Disney Newbie Going Nutso!

[ExoAngel]

HELP!

We're planning to book March 21-28 2008. We have NEVER stayed on property, never eaten at Disney, etc. Totally clueless here. This is the first time ever for us and we're doing the regular dining plan. Can someone look at what I'm considering and see if this is "doable". I don't know much about the places except what I read on allears. Also, We'll have 4 adults (grandparents, me and hubby) and 4 kids (7, 5, 3 and 10months at travel date).

If you have suggestions, I'm all ears, or if my menus are totally nutso, you can tell me, I don't mind! LOL.

Saturday-arrive late just hit food court at resort/grab a snack, etc. Nothing big this day.

Sunday Animal Kingdom Day
Breakfast- Snack Credit/snack in room
Lunch- Pizzafari
Dinner- Boma

Monday-Epcot Day
Breakfast-Chef Mickeys
Lunch-snack credit/room lunch
Dinner-Tangerine cafe (not sure here, any other suggestions?)

Tuesday-Magic Kingdom Day
Breakfast- In room/Snack Credit
Lunch-Cosmic Rays
Dinner- Crystal Palace

Wednesday- Animal Kingdom
Breakfast- 1900 Park Fare
Lunch- room/snack credit
Dinner-Flame Tree

Thursday- Hollywood Studios
Breakfast- room/snack
Lunch - Sci-Fi
Dinner- Toy Story Pizza Planet

Friday--Magic Kingdom
Breakfast-Kona
Lunch-room/snack
Dinner- Liberty Tree

Saturday--check out day. Leave EARLY

 

[Nparrotte]

Looks like some pretty good choices.
The kids will love Chef Mickey's. I really enjoyed Sci-Fi when we went for lunch last May. Tangerine Cafe is one of our favorites.

 

[serene56]

Sorry to tell you this--but with all your planning I think you missed your trip already.
Time to plan for 2009 NOW

 

[ExoAngel]

Sorry to tell you this--but with all your planning I think you missed your trip already.
Time to plan for 2009 NOW

ROFL. yes, I guess that SHOULD read March 21-28 2009! lol. (See, I told you all this planning is making me a spaz! I'm a fly by the seat of your pants type girl lol)

 

[Pakey]

Wow, first time? You did a great job on your meal planning. Enjoy your trip.

 

[eshaffer]

Hi,

A couple of suggestions:

1) On your Epcot day, you are starting out over by Magic Kingdom for Chef Mickeys. I don't know where you are staying, but unless you are close to the Contemporary, you might want to do Chef Mickeys on a Magic Kingdom day, so you aren't wasting time traveling.

2) Same comment about 1900 Park Fare on an Animal Kingdom day. Depending on where you are staying, you could be spending extra time traveling that could be spent at the parks instead.

3) I like Tangerine Cafe, but your kids might find it too exotic. Another option for Epcot might be Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavilion, or the Liberty Inn in the American Pavilion. Of the 2, Sunshine Seasons has more choices.

4) For Hollywood Studios, you might also want to consider ABC Commissary instead of Pizza Planet. One pizza a week at Disney is usually enough.

 

[Tricia1972]

Your meal choices look good!

My question, especially for a newbie, is where are you staying and do you have a car? You have a few early morning resort breakfasts that aren't ultra convenient to your park of the day. If you are taking Disney transportation you'll need to take the bus to the MK, and then take the monorail to your restaurant. When done then you'll take the bus to your park of the day.

Let's say you are going to Chef Mickey at 7:30am.

Get to Bus Stop by 6:30 AM
Bus to MK, monorail to Contemporary, arrive at Contemporary at 7:20.
Seated at 7:35
Breakfast will take until 8:30 - 9:00
Monorail to Epcot
Arrive at Epcot 9:40
Make it through bag check, tickets, etc - walk through the gate to Epcot 10:00

Now you want to be back to your room for lunch? Assuming you eat lunch around noon - you'd need to leave the park by 11:00 am to catch the bus back to your room.

I know that the sheer size of Disney and the amazing amount of time it took to get from place to place COMPLETELY threw me for a loop on my first visit. I don't mean to sound 'doom and gloom', but it does take a while to get from place to place and can be very frustrating if you're not ready for it.

You may want to change your 1900 Park Fare to Tusker House and your Chef Mickey to the Princess Breakfast in Norway - that'll put you much closer to your destination for those days.

Then if you want to do Chef Mickey, I'd skip LTT (they won't have characters next year) and do Chef Mickey's on your last night.

Just my two cents. Hope you have a great first visit!

 

[ExoAngel]

Ohhh thank you for the suggestions! Now I'm off to rework some plans. We have NOT made reservations yet for our hotel. Having to wait on hubby's bonus in two weeks. BUT, we'd like to get two rooms at a value resort. I have no idea where most places are located(Well, I KNOW by what I've read, but I don't know how far MK is from X Place, stuff like that) so I REALLY appreciate all the info!

Oh, and yes, we're driving, so we have our car.

 

[septbaby]

Great plan!

It is easy to get to Epcot from Chef Mickey's just a monorail ride, good choice. Epcot is open late so you don't have to feel rushed. The CM's bfast meal is huge, I doubt you'll need lunch. Grab a snack in Epcot and that should hold you until you decide to break for dinner. We ate there just before noon and I didn't eat again until after 7pm. Your group may want to eat sooner, but a full lunch is unlikely.

1900 Park Fare to Animal Kingdom may be a bit hectic depending on where you stay. Perhaps do an early lunch at Flame Tree and have 1900 PF for dinner. Animal Kingdom closes early so its pretty easy to make dinner plans for after the park.

