Critique My Dining Plans Please? :)

[caselaw3]

Hi all - I am trying to plan our dinner ADRs for our February trip. We are staying at the Coronado and will have two days in MK, 1.5 in AK, 1.5 in HS, and 1 in Epcot and one rest day. I am trying to choose all different restaraunts than we ate at last time - except for Crystal Palace because I like the early ADR for getting in to the park.
So last trip we ate at - CRT, HBD, Tusker, 1900 Park Fare, Spirit of Aloha, Teppan Edo, Chef Mickey, and The Plaza...

Our party is me, DH, DD 5 and DS 4 - I have figured on the following but since all these are new to us, I would love your thoughts....


Crystal Palace - EARLY AM breakfast
Liberty Tree - MK dinner
Yak and Yeti - AK dinner
Prime Time - HS dinner
Maya Grill - Rest day dinner
Akershus - EP Dinner
Mamma Melrose - HS dinner
O'hana ????? - not sure whether to do breakfast or dinner
Trex - DTD day we leave


I want us to try new places with good food but I also want to make sure the kids enjoy it as well - they were great last year with every restaurant we went to - but I still want them to have fun and to have good food


TIA for any help you can give me

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Hi all - I am trying to plan our dinner ADRs for our February trip. We are staying at the Coronado and will have two days in MK, 1.5 in AK, 1.5 in HS, and 1 in Epcot and one rest day. I am trying to choose all different restaraunts than we ate at last time - except for Crystal Palace because I like the early ADR for getting in to the park.
So last trip we ate at - CRT, HBD, Tusker, 1900 Park Fare, Spirit of Aloha, Teppan Edo, Chef Mickey, and The Plaza...

Our party is me, DH, DD 5 and DS 4 - I have figured on the following but since all these are new to us, I would love your thoughts....


Crystal Palace - EARLY AM breakfast This is a must do for us each and every trip. We typically do dinner, but have done breakfast before. It is a standard breakfast buffet. Make sure to get an early early ADR. It is so magical to walk down main street before the park is open.
Liberty Tree - MK dinnerDelicious!!!! You will not be disappointed
Yak and Yeti - AK dinner Never done for dinner, but have done counter service. I'm sure it is not to be missed based on the counter service option.
Prime Time - HS dinner Never done, but hear amazing reviews!!
Maya Grill - Rest day dinner Never done
Akershus - EP Dinner Never been, but everyone raves about it!!
Mamma Melrose - HS dinner We did this in 2004, and it was delicious!! I'm sure alot has changed since then, but hear great reviews.
O'hana ????? - not sure whether to do breakfast or dinner Have never been, but have heard mixed reviews. We LOVE Kona Cafe!!
Trex - DTD day we leaveNever been, but hear you go more for the theme/atmosphere than the food.


I want us to try new places with good food but I also want to make sure the kids enjoy it as well - they were great last year with every restaurant we went to - but I still want them to have fun and to have good food


TIA for any help you can give me

Regardless of the decision you make, you will have an amazing time!!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I think you are a little light on character meals with young kids so I would do 'Ohana for breakfast instead of dinner. I would also switch Mama Melrose which I was not at all impressed with to the Sci Fi which is fun for kids.

 

[caselaw3]

Regardless of the decision you make, you will have an amazing time!!

Great thank you so much! I know we will have a blast, lol - I just can't help obsessing over everything, it makes the time til we go seem a little less cuz I am always involved in something related to the trip

 

[caselaw3]

I think you are a little light on character meals with young kids so I would do 'Ohana for breakfast instead of dinner. I would also switch Mama Melrose which I was not at all impressed with to the Sci Fi which is fun for kids.

Thank you! I was wondering about whether we had enough character meals - and was thinking possibly even switching one to Hollywood and Vine for the Disney Jr. characters but wasn't sure about the food....
hmmm I wasn't sure that the kids would like sci fi - but maybe that would be more exciting for them than Mama Melrose....

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Thank you! I was wondering about whether we had enough character meals - and was thinking possibly even switching one to Hollywood and Vine for the Disney Jr. characters but wasn't sure about the food....
hmmm I wasn't sure that the kids would like sci fi - but maybe that would be more exciting for them than Mama Melrose....

We did Hollywood and Vine in 2011 and it was very good!! I would def do it again once we go with kids

 

[caselaw3]

We did Hollywood and Vine in 2011 and it was very good!! I would def do it again once we go with kids

Thanks - I think that I am going to work that in there then

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

So last trip we ate at - CRT, HBD, Tusker, 1900 Park Fare, Spirit of Aloha, Teppan Edo, Chef Mickey, and The Plaza...

