Dining Itinerary Thoughts?

[dis1010]

Hi all,

We're coming upon our 60 days next week and wanted to get some feedback on our dining plans. We're a family of 4 with twin 5-year old girls. I've been to WDW many times, but only with the kids once (in 2019 - hen they were under 2 years old). We're doing a split stay: BCV and BLT (4 nights each).

I'm only listing restaurants for which we are making reservations - not counter service places (which we're still figuring out). Also, the order here is random:

Crystal Palace (dinner)
Garden Grill (dinner)
Hollywood and Vine* (dinner)
Hoop De Doo* (I've never done this, but have already been interested. Do you think this is a good option for 5 year olds? Or wait until they are older?)
Sci-Fi* (dinner)
Biergarten (dinner)
Akershus* (lunch)
Beaches and Cream (lunch)

We will probably go to Disney Springs our first night, but I'm nervous about making reservations in case our plane is delayed. We are flying from California.

Putting that night aside, we have one more night for which we need dinner reservations (or 2 more nights if we don't do Hoop De Doo).

Questions/Notes:

1) Any thoughts on the above? Or suggestions for the one or two extra dinners? We like having a sit down dinner every day. Some thoughts we've been considering:
Whispering Canyon?
Boma?
2) The restaurants with an asterisk are the new ones for us.
3) We'd like Crystal Palace because of the Winnie the Pooh characters and Garden Grill is an easy way to meet Mickey and Chip and Dale. But where do folks suggest for meeting Goofy? I'm not the biggest fan of Chef Mickey, but I guess we're staying right there and I know he appears there.
4) We live in an area with a lot of high-quality restaurants and ethnic cuisines. So, while I want the food to be enjoyable, we're more focusing on restaurants that are a unique experience.

Thanks!

David

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

My 2019 trip was with triplet 5 year old girls, so I know right where you are

HDDR was a big hit for my girls that trip. They loved the show, especially the finale and still talk about it.

I might nix Sci Fi. The way those booths are set up, you're sitting two and two facing the screen. So, either you trust the 5s to eat by themselves or you and spouse are split up. I think that's a better restaurant when everyone can cut their own food, pour their own condiments, etc.

If you want to add in another unique experience (and it looks like you're all in on characters), consider Artist Point. Some of our very best character interaction was from Dopey and the Queen, plus 3/4 of those characters are unavailable in the parks.

You'll get Goofy at H&V dinner, so no need to load in Chef Mickey if you don't want to.

Finally, are you sure about dinner versus lunch? You know your family and how they operate best. For my crew, after a long day at the parks, seated dinners (especially 90+ minutes waiting for characters to rotate) were hard. They got fidgety, whiney, etc. We only did dinners when that location didn't offer lunch (HDDR and Artist Point) and in both cases the experience was definitely worth it, but the kids got antsy whenever the entertainment stopped and didn't eat very well. Had those locations done a lunch option, we'd have picked that in a heartbeat.

With lunches, we used that time to double as a midday rest since my girls were never going to nap at a hotel. We also found that, if we ate a big midday meal, we weren't really hungry for dinner and could get away with sharing a couple QS. Lunch was a nice reset before more park time, whereas dinner was a reminder that we'd probably overdone the day and needed to put the kids to bed, if that makes sense.

 

[SkyGuy]

Akershus is only open for dinner, but they do open around 3pm if you consider that lunchtime.

 

[R&RsMom]

Given the number of nights, Am I correct in thinking some days will have two sit-downs? Just my opinion, but that’s a lot of dining time. Also, May will be hot; you may not want that many full meals. My only restaurant-specific comment if that we found the food at Biergarten very heavy. But I see that’s not a new one for you.

 

[aerxo17]

Hi all,

We're coming upon our 60 days next week and wanted to get some feedback on our dining plans. We're a family of 4 with twin 5-year old girls. I've been to WDW many times, but only with the kids once (in 2019 - hen they were under 2 years old). We're doing a split stay: BCV and BLT (4 nights each).

I'm only listing restaurants for which we are making reservations - not counter service places (which we're still figuring out). Also, the order here is random:

Crystal Palace (dinner)
Garden Grill (dinner)
Hollywood and Vine* (dinner)
Hoop De Doo* (I've never done this, but have already been interested. Do you think this is a good option for 5 year olds? Or wait until they are older?)
Sci-Fi* (dinner)
Biergarten (dinner)
Akershus* (lunch)
Beaches and Cream (lunch)

We will probably go to Disney Springs our first night, but I'm nervous about making reservations in case our plane is delayed. We are flying from California.

Putting that night aside, we have one more night for which we need dinner reservations (or 2 more nights if we don't do Hoop De Doo).

Questions/Notes:

1) Any thoughts on the above? Or suggestions for the one or two extra dinners? We like having a sit down dinner every day. Some thoughts we've been considering:
Whispering Canyon?
Boma?
2) The restaurants with an asterisk are the new ones for us.
3) We'd like Crystal Palace because of the Winnie the Pooh characters and Garden Grill is an easy way to meet Mickey and Chip and Dale. But where do folks suggest for meeting Goofy? I'm not the biggest fan of Chef Mickey, but I guess we're staying right there and I know he appears there.
4) We live in an area with a lot of high-quality restaurants and ethnic cuisines. So, while I want the food to be enjoyable, we're more focusing on restaurants that are a unique experience.

