Finally got our ADR's! Would like some advice, please!

[Whitewater]

Hey, everybody!

So. First time going to WDW for DH and myself in a LONG time and I am sure a ton has changed . . . including the food and restaurants. Would folks be kind enough to look over our ADR's and let me know if (based on your experiences) there are any red flags in our ADR's? Like, if we didn't leave enough time or if we've run out of dining plan credits or something? I'd really appreciate it. We have the standard dining plan and yes, we're totally willing and able to also pay OOP for some of this. I'm having a really hard time figuring out if we're going over our credits at all, however, so I'd be grateful for some help. Oh, and the plan for breakfast right now is to buy breakfast stuff (cereal, milk, fruit, etc) and eat in our rooms. We also have park hopper tickets.

Day 1: Arrive at CBR sometime between 3-4pm, depending on when our flight gets in and when we get on board the Magical Express. Hoping to check in, then get the bus to Epcot and from there the water taxi to the Boardwalk, for dinner at the Big River Grille and Brewery. We don't need reservations for this one. Is there a better way to get to the Boardwalk from CBR?

Day 2: Our first MK day. We're having lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern (1pm) and then going to Spirit of Aloha at the Poly at 8pm.

Day 3 Our 2nd MK day. Lunch at Cosmic Ray's (we've heard great things!) and dinner at Citricos at 7pm.

Day 4 Epcot! Epcot has extra magic hours today, too, they're open until 11pm. Lunch somewhere in the worlds (I'm hoping for Le Chefs or the Rose and Crown), then dinner at Teppan-Edo at 8pm. I wanted it a bit earlier, but I suppose this way we can still get to rides and things after dinner but before Epcot closes. Yes, we know about teppan-yaki, and we're huge fans

Day 5 split between Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. Lunch somewhere in HS and dinner at Raglan Road at 5:15. It's early. Way early. We have Cirque tickets at 9pm! I'm sure there will be something to do in the meantime. Any suggestions? Later dinner times were completely unavailable.

Day 6 Animal Kingdom day. Lunch somewhere, probably Yak and Yeti (counter service) and then dinner at Jiko at the AK Lodge at 7:25. I figure, the park closes at 5, that will be enough time to get us back to the hotel to freshen up and change. Yes? No?

Day 7 Totally free day. Probably will hop between parks to ride our fav's one last time. Food as we can find it, whenever, wherever.

Day 8 Leaving WDW. Flight leaves at 5:30pm, will need to be on the Magic Express by 3pm, so we'll have the morning. I have no idea where we'll have lunch, but I would like to try for MK that morning.

Does this sound doable? Will we constantly rush? Or will we have way too much time between reservations?

I would appreciate any advice Thanks!


Whitewater

 

[SuzieN]

Well as near as I can tell it looks like you will be over by quite a few credits. Am I correct in that you are staying for 7 nights? If so then you only get 7 TS credits and it looks like you have 11 or 12 there. The Spirit of Aloha, Citrico's, and Jiko are all 2 TS credits. You might be better off upgrading to deluxe dining. Just my 2 cents though! Have a great trip!

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

I would ask for more opinions on Big River Grille. It may be better now but when we have been there in the past it was not good. Maybe things have changed.

 

[Whitewater]

Suzie, yep, we're staying 7 nights but there are two of us, and we each got the dining plan, so wouldn't that be 14 credits? Or am I wrong? I could have sworn that the dining plan is per person . . .not per booking, if that makes any sense.

And after a day of traveling, some decent micro-brewed beer will probably hit the spot! And by then, knowing my DH and I, we'll be ready to eat anything!!! Heh, when it comes to food our standards are not 5 diamond. If we can get a couple of burgers, a salad for me that's not brown and limp, and some decent fries, we'll be good.

Air travel is hard on me for a number of reasons (I have a couple physical issues as well as Asperger's) and that first day, checking in and getting to the brewpub will be just about all I can handle. A full 8 hour day traveling . . .ugh. By the end of the day, I won't care all that much. So long as the food at Big River Grille isn't moldy or raw, it'll be fine!


Whitewater

 

[jcanter426]

The meals you listed will require 11 Credits per person (12 if you choose Les Chefs over Rose and Crown) per person.

You have only 7 Credits per person.

You would have to pay out of pocket for the others.

Hope that helps

 

[3prettyprincesses]

You do seem to be over your dining credits. If you're on the basic dining plan, that's one counter service, one snack and one table service meal per night of your trip. So if you're staying 7 nights, then you have 7 counter service meals, 7 snacks and 7 table service meals. Citrico's, Jiko and the Spirit of Aloha Luau are 2 table service credits each, those restaurants are considered signature dining and use up more credits. In other words, for you to eat at all those places, you'd use up 6 of your table service credits.

