HELP!! I don't know where to start

[1stWDWtrip]

I need to know what to do about eating. Our trip is coming up fast (May 21-31) and I do not know anything about the restaurants (First trip ever!)

I know I need to make some ADRs, but I don't know where to even begin to think about where to eat. It will be me and my 2 kids (DD 7, DS 10). We like to eat most anything, but none of us eat a lot at one time. We also like to snack more during the day (snacks, burgers, dogs) and then maybe eat one "meal" later on. We do not mind eating later either.

Thanks for any help you can give us!!

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

First thing to do is RELAX.....
Next go over to allearsnet.com.....dining.....menus. They have the menus for all WDW restaurants. Figure out where you want to eat and call and make your dining reservations. You are really late so don't hold off. The toll free number for WDW is 1-800-828-0228.
Then plan your theme park visits around your meals so you are not running all over the place (a typical rookie mistake that we made on our first family trip).
You will find tons of WDW information on allearsnet.com, wdwinfo.com and mousesaver.com.
After you have done some of your "homework" come back here and ask any questions you may have. You might also be interested in buying a book about WDW. I know that Tour Guide Mike (sponsor of the Theme Park board) is very popular. Keep reading the DIS for great advice!

 

[tlcintheberry]

They have great resturants in Epcot and all over for that matter. We will be eating at least one sit down meal a day and the rest will be counter service. They are right about making ADR's now!! Dont wait. I looked at the calender for extra magic hours and figured out where we would be on which days and then I looked at the resturants for that park and wrote it down. Next I called disney and made the ADR's . Good luck and dont wait too long.

 

[Dana&KyleS]

Hey

We are going to be at Disney the sametime you are.. May 23-June 1! We are in the same boat this is our first trip also.. Well mine and the kids, my husband has been many times as a child... Which resort are you staying at? We are at the All Star Movies and then the Port Orleans - French Quarter...

What about ADR's at some of the Character Buffet Rests..
Thats what we did..


We could use some help also on which restaurants are the best.. Thanks

 

[mouseaddicts]

I definitely, definitely agree with reading menus, pricing, etc. on allearsnet.com. That's what we do EVERY time we get ready to go to WDW. We also visit the EMH postings on Disney & see which park/which day and go from there.

Now, a side note with my personal opinion (worth what you paid for it) .... our family (kids especially) just LOVES the Sci-Fi Dine In at MGM. You sit in cool "cars" & watch old movie clips on a big screen. The whole place is in the dark like your at a real drive-in movie. It's pretty cool. We've eaten there twice & all three DKs declare we MUST go again (so we already have our ADR for July).

We are personally bigger theme park restaurant eaters than resort eaters, but that's just a family issue with not wanting to leave the park until the throw us out! We try to plan for 1 CS & 1 TS each day ..... for the most part. We are going back to San Angel Inn @ Epcot (Mexico) as the food is pretty good & the kids loved the atmosphere here too!

If you want to check out another "cool" TS @ MGM, look into the 50's Prime Time Cafe. We had an absolute BLAST there last year! We're considering going back ..........

Good Luck & HAVE FUN!!! It's DISNEY WORLD!!!

 

[jeffn5631]

As annual passholders, we spend a lot of time at WDW, Universal and Sea World. So we have the drill down pretty well. We have the Disney Dining Experience Card and we use it about once a week to make ADRs at all the different parks for dinner and for a family at the MK, I think Liberty Tree Taven is hard to top so I would check that out. The menu is set, so you don't have to worry about what everyone wants and the food will please everyone. But what we like to do is leave a park and head over to the restaurants on Rt. 192 where all of the national chain restaurants you are familiar with are and then go back into another park. We have gone from Universal, to a 192 restaurant for lunch, then to Sea World, then to a 192 restaurant for dinner then back to MGM for Fantasmic and then drive over to MK for Wishes and Spectomagic parade to end the day. Since we have AP to all these parks, we don't have to worry about parking charges. You really need a break from the parks if they are very crowded and going to a 192 restaurant really gives you a chance to catch your breath and relax and get ready to go back and have fun. A side note, as a kid I grew up living near Kennwywood in Pittsburgh and that is where I guess my attraction for theme parks grew from. I remember going to the cafateria in that park and wonder if it is still there.
J & J

 

[#1mom3kids]

If you can make a reservation for Chef Mickey for dinner I definitely would! You cant go wrong at this character dinner.

