dont want to plan dining!

[stephie1012]

gaah i wanna whine. i just dont feel like planning our ADRs this trip. Last trip we stayed offsite and didnt have any ADRs, trips prior i only had to really please one kid. Now i have 3 kids with all their wants and i just dont want to figure it all out!!! Anyone want to plan for me?!?!

DD is turning 7 on the trip i need to plan BBB and CRT, DS will be 5 hes not too picky he wants teppan edo but i can convince him to do hibachi at home. He loves Jake and Oso still so hollywood and vine breakfast is a must do. DD will be 2 and loves Mickey and Jake and Little Einsteins. Oh and we ALWAYS do CP for bfast on our MK day. We are doing 4 park days and a 5th day at just the MNSSHP. We have 6days on the regular dining plan. And any other places we have time for we arent picky at all. OK get set....go plan my ADRs for me lol

Seriously though has anyone else gone through this?!?!

 

[lurkernj]

Take a few deep breaths. It's really not that bad. Will you have park hoppers? If not, take a look at the calendar and get a feel for what park you want to be in based on parades, emh, etc. Then pick something around where you think you'll be at mealtime.

I'm so ocd, I had mine planned (on paper of course) for months now. We're also going to POR in Sept.

 

[Dawner]

LOL ... I must be OCD as well ... I'm going to stay at the POFQ in late September (Free dining, but upgraded to Deluxe... OH NO!!), and I have a note book full of 'sample' plans for dinners, etc... my boyfriend thinks I'm so 'goofy' !!! Can't wait, though !! He'll love the fact that we are able to do a nice b'fast or lunch, and then do a signature dining for dinner (2pts) ... I hope he atleast appreciates all the effort I am putting into this !! ha!!

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

I went thru this a week or so ago. It works best for me to use a spreadsheet with park hours, and go from there. Luckily character meals have never been an issue, other than CP breakfast

 

[Belleandtinker]

On one trip, I printed the menus to take with us. Why? For fun. And my DH could read it while he was waiting for me to get dressed for dinner.

Before we go, we ALWAYS review the menus to make sure we really like it. We should have figured out that we weren't going to like the WC after reading the menu but we tried it anyway.

After a trip a few years ago when we went without many ADR, we learned our lesson quick. So now we play the game - plan, plan, book ADR!

Good Luck!

 

[disneybliss2]

Check out the menus at allears to see what appeals to you.
Here are some suggestions:
My daughters both looove Akershus at Epcot. In fact, they prefer Akershus to CRT, plus it only takes 1 TS credit. A photo package (like at CRT) is included at Akerhsus as well.
A favorite of the whole family is 'Ohana. To die for delicious food. It also has a real fun, Hawaiian atmosphere. They teach the kids Hawaiian dances and give them leis, and they also have coconut broom races.
Another option is Tusker House breakfast. Fun characters, and I've heard really good food (we've not eaten there yet, but have it scheduled for our upcoming trip).
1900 PF is loads of fun! It's a buffet with delicious food. The dinner buffet has Cinderella, Prince, stepmother and stepsisters. The stepsisters are a riot! Such great character interaction.
Another favorite of my girls/family is Biergarten. It's at Germany in Epcot. Great buffet with lots of variety, good tasting food. Very neat setting inside. They also have a dance floor where the kids can dance on while a German band plays. Lots of fun!
Have fun choosing! Yes, you can have fun doing this!

 

[navywifetill2002]

LOL ... I must be OCD as well ... I'm going to stay at the POFQ in late September (Free dining, but upgraded to Deluxe... OH NO!!)

We'll be there in September but we're staying at ASMo so we upgraded from the QS plan to the regular on but I would have loved it if DH would have okayed the extra $$$ for the Deluxe! I'd love to "eat" my way through Disney!

 

[Wendy31]

gaah i wanna whine. i just dont feel like planning our ADRs this trip. Last trip we stayed offsite and didnt have any ADRs, trips prior i only had to really please one kid. Now i have 3 kids with all their wants and i just dont want to figure it all out!!! Anyone want to plan for me?!?!

DD is turning 7 on the trip i need to plan BBB and CRT, DS will be 5 hes not too picky he wants teppan edo but i can convince him to do hibachi at home. He loves Jake and Oso still so hollywood and vine breakfast is a must do. DD will be 2 and loves Mickey and Jake and Little Einsteins. Oh and we ALWAYS do CP for bfast on our MK day. We are doing 4 park days and a 5th day at just the MNSSHP. We have 6days on the regular dining plan. And any other places we have time for we arent picky at all. OK get set....go plan my ADRs for me lol

Seriously though has anyone else gone through this?!?!

I seriously ADORE planning our ADRs!! It's one of my favorite things about going to WDW! Yes, I probably need help!

Anyway, you'll be there 6 nights, so you'll have 6 TS credits/person? Are you okay w/ paying for a meal OOP? I ask because CRT is 2 TS credits.

Maybe...

MK Day - Crystal Palace breakfast

EPCOT Day - Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, Chip, & Dale) or a World Showcase restaurant like Teppan Edo for dinner OR Sunshine Seasons (counter-service) for lunch & "snack" around the World Showcase for dinner - so you could use an extra credit for a departure morning breakfast

Disney Studios Day - H & V character breakfast or lunch

AK Day - Tusker House character breakfast or lunch (Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, & Pluto) OR Rainforest Cafe for lunch or dinner

MNSSHP Day - Schedule the BBB for afternoon & have CRT for dinner around 4ish & then stay for the party

Departure Morning - Chef Mickey's - w/ all 5 of the main characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, & Pluto) for your DD who loves Mickey

2 other fun family meals we enjoy are Whispering Canyon Cafe (at the WL) & 'Ohana (at the Poly) which you might consider either for your arrival night or your last night.

