First time family trip to disneyworld and feeling a bit overwhelmed

[mamato3girls]

And of all things I'm overwhelmed with it's the dining reservations.

We are going May 27-June 1st, staying at All Star Movie resort. It will be my husband and myself and our 2 girls (4 1/2 & 2 1/2) I will also be about 30 weeks pregnant (I only share that because I don't know how much crazy running around I'll be up to).

Our tentative schedule right now is
27th
Animal Kingdom-5 pm dinner at Tusker House
28th
Magic Kingdom-8:05 breakfast at crystal palace
29th
Epcot- 5:25 dinner at akershus

That's all we have that we have reservations for so far. We are thinking we will do Hollywood Studios on the 30th. Magic Kingdom again on the 31st. Then on the 1st whichever park everyone seems to enjoy the most.

So I need dining suggestions for the 30th, 31st and 1st. We are flexible on which meal each day, do not have park hopper passes and do have the basic dining plan. Any help or advice? I believe the only character dining we have right now is Crystal palace and akershus. I'm kind of rethinking Tusker house for dinner the first night but not sure. I do think my kids would enjoy a mickey mouse character dining and probably another princess one. And I know not everyone loves them but buffets are a good thing. My 2 1/2 year old we can't put on a meal plan but the kid can eat, and this pregnant mama can also put it away.

 

[kappyfamily]

Chef mickeys at the contemporary would be a good buffet maybe for lunch when you are at mk. You can take a break from the park ride the monorail over to it.

Also, flame tree BBQ at AK is a good quick service as well as yak n yeti for table service at AK.

Have fun! I know it's overwhelming but you will have a blast when you get there!

 

[RabbitFood]

While I do like the restaurants you've chosen, I think it's nice to do an actual sit-down meal once in a while so that someone else gets the food for you.
(Tusker House is our family's favorite restaurant!)
If you're set on buffets, 1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridian is also very good, and the step sisters make for very entertaining character interaction.
We also like 50's Prime Time Cafe at the Studios, Rose and Crown at Epcot, and Sanaa at Kidani Village.

 

[mamato3girls]

I was looking at 1900 Park Fair, there is availability on the days we are looking to fill. Can you recommend which park would be best to pair with this place? I understand some parks are closer/easier to get to from different hotels.

 

[disneynanacat]

1900 Park Fair is at the Grand Floridian. Just a monorail ride away from the Magic Kingdom!

 

[olivia's mommy]

I recommend Sci Fi when you are at DHS. The food is good and the atmosphere is pretty cool. The second day you are at MK, you could take the monorail to the Poly and eat at Ohanas. We LOVE the dinner there. I believe the BF is a character meal. Chef Mickey's is ok...I wouldn't expect too much from the food but the characters are great. We are trying the GF brunch for the first time in May. The characters are Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter. And I heard it was pretty good!

We really liked our dinner at Akershus AND BF at Crystal palace is a MUST for us!

Have fun!

 

[Linda T.]

1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian has good food and Cinderella and the stepsister are alot of fun (by Magic Kingdom)

At Hollywood Studios we like Mama Melrose's - the food is good. We also like Sci Fi but it is really dark inside.

At Epcot we like Chef's de France for lunch and Remy comes and visits each table. We also like Teppen Edo for dinner. We tried Akershus last year and the princesses were great but we did not like the food.

At Animal Kingdom we pay out of pocket and always eat a Rainforest.

 

[Taja]

Remember, the DDP is based on the number of NIGHTS you will be staying at a WDW resort. If I can count--and that can be in doubt at times!--you will have 5 TS meals on the regular DDP, which assumes arrival on May 27 and departure on June 1.

I'm not much help with dining--I tend to like very plain food. *sigh*

 

[mamato3girls]

Remember, the DDP is based on the number of NIGHTS you will be staying at a WDW resort. If I can count--and that can be in doubt at times!--you will have 5 TS meals on the regular DDP, which assumes arrival on May 27 and departure on June 1.

I'm not much help with dining--I tend to like very plain food. *sigh*

I'm not sure how I missed that part when booking but thanks so much for reminding me!