 

[mikymouse]

I wouldn't miss Chef Mickeys, try for a later dinner reversation so you can watch the fireworks after dinner. The characters are the best, even for us that SHOULD be more grown up and the selection was good. Definately plan onthe Park/Parks for the day and make one sit down ADR for each day. We also really liked the Rainforest Cafe just outside Animal Kingdom Park and they will accept reservations at this location but have to call a seperate non-disney phone number. (I think I found it on allears.)

 

[1stWDWtrip]

Hey

We are going to be at Disney the sametime you are.. May 23-June 1! We are in the same boat this is our first trip also.. Well mine and the kids, my husband has been many times as a child... Which resort are you staying at? We are at the All Star Movies and then the Port Orleans - French Quarter...

What about ADR's at some of the Character Buffet Rests..
Thats what we did..


We could use some help also on which restaurants are the best.. Thanks

We are staying at the All-Star Movies for our whole stay. I have a feeling that it is too late for Character dining of any kind, but I am going to try. Also, I think it helps that I plan to eat later??? I hope it does.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

We are staying at the All-Star Movies for our whole stay. I have a feeling that it is too late for Character dining of any kind, but I am going to try. Also, I think it helps that I plan to eat later??? I hope it does.

Character dining isn't neccessarily out. We went last year in mid-August and ate at Chef Mickey's (made the reservation at 90 days) the kids loved it more than I expected so I called WDW-DINE from Chef Mickey's and made a reservation for Crystal Palace (dining with Pooh) a few days later. I was suprised that they still had space.

Now if you want to eat with princesses I believe that's a different story.

 

[Rella Bella]

I would be very surprised if you couldn't land atleast one character meal during your stay.

I would recommend starting with the "in park" meal options too. And only one AR per day... more than one takes a lot of time from your day. Although hitting Ohanna or Chef Mickeys for breakfast before going to MK is almost as easy.

We like to do a breakfast or late lunch... but I thing it's best to stick somewhat close to your family's regular schedule. We usually get in trouble when we start to think "everyone says to do it like this at Disney".

If you want to eat late, just keep in mind the times of the fireworks shows you want to see when you set your AR times. If you only have one night in a park you don't want to miss the fireworks because of a dinner reservation.

Side note to that... at Epcot World Showcase they take ARs almost to closing... and the restaurants remain open for the guest inside, so you can get up to an extra hour in the park! And walking out of Epcot when it's nearly empty is awesome; it's beautiful and you're not pushed along by the rushing crowds.

Have fun!

 

[MinnieNurse]

I bet you could still get some character meals, especially if your flexible. We went last year and my DS then 6 loved Sci-Fi Theater, Me and my DH liked Crystal Palace. We all enjoyed the Hoop-dee-doo Revue. Other places we went were Coral Reef-we liked the atmosphere better than the food, but it was still fun, Restorauntasaurus was great for my DS and the breakfast was good, Chef Mickey's was fun, and Rainforest Cafe was good and the atmosphere was fun. Just my opinions.
I am not sure you can go wrong at Disney, we are looking forward to trying some new places this year.

 

[byoung]

Go to Boma's at AKL.

 

[1stWDWtrip]

I just made all of my ADRs!! And -- I even got everything that I wanted!! It was actually quite a painless proceedure! Thanks to all of you who have helped this "newbie" get things in order.

I have learned so much from these boards!! You guys are great!! Thanks again.

Now that I have my days and meals planned, I just have to hope that I have a plane to get there. (I booked Delta without realizing all of their troubles and I am now in a PANIC!

 

[MinnieNurse]

I just made all of my ADRs!! And -- I even got everything that I wanted!! It was actually quite a painless proceedure! Thanks to all of you who have helped this "newbie" get things in order.



Where did you book You and your family will have a great timeand you will probably be hooked

 

[1stWDWtrip]

I just made all of my ADRs!! And -- I even got everything that I wanted!! It was actually quite a painless proceedure! Thanks to all of you who have helped this "newbie" get things in order.



Where did you book You and your family will have a great timeand you will probably be hooked

We will be there 10 nights/11 days, and I only booked sit downs for 5 of the nights. We are booked at 50s Prime Time Cafe, Chef Mickey's, Narcoossee's and Coral Reef. I booked all at 8 pm with the hopes of doing the fireworks afterwards.

Now that that is all taken care of, I can finish planning the "little" stuff... and spending all of my time here on this board..

Thanks again!!