Feedback Needed on ADRs - DXDP

[JollieMom]

Okay, I think I'm at the point that I need some feedback on the ADRs we currently have out there for our upcoming trip to Disney. First a little background: first trip for my 5 year old (who loves, loves, loves princesses), and the first trip that my 9 year old will remember. It will just be myself and my girls for the majority of the trip but we will have another mom and her daughter (also 9) joining us for 3 days in the middle of our vacation. None of us are picky - we all love various foods - thai, indian, chinese, mexican, seafood etc.. I chose the DXDP plan not necessarily to save $$ but to give us more options. The menu for the under 10 group is pretty limited - so we are looking at buffets to help give them more options. I'm not expecting to eat everything on my plate with so much food and I won't consider that a waste. What I do want is some great dining experiences.

This is what we have so far:

Saturday (arrive ~ 10am): lunch at Mama Melrose (F! package), dinner at Kouzzina
Sunday: Tusker House (B), Yak and Yeti (L), and 1900 Park (D)

Friends join us on Monday (not on dining plan)
Monday: Akershus (B), Chefs de France (L), La Hacienda (D)
Tues: Kona (11am B), WCC (5:20pm D) - we'll snack in between if needed
Wed: CP (B), ???? (L), ????(D)

Just us again:

Thurs: only have the evening planned - Ohana at 5pm and Wishes Dessert Party @ 9pm
Fri: Le Cellier for either L or D - have ADRs for both and waiting on some reviews of dinner
Sat: Sci Fi (L), California Grill (D)
Sun: Boma (B) - then head home

I'm interested in Sanaa, Jiko, Citricos and Narcoossee's - maybe even Flying Fish. Right now I know I have at least one more dinner to plan and possibly two if I give up Le Cellier for dinner. I would love to get everyone's opinion on this.

We will have a car with us to get to resort meals if needed. We're staying at POFQ so DTD is also an option. I think we'll have snacks for the breakfasts we haven't booked yet - unless everyone thinks I'm missing a 'must do' breakfast.

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[sassy2000]

I can give you my reviews on some of your choices.
Tusker house breakfast - Good food (even though IMO it's hard to mess up breakfast, especially on a buffet) This is also the only character meal with Daisy Duck. We like it.
Yak & Yeti - Not my favorite but would not mind trying it again. I had the beef & broccoli which had no taste to it. My husband had the lo mein which was really good.
1900 PF- We love this place. The characters are great. The stepsisters are hilarious. We have always liked the food here too. I see quite a few negative reviews of the food here but we have always enjoyed it.
Akershus (b)- Again, food good, typical breakfast fare. Your daughter will love the princess interaction. We have been twice (1 lunch & 1 breakfast) & have seen Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora, and Ariel.
Chefs de France - We have had dinner here. I don't know how different the lunch menu is but I highly suggest dinner. The food was really good. I had the beef short ribs which were so tender. The chocolate puff dessert is yummy also.
WCC- Great food. The canyon skillet is good. Make sure to get your girls to ask for ketchup.
CP- We have made this a tradition for us. We always get ADRs prior to park opening. It makes for great pictures in front of the castle. Looks like you have the place to yourself. This is also my favorite breakfast., Food is really good. They always have a good selection of fresh fruit and on the kids buffet is Pooh's french toast which is delicious.
Ohana- This is our absolute favorite dinner. The food is always good. Just make sure to come hungry or you won't make it to dessert. The chicken wings and potstickers are yummy. The dessert is wonderful.
Le Cellier- Don't know how much my review will matter since they are changing the dinner menu. Will not go anymore since it is becoming a 2-credit meal but we enjoyed it in the past.
Sci-Fi - Did not like the food here but does have a neat atmosphere

My suggestions for other dinners are Kona (tried this on our last visit and it was fantastic), Boma, Garden Grill, or Coral Reef.

 

[focusondisney]

With 2 little princesses, I'd give Cinderella's Royal Table a try. We are going there this Sept for the first time in years, so I'm not sure how the food is, but I would think little girls would be thrilled to eat in the castle.

Cape May Cafe Buffet at the Beach Club is a good dinner buffet with lots of variety. No characters tho.

