First time ADRs - questions, advise please :)

[nnyl_irret]

This is our first vacation to WDW - we went last year for one day since we were in the area but that doens't really compare to the scale of our upcoming vacation. We will be celebrating our daugther's 6th birthday during this vacation and I really want this to be a great trip.

This is also our first experience with ADRs and so far so good - we seemed to have gotten the restaurants of our choice but I would love some opions while we still far enough out to possible change them if your advise leads me that way.

We have a dining plan and therefore only booked one Table Service per day - however I noticed some people have Table Service for all three meals - that seems like a lot of food, isn't it?

Okay well here's what we have booked for far:
November 11, 2010 @ 11:10 AM - Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (we wanted a late breakfast since our flight arrives at 11:59 the night before, we won't be heading to a park until the evening for the MVMCP).

November 13, 2010 @ 7:00 AM - Chef Mickey's at Contemporary (we leave for our cruise later this morning)

November 20, 2010 @ 4:55 PM - 'Ohana at Polynesian (this is the day we will be returning from our cruise).

November 21, 2010 @ 4:45 PM - Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Hollywood Studios (early enough to enjoy the Fantasmic show).

November 22, 2010 @ 5:40 PM - Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom (this is my daughter's acutal birthday and Cinderella is her all time fave).

November 23, 2010 @ 8:40 AM - Donald's Safari Breakfast at Animal Kingdom

November 24, 2010 @ 6:30 PM - The Garden Grill Restaurant at Epcot

November 25, 2010 @ 12:00 PM - Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at Epcot (My daughter loves the princesses the most - so I thought this would be a nice place to have our last big meal - our flight is earlay to end the vacation

I welcome all advise and suggestions - please. On the 12th we are heading to Universal Studios to see Harry Potter - can you suggest a reataurant to have breakfast at that is not at a park?

Thank you
Terri-Lynn

 

[sndral]

Some people have the deluxeDP which includes 3 TS a Day. The regular DP includes 1 TS per day.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I think your restaurants/times look great! The only one I would think twice about is the Garden Grill in Epcot. I have not been there myself, but only because it consistantly gets poor reviews. I would perhaps try one nicer restaurant in Epcot like Le Chefs de France since you already have so many Princess/Character meals or maybe the Biergarten with their fun German music band.

 

[Greta]

We found Garden Grill in Epcot by mistake when we went 3 years ago and it was one of our favorites!

 

[Luvchefmic]

I think your ADRs are PERFECT and highly recommend every one of them...one thought though re you DDs birthday, have you thought about a birthday cake for her at CRT ? The phone number for a personalized cake is listed on the Dining web site....sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time & Welcome to the Dis boards !

 

[nnyl_irret]

I think your ADRs are PERFECT and highly recommend every one of them...one thought though re you DDs birthday, have you thought about a birthday cake for her at CRT ? The phone number for a personalized cake is listed on the Dining web site....sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time & Welcome to the Dis boards !

Thank you very much - yes a cake would be a great idea, something I had even thought of.

 

[Cafeen]

This is our first vacation to WDW - we went last year for one day since we were in the area but that doens't really compare to the scale of our upcoming vacation. We will be celebrating our daugther's 6th birthday during this vacation and I really want this to be a great trip.

This is also our first experience with ADRs and so far so good - we seemed to have gotten the restaurants of our choice but I would love some opions while we still far enough out to possible change them if your advise leads me that way.

We have a dining plan and therefore only booked one Table Service per day - however I noticed some people have Table Service for all three meals - that seems like a lot of food, isn't it?

Okay well here's what we have booked for far:
November 11, 2010 @ 11:10 AM - Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (we wanted a late breakfast since our flight arrives at 11:59 the night before, we won't be heading to a park until the evening for the MVMCP).

November 13, 2010 @ 7:00 AM - Chef Mickey's at Contemporary (we leave for our cruise later this morning)

November 20, 2010 @ 4:55 PM - 'Ohana at Polynesian (this is the day we will be returning from our cruise).

November 21, 2010 @ 4:45 PM - Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Hollywood Studios (early enough to enjoy the Fantasmic show).

November 22, 2010 @ 5:40 PM - Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom (this is my daughter's acutal birthday and Cinderella is her all time fave).

November 23, 2010 @ 8:40 AM - Donald's Safari Breakfast at Animal Kingdom

November 24, 2010 @ 6:30 PM - The Garden Grill Restaurant at Epcot

November 25, 2010 @ 12:00 PM - Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at Epcot (My daughter loves the princesses the most - so I thought this would be a nice place to have our last big meal - our flight is earlay to end the vacation

I welcome all advise and suggestions - please. On the 12th we are heading to Universal Studios to see Harry Potter - can you suggest a reataurant to have breakfast at that is not at a park?

