First-timer Honeymoon trip! Critique my dining choices

[Sparklysoph]

Hi all!

We are headed to Disney in October for the first week of our honeymoon! On the trip will be me and my (soon to be) Husband, both late twenties and we like good food but I've also added in a couple of choices strictly for the theming and fun! Our 180 day ADR date is coming up and as I've never been to Disney before (but have done so much research I feel like I have!) I was hoping that you actual experts could take a look at my plan and see if I'm missing any must-dos or if there's anything obviously off about our plan! I think I may do an actual pre-trip report with all the deets but as the Dining needs pretty immediate action thought I would post now! We're staying at Disney Springs so no dining plan.

Bear in mind that I am on a pretty strict pre-wedding diet and have spent HOURS torturing myself reading all the menus and drooling about all the carbs and desserts I can eat on our honeymoon and this may have clouded my judgment...! I'm toying with adding a signature (maybe California Grill?) but as we splurged on a pricey resort in Mexico for the second week of our honeymoon, am trying to be somewhat budget conscious and the signatures seem SO expensive! Ok I'll stop rambling now!

Fly in early Saturday morning:
Early lunch/light snack: Homecoming
Dinner: Ohana
Drinks at Trader Sam's at some point before or after dinner

Sunday: Animal Kingdom for most of day
Breakfast: Tusker House
Head to Magic Kingdom for evening because with all the Halloween parties that week, it's one of our only opportunities to see Happily ever after.
Dinner: Be Our Guest

Monday: Epcot
Early lunch: Biergarten
Dinner : Wine and Food booths - eat and drink around the world!

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Disney Springs evening
Dinner: Raglan Road

Wednesday: Epcot morning
Breakfast: Garden Grill
Hollywood Studios afternoon
Afternoon snack: Sci-Fi Dine in
Evening: SWDP

Thursday: Magic Kingdom morning
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House
Animal Kingdom afternoon
Dinner: Yak and Yeti

Friday: I think maybe a Magic Kingdom morning and Epcot afternoon. This day is kind of unplanned right now. Open to suggestions!

Saturday: Fly to Mexico

Following Friday: Arrive back in Orlando. We will have one day left on our tickets so we could do an evening in the parks or dinner at a resort.

Saturday: Fly home

 

[DisneyArkie]

IMO the only one I’m not fond of on your list is Tusker House. I know a lot of people like it, but my family and I didn’t. The flavors are just not our style. Your last night before flying home would you be interested in a signature dinner? If so I suggest Yatchmans, Flying Fish or California Grill. For food imo Yatchmans hands down, but for atmosphere and good food the other two. Just hard to beat a Yatchmans fillet.

Disclaimer: I haven’t been to yak and yeti or Ragland Road.

 

[LaidBackDad]

You have some really good choices. My biggest suggestion though would be to try and switch some of the restaurants around to correspond to the parks you are going to be in for most of the day. I'm assuming you have park hopper tickets because it seems like everyday accept Monday you are in a different park (or Disney Springs). Park hopping is nice but it can be exhausting and eat up a lot of your time on buses rather than in a park or relaxing in your resort. In other words try to do CHH and BOG on the same day or Yak and Yeti and Tusker House on the same day. The only other thing I will say is it seems you almost entirely avoided QS restaurants (accept CHH). Don't rule them out, some are very good and a lot cheaper. Satu'li Canteen in Pandora is excellent and better than a lot of TS restaurants. Knocking out a TS or 2 and adding a QS might give you enough extra money to splurge on California Grill which is pretty much a must do for honeymooners. Congratulations!!

 

[Pirate6518]

Agree with laidbackdad. It looks like your booking a Disney trip to ride around and eat. Not knocking your choices because they all look good, but I think your going to figure out quick you’ll have no time in the parks to have fun. Agree you need to book your reservation spots closer together in the same day.

 

[DisneyArkie]

My family and I usually do like y’all are. We go to one park in the morning. Come back to the resort for some rest, pool or nap then head back out to another park in the evening. Usually close to where we are going to eat or the park we are eating at. So if your not worried about it like we are not you should be fine.

Our first couple times to Disney we stayed at the parks all day and ate there. After a couple trips we learned that we were wore out by doing this. We like coming back to the resort sometime in the afternoon to relax and not get in any hurry. Then we head back out. So much more peaceful and relaxing to us this way. We have friends that never leave the park. Everyone has there own preference.