On your 2nd day, you are eating at Liberty Tree Tavern (1 table service credit) and then Spirit of Aloha Luau (2 table service credits). In that day alone, you are using up 3 table service credits.

On your 3rd day you're eating at Cosmic Rays (1 counter service credit) and then at Citrico's (2 table service credits). Now you're down to only 2 table service credits for the remainder of your trip.

On your 4th day, you're eating lunch at Chefs de France (1 table service credit) and dinner at Teppen Edo (1 table service credit). You are now out of table credits and would only have 6 counter service credits left.

Just think of a table service credit as any restaurant you sit down at that they give you menu. You might want to consider the deluxe dining plan where you can eat 3 table service meals per night of your trip. Here's a good link that explains this all much better than I probably am!

http://allears.net/pl/packages.htm#din09

Here's another link with all the restaurants on the Disney dining plan.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

Good luck, planning is half the fun!

 

[cnjmom]

When it says a restaurant is 1 TS credit, it means that each person must use 1 TS credit to eat there. It's not 1 TS for the entire party.

So, yes, each of you get 7 TS, 7 CS and 7 snack credits. If you eat at the Spirit of Aloha, that is 2 TS credits for each of you (so 4 total for your party of two). If you eat at Liberty Tree Tavern, it's 1 TS for each of you (so 2 total for your party of two).

 

[AirGoofy]

Teppan Edo is not listed on the Disney Dining Plan list for 2009? Did a new list come out? It there a secret list?

 

[rflorek]

Teppan Edo is not listed on the Disney Dining Plan list for 2009? Did a new list come out? It there a secret list?

It's in the Dining Plan brochure that I printed out from WDW for 2009 DDP.

 

[B&WMickey]

Teppan Edo is not listed on the Disney Dining Plan list for 2009? Did a new list come out? It there a secret list?

Everything I've seen and heard is that Teppan Edo is on the DDP. I sure hope it is becuase right now I'm counting on it. If anyone else can shed some light on this I'd appreciate it.

 

[Singinglizzie]

Hey, everybody!

So. First time going to WDW for DH and myself in a LONG time and I am sure a ton has changed . . . including the food and restaurants. Would folks be kind enough to look over our ADR's and let me know if (based on your experiences) there are any red flags in our ADR's? Like, if we didn't leave enough time or if we've run out of dining plan credits or something? I'd really appreciate it. We have the standard dining plan and yes, we're totally willing and able to also pay OOP for some of this. I'm having a really hard time figuring out if we're going over our credits at all, however, so I'd be grateful for some help. Oh, and the plan for breakfast right now is to buy breakfast stuff (cereal, milk, fruit, etc) and eat in our rooms. We also have park hopper tickets.

Day 1: Arrive at CBR sometime between 3-4pm, depending on when our flight gets in and when we get on board the Magical Express. Hoping to check in, then get the bus to Epcot and from there the water taxi to the Boardwalk, for dinner at the Big River Grille and Brewery. We don't need reservations for this one. Is there a better way to get to the Boardwalk from CBR?

Day 2: Our first MK day. We're having lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern (1pm) and then going to Spirit of Aloha at the Poly at 8pm.

Day 3 Our 2nd MK day. Lunch at Cosmic Ray's (we've heard great things!) and dinner at Citricos at 7pm.

Day 4 Epcot! Epcot has extra magic hours today, too, they're open until 11pm. Lunch somewhere in the worlds (I'm hoping for Le Chefs or the Rose and Crown), then dinner at Teppan-Edo at 8pm. I wanted it a bit earlier, but I suppose this way we can still get to rides and things after dinner but before Epcot closes. Yes, we know about teppan-yaki, and we're huge fans

Day 5 split between Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. Lunch somewhere in HS and dinner at Raglan Road at 5:15. It's early. Way early. We have Cirque tickets at 9pm! I'm sure there will be something to do in the meantime. Any suggestions? Later dinner times were completely unavailable.

Day 6 Animal Kingdom day. Lunch somewhere, probably Yak and Yeti (counter service) and then dinner at Jiko at the AK Lodge at 7:25. I figure, the park closes at 5, that will be enough time to get us back to the hotel to freshen up and change. Yes? No?

Day 7 Totally free day. Probably will hop between parks to ride our fav's one last time. Food as we can find it, whenever, wherever.