Thank you
Terri-Lynn

If I'm counting correct, you essentially have 2 reservations, Nov 11-13 and Nov 20-25? This gives you 2 + 5 nights of the dining plan (note that the DDP is done per night, not per day, a very common misconception). This means that you'll be getting 7 TS and 7 CS credits total. The first 2 of each will expire at midnight on the 13th. (If the flight is early on the 26th, change it to 2 + 6, and 8 of each total)

Looking through your ADRs, you already have both TS booked for the first part. You can book another for the 12th if you wish, but you'll then have to pay out of pocket for one of them.

For the second part, you have 7 TS credits booked (CRT is 2). Again, you're going to want to take a look and see if you either want to cut anything out, or simply pay OOP for either CRT or 2 of the others. If the flight is early on the 26th, then that'll give you another night of credits, so you'd only be over by 1.

As far as the locations are concerned, of the ones I did last year (Akershus, CM, 1900PF), they were all very good (did breakfasts at all 3). The timing and possible itinerary also seem to be quite solid.

And, as for those who book 3 meals/day, it's just the way they do things. It can be a lot of food if you let it, but I'm sure that not everyone eats everything offered at all 3 meals. It's also a lot easier to get your money's worth on the DxDDP than on the DDP, enabling a lot more flexibility in skipping meals or portions. The initial cost in both time and money is (obviously) quite a bit higher though. It just ends up being what works for them and what works for you. (Many people also only book 2 meals/day on the DxDDP and take either a signature or a CS option for the 3rd credit.)

 

[nnyl_irret]

If I'm counting correct, you essentially have 2 reservations, Nov 11-13 and Nov 20-25? This gives you 2 + 5 nights of the dining plan (note that the DDP is done per night, not per day, a very common misconception). This means that you'll be getting 7 TS and 7 CS credits total. The first 2 of each will expire at midnight on the 13th. (If the flight is early on the 26th, change it to 2 + 6, and 8 of each total)

Looking through your ADRs, you already have both TS booked for the first part. You can book another for the 12th if you wish, but you'll then have to pay out of pocket for one of them.

For the second part, you have 7 TS credits booked (CRT is 2). Again, you're going to want to take a look and see if you either want to cut anything out, or simply pay OOP for either CRT or 2 of the others. If the flight is early on the 26th, then that'll give you another night of credits, so you'd only be over by 1.

As far as the locations are concerned, of the ones I did last year (Akershus, CM, 1900PF), they were all very good (did breakfasts at all 3). The timing and possible itinerary also seem to be quite solid.

And, as for those who book 3 meals/day, it's just the way they do things. It can be a lot of food if you let it, but I'm sure that not everyone eats everything offered at all 3 meals. It's also a lot easier to get your money's worth on the DxDDP than on the DDP, enabling a lot more flexibility in skipping meals or portions. The initial cost in both time and money is (obviously) quite a bit higher though. It just ends up being what works for them and what works for you. (Many people also only book 2 meals/day on the DxDDP and take either a signature or a CS option for the 3rd credit.)

Thank you Cafeen for the great write up, some really fantastic points.

As for the stay before the cruise - sadly we did not qualify or the dining plan on this portion of our trip (you need to have room and tickets to get the plan and we are using our Give a Day, Get a Day passes during this stay and going to Unvisersal the other day before heading off to the cruise). So all of these meals will be OOP.

I did know that CRT took 2 credits - and forces us to pay for meal OOP, but 'ces't la vie'. I think/hope this plan works for us, I just think to get your money's worth on the DxDDP it seems like too much of a commitment.

 

[kittycat9]

I'm not familiar with the Garden Grill, but your ADRs look great. We're doing CRT for our Son's birthday Dinner as well.

We are also one of the DxDDP (3 ADRs/day) families. We're also staying CL, which includes a light breakfast, in addition to snacks and other offerings throughout the day. So while it can be a lot of food - it depends on how you plan on using your meal credits (as a previous poster mentioned). For us, we plan on hiring in room sitting service three nights, and going out to signature restuarants that require two dining credits. We're also going to a couple places with the kids that require two dining credits (like CRT for example). So access to CL gives us breakfast in place of the ADR. We'll probably use our snack credits for drinks - since I don't drink soda, and won't be carrying that away from CL like DH - except for coffee (i'll pick up something fruity in the parks). I guess in the end - everyone has to eat. Some people like to sit down and not worry about finding a table, relax and have a fresh cooked meal. Others are fine with a quick-serve/counter serve meal on the go/tray. This is our vacation and disney makes dining in nicer restaurants easy with kids - so we're taking advantage of it, as part of our vacation

And in close... Tusker House/Donald's Safari was by far our very favorite of all the character meals we had last year. We arrived about an hour before the park opened, and nearly all the major characters came by our table. Daisy brought our 2yo a cupcake for his birthday We cannot wait to return.