Feeling Overwhelmed .

[Red_Rider]

Hi All....

In October my wife and I will have been married for 10 years; we spent our Honeymoon and 1st Anniversary at the World and I thought what better way to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary than going back to the World.

So, starting about a year ago I started planning on how to get this done, saving the money, making the hotel and flight reservations, etc. for the whole family to go (my wife and I, and our two boys who will be 4yo and 1yo). My wife was a bit skeptical that I could get it done, but she said that if I can plan it and make it work, we could go. So I have everything all set now except for the dining reservations, this is where I am beginning to feel overwhelmed. We’ve never been to the World with the kids and I’m not sure what they can handle. I was thinking of the following plan and I didn’t know what people would think of it. Please feel free to add your opinions and helpful advice would be great! Also, we will be on the regular Disney Dining Plan and will have a rental car to get around.

Day #1 – (Flight arrives 12:30pm) – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Home
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #2 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Crystal Palace Buffet
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #3 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Tusker House
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #4 -- EPCOT

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Teppan Edo
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #5 – Disney Studios

Breakfast: Hollywood and Vine
Lunch: Counter Service (Probably back at Hotel for rest)
Dinner: Mama Melrose (Fantasmic! Package)​

Day #6 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Crystal Palace Buffet
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: OOP/TBD​

Day #7 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: OOP/TBD​

Day #8 -- EPCOT

Breakfast: Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus
Lunch: Coral Reef Restaurant
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #9 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Tony’s Town Square
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #10 – (3pm Flight Home) Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Home​

 

[YoMickey]

Looks doable. We've done all of those with our kids the last few years. they are now 9-7-4. You should be fine.

 

[Bill and Jen]

Only thing I would possibly change is day 8. I would move the coral reef lunch to dinner.

We have tried 2 table services in a row before and it didn't work well for us but we find a breakfast and dinner does.

 

[christinec68]

Everything looks good - it's clear you put a lot of work into this!!

I would like to mention that you are not getting the best value of the dining plan by using your TS credits for breakfast and lunch. Based on the meal prices, you may not break even. I would look at menus and price things out to see if it would be more cost effective to pay for meals out of pocket.

 

[honeydiane1953]

Hi All....

In October my wife and I will have been married for 10 years; we spent our Honeymoon and 1st Anniversary at the World and I thought what better way to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary than going back to the World.

So, starting about a year ago I started planning on how to get this done, saving the money, making the hotel and flight reservations, etc. for the whole family to go (my wife and I, and our two boys who will be 4yo and 1yo). My wife was a bit skeptical that I could get it done, but she said that if I can plan it and make it work, we could go. So I have everything all set now except for the dining reservations, this is where I am beginning to feel overwhelmed. We’ve never been to the World with the kids and I’m not sure what they can handle. I was thinking of the following plan and I didn’t know what people would think of it. Please feel free to add your opinions and helpful advice would be great! Also, we will be on the regular Disney Dining Plan and will have a rental car to get around.

Day #1 – (Flight arrives 12:30pm) – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Home
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #2 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Crystal Palace Buffet
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #3 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Tusker House
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #4 -- EPCOT

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Teppan Edo
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #5 – Disney Studios

Breakfast: Hollywood and Vine
Lunch: Counter Service (Probably back at Hotel for rest)
Dinner: Mama Melrose (Fantasmic! Package)​

Day #6 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Crystal Palace Buffet
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: OOP/TBD​

Day #7 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: OOP/TBD​

Day #8 -- EPCOT

Breakfast: Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus
Lunch: Coral Reef Restaurant
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #9 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Tony’s Town Square
Dinner: Counter Service​

Day #10 – (3pm Flight Home) Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Home​

My best advice is get an UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO WDW. It explains alot and even give neg remarks some suggestions. It is a fun read.

 

[skier_pete]

Hmmmm. Generally I think you have a good plan, but I will tell you what I would do different, i order from what I would be most likely to change to the least. I am assuming you are on the DDP (regular plan - not deluxe), so my comments are based on that.

I wouldn't bother doing Crystal Palace twice. Yes, breakfast and lunch are different, and the food is good, but once you've done the characters once, I wouldn't do it again. If you are set on doing a breakfast in or near MK, maybe try Ohana's or Chef Mickey's, which are right on the monorail. Personally, I don't bother wasting TS credit's on breakfast, and would rather get another dinner somewhere.

Though you have Tusker house twice, the breakfast and lunch options are significantly different that I am OK with this choice. We LOVE the lunch there...never been to breakfast so can't comment.

Your day at Epcot with Breakfast with the Princesses and lunch at Coral Reef...too much. Either bump Coral Reef to a dinner or to a different day. I personally would skip Teppan Edo. The restaurant is no different from a standard Teppanaki restaurant in your home town. Do Coral Reef that day instead. Or if you are trying to slot the same # of restaurants, check out Beirgarten...the floor show is great with little kids.

Blech to Mama Melrose AND Tony's on the same trip - why do two really mediocre Italian Restaurant's in one stay. How about '50s PrimeTime instead of Mama Melrose. I hear its lots of fun. (I haven't been though.)

We will be there Oct 16-23rd, so maybe we'll see you there!

 

[laughinplace199]

I would rethink Day #8. Any time we do a TS breakfast, we're hardly hungry for QS lunch. I can't imagine being hungry enough for a TS lunch the same day. Could you move Coral Reef to dinner?

