Critique my choices please!!!

[SunnieRN]

We have only been to wdw one time, when we ended up buying dvc. We are planning our second trip and it will be our first experience on the dining plan and first TS meals.

We are also having other family members join us for part of the trip. It will be their first and most likely only trip to wdw as they are on a fixed income and live in CA,

Their wish is to visit Magic Kingdom two days, Epcot two days and Animal Kingdom one day(they will be using the 5 day military pass.)

They have asked my daughter and I to decide where we should eat. They are not picky and have a broad spectrum of foods they like.

These are the paces we have decided on. What do you think?

Epcot: 3 table service meals total: Le Cellier, Nine Dragons and the second day, Teppen Edo (their only request.)
Magic Kingdom: Tony's and one day there Kona's for dinner.
Animal Kingdom: Yak and Yeti for lunch.

We are also planning a dinner at turf club and one at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

CS we are planning Wolfgang Puck Express Cafe and Artist Pallette for sure and possibly Cosmic Rays. The rest we will just wing it.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Just for more info, we will be there 5 additional days on our own and taking the kids to: Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace and either Sci Fi Dine In or Hollywood and Vine.

Thanks!!

 

[Jennia]

I haven't eaten at all of these places, but in my opinion, Yak and Yeti is the best sit down place in Animal Kingdom, so that is a good choice. As for choosing between Hollywood and Vine vs Sci Fi, the food was better at Hollywood and Vine (at least mine was, but I'm vegetarian-DH preferred his steak at Sci Fi but then was in the bathroom for the rest of the night ), but the atmosphere at Sci Fi is much more fun.

 

[jimmytammy]

We have only been to wdw one time, when we ended up buying dvc. We are planning our second trip and it will be our first experience on the dining plan and first TS meals.

We are also having other family members join us for part of the trip. It will be their first and most likely only trip to wdw as they are on a fixed income and live in CA,

Their wish is to visit Magic Kingdom two days, Epcot two days and Animal Kingdom one day(they will be using the 5 day military pass.)

They have asked my daughter and I to decide where we should eat. They are not picky and have a broad spectrum of foods they like.

These are the paces we have decided on. What do you think?

Epcot: 3 table service meals total: Le Cellier, Nine Dragons and the second day, Teppen Edo (their only request.)
Magic Kingdom: Tony's and one day there Kona's for dinner.
Animal Kingdom: Yak and Yeti for lunch.

We are also planning a dinner at turf club and one at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

CS we are planning Wolfgang Puck Express Cafe and Artist Pallette for sure and possibly Cosmic Rays. The rest we will just wing it.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Just for more info, we will be there 5 additional days on our own and taking the kids to: Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace and either Sci Fi Dine In or Hollywood and Vine.

Thanks!!

Le Cellier and Nine Dragons, both very good. No opinion on Teppan Edo. Went to the older version a few yrs back and swore we wouldnt return.

Tonys is good but can be hit or miss. Konas is wonderful. Only had lunch there.


Yak and Yeti, never been.

Turf Club, we had appies there, I dont think they were serving full menu back in the early days. What we had was good and it seems to get good reviews.
WCC is a lot of fun. The food has become so so in the past few trips. BBQ is really tasty.

Wolfgang..since 99 when we ate there, but I remember it being good. Artist, no opinion. Cosmic Rays good with lots of choices.

CM is very good, CP good but can take it or leave it.

JMO, Sci Fi and H&V skip, go to 50s PTC instead. Good comfort food with good fun.

Have Fun!!

 

[SunnieRN]

I haven't eaten at all of these places, but in my opinion, Yak and Yeti is the best sit down place in Animal Kingdom, so that is a good choice. As for choosing between Hollywood and Vine vs Sci Fi, the food was better at Hollywood and Vine (at least mine was, but I'm vegetarian-DH preferred his steak at Sci Fi but then was in the bathroom for the rest of the night ), but the atmosphere at Sci Fi is much more fun.

Thank you!!

 

[stitchlover]

It's so funny how people have different opinions. My family will not eat at Nine Dragons again. We just didn't think it was all that great. We haven't eaten at any of the other choices. Have fun on your trip!