Day 8 Leaving WDW. Flight leaves at 5:30pm, will need to be on the Magic Express by 3pm, so we'll have the morning. I have no idea where we'll have lunch, but I would like to try for MK that morning.

Does this sound doable? Will we constantly rush? Or will we have way too much time between reservations?

I would appreciate any advice Thanks!


Whitewater

They all sound great, but it sounds like a couple of days for lunch you are going to try to decide where to eat while at WDW? I dont know when your dates are, but most of Aug - Dec. is on free dinning, which makes getting ADR's a premium. If you are thinking about showing up for lunch and getting a ressie during this time period most likely you will be out of luck. I suggest you make ADRs for all your lunches, then if you change your mind you can cancel that day. Have a wonderful trip. BTW, you can check availability on the WDW website, as well as make your reservations, its a bit slow, but much faster than trying to calll the central reservation office (CRO).

 

[catne]

you're talking about 11 table service credits (someone is confused in one of the posts - Les Chefs and Rose & Crown are both 1 TS credit per person, neither of them is two credits, so whichever you choose there will still add upto 11 credits per person.)...personally, I'd dump all the 2 TS signature places...good food, but not worth double the 1 TS places, IMHO. And definitely not our style to go get dressed up while on vacation...2 TS places have dress codes...not way dressed up, but not just park clothes like the rest of the table service restaurants.

Don't think your timing will work on some of these plans, either, unless you're driving yourself or taking cabs...they tell you to allow 60-90 minutes transportation time if you're using Disney transportation, and some of those days you're going to miss your ressies. Like that AK day plan...no way can you stay until park closes at 5 and then make it to Jiko at 7:25...maybe if you take cabs everywhere, but not using Disney busses. First of all, there will be a mob scene at park closing time so you'll be lucky to get on the first bus going back...typically you'll wait 15-30 min. or more for a bus at a park closing time...you could be as late as 6:00 getting to CBR...then hike to your room, change & hike back to the bus. Wait 20 min. or more for a bus to a park or to Downtown Disney, get off there & then go wait 20 min or more for the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge (busses do not run from hotel to hotel...just from hotels to parks or downtown disney. So to get from your hotel to another hotel, you have to take this round about way of stopping at a park or DTD.) Bottom line is to get from AK to your hotel & then to AK Lodge could easily take you more than 2 hours...you could be very lucky and catch busses bing,bing,bing...but just as likely you'll wait 20-30 minutes at every step of the way. Every time you have to go back to your hotel to change for a signature dining experience you're going to have this kind of bus schedule nightmare. Is that really how you want to spend your time?

If you have to keep them, then pay OOP for lunches at table service. Or just do counter service for lunch and skip all those sit-down lunches. That will be a lot of time in restaurants...an hour at non-signature places, 2 hours in the signature places. Do you really want to spend 3 hours in restaurants a day...even if you're driving, you'll still have travel time to add to the in-restaurant time...could be spending 5-6 hours a day with getting to & from on busses + eating time.

If you reallyn want to keep all of those, you might price out the DxDDP versus paying cash & using the regular DDP. Could be you'd come out better upgrading to the deluxe plan since you'd get 3 meal credits a day and could use 2 for the signature dining, and 1 for a lunch table service. You also get 2 snacks...could be used to buy a continental breakfasst. Also think about renting a car, or taking cabs to get around if you want any park time between your restaurants! Worth considering.

You will be there during free dining time, so if you really want to eat at table service restaurants during the day (lunch) you might want to book reservations for those now...can't really count on walk-up availability during free dining because a lot of people take the lunch reservations when they can't get their favorite for dinner. You're going during a slow time for park crowds, but a busy time for restaurants.

 

[Whitewater]

Ok, after reading everybody's wise advice and talking to my husband, I have changed up our plans a little.

First thing -- we're going to pay for Big River Grille and our lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern OOP, and we're going to cancel Jiko. That should free up enough dining credits that we don't go over.

Instead of Jiko, we'd *really* like to get an ADR for Le Cellier, but as of now, that's impossible, apparently dinner times for our entire week are booked solid Best I can do is to hang around, hoping a spot opens up, over the next 3 weeks or so. Husband likes steak, what can I say?

So I booked us in at Tutto Italia Ristorante instead.

Now, our schedule looks like this:

Day 1 arr. at 4-4:30pm. Check in, take bus to DHS and then a water taxi to Big River Grille, where we will pay OOP. Possibly visit the parks and pay OOP for a snack. On the way back, go to Hess and pick up breakfast stuff (also OOP, duh! Or, just bite the bullet and pay for the stuff at the 'market' in the hotel).