Sci Fi doesn't get great reviews for the food, but we love it. You can't beat the atmosphere. No place like it anywhere. Good burgers & fries & the ice cream sundaes for dessert are delicious!

Of your other choices, we've only eaten at Narcoosee's. We found it OK, not great. I actually prefer Grand Floridian Cafe. More variety & I think better food. We aren't going back this year. We are trying Flying Fish this year.

Have fun deciding & have a great vacation!

 

[hannahdrewmom]

I'm not sure I'd keep the dessert party with dxdp. The desserts were ok and so was the viewing but nothing that was a must. Plus you are going to have soooo many snacks available and have just eaten a rather large dinner at Ohana. I'd save that money and use it towards something else fun.

I too would add CRT to the plan since you have dxdp. Anyplace you can get a 2ts meal in will be a great use of credits. We have found that on dxdp 3 meals a day is really not only too much food but too much time eating and not enough time riding. I doubt your girls will want to eat as much as they will want to ride. Keep in mind that each meal takes about 90 minutes from ADR until done. So three meals a day means you are eating for 4.5 hrs worth of your day!

Do you have these scheuled yet? I'd be interested to see your times.

 

[JollieMom]

I do think 3 meals a day is going to be a lot. When we do have three scheduled - it is because the breakfast is before rope drop - allowing us to get in early (or because dinner is so late). For this trip I do not want to be run, run, run every day. We will get there for RD each morning (except for one day where we intentionally are coming a little late). I plan to leave by 2pm or so most days and take a break at the resort and come back after dinner for an hour or two. I know we won't see everything we want to - but my kids are still at an age where the slide at the pool at POFQ will be as cool as the rides.

I do have all my times scheduled. Here are the times.

Sat
Lunch - MM 1:35pm (I plan to try and get there early, but this was the earliest time for the F! package)
Dinner - Kouzzina - 5:25pm (Yes, I know it is early and we may end up scratching this one - but was the best time I could get and get back for Fantasmic).

Sun
Breakfast - TH - 8:10am, RD is at 9am so we should make it
Lunch - Yak & Yeti - 12:30pm
Dinner - 1900 Park - 6:40pm

Mon
Breakfast - Akershus - 9:45am (sleeping in - we will not be at RD for Epcot today and the intention is to focus on World Showcase)
Lunch - Chefs de France - 2:20pm (Hoping to do Kim Possible adventure between the two meals and check out countries - go to resort after lunch)
Dinner La Hacienda - 8pm (Be there for Illuminations)

Tue
Breakfast - Kona - 11:05am (EMH at MK this morning so will be at park for a couple of hours prior to breakfast)
Dinner - WCC - 5:20pm (head back to resort after for early bedtime)

Wed
Breakfast - CP - 8:20am (RD is at 9am) - may spend a couple of hours at MK and then back to resort for pooltime/rest
Lunch - ?
Dinner - ?

Thur
Breakfast - snack (EMH at MK this morning - be there for RD)
Lunch - planning on CS meal possibly back at resort since we plan to nap this afternoon
Dinner - Ohana - 5:20pm
Dessert Party at Terrace - 9pm

Fri
Breakfast - snack (EMH at Epcot this morning - be there for RD)
Lunch - Le Cellier (11:50am)
Dinner - Le Cellier (6:15pm) - obviously either L or D reservation will change

Sat
Breakfast - snack (EMH at DHS this morning - be there for RD)
Lunch - Sci Fi at 12:05pm (we want burgers and milkshakes and the ambience)
Dinner - California Grill - 7:30pm (wanted to get in before the Wishes! crowd)

Sun
Breakfast - Boma 8:15am

My kids are used to eating dinner at a wide variety of times (from 5:30pm to 9pm depending on the day and our schedule). I feel pretty confident that we'll be okay there. I know that our lunch and dinner on our first day are insanely close in time. I am hoping to try and linger a bit at our dinner. If we decide we're not hungry and skip it, so be it. But like I said - hoping to eat lightly for lunch and if they can seat me earlier - even better.