Thanks!

David

Whispering Canyon is fun! Not the best quality food, however. If you go, I'd suggest booking a dining slot right in the middle of whichever meal you're doing (i.e., if breakfast is 7am-11am, book at 9am and not at the latest or earliest times). Later or earlier dining slots at Whispering Canyon can cause the restaurant to be sparse, which is way less fun for the kiddos.

Boma is good food, but not entertaining to little ones. If you're not staying at AKL and your kids love character or entertaining dining, I would skip.

I have the best memories of Chef Mickeys from when I went as a child. My parents did not love it there either, but I sure did!!! We stayed at the contemporary in 2002 and we ate breakfast there multiple times and I remember each time very clearly, despite it being over 20 years ago. Characters recognized us since we went multiple times that week.

Other notes:

• If you're at beach club, consider Cape May Cafe for character breakfast as well!
• Ohana breakfast is the only way to meet stitch at a character meal. You're just a few monorail stops away from this when you're at BLT.
• Tusker House has some unique cuisine options AND characters. Highly recommend, if you're going to DAK one day.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Hi all,

We're coming upon our 60 days next week and wanted to get some feedback on our dining plans. We're a family of 4 with twin 5-year old girls. I've been to WDW many times, but only with the kids once (in 2019 - hen they were under 2 years old). We're doing a split stay: BCV and BLT (4 nights each).

I'm only listing restaurants for which we are making reservations - not counter service places (which we're still figuring out). Also, the order here is random:

Crystal Palace (dinner)
Garden Grill (dinner)
Hollywood and Vine* (dinner)
Hoop De Doo* (I've never done this, but have already been interested. Do you think this is a good option for 5 year olds? Or wait until they are older?)
Sci-Fi* (dinner)
Biergarten (dinner)
Akershus* (lunch)
Beaches and Cream (lunch)

We will probably go to Disney Springs our first night, but I'm nervous about making reservations in case our plane is delayed. We are flying from California.

Putting that night aside, we have one more night for which we need dinner reservations (or 2 more nights if we don't do Hoop De Doo).

Questions/Notes:

1) Any thoughts on the above? Or suggestions for the one or two extra dinners? We like having a sit down dinner every day. Some thoughts we've been considering:
Whispering Canyon?
Boma?
2) The restaurants with an asterisk are the new ones for us.
3) We'd like Crystal Palace because of the Winnie the Pooh characters and Garden Grill is an easy way to meet Mickey and Chip and Dale. But where do folks suggest for meeting Goofy? I'm not the biggest fan of Chef Mickey, but I guess we're staying right there and I know he appears there.
4) We live in an area with a lot of high-quality restaurants and ethnic cuisines. So, while I want the food to be enjoyable, we're more focusing on restaurants that are a unique experience.

Thanks!

David

You'll love Hoop Dee Doo, it's a family tradition for us. Your girls are a great age for it, definitely no need to wait. Our little one was 2.5 on her first visit and LOVED it.

 

[CynBeth]

I would do 50’s PTC instead of Sci Fi.

 

[dis1010]

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the thoughtful comments!

I'll definitely do HDDR.

Re: Sci Fi, thanks for the thought there. Happy to do 50s PTC instead.

You've given me a lot to think about about not doing dinners - and maybe focusing on lunches. I had not thought about it that way.

Re; Biergarten - We've done that before and thought it would be fun because of the entertainment. But I have little experience with most WS restaurants. Is there somewhere else people would recommend?

Thanks!

 

[BeachMouse1]

In my opinion that’s a larger number of buffet types. If that’s your thing great but you mentioned that you come from a place with many quality restaurants. Buffets food at Disney is certainly better than any other places buffets but since you will be at BCV so many places to choose from. Chefs de France is a fun place feels like a French cafe. With children Via Napoli, pizza for the kids and pasta for the adults. Rose and Crown around fireworks time is fun. The name is escaping me but inside the Mexico Pavillion is beautiful setting and can see the Three Caballeros ride go by. Space 220 is a fun experience although I would recommend the lounge so you don’t have to order the full 3 course menu. Coral Reef is a fun experience and place to sit but food is not the best (just my opinion). I have never been but heard breakfast at Topolinos is a good character meal and the skyliner is right there could be a fun way to start the morning. And if your all about buffets Boma at Animal Kingdom lodge is one of the best and well there is a savanna you can look at.

also if your concerned about you flight being delayed you now have to cancel a reservation only 2 hours before not 24. So make a reservation for the first night and if your flight is delayed just cancel on the app Homecomin is really good but not much of an experience. Raglan Road has dancing

just My opinions here everyone’s taste is different. For me Jiko is an amazing restaurant but may not be a good choice for kids