The only other comment I have is about your TS lunches - will your kids be able to sit for an hour or so for those meals? It depends on your kids, of course, but mine could never handle a TS meal at that time of day. We're usually at the parks at rope drop, so by lunch time they're getting tired. We just grab something fast for lunch and do another ride or two before heading back to the resort for a break. After a nice swim/rest/nap, we're all refreshed and they kids can easily handle a TS dinner at that point.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

I think your plan looks very good also. I would do Coral Reef for dinner, and I'm not sure 2 little boys would like the princess' at akershus. All in all you did a good job.

 

[Red_Rider]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. After actually printing out the list of days and restaurants, I would agree that I need to change day #8. I'm also having a hard time deciding to have the TS breakfasts or not. I would agree that they are really not a good "value" under the regular dining plan. We are going in early September and we are using the free dining PIN. Since we're getting it for free I'm a little more open to using the points where I wouldn't normally....

I would love to change up the TS lunches for TS dinner but I'm worried about my kids lasting that long. I'm worried that if I bring my kids back to the hotel to "rest" that they won't nap/relax and or won't be able to handle going out for dinner.

I would totally just roll with it except I hear it's almost impossible to get into a TS restaurant via walk-up during the free dining promotions. Not knowing how my kids are going to do is what is getting me overwhelmed..hehehe.....

Much need to review the menus tonight and try to get some input from my wife.

Thanks again to everyone's suggestions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bill and Jen]

Since the dinning plan is free this trip, don't worry about the value of the free meals you use. The counter services do not increase in price for dinner so your out of pocket expenses won't be any different one way or the other.

One way you might be able to do dinners instead of lunch would be if your children would nap it might be nice to head out of the parks around lunch time and relax a the hotel, then go back for a sit down dinner.

Of course this idea works wonderfully for some and not at all for others.

 

[skier_pete]

I would love to change up the TS lunches for TS dinner but I'm worried about my kids lasting that long. I'm worried that if I bring my kids back to the hotel to "rest" that they won't nap/relax and or won't be able to handle going out for dinner.

I would totally just roll with it except I hear it's almost impossible to get into a TS restaurant via walk-up during the free dining promotions. Not knowing how my kids are going to do is what is getting me overwhelmed..hehehe.....

You are very right to assume walking up to a restaurant will be difficult during free dining...especially the character buffets. Only you know your kids, but based on my observations with my DD...we've been twice during free dining when she was 4.5 and 5.5 years old. I would say this:

Your idea to book mostly lunches is a good one. The TS lunches worked very well. We would typically do rope drop and the park until about 12:30 PM, and then we would stop for lunch. The AC felt soooo good. We then went back to the hotel shortly after lunch. She either took a nap, or we went to the pool. We then sometimes went back to the parks at night, or sometimes just stayed at the hotel. Not having evening TS was very helpful. No matter how you slice it, Mid-day breaks with little ones are crucial in my point of view, especially during the worst of the September heat. (1 PM to 5 PM).

For you, you have to do what's best for your kids...if your kids take a nap during the day at home, and then stay up late in the evening...that's how you should plan your day. If they are early to bed types...well...that'll work too. Don't push 'em too hard, you'll just make everyone miserable.

I think you have a good handle on it though.

 

[Red_Rider]

Thanks for all of the great advice, I did forget to mention that my kids tend to go to bed early, even in the summer. Most night both boys end up in bed and asleep between 6-6:30pm. Which is usually nice because we get some down-time at night at home. The other side of that is that they are usually up at 6:30 in the morning...hehehe.... We've tried to stretch them at night during holidays and such but it never works out that well. They end up staying up late but still getting up at the same time in the morning and end up being grumpy grizzly bears the rest of the day....

I'm hoping that they will be sooo tired from walking that we can get them to nap a bit in the stroller or back at the hotel. That's primarily why I left the counter service meals for dinner, that way if they sleep during the day we can get something at the park. If not, we'll end up just getting something at the hotel.

Thanks again for everyone helpful advice and suggestions!!!!

 

[Red_Rider]

After much review and taking everyone's advice we finally came up with our choices. I went online this morning -- the first day I was allowed -- and booked all of our choices. What a relief that the planning for this is over!!!!!! Now just counting down the days.... Here is what we finally ended up with.....

Day #1 – (Flight arrives 12:30pm) – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Home
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #2 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Crystal Palace Buffet (11:30a)
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #3 – EPCOT

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Teppan Edo (12:00p)
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #4 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: Chef Mickey’s (5:40p) then over to MK for Spectro

Day #5 – Disney Studios

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Hollywood and Vine (11:45a)
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #6 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Crystal Palace Buffet (8:15a)
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: OOP/TBD

Day #7 – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast: Tusker House (8:40a)
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare (6:00p) then 9pm Wishes

Day #8 -- EPCOT

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus (12:05p)
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #9 – Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: Tony’s Town Square (11:35)
Dinner: Counter Service

Day #10 – (3pm Flight Home) Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: OOP/TBD
Dinner: Home

 

[badblackpug]

I think if my calculations are right you still have 2 TS credits left (1 for check in day and 1 for checkout day)

 

[lzbee]

Congratulations! Good planning!

 

[harpinjean]

Looks good!