 

[gharter]

i would try and not park hop as much. You waste a lot of time traveling. Stay at one park all day if possible. Your day to see HEA is an exception.
At Epcot, i would seriously not plan a lunch. There is SO much food that you cannot snack your way around even in 2 days, let alone on evening. I would graze all day instead.
Otherwise it looks like a nice mix of restaurants.
Enjoy!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Yes, the carbs are strong with you. Still there are many offerings at your chosen restaurants that will allow you to avoid the bulk of them.

I think Wed's HS lunch ressie is unnecessary given you'll be snacking through the food and wine festival.
Best wishes for your new life choice!

 

[JB097]

Hi all!

We are headed to Disney in October for the first week of our honeymoon! On the trip will be me and my (soon to be) Husband, both late twenties and we like good food but I've also added in a couple of choices strictly for the theming and fun! Our 180 day ADR date is coming up and as I've never been to Disney before (but have done so much research I feel like I have!) I was hoping that you actual experts could take a look at my plan and see if I'm missing any must-dos or if there's anything obviously off about our plan! I think I may do an actual pre-trip report with all the deets but as the Dining needs pretty immediate action thought I would post now! We're staying at Disney Springs so no dining plan.

Bear in mind that I am on a pretty strict pre-wedding diet and have spent HOURS torturing myself reading all the menus and drooling about all the carbs and desserts I can eat on our honeymoon and this may have clouded my judgment...! I'm toying with adding a signature (maybe California Grill?) but as we splurged on a pricey resort in Mexico for the second week of our honeymoon, am trying to be somewhat budget conscious and the signatures seem SO expensive! Ok I'll stop rambling now!

Fly in early Saturday morning:
Early lunch/light snack: Homecoming
Dinner: Ohana
Drinks at Trader Sam's at some point before or after dinner

Sunday: Animal Kingdom for most of day
Breakfast: Tusker House
Head to Magic Kingdom for evening because with all the Halloween parties that week, it's one of our only opportunities to see Happily ever after.
Dinner: Be Our Guest

Monday: Epcot
Early lunch: Biergarten
Dinner : Wine and Food booths - eat and drink around the world!

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Disney Springs evening
Dinner: Raglan Road

Wednesday: Epcot morning
Breakfast: Garden Grill
Hollywood Studios afternoon
Afternoon snack: Sci-Fi Dine in
Evening: SWDP

Thursday: Magic Kingdom morning
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House
Animal Kingdom afternoon
Dinner: Yak and Yeti

Friday: I think maybe a Magic Kingdom morning and Epcot afternoon. This day is kind of unplanned right now. Open to suggestions!

Saturday: Fly to Mexico

Following Friday: Arrive back in Orlando. We will have one day left on our tickets so we could do an evening in the parks or dinner at a resort.

Saturday: Fly home

I haven’t been to some on your list but they all look great! I highly recommend “brunch at the top” at the California grill. Its AMAZING and cheaper than dinner. The last time we went our server told us we could come back later that night to watch the fireworks from the deck outside. Only downside, it’s only offered on Sunday mornings

On our last trip we also had a great experience at Sanaa. It was two of us and we opted for the larger bread service. It could’ve been a meal on its own! If you try this one, I suggest asking for a table by the window so you can see the safari and animals.

 

[crabbygal902]

Fly in early Saturday morning:
Early lunch/light snack: Homecoming
Dinner: Ohana
Drinks at Trader Sam's at some point before or after dinner I'd go earlier rather than later if you are looking to avoid waiting, Trader Sam's is tiny.

Sunday: Animal Kingdom for most of day
Breakfast: Tusker House
Head to Magic Kingdom for evening because with all the Halloween parties that week, it's one of our only opportunities to see Happily ever after.
Dinner: Be Our Guest

Monday: Epcot
Early lunch: Biergarten We've done F&W a bunch of times and never want a big sit-down meal on the days we visit the booths, preferring to wander and eat along the way. I'd do booths for both lunch and dinner. There are SO many to try!
Dinner : Wine and Food booths - eat and drink around the world!

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Disney Springs evening
Dinner: Raglan Road

Wednesday: Epcot morning
Breakfast: Garden Grill
Hollywood Studios afternoon
Afternoon snack: Sci-Fi Dine in The theming is fantastic, the food is okay. Stick to burgers/fries/shakes and all will be well.
Evening: SWDP

Thursday: Magic Kingdom morning
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House The upstairs dining area is usually quiet and uncrowded.
Animal Kingdom afternoon
Dinner: Yak and Yeti

Friday: I think maybe a Magic Kingdom morning and Epcot afternoon. This day is kind of unplanned right now. Open to suggestions! F&W is going to be more crowded on the weekend, so I'd avoid the World Showcase on Friday afternoon/evening. I'd opt for dinner elsewhere, perhaps Flying Fish or Cape May Seafood Buffet on the Boardwalk.

