First trip restaurant decisions

[Karau614]

Hello and thanks for reading,
While not technically a first trip, I have not been to Disney since I was very young almost 25 years ago. My wife and I are planning to take our daughter on her first trip this may. She will be 10 months old so child menu's aren't a concern for us, however she is well behaved and used to being in public with restaurant and event settings. I wanted to get some feedback on our restaurants we have adr's for. We do have a lot scheduled but we love food and trying many places and riding things is not as important to us. As always I would welcome advice on any places not on the list that are must do's and any advice on places not so great. I have tried to do quite a bit of research and know some places can be hit or miss. We are staying for 7 nights with day 1 being arriving in time for dinner and day 8 just strictly being wake up and fly home. I may nix a few to free up some time as well as it draws nearer but better to have then change later I thought.

I believe we are going to end up having the DxDP for our trip as from my research is seems an ok value and is convenient for us to be mostly prepaid. We will also have a rental car so we do not have to wait on Disney transportation.

I will place our adr list below. Thanks for any feedback in advance!

*All breakfasts are scheduled before park opening times

Day 1- arrive at 3pm
Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner (or Morimoto to see Disney springs?)
May go to a park as we will have 7 day park hopper but may not use the 1st day


Day 2- Hollywood Studios
Boma Breakfast
Fantasmic Hollywood Brown Derby lunch
Sanaa Dinner

Day 3- Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Breakfast
Tiffins ROL Dining Dinner

Day 4-Epcot
Garden Grill Breakfast
(Garden fest snacks in between)
Flying Fish dinner

Day 5- Epcot
Akershus Breakfast
(Garden fest snacks in between)
San Angel Inn Dinner

Day 6-Magic Kingdom
California Grill Brunch
Narcoossee Dinner @ 8:30p (is this time ok for fireworks viewing?)

Day 7-Magic Kingdom
Be Our Guest Breakfast
Last day dinner is undecided(currently cali grill adr)

I have had Jiko thrown in there multiple times but am not in love with the menu enough so far to keep it in.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Can you tell us where you are staying? So far your plans look really good except for Day 2 unless you are staying at AKL

 

[Karau614]

Staying at Pop Century. Day 2 is a bit crowded so I may just cancel Sanaa and do Brown Derby dinner at 4:30 instead of lunch. The fantasmic times throw a bit of a wrench in better planning. However we thought this was the best option with our infant. As we wouldn't want to wait in line forever for fantasmic. Or should we not worry about using the package?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I do not think Day 2 works even if you're at AKL. You're doing a Fantasmic package. You still need to be to F! 45 minutes ahead of time. Going to AK for dinner and being back is not realistic.

You are spending 4+ hours a day dining.

 

[Karau614]

Trying to Look up travel times still doesn't give me realistic goals which is why I'm here asking, thanks for the input!
Day 2 will be ammended. Does anyone think the package isn't a necessity or fantasmic show is not worth the time?

 

[aviva5675]

I just saw F! a few weeks ago, my second time, tho the first was many years ago. I have to say, I'd skip it. While it is an ok show I don't think the sitting on hard benches for at least 45 minutes ( we had FP but read you still have to go early- it was at least half full by then) with a tiny baby is worth it. Well, not so tiny, but still. If this might be your one time ever to go- then go. I would also recommend not leaving the park for dinner. Have a relaxed early dinner then mosey down the street to the show.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I love Fantasmic but it may be frightening for a baby. It has a lot of dark, foreboding music. View it on youtube and decide if it's a good fit. I think the "scary" part is around half way in. Also you say your breakfast ADR's are before park opening but if breakfast is going to interfere with being at the parks before opening (8:30 for a 9:00 am opening time) I would not do them. Do not underestimate being at the parks for rope drop. That first hour is so valuable, especially for newbies. My breakfast advice is to get late ADR's around 10:20-10:30 in the parks but this doesn't work for you because with the DxDDP you would not want lunch and then dinner. You could do a signature dinner that night and treat breakfast as brunch. If your Boma breakfast is at 7 I think that is doable if you are out of there by 8 at the latest. What time are your breakfast ADR's?

 

[eeyoresmom]

Trying to Look up travel times still doesn't give me realistic goals which is why I'm here asking, thanks for the input!
Day 2 will be ammended. Does anyone think the package isn't a necessity or fantasmic show is not worth the time?