So Wednesday Dinner and Friday (lunch or dinner) are our two openings. Wednesday I hope to make it mostly a resort day so we can go anywhere for dinner. Friday is an Epcot morning so if we need a new lunch - will probably be somewhere in Epcot or Beaches and Cream. If dinner - would be willing to go anywhere.

Thanks for the feedback so far!!

 

[Diegosmom]

Ok my only feedback is it seems you are only planning 2 meals a day and not sure but I don't think there are a lot of 2 credit meals in there (is there? I could be wrong)...so you are still left with another meal each day. Wondering if it might be better for you not to be on dining. Just seems like you might have a lot of credits left at the end...

 

[JollieMom]

I should have clarified - some of our lunches or breakfasts would be QS at the resort or at the park - so no ADR. These are just the ADRs. I'm sure I'm like a lot of DISers and have a spreadsheet with my meal counts on it. You are right that I don't have a lot of signatures. That is why I am looking at a Signature restaurant for my open meal on Wednesday night (and another if I get rid of LeCellier for dinner). If I add in my counterservice meals I'm up to 23 of the 24 planned meals and 3 breakfasts that could be snacks or we can use a CS meal for if someone is really hungry.

 

[Smithkids]

How about Hoop De Doo show on Wednesday night. If you get the 5pm show, sit Tier 1 and you'll use 2TS credits. Then after dinner head over to the Campfire Sing a long w/ Chip and Dale. And if everyone feels up to it, you could even stay for the outdoor movie...

I am a bit worried for you- having the F!DP at MM for 1:30 on arrival day. Are you flying into Orlando? Any meal that requires the credit card hold- kind of scary for arrival day. What happens if your flight is delayed? You would all be stressed out trying to make that adr...JMO. And then 8:10 breakfast after late night at F! show...I know my kids would be very hard to get out of bed in time...

 

[deannanb]

Sun
Breakfast - TH - 8:10am, RD is at 9am so we should make it
Lunch - Yak & Yeti - 12:30pm
Dinner - 1900 Park - 6:40pm


Don't plan to rush to Rope Drop - You wait in a line to get into TH - taking a picture with Donald first before being seated - and it takes about an hour for the characters to come to your table.

We were really tired after our day at AK (in a good way) - and wished we had more time there. I had dinner res. at 6:30 at Cali. Grill and felt we were really rushed to get there. I would see if you can make the reservations for later in the evening so you have some time to rest (if you think your family needs it).

See if you can move your Ohana to Wednesday with your friends -
and go see HDDR on Thursday - It was so much fun! (or see it with them if they want to see it)

And I'm assuming your friends are willing to spend money at some of the buffets and sit down places you have picked. Make sure they weren't assuming you would eat at QS places while they are there - (not a good use of your DX plan for those 3 days!)

 

[MSLRAC]

I think some of your times are way too close together. We did the DxDP with 3 meals a day last trip and it worked great for us but we spaced things 8am, 2pm and 8 pm. If we had done anything any closer together, we would have been miserable. And there is no way on earth we could have fit in the dessert party without getting .

Plus when you combine all those meals with going back to the room in the afternoons, I'm afraid that you're going to feel like all you did was go from one meal to the next.

I also would not have a meal requiring a cc for arrival day. If your flight gets delayed at all then you have a mess on your hands. The F! packages are not something that you can call from the airport and easily reschedule.

I am also not sure if you will make RD on your AK day. 50 minutes for a character meal with a picture package is pushing it from our experience.

 

[JollieMom]

Thanks for the suggestions!

We are driving in to Orlando and will be stopping about an hour outside of Orlando the night before. Therefore, I'm not too worried about making MM on our first day.

If we don't make RD on AK day - I'll be okay. We will already be inside the park and all the way in the back where we planned to walk first anyhow - the safari. Therefore, if we are a little later than 9am, I don't think I'll panic .

I do worry about all the eating - and will look into moving some of our meals a little later. I'm also thinking of adding a few more signatures (when my friends aren't with us) and doing 2 meals a day. I love Akershus and CRT does nothing for me so I'll probably stick with Akershus and 1900 as our "Princess" character meals (1900 is for me because I'm a fan of the stepsisters).

Again - thanks for the suggestions! Keep them coming!!!