First time DDP and ADRs - Help only 4 days to go!

[Lou Lou]

Hi everyone

My fiance and I are getting married in Florida in August and are staying at POR for 2 weeks, we are on the Disney Dining Plan and need some urgent help about reservations as our 180 day out reservations can be made on Monday!

The first week of our trip we will not be eating on property all the time as some family are staying in Kissimee so we will be spending time down there too, also only my parents and us are on the DDP and the rest of the wedding guests arent.

The second week my fiance and i will be alone so we will be making more use of our dining credits then

I will list the ideas below but a couple of concerns i have are a) is the Portebello restaurant actually open?! on the WDW site it says it is but on here i have found nothing about it, b) how do i book the Fantasmic package at Brown Derby and can this be done on the DDP with no additional cost

I am pleased we are on the DDP as it is great value for money but cant help but feel restricted as to where we will need to be on certain days in order to get to our reservations

Heres the plan so far.... i would love some advice/tips

Thanks so much everyone


Sunday 28th Rainforest Café, Downtown Disney

Monday 29th Portobello, Downtown Disney

Tuesday 30th

Wednesday 31st Kouzzina for 10 people (wedding evening meal)

Thursday 1st

Friday 2nd California Grill at Contemporary

Saturday 3rd

Sunday 4th ESPN Sports Bar (Fiance birthday) for 8 people

Monday 5th Le Cellier at Epcot

Tuesday 6th Brown Derby Fantasmic Package

Wednesday 7th

Thursday 8th

Friday 9th 50’s Prime Time Café

Saturday 10th Liberty Tree Tavern

 

[Cafeen]

...
I will list the ideas below but a couple of concerns i have are a) is the Portebello restaurant actually open?! on the WDW site it says it is but on here i have found nothing about it, b) how do i book the Fantasmic package at Brown Derby and can this be done on the DDP with no additional cost

I am pleased we are on the DDP as it is great value for money but cant help but feel restricted as to where we will need to be on certain days in order to get to our reservations

A) As far as I know. But I don't know much . Most of the non-DDP restaurants are pretty low visibility on these boards, it's just the way it is. I do know there are a few fans of a lot of the non-DDP places around though, so hopefully they'll chime in.

B) Call. At least as of last year (I was out of the loop for a bit) it was the only way to book Fantasmic packages. Brown Derby is one of the less popular places though due to the 2 credit usage there. I'd still call for this as early as possible when you can. There is no extra charge or anything for Fantasmic packages either, though it may require a credit card hold. Also note that the F! packages (Yeah, I got tired of typing out Fantasmic ) typically have you eating pretty early, so it's something to take into account.

As far as feeling restricted, that'll happen. It's tricky to plan so far in advance especially when you aren't too sure what everything actually is. But, if it's crowded, it's going to pay off quite a bit as you're guaranteed a seat at a restaurant (roughly around the ADR time). If just going with the flow during heavier seasons (Late Aug isn't THAT bad, but it's no Late Sept ) it may be trickier to find a table, especially in the parks. Just remember, if you have hoppers, you can hop to the park your ADR is at just fine, so you don't have to let that tie you down if you feel impulsive (in a good way ).

Heres the plan so far.... i would love some advice/tips

Thanks so much everyone


Sunday 28th Rainforest Café, Downtown Disney - Not on DDP. If you can't get an ADR online, try calling the restaurant itself. Both RFC and T-Rex are owned and operated by a separate company and do not release all of their inventory of tables to Disney Dining.

Monday 29th Portobello, Downtown Disney - Also not on DDP

Tuesday 30th

Wednesday 31st Kouzzina for 10 people (wedding evening meal)

Thursday 1st

Friday 2nd California Grill at Contemporary - If possible, try for ~8pm reservation. This should place you just finishing up (or at least right around dessert time) when Wishes begins at MK. If you can't get a window seat, there is a lookout they'll allow you to watch from.

Saturday 3rd

Sunday 4th ESPN Sports Bar (Fiance birthday) for 8 people

Monday 5th Le Cellier at Epcot - Depending on which meal you pick, this will either be 1 (Lunch) or 2 (Dinner) credits. Dinner may be easier to get compared to the past mad dash, but not sure if you're interested in 2 credits here or not. (And lunch may be tougher to get than before too... just Fair Warning). Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake here is very tasty.

Tuesday 6th Brown Derby Fantasmic Package

Wednesday 7th

Thursday 8th

Friday 9th 50’s Prime Time Café

Saturday 10th Liberty Tree Tavern - If doing lunch. At least one of you must get the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake for dessert. It's just that good!

By my count, you have 13 nights planned, so translating this into 13 credits. I did note that the first two places are not on the DDP, so if that's an issue for you it's something to think about. I also checked on the Disney website, and their info pages do list them as "Disney Dining Plan Accepted", but that is an error (sort of, I believe the Premium and Platinum packages include them, but the standard dining plans do not). You can check out the Disney Dining Plan page for the brochures to the different plans.

The other choices so far look decent, I can't personally vouch for any of them (I have only been to LeCellier and LTT on that list, and LC is changing a bit next week and I only did LTT lunch).

I can do some math tho! From my count, assuming DDP usage for the two of you at both Kouzzina and ESPN, you're sitting at 9/10 (depending on which meal you plan for LC) credits used. That gives you a few more credits to play with. A couple suggestions (depending on touring days):

• If you're into Mexican (real Mexican, not tacos and burritos) food, try for an 8pm-ish at Hacienda de San Angel. They have a huge wall of windows in the main portion of the dining room which would allow for the two of you to view Illuminations. (This is only 1 Credit as well). If not into Mexican, Rose and Crown at about the same time may also work, though their Illuminations viewing is a bit more limited.
• A dinner at 1900 Park Fare may be fun for newlyweds (hey, I'm single, I'm only guessing here ). It may not be your typical romantic, quiet, secluded meal, but the story should be perfect for the event (1 credit)
• Jiko over at Animal Kingdom Lodge is very good. The restaurant is beautiful and the food is very good. No more fillet with macaroni and cheese , but the red-wine sauce really made that dish anyway (it's now fillet with fingerling potatoes, but still with the red-wine reduction). (2 credits). Citrico's over at the Grand Floridian is also very good (also 2 credits)

That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure others will be (or have been by the time I finish this!) around to offer more advice too

 

[Lou Lou]

wow thank you so much for the information, i am so pleased you took the time to help me otherwise i would have been reserving non DDP places!

I have added a few alternatives into the plan now including Hacienda

Only 12 hours to go until i can make my online ADRs, i dont have a home phone so hope it works as calling the USA from my cell phone will be very expensive!

thanks again. I really appreciate your help

 

[Cafeen]

From doing some more reading on these boards since I originally posted, it sounds like the Fantasmic package may be bookable online. And, actually, just now in trying to do so I was able to find it .

Simply choose the "Dining Event" option from along the top of the "Make a Reservation" screen and then select the Fantasmic Dining Package from that list. The restaurant, date, and time options will then be filtered based on when the package is generally available (does not count people who have already made the reservation, so there may be nothing left in those slots). Seems pretty easy to do. These packages do require a credit card guarantee though, so have that ready. (Note: you should not be charged at the time of booking, it's in case you don't show up).

Good luck!