Choosing between a couple

[ks-man]

Just finishing making all of our reservations and have a few overlapping ones and trying to decide which to go with. We are staying at GF for 7 days with it being myself, wife and 2.5 year old daughter.

Our current plan:
Arrival date - Garden Grill (dinner)
Day 2 - Akershus (dinner)
Day 3 - Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Day 4 - Donald's @ Tusker (breakfast) and The Wave of AF (dinner)
Day 5 - Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast)
Day 6 - Choice 1 (breakfast) and Via Napoli (dinner)
Day 7 (Seaworld Day) - The Plaza (dinner)
Departure Date - Choice 2 (breakfast)

So for Day 6 we are debating between Whispering Canyon Cafe or Crystal Palace for breakfast and our last day between GF Cafe (where we are staying) and Cape May Cafe.

Let me know what you think between those two choices and about our reservations as a whole. I wanted T-Rex and Coral Reef but neither had availability at dinner time which is what we wanted. We will fill in the other meals with quick service and snacks.

Thanks.

 

[PictureJumpr]

I would totally pick Crystal Palace over Whispering Canyon, especially if traveling with a 2 1/2-yr-old. I actually pick Crystal Palace on every trip, just because I love it. Much more variety than at Whispering Canyon for breakfast, and Pooh and Crew to boot.

Then, since I'd already done two character breakfasts (and because they have excellent food and very gracious service), I would choose Grand Floridian Cafe on that last day. Cape May's breakfast is good, don't get me wrong, but Grand Floridian Cafe is a gem and it would be very convenient for y'all. There are no characters, of course, but sometimes it's okay to pick a place for the food and service, and not because it has characters (especially since you've chosen characters for six meals already that week).

 

[ks-man]

I would totally pick Crystal Palace over Whispering Canyon, especially if traveling with a 2 1/2-yr-old. I actually pick Crystal Palace on every trip, just because I love it. Much more variety than at Whispering Canyon for breakfast, and Pooh and Crew to boot.

Then, since I'd already done two character breakfasts (and because they have excellent food and very gracious service), I would choose Grand Floridian Cafe on that last day. Cape May's breakfast is good, don't get me wrong, but Grand Floridian Cafe is a gem and it would be very convenient for y'all. There are no characters, of course, but sometimes it's okay to pick a place for the food and service, and not because it has characters (especially since you've chosen characters for six meals already that week).

Fantastic feedback, thank you very much. Do you think the other restaurants we have chosen here look pretty good? Other than T-Rex or Coral Reef would there be any others that I should look into?

Thanks again!

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

I would pick Crystal Palace and GF Cafe. I think your choices are awesome

 

[pixarmom]

I'll second the suggestion for Crystal Palace with a 2-year-old! And if you have an ADR before the park opens, even better. It's wonderful to get to Fantasyland with little ones first thing in the morning to enjoy those rides without a wait. It's more convenient than WCC, and I think it appeals to little ones more.

As for Cape May vs. GF cafe, I really think it depends on whether you are looking for another character meal experience or not. You have many, so you might want to wind down the last day. But if not, Cape May is a nice way to get in one more character meal.

Regarding the rest of your ADRs, we have all of these booked for either our January or February trip (except Chef Mickey's.) So I think they're great! Garden Grill is our boys' favorite restaurant and our arrival night tradition, so I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Each of our boys has loved this as young as age one and into the pre-teen years.

Have a great trip!!

 

[mickey916]

I agree with prior advice and just wanted to add that if you really want T-Rex, I would recommend calling the restaurant directly 407-828-8739, instead of using the Disney Dining system. You should be able to pretty much get your choice of times if you call them instead. We loved the atmosphere and the food at T-Rex and we also enjoyed CP for breakfast and Garden Grill for arrival night dinner. Enjoy!

 

[ks-man]

I agree with prior advice and just wanted to add that if you really want T-Rex, I would recommend calling the restaurant directly 407-828-8739, instead of using the Disney Dining system. You should be able to pretty much get your choice of times if you call them instead. We loved the atmosphere and the food at T-Rex and we also enjoyed CP for breakfast and Garden Grill for arrival night dinner. Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. We were considering doing T-Rex instead of the Plaza although I'm not sure that we would want to. I'll try calling and seeing if there is availability.

Assuming there is, would people recommend T-Rex over the Plaza or should I just stick with what I have?

 

[hmillerbarilla]

T Rex was my Ds's pick this past July and he loved it. It's loud and the food is OK but the experience was well worth it.

Call directly--you'll have your pick of times for a reservation. At least we did just a few days out in July. No problems.

Enjoy the GF! We LOVED it!!!!!

...also, CP for breakfast over WCC for food. But, the whole funniness of the ketchup and jelly is super cute at WCC. Both are fun in different ways.

and, Via Napoli is fantastic!
Have fun!

 

[ks-man]

T Rex was my Ds's pick this past July and he loved it. It's loud and the food is OK but the experience was well worth it.

Call directly--you'll have your pick of times for a reservation. At least we did just a few days out in July. No problems.

Enjoy the GF! We LOVED it!!!!!

...also, CP for breakfast over WCC for food. But, the whole funniness of the ketchup and jelly is super cute at WCC. Both are fun in different ways.

and, Via Napoli is fantastic!
Have fun!

Thanks for the response.

My main concern about T-Rex is that we went to Rainforest Cafe and my daughter got very scared at times (not sure why since we've been there before without issue). I imagine it was bad luck or a short phase and that she would love T Rex, but maybe I shouldn't push my luck.

Glad to hear Via Napoli is good. We were deciding between that and Mama Melrose and think Napoli is the better way to go.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I'm not sure I would do the Plaza on your Sea World day; then you have to go through the process of getting to another park, etc. and if your little one is tired, or you are running later than you expected, it could be a pain.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I would pick Crystal Palace and GF Cafe. I really like your choices considering you have a 2 yo. A little of balance for mommy/daddy and the kiddo.

 

[PictureJumpr]

Yeah, I would hesitate to book T-Rex in OP's case.
It's dark and loud and could be quite scary for a 2 1/2-yr-old. At least at RFC when it gets darker and starts to rain, the things moving along the walls are big monkeys (gorillas) and elephants - at T-Rex they are large lizards with big teeth...

I would personaly skip the Coral Reef too - the food is just not up to the hype, and unless you score one of the relatively few tables along the glass, there isn't much to look at either.

The Plaza dinner does require you to enter the Magic Kingdom, but I wouldn't consider it an issue if you already have tickets for that day, since y'all are staying at the GF anyway - MK is the next monorail stop up, from there, and the Plaza is right at the end of Main Street. The Plaza is one of my personal favorites, although I usually book it for lunch rather than dinner. Kona and the Wave are both close by, if you don't want to enter a park, but if you were planning to catch the fireworks or hang out in MK after dinner, then I'd say keep the Plaza.