Saturday: Fly to Mexico

Following Friday: Arrive back in Orlando. We will have one day left on our tickets so we could do an evening in the parks or dinner at a resort. Sanaa is a terrific resort restaurant, love that bread service

Saturday: Fly home

Unlike some of the others, I like your park-hopping plan. We often spend the morning at one park, take a break, and then spend the evening at another. I think that break is a necessity!

 

[AUbaseballfan]

Split a meal at Homecomin for sure! I dined solo there and it was delicious but so much food. By the way if you were interested in their devil eggs you can order a half order of just 3 instead of the usual 6 eggs.

I recommend Satuli at AK. I almost went and ate dinner there the same day I had a 3:00pm lunch since it was so good!

Boma is another place I thought was pricey but after finally eating there this month. It is worth it! We spent two hours there talking and make rounds at the buffet.

 

[CraigInPA]

Drop that Biergarten ADR. Just eat around the world. I'm sure you'll find enough to eat and drink, and don't need to be loaded down with the heavy food served at Biergarten.

In general, you're spending a lot of time travelling to these ADR's. I'd flip the 'Ohana and Raglan Road dinners, so you're staying in the MK area one day and Springs at another.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We like your choices as well. We honeymooned at WDW and did it with only one ADR for a 7 day trip. It makes us nervous to look back on it, but we had a great time. I would caution you to resist over planning, and even if you are going to park hop you might not want to be locked into it by multiple ADRs. One of our favorite things on our honeymoon was being free to go where we wanted. Now we have pretty much settled in on about one ADR a day, which gives us a good mix of freedom and nice food.
We love Yak and Yeti, and it is one of our favorite restaurants on property. Ohana is great too and our only complaint there is not being able to eat more of everything. We enjoyed Tusker House, and as adults it is a chance to have a meal with Mickey and some more interesting food. Whispering Canyon is fun, although it adds some travel time, even from MK. We generally prefer the food at Trail's End at Fort Wilderness, but seeing WL is always great and Whispering Canyon is more of an experience. We also love having dinner at Epcot at Food and Wine booths.
The biggest change we would make is to just stay at WDW the whole time and skip the Mexico trip. Congratulations and have a great time.

 

[Sparklysoph]

Hmm, I've seen so many good reviews of Tusker House, I felt I had to try it but I know that it can be kind of hit or miss depending on your tastes. Good to know about Yachtsman though, I will add it to the list of possibilities!

 

[Sparklysoph]

You have some really good choices. My biggest suggestion though would be to try and switch some of the restaurants around to correspond to the parks you are going to be in for most of the day. I'm assuming you have park hopper tickets because it seems like everyday accept Monday you are in a different park (or Disney Springs). Park hopping is nice but it can be exhausting and eat up a lot of your time on buses rather than in a park or relaxing in your resort. In other words try to do CHH and BOG on the same day or Yak and Yeti and Tusker House on the same day. The only other thing I will say is it seems you almost entirely avoided QS restaurants (accept CHH). Don't rule them out, some are very good and a lot cheaper. Satu'li Canteen in Pandora is excellent and better than a lot of TS restaurants. Knocking out a TS or 2 and adding a QS might give you enough extra money to splurge on California Grill which is pretty much a must do for honeymooners. Congratulations!!

My plan was to do early mornings, midday break for nap/swim and then back in the late afternoon, hence all the park hopping! I think we'll probably be Ubering a lot too to try and save some time. I'd have to look into my plans again but I swear, there was a method to my park hopping madness, based on crowd calendars, EMH, halloween parties etc but I will take another look!

Yes, I haven't really thought about QS! But Satuli canteen looks amazing and you're right, if we add in a couple of those and eliminate some table service, I won't feel guilty splurging on California Grill! Lots to ponder! Thank you!

 

[Sparklysoph]

Agree with laidbackdad. It looks like your booking a Disney trip to ride around and eat. Not knocking your choices because they all look good, but I think your going to figure out quick you’ll have no time in the parks to have fun. Agree you need to book your reservation spots closer together in the same day.

The promise of carbs is clouding my judgement!

 

[Sparklysoph]

My family and I usually do like y’all are. We go to one park in the morning. Come back to the resort for some rest, pool or nap then head back out to another park in the evening. Usually close to where we are going to eat or the park we are eating at. So if your not worried about it like we are not you should be fine.