No DDP credits used today

Day 2 -- 1st MK day. Breakfast in room, lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern @1pm, OOP. Use 1 snack credit each. Dinner at Spirit of Aloha dinner show, 4 ts credits.

DDP credits used today: 2 snack, 4 ts

Day 3 -- 2nd MK day. Breakfast in room, lunch at Cosmic Ray's, 2 cs credits. Probably use 1 snack credit each. Dinner at Citricos @ 7pm, 4 TS credits.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 4ts, 2 snacks (maybe)

Day 4 -- EPCOT day, breakfast per usual, lunch at a counter service somewhere (Epcot has a lot of choices!) to use 2 cs, dinner at Teppan Edo @ 8pm, 2 ts credits. Definitely using our 2 snacks today, and possibly another one OOP. (12 hours in the park and I've got blood sugar issues!)

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, 2 snacks

Day 5 -- Hollywood Studios, probably, with Cirque du Soleil in the evening. Breakfast per usual (though I may spring OOP for Mickey waffles), lunch at a cs somewhere in Hollywood Studios (heard decent things about the commissary), dinner at Raglan Road at 5:15pm in Downtown Disney. La Nouba at 9pm.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, maybe 2 snacks.

Day 6 -- Another split day. Animal Kingdom from 9-5 with lunch at Yak and Yeti counter service, then over to Epcot for dinner at Tutto Italia Ristorante at 6:50pm. Snacks, probably.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, 2 snacks

Day 7 -- No clue. Lunch and dinner will be leftover cs's or OOP.

Day 8 -- leaving WDW at 3pm. Lunch will be OOP (but only if we haven't got credits left), but hopefully in the parks someplace, maybe the Plaza in MK, that looks like a nice spot for lunch.

Total DDP credits used: 14 TS, 12 cs, 12 snacks

Total DDP credits that we have (if my math is right) 2 people x 7 days = 14 TS, 14 CS, 14 snacks.

I hope this schedule works better than the first one. I'd still like to know if the times are ok, my husband is emphatic that he doesn't want to be rushing around to get to places. We do enough of that in our regular lives! LOL!


Whitewater (currently riding out a thunderstorm and reassuring the dogs, who can't sleep)

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Ok, after reading everybody's wise advice and talking to my husband, I have changed up our plans a little.

First thing -- we're going to pay for Big River Grille and our lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern OOP, and we're going to cancel Jiko. That should free up enough dining credits that we don't go over.

Instead of Jiko, we'd *really* like to get an ADR for Le Cellier, but as of now, that's impossible, apparently dinner times for our entire week are booked solid Best I can do is to hang around, hoping a spot opens up, over the next 3 weeks or so. Husband likes steak, what can I say?

So I booked us in at Tutto Italia Ristorante instead.

Now, our schedule looks like this:

Day 1 arr. at 4-4:30pm. Check in, take bus to DHS and then a water taxi to Big River Grille, where we will pay OOP. Possibly visit the parks and pay OOP for a snack. On the way back, go to Hess and pick up breakfast stuff (also OOP, duh! Or, just bite the bullet and pay for the stuff at the 'market' in the hotel).

No DDP credits used today

Day 2 -- 1st MK day. Breakfast in room, lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern @1pm, OOP. Use 1 snack credit each. Dinner at Spirit of Aloha dinner show, 4 ts credits.

DDP credits used today: 2 snack, 4 ts

Day 3 -- 2nd MK day. Breakfast in room, lunch at Cosmic Ray's, 2 cs credits. Probably use 1 snack credit each. Dinner at Citricos @ 7pm, 4 TS credits.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 4ts, 2 snacks (maybe)

Day 4 -- EPCOT day, breakfast per usual, lunch at a counter service somewhere (Epcot has a lot of choices!) to use 2 cs, dinner at Teppan Edo @ 8pm, 2 ts credits. Definitely using our 2 snacks today, and possibly another one OOP. (12 hours in the park and I've got blood sugar issues!)

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, 2 snacks

Day 5 -- Hollywood Studios, probably, with Cirque du Soleil in the evening. Breakfast per usual (though I may spring OOP for Mickey waffles), lunch at a cs somewhere in Hollywood Studios (heard decent things about the commissary), dinner at Raglan Road at 5:15pm in Downtown Disney. La Nouba at 9pm.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, maybe 2 snacks.

