First times to WDW from Australia

[CKCM]

Hi All

We are a family of 4 (DD 6, DS 4) all the way from Perth Australia who are visiting WDW in 1st week of May next year after cruising on the Disney fantasy for 7 days. We have booked to stay at BLT. I'm so overwhelmed with ADR's and personally don't know where to start! So any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I believe we should start booking 180 days prior to our stay. I don't mind some planning when it comes to what to eat every night but hoping I don't have to plan where we are going to eat each night for dinner?
6 months in advance :

What restaurants would you recommend for our young family?

Where and how do I get started on ADR's.

Thanks in advance,
Confused but excited WDW visitor

 

[Hopefully]

Welcome to the DIS!!!

You don't need to plan what to eat 180 days in advance, but you do need to plan where you want to eat 180 days in advance.
First I plan which park which day based on predicted crowd calendars.
Then we look at the menus for the restaurants in those parks at allears.net or here on the DIS.
Then we decide which restaurant on which day based on our park choices. We try very hard to stay in or near the park of the day, as traveling all over WDW for a meal is a huge waste of time
Good Luck, Planning can be half the fun

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I hear your pain, BUT, in the world of Disney today one needs to be proactive 180 days in advance... That doesn't mean you need to plan every single meal, but as PP said you do need to make ADRS in advance. Remember too, you can always cancel if you change your mind, but it's almost impossible to add a hard to get ADR.
I like how pp explained it...
For your children's ages here's a few I would choose asap...
Akershus in Epcot ~ ppo Breakfast with princesses for DD, get in line for Frozen ride to save fp for Soarin' or TT.
Hollywood and Vine in HS ppo breakfast so that you can get in line for DS to be part of Jedi Training. (double whammy- you get to meet Disney Jr characters as well)
Tusker House breakfast, lunch or dinner in AK ~ meet the Fab 5 (Mickey and his gang) with great character interaction and great food! Plan this around your AK day whether your plan is an early park or late park day. Characters are there for all 3 meals.
These are the ones I think will be tough to get and need to do asap. Otherwise check out menus for restaurants in each park and plan your meals accordingly.
Good luck!