Help me decide....

[Mrs Hobbes]

DH and I are in full planning mode at the minute for our Feb 2009 trip. We are working out what ADRs we want to try and get in August. As we will be in WDW for Valentines we have decided we want to have a special meal in the evening and I am probably going to order a special cake for us all to have.

We will be in Epcot during the day planning to finish around 4pm ish.

A few things that you should know before helping me decide, my family is the fussiest family in the world, nobody eats anything accept for me!! Youngest DD will pretty much only eat chicken (no sauce), nuggets or Pizza in Florida (she does not get this every night at home btw!) oldest DD is slightly better and will stretch to meatballs, hot dogs and some pasta dishes. DH doesn't eat cheese or any fancy sauces, he is pretty much a plain meat and vegetables (so long as they are only peas and carrots!) kind of guy! You see my problem!

These are the choices

Stay at Epcot and have dinner at Le Cellier (probs we can't get dressed up to go out as we will have been in the park all day and it seems silly going back to AKL and then back to Epcot again, also I don't think they do good cakes here)

California Grill (could be nice as we could try and time it to watch Wishes from the restaurant viewing area, but not sure if we would end up with views of construction which could spoil the atmosphere, I think the cakes are ok here. Another problem is that we would have to go from Epcot to AKL to get washed and changed, then bus back to MK, Monorail to CG and then back again at end of evening which is a lot of travelling)

1900 Park Fare (Lovely cakes from GF bakery, could get girls the mini castle cake which is gorgeous, food not too much of a problem with it being a buffet, character dinning so girls would be happy, I think we could watch wishes from the beach but not sure about this, Probs -again we would have lots of travelling to do)

Jiko's (no need for travelling, could just get ready for dinner and walk down to eat, they do a pretty nice Zebra cake I believe, Prob - food here is a bit of an issue for my family)

So these are the choices - what would you go for? Can you recommend any of the restaurants, we haven't eaten in any of these before.

 

[Claire L]

Have you considered the restaurants at the Yacht Club?

Claire

 

[UKDEB]

For all evening meals not within walking distance of our resort, we get a taxi. Even if that wouldn't normally appeal to you, I'd say it's worth considering for your special meal - you then immediately remove the travelling consideration. We've found that, on average, most taxi trips on property cost around $15 including tip.

I'd write off Le Cellier for the reasons you state. And, without exception IMHO, the top resort restaurants are better than the top park restaurants.

We're adventurous eaters, so it's difficult to make recommendations based on our own favourites (where's wilma-bride when you need her? ). Our elder dd was a fussy eater when she was younger and she ended up eating from the children's menu at California Grill when she was 15. It spoilt it for all of us because she wasn't happy. Luckily her foodie gene has found itself as she's got older! How old are your two? Neither CG nor Jiko are cheap options, so I can see your dilemma. On the face of it, 1900 Park Fayre would seem to fit the bill for your party, but that's the only one on your list we haven't eaten at. You can watch both the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes from the GF beach.

 

[Belle68]

Out of your list I would choose California Grill, Ive never eaten there myself but it would make the night extra special watching Wishes as well.

Please let us know where you decide to go.

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

Thanks for your replies Claire and Deb

DD's will be 11 and 6. I did think as I was typing this all out that a taxi might be an easier option for travelling so the info you gave on taxi prices is great. So thanks for that Deb.

We don't mind splashing out a bit on our meals, we only go to Disney every other year so when we do we don't really watch the pennies!!

I think my favourite choices are CG or Park Fare. I am drawn more to Park Fare purely because of the fact that the cakes at GF are amazing and I could really treat the girls! It would also give the girls a chance to see the characters as well. At least that way if they didn't eat any of the meal then they could stuff themselves on cake! DH likes Park Fare the least as he thinks there isn't much on the childrens choice and he prefers the idea of CG. Do you know when construction on the tower finishes and will any of the construction obscure views of MK.

 

[Claire L]

From the layout CG should still have a great view of MK. We are tempted to try CG in the future as well.

Claire

 

[UKDEB]

I don't think the construction would block the view from California Grill. The tower is set back from the main A-frame building and you look in the opposite direction towards MK.

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[UKDEB]

Construction photos

 

[jockey]

Have you considered Disneys private dining? I had them arrange my wedding meal and to be honest it's not very expensive! I had a few fussy eaters at my wedding but the catered for everyone, my bridesmaid had pizza The can suggest some beautiful settings too

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

Have you considered Disneys private dining? I had them arrange my wedding meal and to be honest it's not very expensive! I had a few fussy eaters at my wedding but the catered for everyone, my bridesmaid had pizza The can suggest some beautiful settings too

This sounds like a lovely idea, could you tell me a bit more about it, perhaps where I could find some more information. Thank you

 

[Pinky166]

Hi Em.....I too am a really fussy eater, like your DH I don't do fussy food and normally I will just have a plain steak and chips on a nice evening out. I can't comment on any of your choices as I haven't tried them.

We are trying Narcoosee's in December for one of our 'nicer' meals. Have you also considered there? You can time it to watch Wishes, still get your castle cake as it's at the GF, I plan to surprise my DH with the choclate mickey & tuxedo strawberries.

 

[Elise79]

I would recommend California Grill The view will not be of the construction. I am like your DH and like my meat plain and I highly recommend their oak fired fillet (you can ask them to hold the sauce ) it was fantastic!!

Can't help with childrens options as we were a couple but the view of wishes was great.

Elise

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

Thanks everyone for your help with this today. I've made the decision that whereever we go we will get a taxi (Thanks Deb) just need to decide on the resturant.

We are trying Narcoosee's in December for one of our 'nicer' meals. Have you also considered there? You can time it to watch Wishes, still get your castle cake as it's at the GF, I plan to surprise my DH with the choclate mickey & tuxedo strawberries.

Thanks Claire, I had a look at the menu and this may be an option. I'm going to put it to DH tonight. Do you know what the dress code is here, we want to dress up but not formal wear, no jackets etc.

If anyone has any more opinions on our restaurant choices then please let me know. Thanks

 

[Pinky166]

Thanks everyone for your help with this today. I've made the decision that whereever we go we will get a taxi (Thanks Deb) just need to decide on the resturant.



Thanks Claire, I had a look at the menu and this may be an option. I'm going to put it to DH tonight. Do you know what the dress code is here, we want to dress up but not formal wear, no jackets etc.

If anyone has any more opinions on our restaurant choices then please let me know. Thanks

It's smart/casual - jackets not required.

I will PM you something in a mo.

 

[jockey]

We contacted private dining at the Grand Floridian as I did not know what to do for my wedding reception. They suggested a meal beside the seven seas lagoon, just in time for the fireworks. There were 20 of us and it was a really lovely private spot, we had private servers and the food was fab! I think the servers cost $50 per hour, we had 3 just because of the party size. The food was pretty cheap ranging from pizza at approx $18 to steak options at approx $35, this was back in 2000 though. I think the most expensive items were the wine that was consumed, and that was a LOT!

 

[CHEK]

I just wanted to say we'll see you there , we're also trying to decide on our ADR's too. Happy planning

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

I just wanted to say we'll see you there , we're also trying to decide on our ADR's too. Happy planning

See you there!

How's the planning going Karen, I'm getting so excited about making our ADRs, we can do it in just over 40 days

 

[CHEK]

See you there!

How's the planning going Karen, I'm getting so excited about making our ADRs, we can do it in just over 40 days

We've got a lot of idea's of where we'd like to go, but not to a specific date yet , but sooo excited