Our party is me, DH, DD 5 and DS 4 - I have figured on the following but since all these are new to us, I would love your thoughts....


Crystal Palace - EARLY AM breakfast
Liberty Tree - MK dinner We want to try this.
Yak and Yeti - AK dinner Enjoy this place - but we love Tusker House and the characters.
Prime Time - HS dinner We love Prime Time but also love Sci-Fi. We try to both of these every trip.
Maya Grill - Rest day dinner
Akershus - EP Dinner We love Akershus. We try to go every trip.
Mamma Melrose - HS dinner
O'hana ????? - not sure whether to do breakfast or dinner We love Dinner - but not a character meal.
Trex - DTD day we leave


I want us to try new places with good food but I also want to make sure the kids enjoy it as well - they were great last year with every restaurant we went to - but I still want them to have fun and to have good food

TIA for any help you can give me

You have some great choices. As a previous person stated. I would change Mama Melrose for Sci Fi. Our kids love it. You sit in cars and it is quiet and cool. Great place.

Enjoy!

 

[caselaw3]

You have some great choices. As a previous person stated. I would change Mama Melrose for Sci Fi. Our kids love it. You sit in cars and it is quiet and cool. Great place.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much - I am definitely taking Mama Melrose off the list!!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Thanks so much - I am definitely taking Mama Melrose off the list!!

If you are wanting Italian while there, you could always do Tony's Town Square, or Via Napoli.

 

[caselaw3]

You guys are the best - I have made a couple changes but am still up in the air about a couple - here is what we have now:

MK - CP early ADR

MK - ?????

AK - Yak and Yeti

HS - H&V for character lunch

HS - Prime Time vs. SciFi ?? not sure food wise

EP - Askerhus - going to be tough to get a res as CRT is closed so I am sure they will be overbooked ARGH!!!! but must have a princess meal for DD

Rest - Maya Grill? DH loves Mexican and it is at our Resort.....

DTD - T-Rex...kids love dinosaurs......


I am not sure to do with that last TS credit - 'Ohana, BOG (although we have done this) or California Grill???

I would like to have a meal that just has great food.....with no concern about what it is......

 

[MandiC]

Hollywood and Vine only does a character meal for breakfast and lunch...I don't think characters are there for dinner. The food was okay. The kids loved it but it was typical buffet IMO. I don't love buffets

If your kids really loved one of the meals from the first time I wouldn't hesitate re-doing that one. The only park I wouldn't recommend that in is probably Epcot, just because there are SO MANY good places to eat.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have eaten at most of these......
MK-
Crystal Palace--- a favorite and a often repeat for us. We like breakfast or dinner better than lunch.

LTT- We did this one often when it was a character meals years ago. We like the setting and the service is good, and we like the family style service, but we find the food, just ok. It;s a good choice if you need a TS in MK.

Prime Time/ Mama Melrose/ Other-
We have done MM more times than any other place at WDW simply because of the fantasmic package. We love the show and really like MM so it just works for us. We have had good-great food...every.single.time. We like PT, it's fun and the food is good. Sci-fi, the same thing....good fun and food. We have found H&V a great fun place, and characters are really good, but food is average at best,

Maya Grill- CSR is our favorite resort, but somehow we just have never eaten there. We just were not impressed with the menu and it never seemed to exciting for the kids. If you just want to get fed without leaving the resort...i would do CS there. We like it better than most resort CS. If you don't mind leaving the resort....choose something on the monorail resort and you can take the MK bus and mono rail over. Tons of great choices.

Ohana- We love dinner there. There has been some mixed reviews but it remains one of the most difficult places to get so....... Breakfast here is good. Family style, but we are not Stitch fans so no repeat there.

T-Rex-Loud fun and predictable food. Our DS7 loves it.

AK- We have not done Y&Y but we do love the character meal at Tusker House.....one of our favorites!

We have not done AK at Epcot either.

Good luck.....it will be a great trip/

 

[caselaw3]

We have eaten at most of these......
MK-
Crystal Palace--- a favorite and a often repeat for us. We like breakfast or dinner better than lunch.

LTT- We did this one often when it was a character meals years ago. We like the setting and the service is good, and we like the family style service, but we find the food, just ok. It;s a good choice if you need a TS in MK.

