Help me make a dinning plan.

[Sherond]

I will be traveling to DW in October with my hubby and two nieces (9 and 11). We have the dinning plan. Normally, we just eat at walk up spots. We have never had the dinning plan before. Can anyone give me good suggestions on how and where to eat, and how best to make our reservations? We are staying a week. We plan on going everyday to WDW parks; except, for one day to Universal. We have ate at a few nice sit down restaurants in the past. Should I base my selection on how long the parks are open, etc? My nieces are young enough to still enjoy a character breakfast. Are they included in the plan? We have the plan that allows for a snack, walk up eatery, and one sit down restaurant a day. I am sorry this is so long. I sincerely appreciate any and all help.

 

[ses1230]

Reservations can be made starting 180 days from arrival, so the reservation date for you has passed. Since that is the case I would go online fairly soon to check availability and made your reservations.

I would make your park plans first and then decide on where you want to eat. There are menus here on the Dis, allears, and on the Disney website.

Some favorites of ours are:

MK - LTT lunch, the Plaza
AK - Yak and Yeti
HS - Brown Derby (this is a signature restaurant that requires 2 TS credits)
Ep- Via Napoli, Biergarten, Le Cellier.

There are also very good restaurants at the resorts.

Yes character meals are included. Most are 1 TS credit, CRT is 2.

 

[4under4]

Best bang for your buck, and probably the most fun for the DNs will be character meals. Garden Grill, Akerhus, Cinderella's Royal Table, Crystal Palace, Tusker House (breakfast or Lunch only), Chef Mickey, etc. Since most of these are buffet style, you shouldn't have to worry about finding something everyone will like. I would try to get as many of these as possible, then fill in with meals that have a general appeal. Also, if you are planning to do Fantasmic, you can use one of the credits for the Fantasmic! Dining Package (several restaurants to choose from) which won't have any extra cost, but will give you a good view of the show.

Additionally, Boma is a must for us regardless of using the Dining plan.

Good Luck!!

 

[LilyWDW]

If you have not already, follow the link in my signature to find the October 2014 Facebook group! We would LOVE to help another DIS'er with their plans =)

 

[Sherond]

Thanks Lily! I have put in a request for the FB page. Also, thanks to the others that so kindly offered suggestions. I am new at this, so could someone tell me if you can use multiple credits towards Cinderella's castle meal? Would Be my guest be a better choice?

 

[ses1230]

Thanks Lily! I have put in a request for the FB page. Also, thanks to the others that so kindly offered suggestions. I am new at this, so could someone tell me if you can use multiple credits towards Cinderella's castle meal? Would Be my guest be a better choice?

Yes you can use your credits at CRT. Credits are pooled, you can use them however you want to, up to 11:59 pm on your checkout day.

 

[damiel]

Yes, you can use multiple credits for CRT and BOG but they are probably booked by now.
Some people love the character buffets but we find it gets old after a few times. We enjoy Crystal Palace in MK because really there are not alot of good choices for TS meals in MK. We steer clear of Liberty Tree for dinner it is the quality of a cafateria meal. We enjoy lunch there but it is not the best use of your dining credit.
Breakfasts are usually not a good use of your credits, even a breakfast buffet is less expensive than a dinner buffet.
There are some fun options at Epcot: We enjoy Teppan Edo in Japan, chefs prepare stir-fried foods right in front of the guests. That might be fun for the girls. We also enjoy Coral Reef, the kids enjoy seeing the sea creatures.
At Hollywood Studios the kids might enjoy Sci Fi Dine In Theater. Staring Rolls is a great CS meal for lunch. It is something different than the same old chicken nuggets and hamburgers. They have great different desserts.
Ohana is a fun option for dinner. They have fun games and hula dancing that the kids love.
We look for restaurants that are different than what we can do at home. Spend some time looking at all of the options and make a list of what you would like to try and be sure to have a back up in mind because if you are going during free dining your first choice may already be booked.

 

[ajwolfe]

Thanks Lily! I have put in a request for the FB page. Also, thanks to the others that so kindly offered suggestions. I am new at this, so could someone tell me if you can use multiple credits towards Cinderella's castle meal? Would Be my guest be a better choice?

I would recommend Akershus at Epcot if you are interested in CRT but unable to get in or don't want to use 2 credits.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

CRT will cost you 2 credits per person no matter when you go.

Be Our Guest is a lovely restaurant but it is not a character meal, although you can meet the Beast in his study after you eat. If you want characters coming to your table, you can skip it. If you have any Beauty and the Beast fans in your party they will LOVE it though, even without walkaround characters.

 

[O Town Girl]

As an alternative to CRT, you may want to consider 1900 Park Fare. It's only 1 credit, and usually easier to get an ADR, especially that you are pretty late in the game for October bookings. If you have the time, I would suggest you try daily for the restaurants (like BoG) you really want to get and something might come up.

Just put a date and time in the ressie system and see all the availability, then pick from that what works best for your daily park plans.

A few that my family have enjoyed with different aged kids:

Tusker breakfast, Boma, Crystal Palace, Chefs de France, Garden Grill, Akershus (for the princess meet), Coral Reef (for the aquarium view), Sci-Fi
OHana

Definitely consider resort restaurants too.. they are often overlooked and available. Allears.net has menus you can check out