in one trip, you WILL be exhausted!

 

[maurihart]

You are so right! I just looked at all that. So I can just pay for waterpark tickets that day? What if I buy before we go, do I have to pick a day beforehand? I think I might just make that a last minute decision thing. Awesome! I'm about to save $400. Excited! Thanks!

 

[mrsannb]

You are so right! I just looked at all that. So I can just pay for waterpark tickets that day? What if I buy before we go, do I have to pick a day beforehand? I think I might just make that a last minute decision thing. Awesome! I'm about to save $400. Excited! Thanks!

It's very easy to get them at the gate the day you want to go. And that way, if the weather isn't what you expect or you don't feel like going, you're not out anything. You may even decide you want to sleep in and swim at your resort pool. Where are you staying?

 

[bdklein]

We

Can you elaborate on who is "we"? Number of people? Sexes? Ages? That will be a big help.

 

[bdklein]

Can you elaborate on who is "we"? Number of people? Sexes? Ages? That will be a big help.

I see it now after reading the post.

 

[maurihart]

Can you elaborate on who is "we"? Number of people? Sexes? Ages? That will be a big help.

Me (37) DH(42) DS(12) DD(9) and DS(5)

 

[maurihart]

It's very easy to get them at the gate the day you want to go. And that way, if the weather isn't what you expect or you don't feel like going, you're not out anything. You may even decide you want to sleep in and swim at your resort pool. Where are you staying?

We will be at POR and yes I'd love to just swim at the resort one morning or afternoon. The kids have their hearts set on a waterpark but I think they might reconsider that after going to the parks and having the option of going back to MK or Epcot or wherever on the last day for a while. I feel so relieved to have taken off park hoppers. It makes it so much easier without the option of running all over!!