First timer w/ a bunch of questions

[tam4ever]

Our whole family (30+ of us) is going to DW the first week of August. There are 12 families. We're all staying at AK. My family consists of 2 adults and two younger children (4yo & 1yo). Coordinating meal reservations if proving to be such a headache! Especially since I'm not familiar with the procedure and what's good. Reading through these threads have been helpful. But I have a few questions:

-What is the best time to schedule dinner? My game plan for making reservations is to try to stay at the park we're at for that day. Although I imagine we'll take some time out for naps and such.

-What is the best princess character meal? Breakfast or lunch? I'm really inclined to do the Royal Table one at the castle b/c I know my 4you would LOOOOVE that but I'm concerned about getting reservations. Friday (2/1) marked 180 days and I was thinking of doing that meal on 8/7. Do you think I'm out of luck?

-For reservations how hard is it to get table for 8-10? I know we won't all be eating together for the most part but several families will want to go together. My cousin and I want to take our families to the Royal Table. There'd be 8 of us. Is that possible since reservations are so hard to get?

-If you could only chose one of these breakfast character meals which would it be & why? Donald's Safari or Chef Mickey's.

That's all I can think of ATM, I'm sure I'll be back with more! LOL

ETA: we're on the Dining Plan if that makes a difference.

 

[daisy112878]

We usually have 8 of us when we got once a year and in Dec we had 14 of us. Le Cellier was the hardest reservation to get for 14 people. We finally got in the last night of our vacation at 450pm. We did get separated but we were all in one corner of the restaurant pretty much by ourself. Most of the ADRs they said we would be at 2 tables but only at Le Cellier did that actually happen. Also many of the ADRs were either at the beginning of lunch/dinner or the end of lunch/dinner.

For the princess meal, we did breakfast at Norway. Personally the breakfast foods are usually better and we like Norway better then CRT. There's more room and it doesn't feel quite as rushed. Since we had a big group we had to do the first ADR in the morning.

 

[mickeystoontown]

With a party as large as your's, you should contact Disney about Grand Gatherings. From what I understand, they help people with large parties make their ADRs and they also qualify for some types of special seatings. I know that there is information on www.allearsnet.com. Maybe somebody can chime in here and provide more information.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I found the link for you.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...erings/landing?id=MagicalGatheringLandingPage

 

[BabyPiglet]

Our whole family (30+ of us) is going to DW the first week of August. There are 12 families. We're all staying at AK. My family consists of 2 adults and two younger children (4yo & 1yo). Coordinating meal reservations if proving to be such a headache! Especially since I'm not familiar with the procedure and what's good. Reading through these threads have been helpful. But I have a few questions:

-What is the best time to schedule dinner? My game plan for making reservations is to try to stay at the park we're at for that day. Although I imagine we'll take some time out for naps and such.

-What is the best princess character meal? Breakfast or lunch? I'm really inclined to do the Royal Table one at the castle b/c I know my 4you would LOOOOVE that but I'm concerned about getting reservations. Friday (2/1) marked 180 days and I was thinking of doing that meal on 8/7. Do you think I'm out of luck?

-For reservations how hard is it to get table for 8-10? I know we won't all be eating together for the most part but several families will want to go together. My cousin and I want to take our families to the Royal Table. There'd be 8 of us. Is that possible since reservations are so hard to get?

-If you could only chose one of these breakfast character meals which would it be & why? Donald's Safari or Chef Mickey's.

That's all I can think of ATM, I'm sure I'll be back with more! LOL

ETA: we're on the Dining Plan if that makes a difference.

- We like scheduling our ADR's for around 2-3. The restaurants are less crowded then. Also, around that time everyone starts to get really tired and cranky. A nice meal in the air conditioning is great to get the energy going again.

- I like CRT, but if you can't get reservations try Akershus.

 

[ksbean]

First of all I want to say good luck. Your first time with the whole family … oh boy. I don’t know how your family is but here are a few tips I learned planning with 3 families with just the 8 of us last April. And I thought my in-laws were going to drive me to drink. I don’t usually drink. But it all turned out well in the end and the family eventually understood why planning was required. I didn’t even have to resort to alcohol once while there too.

Decide if and how many plan on eating together. It’s best to make your ADRs ASAP. The character meals are popular, LeCellier and a few other restaurants. You don’t need to know everywhere you want to eat all at once; you can continually add and/or change them. For the princess meals, call as soon as you know.

Review the menus both on this site and/or on allearsnet.com. They are a great resource. Disney dining is a little different than going to the local chains, etc. The menu isn’t always what you may expect it to be.

Check out what’s available in the parks to ensure you hit your top choices. It’s impossible to see and do everything. There will be lots of walking and waiting. Remember to feed and water the kids to keep them going.

As to what time is best to schedule dinner? It’s entirely up to you and the family. Some places open at 4pm others at 5pm. If you have the park hopper option we found we like to go to one park in the morning. Take a break for a few hours. Then end up at another park depending on where we decided to eat dinner. What ever transportation you choose, Disney or drive yourself, remember it will take time to get around.

As for princess character meals we did CRT for lunch and the 1900 Park Faire which was Cinderella’s Gala Feast at that time. Personally I don’t believe you get a lot of value using 2 TS meals of the DDP for this. It’s more for the experience of eating at the castle with the princesses more than for the food and value. We paid OOP for this and there were 6 of us who went. The nieces got to meet the princesses, fairy godmother and Cinderella was only in the lobby. The character interaction was only so so on the day we went. The adults didn’t care for the food, Niece 5 liked hers but Niece 8 didn’t. Both nieces enjoyed the desert. All eight of us enjoyed the dinner at 1900 Park Faire and the character interaction was good on the day we went. I believe this meal got a new name and they changed the characters around. Without calling at the 180 day mark I’m not sure if CRT will be available. It never hurts to try and ask. You may get lucky.

If you make reservations soon you shouldn’t have a problem getting reservations for 8-10. You’ll either be seated at one table or at tables next to each other is what we found when we went with 8. CRT can be tough to get.

We’ve never been to Donald’s Safari but we enjoyed breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. The character interaction was great on the day we went and the food was good. If you think the kids in your group would want to meet the characters the character meals are a great way to ensure they can meet them with out having to wait in lines.

Good luck with your planning!!!!!!! Karen