Day 6 -- Another split day. Animal Kingdom from 9-5 with lunch at Yak and Yeti counter service, then over to Epcot for dinner at Tutto Italia Ristorante at 6:50pm. Snacks, probably.

DDP credits used today: 2cs, 2ts, 2 snacks

Day 7 -- No clue. Lunch and dinner will be leftover cs's or OOP.

Day 8 -- leaving WDW at 3pm. Lunch will be OOP (but only if we haven't got credits left), but hopefully in the parks someplace, maybe the Plaza in MK, that looks like a nice spot for lunch.

Total DDP credits used: 14 TS, 12 cs, 12 snacks

Total DDP credits that we have (if my math is right) 2 people x 7 days = 14 TS, 14 CS, 14 snacks.

I hope this schedule works better than the first one. I'd still like to know if the times are ok, my husband is emphatic that he doesn't want to be rushing around to get to places. We do enough of that in our regular lives! LOL!


Whitewater (currently riding out a thunderstorm and reassuring the dogs, who can't sleep)

A couple of thoughts...you seem like you'll be paying OOP for several meals and eating breakfast in the room. Maybe the deluxe dining plan would work better for you. We did the deluxe dining in Feb. and loved it. At the end of our trip we decided to stay 2 extra days so we weren't able to extend the dining plan and it was very expensive paying OOP for all those meals for the 2 extra days. Just something to think about.

I too have blood sugar issues and wanted to recommend the cinnamon roasted almonds/pecans they have in the parks. They are 1 snack credit and really (for me at least) kept my blood sugars level so that I wasn't crashing by dinner time.

I've heard (never been though!) that the Spirit of Aloha isn't worth the 2TS each. Most people complain that the food isn't very good and the entertainment cheesy. An alternative could be that you eat at Liberty Tree Tavern as you planned using 1TS, then eat dinner at Crystal Palace (in MK) using 1TS as well. The Crystal Palace is very good in my opinion and then you wouldn't have to leave the MK to go to the Polynesian for dinner or spend 2TS each for the meal, unless you want to of course! Just my 2 cents.

If you're looking for a good steak and can't get into Le Cellier, I'd recommend either Kona at the Polynesian or the Grand Floridian Cafe. Both have delicious steaks and getting an ADR there shouldn't be as difficult as Le Cellier.

On your 2nd MK day, I'd take the boat launch to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Citrico's. Usually less crowded than the monorail and quicker at times as well. Plus the ride over is so pretty! They drop you off right at the dock where Narcoossee's is.

My last thought is for your 1st Epcot day, I highly recommend Sunshine Seasons for counter service lunch! Great variety and the food is very good. Have a great time!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I would suggest when you go to MK, you can use snack credit at the Main Street Bakery for breakfast...great food selection for breakfast and you can use 2 snack credit. Sunshine Season is a great selection of lunch food for CS. You'll love Citricos...I loved the food there. Sorry you had to remove Chefs de France...that's another wonderful place to have lunch. See if you can work the Deluxe dinning and eat at all the places you would like. Jiko is a new favorite for my husband...I had a beef dish there and it was amazing.

 

[catne]

this schedule looks more do-able.

If you can't get into Le Cellier, and you want to get a steak but still be in the neighborhood of Epcot that night, try Captain's Grille over at the Yacht Club (walk through International Gateway at Epcot) I also had a good steak at Rose & Crown in England/Epcot...not as good as Le Cellier, but tasty & tender. And the pub atmosphere is entertaining (as well as great beer flight if you or hubby like to try different beers.)

If you're just wanting a good steak, and don't care about being at a specific park that night, hop the Magic Kingdom bus, and take the monorail to either Kona Cafe (Polyn esian) the Grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian hotel) or The Wave (Contemporary) We had very good steaks at all three of these locations, and they are each one table service places.

 

[winterman]

Hoping to check in, then get the bus to Epcot and from there the water taxi to the Boardwalk, for dinner at the Big River Grille and Brewery. We don't need reservations for this one. Is there a better way to get to the Boardwalk from CBR?
Whitewater

It would probably make more sense to take a bus to DHS. From the bus stop you can walk to the boats without entering the park. If you take the bus you to EPCOT, you'll have to walk thru the park.

 

[AirGoofy]

Everything I've seen and heard is that Teppan Edo is on the DDP. I sure hope it is becuase right now I'm counting on it. If anyone else can shed some light on this I'd appreciate it.

Sorry, it's on there. I have one that I saved to my desktop from Jan 2009. I looked on the most recent one and it is on there, along with several other choices. I would not think 8 months is that old, but in Disney years, ...