Our first couple times to Disney we stayed at the parks all day and ate there. After a couple trips we learned that we were wore out by doing this. We like coming back to the resort sometime in the afternoon to relax and not get in any hurry. Then we head back out. So much more peaceful and relaxing to us this way. We have friends that never leave the park. Everyone has there own preference.

Yes, that was exactly the plan. Early mornings, back to the hotel to relax and avoid the worst of the heat and then back out for the evening. I'm really trying to keep in mind that there's no way we can do everything and that having some downtime will make for a more relaxed and, I think, enjoyable trip. Especially as we'll have just had the wedding and lots of family from Europe to stay for two weeks...I need a nap just thinking about it!

 

[Sparklysoph]

i would try and not park hop as much. You waste a lot of time traveling. Stay at one park all day if possible. Your day to see HEA is an exception.
At Epcot, i would seriously not plan a lunch. There is SO much food that you cannot snack your way around even in 2 days, let alone on evening. I would graze all day instead.
Otherwise it looks like a nice mix of restaurants.
Enjoy!

I want to try Biergarten so badly but I know it doesn't make sense with all the food and wine booths! Aargh!

 

[Sparklysoph]

Yes, the carbs are strong with you. Still there are many offerings at your chosen restaurants that will allow you to avoid the bulk of them.

I think Wed's HS lunch ressie is unnecessary given you'll be snacking through the food and wine festival.
Best wishes for your new life choice!

Thank you! Oh, I will be embracing the carbs on this trip and get back to my low-carb life once we're back home! Bring on the carbs!

 

[Sparklysoph]

I haven’t been to some on your list but they all look great! I highly recommend “brunch at the top” at the California grill. Its AMAZING and cheaper than dinner. The last time we went our server told us we could come back later that night to watch the fireworks from the deck outside. Only downside, it’s only offered on Sunday mornings

On our last trip we also had a great experience at Sanaa. It was two of us and we opted for the larger bread service. It could’ve been a meal on its own! If you try this one, I suggest asking for a table by the window so you can see the safari and animals.

Oh that's good to know about brunch and would be a fun start to our trip if we can fit it in...may have to move some plans around. I would LOVE to try Sanaa but my Fi isn't a huge fan of Indian food so not sure he would enjoy it. It looks so good though!

 

[Sparklysoph]

Fly in early Saturday morning:
Early lunch/light snack: Homecoming
Dinner: Ohana
Drinks at Trader Sam's at some point before or after dinner I'd go earlier rather than later if you are looking to avoid waiting, Trader Sam's is tiny.

Sunday: Animal Kingdom for most of day
Breakfast: Tusker House
Head to Magic Kingdom for evening because with all the Halloween parties that week, it's one of our only opportunities to see Happily ever after.
Dinner: Be Our Guest

Monday: Epcot
Early lunch: Biergarten We've done F&W a bunch of times and never want a big sit-down meal on the days we visit the booths, preferring to wander and eat along the way. I'd do booths for both lunch and dinner. There are SO many to try!
Dinner : Wine and Food booths - eat and drink around the world!

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Disney Springs evening
Dinner: Raglan Road

Wednesday: Epcot morning
Breakfast: Garden Grill
Hollywood Studios afternoon
Afternoon snack: Sci-Fi Dine in The theming is fantastic, the food is okay. Stick to burgers/fries/shakes and all will be well.
Evening: SWDP

Thursday: Magic Kingdom morning
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House The upstairs dining area is usually quiet and uncrowded.
Animal Kingdom afternoon
Dinner: Yak and Yeti

Friday: I think maybe a Magic Kingdom morning and Epcot afternoon. This day is kind of unplanned right now. Open to suggestions! F&W is going to be more crowded on the weekend, so I'd avoid the World Showcase on Friday afternoon/evening. I'd opt for dinner elsewhere, perhaps Flying Fish or Cape May Seafood Buffet on the Boardwalk.

Saturday: Fly to Mexico

Following Friday: Arrive back in Orlando. We will have one day left on our tickets so we could do an evening in the parks or dinner at a resort. Sanaa is a terrific resort restaurant, love that bread service

Saturday: Fly home

Unlike some of the others, I like your park-hopping plan. We often spend the morning at one park, take a break, and then spend the evening at another. I think that break is a necessity!

I definitely think the break is going to be a necessity for us! Thanks so much for the tips! I hadn't really wanted to do food and wine on the Friday evening because the crowd calendars say it will be busy and I know it's best avoided at the weekends but I did want a second evening to visit and I can't see another time that will work. I'll take another look at my spreadsheet!