Dining help! So overwhelmed

[Sue3582]

Hi everyone,
we are going to Disney in February with my inlaws and my 4.5 year old twin girls. I need to make my dining picks tomorrow and am so completely overwhelmed. I know we want to do CRT but that is it. I don't have a clue what else to do! I have spent a ton of time researching but am awful at making decisions. We get in on a Monday early afternoon and leave Saturday. We will have a 5 day park hopper. What other restaurants would you guys do? Should I book breakfast and dinner? On some sites it says most kids can't handle both. I think mine can?

As you can tell, I am awful at this. I don't even know what days we will go to each park. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[hmcater]

A little bit of background might make it easier for us to help you. Are you guys staying on property or off? Are you on the dining plan or paying out of pocket?

I will start by saying that other than 1 or maybe two breakfasts (depends on how long we're staying), we try to limit ourselves to one sit down meal a day because doing too many takes up time that you can have doing other things. We normally have a few groceries delivered to our room so we can eat a quick bite in the mornings right in the hotel room. Saves time and money.

 

[rwdavis2]

What type of food do you like and how much do you want to spend? How many table service restaurant do you want to do? Have you looked at the menus? That's where I would start and choose from there.

None of WDW dining is worth getting upset over. Most are solidly mediocre. You only need t make ADRs tomorrow for the ones you are sure of which is CRT and it's a harder one to get. I would not make too many sit-down reservations as they take away from park time.

As was mentioned, eat breakfast in the room. It saves time.

 

[DCLPrincess]

Breakfast at Akershus is great with the princesses.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I agree with Hmcater about only one table service meal a day. For me, any more than that and I feel like my whole day is planned around eating.
Of course everyone is different, but I really enjoy having some type of entertainment while I eat, and Disney has a lot of great options for that. A few of my favorites:

Hoop De Doo Review at the Fort Wilderness Camp Ground: This is a great option if you have a non-park day or for your day at Magic Kingdom, because it is a nice boat ride away.

Raglan Road at Disney Springs: Look up the schedule of the dancers to make sure they are performing first--but this is really a great time! They usually will bring the little kids up on stage to teach them how to dance too!

Sci Fi drive in at Hollywood Studios: This one might not work for you if your kids scare easily. It's set up to feel just like a drive in movie theater--you even sit in "cars" and it's dark. A large screen place short clips of retro Sci Fi horror films; my kids were fine in not being scared, but I know each kid is different. The food is just meh--about the same quality you'd get at a Denny's, but I just find the atmosphere so unique!

Biergarten in Epcot: This is set up like a German beer hall, and they have a band that plays while you eat. It is buffet style, and all of the tables seat 8, so if you are a party of 6, they will seat another party of 2 with you.

 

[Ben E N]

I would just stick to one sit down meal a day myself. Overscheduling a Disney trip can be just as stressful as having no plan at all. Of the meals that are great for kids that age, Tusker House in Animal Kingdom and Garden Grill in Epcot both have great character interactions with at least parts of the "fab five" My family also really likes the breakfast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grsnd Floridian. Fun characters, especially the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins, and good food as well.

 

[Sue3582]

Yes, information would be helpful. We are staying in a suite at BLT. You guys are right about not doing a lot of breakfasts. My husband and his family love breakfast though. I guess I am looking for one dinner a night, including the first night we aren’t in the parks. Should that night be a resort dinner? One of my daughters has a tree nut allergy but other than that they eat normal kid foods

 

[Princess Madeleine]

Just out of experience, my sister and I were all over character dining when we were little. I think if you are up for character dining, your girls might like Tusker House for the fab five or Trattoria al Forno for Ariel, Rapunzel, and their princes.
Beyond that, Liberty Tree Tavern is one of my favorite meals on property.

 

[hmcater]

1900 Park Fare could be a good choice for you for dinner and your girls will love seeing the characters. Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters. You're just a monorail ride away from a lot of good restaurants, Cali Grill, Ohana, I haven't been but I've heard The Wave is good and very reasonably priced for Disney dining. And as far as your daughters' allergy, just let them know, Disney is great about working with people with allergies.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Check out allears.net. Deb has all the menus for all the dining facilities on that site. Some photos, too. It might give you an idea of what they offer, what you might like to eat, costs.

 

[kastoney]

Might I suggest that if you don't know what you may want don't feel compelled to book something. My family and I rarely make ADRs and instead just either book one day of based upon what we are feeling or do quick service. I think you'd be surprised at how much is open at the last minute and as long as you are flexible on where that will give you one less thing to worry about 6 months in advance. Plus you never know what little ones will be up for day of. We leave for the world in 5 days and have a whole 1 reservation made (California Grill for my birthday dinner).