Also, It's not just the travel times. Let's say it is a 15 minute drive from HS to AKL. It will take you 15 minutes to exit HS and get to your car in the parking lot, 10 minutes to park and get to Sanaa at AKL, 10 minutes to get from Sanaa out of AKL, 15 minutes back to HS and probably another 20 minutes to park,get through security and tapstiles at HS again for Fantasmic. So that is just about an hour and a half total transport time and another 1 -1 1/2 hrs at dinner. I highly recommend eating in parks or very near (like the monorail resorts at MK).

 

[Karau614]

Most Breakfast adr's are 8:00-8:20 with the exception of Tusker house which I could only get 8:45. We do want to meet a lot of the characters at the meals. I'm open to the possibility of early lunch/late breakfasts around 10am instead if that is a better option. Is rope drop an advantage for anything other than getting short lines early? We will also be doing rider swap with our fast passes which sounds like it essentially doubles our fast pass options.

 

[eeyoresmom]

No, the only advantage is short lines but it is a big advantage. For example at MK you could get fast passes for the 3 mountains or whichever you choose but tackle most of fantasy land for your baby in that first hour and a half doing standby. If you walk into fantasy land at 10 am you will have 15-30 min waits for the lesser rides but Peter Pan, 7D mine train etc will be much longer. When are you going? That actually makes a big difference.

 

[eeyoresmom]

If the rides aren't as important to you I wouldn't stress too much.

 

[Karau614]

We are going may 16-23. I may look into being in magic kingdom early morning since that is where the baby can get on the most rides. Our first day at magic kingdom I may make brunch at cali grill a little later. Thanks for the input so far!

 

[disneyvoice]

Day 2 seems heavy on the TS meals to me. If we do a big breakfast there is no way we can do a TS lunch that same day - we typically won't be hungry again until much later in the afternoon. Then you have another TS restaurant that night (which I agree with PP, will be difficult with the Fantasmic Dinner Package anyway). I would suggest not doing the breakfast if you want to keep the FDP and getting rid of Table Service Dinner and just getting something to eat at a CS prior to Fantasmic if you have an earlier lunch time. If you have a later lunch time you probably won't be very hungry for dinner and could just get a snack at Fantasmic.

 

[katepass72]

I love all of your picks . I agree Day 2 might be too much travel, though. I'm probably in the minority but I'd ditch the Fantasmic dinner package (and Fantasmic all together). Your little one won't miss it and you might have a better time relaxing at an early Sanaa dinner.

 

[Karau614]

That's my decision I need to make I think, is of Fantasmic is worth the trouble of seeing for the short show. Thanks for the opinions and different views!

 

[nursejackie]

Three full meals in one day would be a struggle for me to fit in (to my stomach!). TS or signature dining take time out of your day so to do three will really eat into your day IMHO

 

[VAfamily1998]

Trying to Look up travel times still doesn't give me realistic goals which is why I'm here asking, thanks for the input!
Day 2 will be ammended. Does anyone think the package isn't a necessity or fantasmic show is not worth the time?

Personally, I love doing the Fantasmic dining package, and it's been the only way I've seen Fantasmic my last several trips. The reserved section are awesome seats.
Brown Derby is also one of my favorite restaurants in Disney World.

But I agree with the PP that day 2 is not going to work--too much traveling back and forth and also just too much food. You will be spending your entire day eating/preparing to eat.
For us, we find that one "big meal" table service per day is usually enough if it is mid day, and then we just supplement with counter service or snacks. For an upcoming trip, we are doing two table services one of the days (BOG breakfast and Garden Grill dinner) but it is more about the experience of those restaurants and not the food.
FWIW, we are a family of big eaters. I have 4 teen/tween sons and I am fairly athletic (amateur endurance athlete--I do triathlons and long distance running) so I work out 2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week. But 3 table service meals would be way too much--and even two is going to seem like a lot.

If it were me, I would do a quick service breakfast at my hotel, Brown Derby lunch/Fantasmic package, then just snack/quick service dinner.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

With a child the age of yours, I would also be ready and able to throw away ALL your dining plans on 24-hours notice, TBH. I don't care what she's like now or how she behaves now. Kids change pretty heavily in the first 3 years, and the change from now to 10 months is more significant than you might think. Add in the near-constant overstimulation of a Disney trip, and your child may very well turn all of your best-laid plans to so much garbage.