I finally got a reservation for Cinderella's table so I think that will use all our table service meals. I have heard that the food there is disappointing but my 4 year old has been talking about it since we booked our vacation reservations. We are definitely going there for the experience!

 

[smiths02]

I understand about buffets as we did a lot when our son was 2 turning 3 b/c it was easier to share

however, if I were 30 weeks pregnant, I wouldn't want to make a bunch of buffet trips...I would recommend Ohana breakfast (mickey) or Ohana dinner (don't know if you could get this close to your trip)-these are all you can eat, but served to you

CRT and Askerhus are good b/c they are served to you (I think)

Garden Grill at Epcot is another all you can eat but served to you (and characters)

Another thought...on our AK day, we got there at rope drop and then did Donald Safari breakfast about 1.5 hours later...we were ready to leave the park at 2pm or so. It is a very hot park with little shade. My ILs and my 2-3 year old were suffering in early June weather. I don't think I would make it until 5 pm ADR in that park being 30 weeks pregnant (plus there is a lot of stuff in that park that your dr. might tell you not to do)

 

[mamato3girls]

Ok, I moved some things around a bit after reading feedback.

Day 1- Epcot w/ lunch at Akershus at 2:45
Day 2- Magic Kingdom w/ breakfast at Crystal Palace
Day 3- Animal Kingdom w/ breakfast at Tusker House (we originally wanted to do breakfast there and that way with it being right in the middle of the trip if we tire of AK early then we can go and relax by the pool at the hotel)
Day 4- Magic Kingdom w/ dinner at Cinderella's royal table
Day 5- Hollywood studios, not sure about meals, maybe just some of the quick service meals
Day 6-we'lll do whichever park the girls didn't get enough of. I'm guessing Magic Kingdom

 

[deannanb]

Ok, I moved some things around a bit after reading feedback.

Day 1- Epcot w/ lunch at Akershus at 2:45

How are your kids with napping? Last summer mine slept in the stroller (ages 5 1/2 and almost 2). You might have some cranky kids at this time.

good choice to move to breakfast at AK - we left there around 3ish.

and if your kids like Handy Manny and Little Einsteins, then Hollywood and Vine is a fun place for breakfast at HS. Food is average - but the characters were great when we were there (I think we had a 8:15 ADR)

 

[mamato3girls]

My kids don't nap anymore, I'm assuming if they do nap it will be more towards the end of the trip when they are wiped out.

I asked my oldest about Handy Manny last night because I thought that one looked fun and she didn't know who he was. We don't have cable so they are pretty exclusive disney movie watchers, no television.

 

[River Country]

Ok, I moved some things around a bit after reading feedback.

Day 1- Epcot w/ lunch at Akershus at 2:45
Day 2- Magic Kingdom w/ breakfast at Crystal Palace
Day 3- Animal Kingdom w/ breakfast at Tusker House (we originally wanted to do breakfast there and that way with it being right in the middle of the trip if we tire of AK early then we can go and relax by the pool at the hotel)
Day 4- Magic Kingdom w/ dinner at Cinderella's royal table
Day 5- Hollywood studios, not sure about meals, maybe just some of the quick service meals
Day 6-we'lll do whichever park the girls didn't get enough of. I'm guessing Magic Kingdom

Keep in mind that CRT is 2 TS credits

 

[Swan4Me]

Your kids would lOVE Rainforest at AK-not sure if its included with free dining-but just going there to see the animated animals is fun

 

[lblume91]

It looks like all your TS credits are accounted for so you'll need to check into CS places. I'll share our fave CS places.

MK - Cosmic Ray's - lots of choices & plenty of food to share with your DD2.

E - Sunshine Seasons - same reason as Cosmic Ray's!

AK - Pizzafari - Cheese pizza for our two youngest DDs + yummy hot Italian sandwich for DH & I

DHS - Catalina Eddie's/Rosie's All American - side-by-side walk-up CS places with shared seating area. Rosie's serves burgers, nuggets, etc while Eddie's offers similar food to Pizzafari. DHS takes alot of heat on here for CS offerings but we've never had any problems.

We always bring breakfast foods along to eat in our room as we get ready. I pack quick & easy stuff like pop tarts & granola bars. That saves meal credits for lunch & dinner.