Favourite "Must book ahead" restaurants/attractions with young kids?

[toffsky]

Hi all - We are planning a trip to DL in March with DH, DD (2), DS (4) and MIL. I haven't been since I was a kid so will be doing a bunch of research planning (just getting started!). Are there any "must dos" that you need to book ahead? Like potentially months in advance? Don't want anyone to be disappointed if we don't book something early enough.

 

[DirectGirl]

Lunch and Dinner Reservations should be done 180 days out. Usually this covers character meals. If you check and don't see what you want open, you can set an alert on Mouse Dining website (free service). Fast Passes are 60 days out I think if you are on property. That's all I can think of. My trip (DS4 and DS2) we are doing some Star Wars reservations too, like droid building. I don't know when those start going. We also booked Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh) for lunch, and BOG for dinner (though that's more for me). I would have done T-Rex at Disney Springs (kids would have loved it) but we don't have time.

 

[DirectGirl]

Also, I JUST learned about renting DVC points, instead of booking directly through Disney for hotel. Check out David's Disney Vacation Rental. I would have saved like 30%.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Most of the character meals need to be booked in advance as well as 'Ohana for popular family meals.
Other family popular park meals are Chefs de France and Via Napoli.

E

 

[toffsky]

Thanks! We're about 6 months out so I better get booking!

 

[yorkieteacher]

Whatever Disney characters your kids like, book the meals that have them. Our favorites were Tusker House in AK, Snow White's Storybook Dine at Wilderness Lodge (you can ferry back and forth directly from MK) and both Akurshus Princess Dine and Garden Grill in Epcot. We thought Crystal Palace food was not that good nor was the wait on the characters. On a previous visit, Chef Mickey's food was just ok and again a wait for characters. Character interaction and HS Hollywood and Vine is really good, but the food was again just ok. The four mentioned previously all had good food and good character interaction. Our littles liked everything in MK they were tall enough for, including our 2 year old GS's first roller coaster, the Barnstormer. Their favorites in other parks were-in AK-the Safari, Nemo and Lion King shows; in Epcot, the Finding Nemo ride and Mexico boat ride (rode these twice) and Toy Story Midway Mania in the Studios. They HATED It's Tough to be a Bug in AK and were scared. Pirates didn't scare them in MK, nor did Haunted Mansion-go figure!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hi all - We are planning a trip to DL in March with DH, DD (2), DS (4) and MIL. I haven't been since I was a kid so will be doing a bunch of research planning (just getting started!). Are there any "must dos" that you need to book ahead? Like potentially months in advance? Don't want anyone to be disappointed if we don't book something early enough.

Are you going to Disneyland (DL) or Walt Disney World (WDW)?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

For kids your age, I would book these meals:
Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh and Friends)
Minnie's Seasonal Dine (Mickey and Friends) and/or Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale)
Storybook Dining at Wilderness Lodge (Snow White and Dwarves) and/or breakfast at Trattoria al Forno (Ariel & Rapunzel with their princes)

For rides, I would FP+
MK - Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh
Epcot - Spaceship Earth, Frozen Ever After, Nemo or the Frozen Princess Meet
AK - Festival of the Lion King, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na'vi River Journey
HS - Toy Story Midway Mania, Muppets Show, and I honestly don't know what else because HS isn't great for littles.

Have a great time! It's such a fun age because they really still believe in the magic.

 

[toffsky]

Are you going to Disneyland (DL) or Walt Disney World (WDW)?

Disneyland - I didn't realize there was another forum for DL. But I now know that meals can't be booked until 90 days out at DL so that helps! I was thinking we were already behind.

Any recommendations for must books for DL?

 

[Rory607]

DL is much more laid back and easier to plan. There is just not nearly as much to book ahead of time. The only thing we booked ahead was a character breakfast at Paradise Pier Hotel. It was Donald, Daisy, Stitch and Minnie. Our kids loved it. There might be other character meals there now as we were there over a year ago.