Prime Time/ Mama Melrose/ Other-
We have done MM more times than any other place at WDW simply because of the fantasmic package. We love the show and really like MM so it just works for us. We have had good-great food...every.single.time. We like PT, it's fun and the food is good. Sci-fi, the same thing....good fun and food. We have found H&V a great fun place, and characters are really good, but food is average at best,

Maya Grill- CSR is our favorite resort, but somehow we just have never eaten there. We just were not impressed with the menu and it never seemed to exciting for the kids. If you just want to get fed without leaving the resort...i would do CS there. We like it better than most resort CS. If you don't mind leaving the resort....choose something on the monorail resort and you can take the MK bus and mono rail over. Tons of great choices.

Ohana- We love dinner there. There has been some mixed reviews but it remains one of the most difficult places to get so....... Breakfast here is good. Family style, but we are not Stitch fans so no repeat there.

T-Rex-Loud fun and predictable food. Our DS7 loves it.

AK- We have not done Y&Y but we do love the character meal at Tusker House.....one of our favorites!

We have not done AK at Epcot either.

Good luck.....it will be a great trip/

Thanks so much for the info - there are so many awesome choices at WDW that it is really hard to chose --- it is great to have so many people with so much experience.....

 

[ElizabethG]

You guys are the best - I have made a couple changes but am still up in the air about a couple - here is what we have now:

MK - CP early ADR

MK - ?????

AK - Yak and Yeti

HS - H&V for character lunch

HS - Prime Time vs. SciFi ?? not sure food wise

EP - Askerhus - going to be tough to get a res as CRT is closed so I am sure they will be overbooked ARGH!!!! but must have a princess meal for DD

Rest - Maya Grill? DH loves Mexican and it is at our Resort.....

DTD - T-Rex...kids love dinosaurs......


I am not sure to do with that last TS credit - 'Ohana, BOG (although we have done this) or California Grill???

I would like to have a meal that just has great food.....with no concern about what it is......

We've done all but Maya Grill.

On MK day, I would go to a resort for dinner. We love Ohana for both breakfast and dinner. My kids are huge Stitch fans, so we have breakfast here every trip. (I like 1900 Park Fare, too - but you listed that as being done).

I'll also mention that I much prefer the LTT lunch to their dinner. It is not plated, so the selection is better.

At HS, Prime Time is our favorite by far. My kids don't like the atmosphere at Sci Fi. I was surprised because my DS likes cars. Apparently, he was disapointed that the cars don't actually move. He thought they would be moving like at Garden Grill.

I'll also tell you my kids favorite restaurants in all of WDW. DS like Garden Grill in Epcot (DD lists it 2nd). DD's favorite is Mickey's Backyard BBQ.

 

[cbrown1007]

I would do Tusker House in AK instead of Yak and Yeti. Tusker House breakfast is amazing and it is a character meal.

 

[mrsp1030]

You could also try LTT at lunch and the menu has more offerings than the family style at dinner. We've decided on this for this trip. Definitely do H&V. Our kids loved it and this time we are trying lunch there versus breakfast as I feel there is a huge advantage to doing rope drop at HS.

 

[shm_helene]

I like Mama Melrose I am just eh with Sci-Fi. It was a cool experience but the food was not good at all (this was years ago though). We had a friend just get back with a 1st grade boy and a 5 yo girl and they both hated Sci-Fi, they thought it was scary. I really like the lunch at Hollywood and Vine, I actually ate too much We only did 2 character meals and that was fine. (H+V and Crystal Palace). Good luck and have fun!

 

[Tara D]

My kids LOVE Hollywood and Vine. The food is pretty mediocre but you can't beat dancing with the characters I would do Chef Mickeys or Ohana breakfast on your rest day since you aren't doing ag character meal with Mickey yet. CM is my favorite but Ohana has great food. One is buffet and one is family style so depends on your preference.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

I like Mama Melrose I am just eh with Sci-Fi. It was a cool experience but the food was not good at all (this was years ago though). We had a friend just get back with a 1st grade boy and a 5 yo girl and they both hated Sci-Fi, they thought it was scary. I really like the lunch at Hollywood and Vine, I actually ate too much We only did 2 character meals and that was fine. (H+V and Crystal Palace). Good luck and have fun!

we have always strayed from sci-fi mainly bc of the seating arrangement. With teens it may would be neat, but dinner is our time to unwind and talk about the day and enjoy family time.