 

[sanapp]

If you aren’t using a dining plan I would be more apt to not make ADRs ahead unless they are a must do.
My daughter enjoyed Akershus more than CRT for breakfast.
My daughters favorite meal was always Tusker House for breakfast.
When my daughter was younger I found it best to stick to our regular meal times and I still always kept snack on me so she didn’t get hangry!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Check out allears.net

Better yet, stay right here and check out the host site menus http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

 

[stace1214]

I know it seems early to try to plan this, but if you can roughly sketch out which days you want to each park and go from there meal planning will be easier. My kids loved Chef Mickey's (breakfast or dinner) 1900 Park Fare (dinner), 'Ohana (dinner), Sci Fi, Boma (dinner), Garden Grill (PPO breakfast). Hope this helps a little!

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

Agree with others about limiting table service meals to one a day. We did one a day during our Feb trip and we’re going again in Jan, not on a dining plan, and I honestly think we’re going to hit QS most of the time (if not all) so we can kinda do what we want and not have to be on a schedule.
There are good suggestions already though — Tusker House in AK, Akershus in Epcot, 1900PF in GF, Chef Mickeys in CR, Crystal Palace in MK, Ohana breakfast in Poly (if you like Stitch), and Sci Fi in HS are all some of my faves. I haven’t done CRT but I know it’s expensive and if you’re going to Epcot you may want to look into Akershus.
Have fun!!

 

[10CJ]

It is a little hard to say without knowing more details on your plans. Do you want more character meals? 1 or 2 a trip is usually my limit. I would try to work in a breakfast of two. Based on what you said so far some suggestions...


Ohana or The Wave for arrival night dinner.

PPO Garden Grill breakfast then RD Soarin

Other good EP options include Rose and Crown, Via Napoli and Biergarten.

I would also potentially try for a PPO BOg breakfast. We liked Skippers Canteen for lunch, never tried it for dinner but I assume it is fine.

At AK Tiffins is great is you want a nicer meal ( ROL package can be a good deal). Yak and Yeti is also good.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Since you are staying at BLT, I would consider making your first night dinner right at the resort at Chef Mickey's. The food isn't great, but Mickey and all of his friends are there and you can view the monorail going right through the resort. It's pretty spectacular. Or, take the monorail to the Grand Floridian and eat at 1900 Park Fare. A monorail ride and princess dinner isn't a shabby way to start a WDW trip!

Definitely make your CRT ADR.

Other than that, I would just make some place holder ADR's until you figure out your plans. If you only want dinners, will you want dinners in the parks or at resorts?

If in the parks, pick one per park (you already have CRT). In DHS, Sci Fi is very cool if you think your children would enjoy clips from old Sci-Fi movies. H&V has a Disney Jr. character breakfast. 50's Prime Time is a lot of fun (would recommend if Sci-Fi doesn't appeal). In AK, Tusker House is great and you would see Mickey and some of his friends. Yak & Yeti is also very good if you would rather not have a character meal. In EP, there are a ton of good options. Near BLT, check out Whispering Canyon and GF Cafe.

I wouldn't worry about breakfast. Once you are there, if you decide you want TS breakfasts, places like the Wave (at CR), GF Cafe, Whispering Canyon, etc. aren't terribly difficult to get last minute ADR's.

Also, once you make these reservations, they aren't set in stone. As long as you cancel by the night before, there is no penalty. If you aren't terribly picky about where you eat, there is always something available. I would book CRT and a few other placeholders and then make your final decisions as you go along.

 

[3gr8boys]

If the extended family is into breakfast, a 10:30ish reservation at Crystal Palace is fun. We've done that a couple of times....get to Magic Kingdom for park opening and hit some rides then enjoy a buffet of breakfast food (puffed French toast - yum!) in a pretty setting. The interaction with Pooh and friends is fun.

Of course, as previously mentioned, you certainly don't have to make all of your reservations at 180 days...but if there are places you know you want to enjoy, go ahead and make some ADRs so you don't have to worry about availability (and can start looking forward to them!). You can fill the rest in later....or at the last minute.

You can probably find some posts in the dining reservations forum that will tell you what reservations are hardest to get/are less likely to be available last minute.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

When my kids were that age they loved Chef Mickeys,CRT, Crystal Palace; Sci Fi, 1900 Park Fare and Rainforrest Cafe.

 

[rentayenta]

So from someone who also felt semi-overwhelmed with the dining options and planning; I stressed for nothing. We ended up cancelling 2/3 of our reservations because by day 2, even 1 TS a day was just too much food especially in the heat. Guess I will have to plan another trip though.

We didn't plan our trip until about 4 months before so you don't have to have it all in stone at 180 days; heck it doesn't have to be in stone the day before you leave. I was shocked at how many options there were the day before and even the day of. I would try to get the more difficult ones but other than that, maybe see how you feel.