Critique my ADRs - This first-timer would love your opinion!

[aprilmay]

Hey Folks,
We're planning my family of four's first time to WDW! Today we hit the 180 day mark, so I made the following ADRs. Would you review my plans for meals and tell me what you think? Even the counter service meals - tell me what's better! The guest list includes my DH and two princesses, 5 and 3. Feel free to fill in my question marks, too. I just can't figure out how to choose between all of the options, especially the QS options.

Thanks!

Tuesday - AK
Breakfast - Tusker House
Lunch - Flame Tree
Dinner -TRex

Wednesday - MK
Breakfast - CRT
Lunch - Be Our Guest
Dinner - QS ?

Thursday - Epcot
Breakfast - snack credit someplace ?
Lunch - QS ? Ideas?
Dinner - Coral Reef

Friday - HS
Breakfast - snack ?
Lunch - Hollywood & Vine (My kids LOVE the Jr. characters.)
Dinner - QS ? Ideas?

Saturday - Departing
Breakfast - QS ?

 

[FiggieFan]

Be careful with Be Our Guest. It is QS for lunch and TS for dinner. You can make TS ADR's for dinner, but lunch is walk-in. I have heard that all areas of the restaurant may not be open for lunch and I am not sure how crowded it would be for a walk-in lunch when there are no ADRs since it is very popular.
Just an FYI - we find that it is a lot of food on the dining plan, so we usually use a QS for breakfast and eat a TS for dinner and use our snack during the day to tide us over (smoothies, etc). We were stuffed to the gills.
We really enjoyed T Rex but reservations filled up fast so I would not hesitate there. I have been undecided on Coral Reef myself. I have made several reservations but always end up cancelling after reading reviews. Seems that the place may be in desperate need of updating. I would read up on the reviews on that one.
Some of our favorites are: Biergarten, Raglan Rd and 50's Prime Time Cafe. Everyone has been raving about 'Ohana at the Polynesian so we are trying that this year. I just got an ADR. The CM said that was the most popular place this year with bookings.
Have a great time.

 

[denneg]

We tend to use snacks for breakfast, because we are early risers and are up eating very early! Some of our favorites for that meal are the Bakery on the boardwalk, the Main St. Bakery, and the Cinnamon buns at AK. The QS breakfasts are good, but my DH and DS would rather have a bigger lunch, so we use the QS there.

You can't go wrong with Ohana, if you can do that on Wednesday night (since BOG is a QS), do it. Or you could do Chef Mickey's for dinner, or another character meal - Garden Grill usually gets you great interaction with the characters, and it's served family style, so everyone can usually find something they like to eat out of the choices. Ohana or Chef Mickey's might be your best choice if you go directly from the MK, you can jump on the monorail and get to either place easily.

For QS lunches, we always go to the Bakery on Boardwalk at least once. The lunch is amazing, and there are plenty of tables outside to sit at. It's an easy boat ride from EP or HS, and it's a fun place to visit.

Where are you staying? Some of the resorts have better QS options than you would find in the park, so you might be able to go back and have some pool time, grab dinner, and go back to the park.

 

[carstinsmom]

Looks good, you've done your homework. I would suggest Pizza Planet from Toy Story in HWS for a quick service. I would also suggest eating in some of the countries at Epcot, both for qs and snacks. The kids would probably really like the aquarium inside Coral Reef. Ohana as mentioned is one of our must do's and we love Tusker House for breakfast, the characters in their safari costumes are really cute. As for your departing day, you may just want to eat at your resort to save time since you are only doing qs.Enjoy!!

 

[aprilmay]

Thanks so much, Guys! I really appreciate your advice.

It sounds like I need to squeeze Ohana in someplace, huh? I'll work on that! Also some great ideas for snacks and QS meals....Thanks again!

Another set of related questions...
Out of Wishes, EP, and Fantasmic, which are "must-see's" for small kids? Out of those, is there a parade/fireworks extravaganza that you would advise us to watch from a place OTHER THAN the park? In other words, are there QS meals you'd recommend at a resort, etc., that would be a good place to watch those from on Wed and Fri? We're staying at AoA...

 

[wdwloverz]

Hey Folks,
We're planning my family of four's first time to WDW! Today we hit the 180 day mark, so I made the following ADRs. Would you review my plans for meals and tell me what you think? Even the counter service meals - tell me what's better! The guest list includes my DH and two princesses, 5 and 3. Feel free to fill in my question marks, too. I just can't figure out how to choose between all of the options, especially the QS options.

Thanks!

Tuesday - AK
Breakfast - Tusker House
Lunch - Flame Tree **Flame Tree is our favorite at AK, BUT Pizzafari would be great for the kids. Amazing theming. worth a peak, even if you don't eat there..
Dinner -TRex

Wednesday - MK
Breakfast - CRT
Lunch - Be Our Guest
Dinner - QS ? **We love Columbia Harbor House, Peco's Bills or even Caseys Corner (the corn dog nuggets are YUMM)

Thursday - Epcot
Breakfast - snack credit someplace ? **Try Sunshine Seasons Baked goods in the Land
Lunch - QS ? Ideas? **Again Sunshine Seasons is an even better choice for a qs lunch, or Boulangerie Patisserie in France
Dinner - Coral Reef

Friday - HS
Breakfast - snack ? **Starring rolls, very good!
Lunch - Hollywood & Vine (My kids LOVE the Jr. characters.)
Dinner - QS ? Ideas?** Toy Story pizza planet is the only qs worth trying at DHS, imho

Saturday - Departing
Breakfast - QS ? **Maybe at AOA, otherwise Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney Marketplace has a super breakfast.

**I made some suggestions up above. Have a Blast!!

 

[denneg]

Thanks so much, Guys! I really appreciate your advice.

It sounds like I need to squeeze Ohana in someplace, huh? I'll work on that! Also some great ideas for snacks and QS meals....Thanks again!

Another set of related questions...
Out of Wishes, EP, and Fantasmic, which are "must-see's" for small kids? Out of those, is there a parade/fireworks extravaganza that you would advise us to watch from a place OTHER THAN the park? In other words, are there QS meals you'd recommend at a resort, etc., that would be a good place to watch those from on Wed and Fri? We're staying at AoA...

All of the shows you mentioned are great! You can see the Electric Light Parade from outside Ohana, if you eat early enough and go sit outside on their beach area, or you could watch the fireworks from inside at dinner if you eat late. You can also watch fireworks from the Boardwalk, so you could grab a pizza (one pizza, 2 drinks and 2 desserts = 1 QS point). From Boardwalk you can see HS and Epcot, plus they have games and entertainment, so it's fun. If pizza doesn't work, you could grab something at the Bakery. For Wishes, you could sign up for the Tommorland Terrace Dessert party, which I've never done, but sounds like a really nice way to see it!