 

[ArabianNights]

I would wholeheartedly recommend Le Cellier and Kona. I've had consistently great experiences at both.

Crystal Palace is also pretty darn good. Some disagree but I for one love having the characters come around.

 

[Karlzmom]

We are also having other family members join us for part of the trip. It will be their first and most likely only trip to wdw as they are on a fixed income and live in CA,


Thanks!!

Sorry, but I gotta say it..... most people are on a "fixed income", unless they work in some kind of industry that pays them based on a %, or a commission....

You plan sounds lovely & I hope you have a great time

 

[SunnieRN]

Sorry, but I gotta say it..... most people are on a "fixed income", unless they work in some kind of industry that pays them based on a %, or a commission....

You plan sounds lovely & I hope you have a great time

You are right, I should have said limited income since they are over 65 and retired!

I would wholeheartedly recommend Le Cellier and Kona. I've had consistently great experiences at both.

Crystal Palace is also pretty darn good. Some disagree but I for one love having the characters come around.

Thank you! Crystal Palace is for my grandsons. They love tigger and pooh and I love the idea of not waiting in line to see them!!!

It's so funny how people have different opinions. My family will not eat at Nine Dragons again. We just didn't think it was all that great. We haven't eaten at any of the other choices. Have fun on your trip!

Thank you!!

Le Cellier and Nine Dragons, both very good. No opinion on Teppan Edo. Went to the older version a few yrs back and swore we wouldnt return.

Tonys is good but can be hit or miss. Konas is wonderful. Only had lunch there.


Yak and Yeti, never been.

Turf Club, we had appies there, I dont think they were serving full menu back in the early days. What we had was good and it seems to get good reviews.
WCC is a lot of fun. The food has become so so in the past few trips. BBQ is really tasty.

Wolfgang..since 99 when we ate there, but I remember it being good. Artist, no opinion. Cosmic Rays good with lots of choices.

CM is very good, CP good but can take it or leave it.

JMO, Sci Fi and H&V skip, go to 50s PTC instead. Good comfort food with good fun.

Have Fun!!

Thank you so much and 50's menu looks great!!

 

[maymom99]

My family loved Sci Fi and hated hollywood and vine...I found it a little bit, kind of dirty in there...Not truly dirty, just not my cup of tea....

We ate at crystal Palace, Tony's, 1900 Park Ave, The one at epcot that I can't think of right now, but it is a rotating room with chip and dale, hollywood and vine, oh and the tusker house at AK for donalds breakfast...All were quite good...For buffets, the Crystal Palace, 1900, the tusker house and the rotating room at Epcot were awesome....

The Sci Fi and Tony's were fabulous as well....

Good luck...

 

[ilandrazdsw]

9 Drangons was wonderful!!! Great chooice!

We didn't care for Sci-Fi at all for dinner, but I have read that lunch is better. 50's PT hade very good food and fun interaction with "Aunt Donna." Hollywood and Vine was good for lunch with great character interaction.

CP is a nice choice for MK, but the characters can take awhile to get around. We found this for both b & l.

TH breakfast is very yummy and smells so sweet.

 

[septbaby]

I think if you are considering the character meal at H&V, take the kids. The younger the better so I wouldn't put this one off. Esp. since you are DVC you'll get back and can do Sci Fi on another trip.

Is this other family coming to WDW on a separate reservation? If they are part of your reservation you will have to pay for their DP for the entire time you are there, not just the time they are with you.

You have a lot of meals planned, 8TS and I'm guessing they are only staying 5 nights? They will only get 5TS credit so will have to pay OOP for 3 meals. To me that is asking a lot at WDW, esp. if I've paid for the DP and my income is limited. Eating one TS meal, one CS meal and having a snack is enough food at WDW, there really isn't a need for a lot more, probably even more true with a set of seniors.

If you had to cut back on a couple places I'd drop Nine Dragons as you will get an Asian meal at TE(their request). LeCellier is very popular so keep that. There is a plethora of wonderful CS choices in the World Showcase in Epcot; it won't be hard to select something good.