One pizza a day can be too little for my nephew (5/6 at Disney and 7yo now) so I think you have a nice line up at DHS too.

I think Tangier actually has hamburgers and chicken tenders on the kids menu so not too exotic there. As for CS at Epcot you can eat just about anywhere in the World showcase and get a good meal.

A general hint on CS don't assume everyone will get a meal, many are so big you can share. You may end up using 2 credits at a time at some places to feed the 4 adults.

 

[Pocahontas1]

I've eaten at most of the places you listed an all are good. When we were at AK the last visit, we had lunch at Yak and Yeti. It was really good. Not sure if your family might be interested in somewhere like that.

My only other thought is that you are going to be really busy. We are also a family of four, though our kids are a bit older. I typically try to plan no more than two days at a park before a break day. We go to a water park, hang out at the pool, go to Downtown Disney, etc. But, we are the kind that are there first thing in the morning when they open and typically stay until it closes. Too much of that and everyone gets cranky.

Last trip I also packed a bunch of snacks so the kids wouldn't constantly be asking for food. Each morning they were allowed to pick out two or three snacks and a drink or two to have some time during the day. It worked out really well.

We were there the same time as you last year and I was surprised at how cold it was. I was thinking shorts, swimming, etc. I was looking at the pictures yesterday and I'm wearing capri's and sweatshirts in some pictures. I'm remembering the temperature with highs around 80, but maybe it was an unusual year.

Have a great trip.

 

[serene56]

Let's say you are going to Chef Mickey at 7:30am.

Get to Bus Stop by 6:30 AM
Bus to MK, monorail to Contemporary, arrive at Contemporary at 7:20.
Seated at 7:35
Breakfast will take until 8:30 - 9:00
Monorail to Epcot
Arrive at Epcot 9:40
Make it through bag check, tickets, etc - walk through the gate to Epcot 10:00
!

whew-- Im exhausted already and we arent going til 2010.

Another suggestion for you and your family--- Disney IS huge. Start walking about a month before you leave-- (if its too cold-- get to an indoor mall and walk for about 30 minutes) get those legs working so you can handle it better and not getting worn out after 2 hours of standing in lines and walking to the next attraction

 

[onelilspark]

At Epcot there are a LOT of counter service options. Tangerine Cafe I've never personally ate at because that kind of food isn't my cup of tea. If you have a wide variety of tastes in your group, Epcot has THE best CS place in all of WDW in my opinion which is Sunshine Seasons. It's great if you want a lot of options.

Also, if you're on the dining plan, you'll get more "bang for your buck" if you use your TS credits for dinner instead of other meals. Just something to think about!

 

[catne]

I agree with the PP suggestion that you move breakfast reservation to the park you're going to be in that morning. Really cuts out a lot of transportation time...even if you're driving yourself, that's a lot of extra time going to & from extra destinations. Parking lots are huge at Disney, and you're usually parking quite a ways away from your destination (whether it's a hotel restaurant or park entrance.) Much more relaxing, especially for a newbie, to drive to one destination and stay there.

I suggest using your car for transportation - in most cases we found it much more convenient especially on a trip when you're trying to accomplish a lot (you spend a lot of time waiting for busses!) And when you're tired at the end of the day, much better to tram to your own car then stand in a line that might take as long as 45 minutes to get you on a standing-room only bus.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I agree with most of the other suggestions, especially about planning your meals at restaurants that are close to your destination for the day. I also think it might be unreasonable to think that you are going to make a trip back to room every day for lunch.

I wanted to point out something very important. In your plans, you have left out 2 extra CS credits that you are entitled too.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

Hi. Good plan to start by going 1 park per day. For your Epcot day, lunch would likely be in the park.. they have great places to eat either CS or TS. Epcot i think takes a whole day... get there early and stay until after the fireworks. There is plenty to do.

Also, on your first Magic Kingdom day.. you should do 1900 park fare then instead of on your Animal Kingdom day since 1900 is close to the magic kingdom but far from Animal Kingdom. That would save travel time.

Other than that, it looks like a great plan. Have fun! Take tons of pictures!

 

[catne]

I agree with most of the other suggestions, especially about planning your meals at restaurants that are close to your destination for the day. I also think it might be unreasonable to think that you are going to make a trip back to room every day for lunch.

I wanted to point out something very important. In your plans, you have left out 2 extra CS credits that you are entitled too.

Yeah, if you're staying Saturday night, but not using any credits that day you have 1 snack, 1 counter service & 1 table service per person for that night. Then on your last day, you're using 2 table service for your restaurant meals so you have one counter service from your 1st day & one from that last day. Counter service breakfast on your check out day? And sandwiches to go from resort counter service for the road?

 

[ExoAngel]

I am sooooo confused! lol..Is there a map telling what restaurants are close to what park???? Anyone wanna take a newbie and plan my meals on paper? lol

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I am sooooo confused! lol..Is there a map telling what restaurants are close to what park???? Anyone wanna take a newbie and plan my meals on paper? lol

All that you have to do is look at the location of the restaurants your interested in. Once you know what resorts they are in, take a look at a map of WDW and you can see the general area they are in and how close each is to each park.

 

[septbaby]

I am sooooo confused! lol..Is there a map telling what restaurants are close to what park???? Anyone wanna take a newbie and plan my meals on paper? lol

Your meal plans are fine. The only "zig zag" day is 1900 PF to AK. However, if you don't change a thing with your plans you should still have a great time, make your meals with ease and have some wonderful meals and character experiences.

Here's hoping that bonus comes through!

 

[Matt71]

For Epcot, keep in mind that Tangerine cafe has not signed on to the DDP yet, so they may not be an option. I'd line up an alternate.