Chef Mickey's on the first night?

[Lisa3]

We will be driving from NJ the day after Thanksgiving and arriving sometime on Saturday. I was wondering if after a long drive should I book Chef Mickey's for Saturday night or just plan to explore and relax at the resort (we are staying at the Poly for the first time). If all goes well (not like our last trip-long story) we should arrive early to mid afternoon. We have three kids (9, 7, and 6). What would you do?

 

[Dopeygirl]

If you're stopping somwhere overnight or will have time for a nap, I'd plan it for that night--it'd be a fun first-night activity. But if you think everyone will just be really tired and maybe not too *into* it, I'd plan it for another night and spend the first night exploring the resort and getting to bed early. You don't want to spend your first day in the parks already tired!!

If it were me, I would probably make one and then judge that day if the family is up to it or not. You can always cancel, if necessary.

 

[Perlla55]

We found dinner at Chef Mickey lines of people who have reservations is as long as the nonreservations line and they would give you a pager and ask you to have a seat at the bar for a few min. which is usually 15 min!! and then it is noisy with all the singing and activity of photo takings and napkins waving
oh and the restrooms for the young ones is down the stairs
after a long day travelling I would like our favorite Kona cafe at the Poly. we love the food and the decor is airy and nice with paddling fans and happy colors.
Ohana at the poly. is a nice place for dinner with children, you have a nice view of the magic kingdom fireworks. it's an all you can eat, table served, poly. food.
with grilled meats and seafood as the main course.
check all menus here: www.wdwig.com/dining.htm
hope everything goes well for you and you have a happy vacation

 

[poohlover]

We always do Chef Mickey's our first night there. You get to see the characters, and really get into the disney mood without going into the parks. It's a "must do" in our family.

 

[my2boys]

We are leaving from NJ on that Friday too and plan on checking in on Saturday. We usually do Chef Mickeys our first night too BUT I was unable to get PS. It is Thanksgiving weekend!! Anyway, I made PS at 1900 Park Fare for a Pooh and friends dinner. I usualy like a character dinner the first night to help get us in the Disney mood. (not that it takes much.....it's consuming my every thought since planning this vacation....I AM SO EXCITED....we are surprising our boys (8 & 3))

I plan on heading to the Magic Kingdom after dinner to just see the Spectromagic parade.......this is tentative because as you probably know, the hours and parade times for December are not out yet. I am going by past times and alot of times Spectromagic is only shown on Saturdays during non-peak season. I do not want to miss it during our trip and this may be the only time to see it that week. Anyway, if it turns out Spectromagic will be shown at another time, I will adjust my schedule. The last thing I am looking forward to is massive crowds, on a Saturday night, Thanksgiving weekend!!!! AAHH!! BUT we will be in DISNEY so WHO REALLY CARES!!!!!!

Have a safe drive!!

 

[Lisa3]

my2boys:

Are you driving from NJ? This will be our second trip driving. On our first trip we were delayed because of problems with the cartop carrier we borrowed - ended up searching for a new one, throwing everything in the van and going to pick it up. We hit Orlando at 5 PM on a Friday night!!! Never got to WDW until 8PM. Hopefully, this trip will be better. We plan to leave between 4-5 am Friday morning and drive to GA (I have the cartop carrier on the car already!). What are your plans and are you doing MVMCP?

 

[Twinsplus1]

We drove from Northern Maryland ( with 6 year old twins and a 5 month old) and arrived in Walt Disney World on a Sunday morning. We checked in a little before lunch, did some mild exploring of the Wilderness lodge and then rested in our room for several hours. We had 8:00 Chef Mickey reservations. Chef Mickey's was definately one of the highlights of our trip (among many, of course). Such a magical way to begin our vacation. The look on our twins face when they were interacting with the characters was precious and Minnie was absolutely delightful with our baby. She stopped by MANY times and spent a lot of time with her. I truly think Chef Mickey's would be a great way to start and end a vacation. Next time we will do the same thing but also get a ps for our last night too!

Good luck and have fun!

Robyn

 

[my2boys]

Lisa3: I sent you a PM

Hope to hear from you soon!

 

[dbail2]

We always do Chef Mickeys on our first night. We book for 5:00 which is the first seating and it isn't crowded. We never have to wait more than 5 minutes to be seated.