If you do end up paying for an extra meal maybe book the Plaza instead of Tony's. The Plaza is a TS, but costs less and seems to get consistently good reviews whereas Tony's has a spotty review history and I've never read that as Italian goes it was especially authentic. The Plaza is right on Main Street, a great location. If not choose one of the many CS options at MK and use a credit.

Happy planning!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

The one thing I would suggest is to skip Tony's. We've tried it twice and hated it both times.

Either Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree Tavern are so much better. If you want to skip eating at MK there is always the Wave at CR or 1900 Park Fare at the GF.

We love Sci-Fi for lunch. They have really good burgers and shakes and the kids just love the Drive-In atmosphere.

 

[SunnieRN]

You have all been wonderful and very helpful!!
We have booked them their own room, they will be there 8 nights. They will arrive late on their first day and leave in the wee hours of morning their last day.
We are providing their room, the military special 5 day tickets and we are trying to book an illuminations cruise one night.
They want to spend a couple of days with the grandbabies swimming and playing. Their other grandmother is very into gardening and has asked to go to epcot for two days due to the flower/garden event. Grandpa wants to take them to the magic kingdom and Animal kingdom and they have explained they have no interest in Hollywood studios, as they have been to disney CA adventure.
We are trying to make the trip as nice as possible for them at an easy going pace.
We are also planning on surprising their grandma with the disney floral arranging class at saratoga springs.
Thanks to all of your suggestions we are tweeking things a bit. We dropped Tonys' and will be going to the Wave instead.
The other change is from whispering canyon cafe to spoodles if we can reserve the cruise as we will be at boardwalk for that.
Thanks again and any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[septbaby]

Unless there is a specific menu draw for you at Nine Dragons I'd sugget Coral Reef instead (Lunch or Dinner). We had a wonderful meal there and with the aquarium it is unique to Disney World.

As for your TS at MK, why not do Crystal Palace while the grandparents are there? You have not booked any other character meals while thery're there and it might be nice for them to see the kids reactions.

 

[sunbob]

We always love to go to Boma in the Animal Kingdom for a fabulous meal. Wonderful, interesting food. They also have traditional things for kids such as great Macaroni and Cheese and chicken fingers.

 

[wendypooh]

Their other grandmother is very into gardening and has asked to go to epcot for two days due to the flower/garden event.

On a side note, this Grandma would probably REALLY enjoy the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot. We did this last Feb. and our DS8 loved it as much as we did. So, it's good for the kids too. It's a "behind" the scenes look at how they are growing food. I think she'd love it. It's around $12 per person I think. VERY interesting. Just something to consider! Have Fun. Check out this link for info.
http://allears.net/btp/tours.htm



The only negative comment I have about the food is that we did NOT like Tony's. Also, you might consider another character meal - I know my parents LOVE them, esp. with the kids. Other than that.......... all your plans sound great!!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You have all been wonderful and very helpful!!
We have booked them their own room, they will be there 8 nights. They will arrive late on their first day and leave in the wee hours of morning their last day.
We are providing their room, the military special 5 day tickets and we are trying to book an illuminations cruise one night.
They want to spend a couple of days with the grandbabies swimming and playing. Their other grandmother is very into gardening and has asked to go to epcot for two days due to the flower/garden event. Grandpa wants to take them to the magic kingdom and Animal kingdom and they have explained they have no interest in Hollywood studios, as they have been to disney CA adventure.
We are trying to make the trip as nice as possible for them at an easy going pace.
We are also planning on surprising their grandma with the disney floral arranging class at saratoga springs.
Thanks to all of your suggestions we are tweeking things a bit. We dropped Tonys' and will be going to the Wave instead.
The other change is from whispering canyon cafe to spoodles if we can reserve the cruise as we will be at boardwalk for that.
Thanks again and any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I was searching for Nine Dragons & happened upon this thread. I just wanted to say you are a very special person for sharing WDW with someone who may not have been able to go otherwise, & for spending so much time to assure it's a special trip for them. I hope you all have a great trip. You deserve it!