Hope this helps some!

 

[amym2]

Do you not have park tickets for your MNSSHP day? If not, then you can't do BBB and CRT that day, you'll have to do them on your MK day. I wouldn't try to do CP for breakfast, BBB, and CRT all in the same day.

Do you have park hoppers? We did BBB and CRT for breakfast then hopped over to AK for the day and it was awesome because hardly any little girls walk around AK dressed up, but they're all over at MK. DD got so much attention from CMs and guests as well.

Assuming you don't have tickets for the day of MNSSHP (and don't want to pay the small additional fee to add a 5th day) and don't have park hoppers, I'd do this...

MK- BBB and CRT
EP- Via Napoli or Biergarten lunch or dinner
DHS- Hollywood and Vine breakfast
AK- Boma dinner
MNSSHP- breakfast at Cape May or 'Ohana (or Chef Mickey's if you must see Mickey)

 

[AndreeaScott]

If your peace of mind absolutely requires a Disney meal plan, consider the quick-service option. As with the standard dining plan, you’ll get the most savings using the quick-service meals for lunch and dinner. Even if decide to splurge on a sit-down meal or two, you can use your saved quick-service meals for breakfasts without feeling like you’ve paid twice as much as everyone else for the same food

 

[Quin]

As a prior poster noted, getting CP and CRT into your single MK day is a bit of a stretch. And hopefully BBB is at DTD, before MHSSHP. Could DD be happy with the seeing all the princesses at Akershus rather than at CRT?

If so, how about
MK day: CP breakfast for 1TS, oop or snack lunches, CS dinner - either Cosmic Ray for Sonny's show or head to the CR for dinner at Contempo Cafe with the "coolness factor" of eating with the monorail going by overhead.

HS day: breakfast in room/snack credit. Lunch at H&V is now also with the characters so more bang for your 1 TS. CS dinner at your resort or at the group of CS locations along Sunset Blvd (like an open-air food court with combined seating for all, so you don't have to order all the meals at the same place in order to eat together).

Epcot day: breakfast in room/snack credit. CS lunch at Sunshine Seasons or as you wander WS, whatever country appeals most to you. Dinner with the princesses at Akershus for 1 TS.

AK day: breakfast in room/snack credit. 1 TS lunch at Tusker House now also has the characters. CS for dinner: maybe Pizzafari if still in the park, or try a resort.

MNSSHP day: Sleep in. CS lunch at WPE or EoS in DTD, then BBB in DTD. Early 1 TS dinner at either Ohana or 1900 PF, then on to the party!

This program only uses 5 TS credits so far. Since you have 6 nights with 4 park days and a non-park MNSSHP day, I assume you are not going to a park on your arrival day. So either for your arrival dinner or on your departure morning, have a 1 TS meal at CM for the classic characters. It's a great way to start or to end a vacation.

 

[stephie1012]

ahhh you guys rock!! I told DH last night that i quit lol he said to me no way. We really do love the regular dining plan. There are so many new places i want to try but everyone still has their old favorites as well, so thats hard. We have done Askerhus just about every trip, we have done breakfast and dinner there. While DD loves seeing all the princesses, shes more excited about the option of eating in the castle this year. idk why i didnt think to do CRT and BBB on our party day. Great suggestion. My only issue with that is DD wanted to eat in the castle and do BBB for her birthday. Our 1st full day there is her Bday and we have MK planned for that day. With the way the schedule looks there is a MNSSHP on that day or our last full day in the world. Neither one of those options appeal to me, but it is what it is. Hmmm now im thinking maybe it wont be so bad to do on our 1st day. We can relax wake up late, eat late swim some head over to MK get ds GAC and then head in for BBB and CRT then the party.

We dont mind paying extra OOP for any meal.
ok so im thinking:
9/30 DDbday BBB and CRT and MNSSHP
Epcot day maybe Garden Grill? or via napoli? or Teppan Edo? We cant do Biergarten. Thats one of our favorites though. Snack Bfast or QS and we can use snack credits for food and wine for lunch.
DHS H+V lunch, snack bfast and QS at resort for dinner.
AK, snack for bfast, QS in park for lunch and dinner at downtown disney.
MK CP bfast. Maybe ohana dinner? or whispering canyon, we went there on our 1st trip and really liked it.

so thats all i got right now lol hey its better then what i had yesterday, thanks to you guys.

 

[Wendy31]

I think that looks great! Good job!!

The only thing I would suggest is, if you end up not choosing Garden Grill on your EPCOT day, if I were you, I would do Chef Mickey's on your last night so that your 2-year-old gets a meal w/ Mickey! Otherwise, either 'Ohana or WCC would be great for your "last night" meal! (I just couldn't go to WDW w/o at least 1 meal w/ Mickey!)

Also, on your BBB/CRT/MNSSHP day, make sure your BBB & CRT reservations are early enough in the afternoon/early evening so that it doesn't cut into your party time.

 

[stephie1012]

crud why did i think garden grill had Mickey. I may just decided to have dinner at CM on our arrival day and add a day of tickets and head over to MK for Wishes and MSEP.
I was thinking BBB around 2 and dinner at 4?

 

[Wendy31]

Garden Grill DOES have Mickey! The characters at Garden Grill are Mickey, Chip, Dale, & Pluto.

I was just suggesting that if you DIDN'T do Garden Grill, definitely think about Chef Mickey's so that your 2-year-old has a meal w/ Mickey!

Last year, we ended up adding a day as well just so we could fit in all our restaurant choices!

I think Chef Mickey's on your arrival night would be great!

And those times sound good for BBB & CRT!

 

[mom2my3kids]

while it was nice when it was free, we agree..We are doing three sit downs and the rest counter service meals..