First Trip to Disney...help please!

[Meredith Girl]

My mom just emailed me and said that she booked a "girls" trip to Disney in January and is leaving me in charge of booking dining reservations (since my daughter is the real reason we are going)! She said that she opted for the dining plan. This is my first Disney experience... Can anyone please answer my questions???

1) Do I need to have any type of trip confirmation to book my dining reservations?

2) Am I correct in saying that if we do not have the park hopper pass we must eat at the park that we decide to visit that day?

3) Can anyone recommend what restaurants we need to visit at MK and Epcot? My aunt that is going with us is a vegetarian so I would like a table service restaurant where she can find something as well. Also, ideally I am going to try Cinderella's royle table but I think I am too late. is there anywhere else where we can see Cinderella?

Thanks so much!

 

[mchllevns]

1900 Park Faire (in the Grand Floridian) has Cinderella at dinnertime.

Chef Mickey's (in the Contemporary) is a fun character buffet.

You should try to book in the park you are visiting if you don't have park hoppers...or in one of the hotels.

Coral Reef is a neat Epcot place...
Depending on the age of your daughter...Hollywood and Vine or Sci Fi in The Studios...


Have fun!

 

[TALB]

1. No
2.Yes
3. I have no idea about vegetarian meals at Epcot but Crystal Palace in MK has a huge buffet which I am sure would have plenty of choices for your Aunt. 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian has the Cinderella crew and is a short ride from MK. It is also buffet.

 

[vicki_c]

I recommend starting by reviewing the restaurant & menu choices, either here on wdwinfo, or on allears, or on Disney's website, and deciding which ones sound good to you.

Then figure out how many dining credits the ones you want will use up. See if you need to cut back or add, repeat until you have a mix you like.

Then try to schedule reservations for those that are convenient to the park you will be touring that day.

I'd get in at least 1 character meal. I wouldn't do 2 table services in one day if you can avoid it, but others here would disagree. I think it takes away too much touring time.

January reservations have been open for a while, so you need to start making decisions and trying to book, especially for the more popular places.

 

[ms*mountaineer]

You can see Cinderella at the 1900 Park Fare Dinner - or possibly catch her in the ToonTown princess room (but that's hit or miss).

You would need to eat in the park you're going to be in - or one of the hotels.

Look through the menus and see what interests you!

 

[tigger_03]

Since you are less than 180 days out then you won't need to worry about having the reservation confirmation number from the resort (sometimes you need it to make reservations for 180+10 days).

If you do not have park hopper tickets then you'll either need to eat at the park you are at that day (which is one of the reasons I dislike not having the park hopper option....sometimes it's not easy planning 180 days out and knowing what park we are going to be at that specific day) or eat at one of the resorts.

I'd check out the menus to see which restaurants sound good and have things that everyone will eat.

CRT can be a very tough ticket to get. Cinderella, Prince Charming, step sisters, & step mother are at 1900 Park Fare which is at GF (Grand Floridian). It's a monorail ride away from MK via the resort monorail. Character meals are so much fun! We had 4 character meals for our trip (1 breakfast, 1 lunch, and 2 dinners).

 

[Meredith Girl]

Thanks so much for the advice! I ended up booking the O'hana Breakfast, Princess Storybook Breakfast at the Askerhaus, 1900 Fare Dinner, and Chef Mickeys. This will be our first experience and my daughter is 4. She is absolutely going to LOVE the character experiences! I can't wait to tell her about our vacation!!!

 

[ms*mountaineer]

That sounds wonderful! You will have a great time!

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Meredith you have done a great job and your family will be happy!!!