Dining Plan Question: (5 Available Table Services)

[bymorris]

Hi Everybody!

I hope this is the correct place to post this. This message board continues to impress me every time I visit. The amount of knowledge and information is incredible.

So here is the deal .... I'm heading to Disney with my family on Oct 25 - Oct 30th. I will have my wife and my 2 girls (3 and 5 years old). With the dining package, we will have (5) table services available. I need to know which table services are a MUST!!! From my research, I know "Be Our Guest" and "Cinderella's Royal Table" are no brainers. With my remaining 2 table services, what does everybody suggest?

1. Be Our Guest (1 Table Service)
2. Cinderella's Royal Table (2 Table Service)
3. ???
4. ???

 

[lillyshula]

It really depends on what parks you will be at and if you want all character meals or not. If you are going to Cinderella's Royal Table just for the princess interaction, you could go to Akershus in EPCOT for breakfast and only use 1 credit while still seeing the princesses. If you want other character meals there is Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Hollywood & Vine, and Tusker House in the parks. 1900 Park Faire in the Grand Floridian and O'Hana in the Poly are great character meal choices. For non character meals there is always Rainforest Cafe (my girls love this place), Teppan Edo (watch them cook the food in front of you), Coral Reef (kids love the fish tank), Yak and Yeti, Liberty Tree Tavern, Via Napoli, and my personal favorite (not in a park) Raglan Road.

I will recommend looking at the menus and seeing what restaurants have kids meals that appeal to your girls. My youngest is super picky and this helped me out a lot. I wanted kids meals at table service that wouldn't just be hamburgers and nuggets since we are also on the dining plan and will have some of those for our counter service choices.

 

[bymorris]

It really depends on what parks you will be at and if you want all character meals or not. If you are going to Cinderella's Royal Table just for the princess interaction, you could go to Akershus in EPCOT for breakfast and only use 1 credit while still seeing the princesses. If you want other character meals there is Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Hollywood & Vine, and Tusker House in the parks. 1900 Park Faire in the Grand Floridian and O'Hana in the Poly are great character meal choices. For non character meals there is always Rainforest Cafe (my girls love this place), Teppan Edo (watch them cook the food in front of you), Coral Reef (kids love the fish tank), Yak and Yeti, Liberty Tree Tavern, Via Napoli, and my personal favorite (not in a park) Raglan Road.

I will recommend looking at the menus and seeing what restaurants have kids meals that appeal to your girls. My youngest is super picky and this helped me out a lot. I wanted kids meals at table service that wouldn't just be hamburgers and nuggets since we are also on the dining plan and will have some of those for our counter service choices.

Thanks for the reply. We will have a hopper pass. So we can go wherever. Just so many options, hard to narrow it down.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Are you looking for fun character meals or highly recommended food...? What kind of food do you like?

For us, we are more likely to pick Akershus over CRT to see princesses and save a credit. Others on my next trip to-do TS list are: CP, 1900 PF, Tusker House, Via Napoli, and Tony's Town Square. Maybe Chef Mickey and/or Bongos (DTD).

 

[sharonabe]

If you'll be going again in the next few years, I would wait on CRT so your DD3 will be able to remember and appreciate it along with her big sister. PPs' suggestion of Akershus is a good one for THIS visit. Tusker House has great food and fun characters. Crystal Palace has the Pooh characters. If they watch Disney Jr., then the Hollywood & Vine character meal will be a fun one for them too.

 

[garris3404]

Hello fellow Duke fan! I agree with others to go with Akershus over CRT to see princesses and save a credit. Great ages to take the girls to WDW. If you're looking for more character meals, try Crystal Palace (Pooh and friends), Chef Mickeys, Hollywood and Vine (Playhouse Disney characters), Tusker House (although food is similar to Boma, but I'd go with Boma), or 1900 Park Fare. Just don't get the same princesses over and over. It might be hard to explain why they look different?

I also highly suggest Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge. You can go early and see the animals on the savannah before dinner. It's a great play to visit before dinner, and then sit by the huge campfire after dinner.

Other choices my children enjoyed are Biergarten (band, singing, dancing), Whispering Canyon Café for dinner (stick pony races; must ask for the ketchup), and Ohana (hula dancing, coconut races?)

 

[bymorris]

Thanks everybody for your feedback. I didn't know anything about Akershus in EPCOT. However, my wife is already sold on CRT. Might be a difficult tast to overturn that one. I also think we should visit Hollywood and Vine while we're in Hollywood Studios.

I'm thinking...
(2) CRT
(1) BOG
(1) Akershus
(1) Hollywood and Vine

If I can talk my wife out of the CRT. Maybe we can throw in either Tusker House or Boma for the day we'll be at Animal Kingdom.

And @garris3404 - Pull them Blue Devils through tomorrow night!!!

 

[garris3404]

And @garris3404 - Pull them Blue Devils through tomorrow night!!!

I will due my best! Go Blue Devils!

 

[garris3404]

Duke Blue Devils ~ We are 5 time NCAA men's basketball champions!

 

[lauradis]

Hello fellow Duke fan! I agree with others to go with Akershus over CRT to see princesses and save a credit. Great ages to take the girls to WDW. If you're looking for more character meals, try Crystal Palace (Pooh and friends), Chef Mickeys, Hollywood and Vine (Playhouse Disney characters), Tusker House (although food is similar to Boma, but I'd go with Boma), or 1900 Park Fare. Just don't get the same princesses over and over. It might be hard to explain why they look different?

I also highly suggest Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge. You can go early and see the animals on the savannah before dinner. It's a great play to visit before dinner, and then sit by the huge campfire after dinner.

Other choices my children enjoyed are Biergarten (band, singing, dancing), Whispering Canyon Café for dinner (stick pony races; must ask for the ketchup), and Ohana (hula dancing, coconut races?)

These are the two that I could pick.

 

[leebee]

If you have dining credits, character buffets are the best bang for the buck. There is also the "hidden" benefit of being able to kill two birds with one stone at the character buffets, too; you won't have to wait in endless lines to meet favorite characters in the parks, as you will meet them during the meal time, not wasting additional park time. Remember, time is money in WDW!

For princess interaction, I'd do Akershus (Belle, Snow White, Ariel, not sure who else) and 1900 Park Fair (dinner is Cindy,the Prince, and friends- maybe mice and step sisters?). I have heard not wonderful things about both the food and the character interaction at CRT these days.

I'd go to Crystal Palace for Pooh, Tigger, Eyesore, and Piglet. BOG will take another meal credit, so now you have to choose how to spend that last credit (although we have been to BOG twice and weren't impressed either time, but if you go for lunch it'll only take a QS credit and that'll free up another TS credit for supper).

I'd look at your kids' preference of characters, or decide if food choices outweighs more character interaction. We prefer the food at Boma over Tusker House, but if characters are most important, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey are at breakfast and lunch at Tusker House. Playhouse Disney characters are at Hollywood and Vine, although I've heard the buffet can be messy/dirty and the food not terrific. We much prefer the food at 50's Prime Time over any other at DHS.

If I were picking 5 TS restaurants, with kids to consider, I'd do Akershus, Boma, 50s Prime Time, Crystal Palace and either 1900 PF or H&V (if characters are important) OR another restaurant with more parent-appeal (Teppan Edo or Biergarten at Epcot, for example). I'd save BOG for lunch and only use the QS credit.