Help please!

[cinnderly]

I have only one ADR made for my six day trip and I got the free dining today. The CM that I spoke made it seem like I needed to get these done asap so I am starting to worry. The trip is for me and my 5-year-old son, who is worried I will want to see princesses.

This is my first trip -- where do I begin??? Any advice? I am feeling really overwhelmed by this as it seems the trip will now have to revolve around where we eat.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's okay, calm down!

You should start planning where you want to eat, and try to make your dining reservations in the next few weeks/couple of months - rather than wait until you get to Walt Disney World, or even until August - but you don't need to make most of them today. Granted, there are popular places that book up relatively fast, and you may need to be flexible, but check the menus here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining on the DIS's home page before you make any reservations.

 

[liquid]

What I did -

I checked the EMH hours and made a list of them for each park. Then I chose a few to hit and a few to miss (they are often back to back and we can't do a late night and then an early morrning the next day), based on what my children most like. I built in time to relax, hang by the pool or whatever, have a few days where we start the day in one park, lunch in that park and then can do whatever we like in the evening, and other days where we are free in the morning to do whatever we want and then plans to be at a certain park that evening for EMH and a dinner adr. A lot of people avoid the EMH crowds but my kids kind of like them, so long as we have already been at that park and ridden everything we wanted when it was not crowded. We will be there for 13 nights, though, so I had more flexibility in planning.

Once I decided which park would be best for each day I made a list of the resturants we wanted and if there were any particular meals we wanted - like only breakfast at the Crystal Palace and lunch, not dinner at Tonys. If you are not sure, look at all the menus to get a feel!

Then I actually made a *chart* (on regular 8x11 paper) of the days I will be there and the hours/parks I chose. Then I wrote the name of each restaurant on small pieces of paper and I moved them around on the chart till I felt like I had a workable plan. Then made my reservations.

Over the next few days I fine-tuned and made a few changes. For example, I assumed that The Living Seas would be open for EPCOT am emh. When I realized that I had not actually checked to see what was open, I quickly saw that the emh hour would not be worth it for my family. So I had to switch two days around. But I still had no problem getting my choice of meals at around the time I wanted every day - it is still early enough, I think.

I hope that made sense!!!

 

[cinnderly]

Thank you both for your replies...

liquid, what's funny is that is exactly how I have begun. I have a chart all set up on my computer with the EMH's on it and the one ADR I've made. That is specifically why I am feeling overwhelmed though! It's a lot of work, and who knows how we will be feeling when we are there. I want to be at the parks in the morning, back at the resort for a swim and some downtime in the afternoon's and then back at the parks in the evening... But which one's and when???

I'm kinda freaking out.

Can anyone who knows tell me which character restaurant's might be the most fun? I think we can choose some of those, and then I'd love some nicer adult type places. My son is pretty flexible and adventurous when it comes to food, so we could eat African, etc.

Any advice would certainly be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Christine]

For me, I *absolutely* must map out my park plan prior to the ADRs. You need to plan your parks based on either EMH or going in reverse and doing the opposite of EMH (which often works). Once you have that down pat, it is very easy for the dining options to fall into place.

There are so many great places to eat, I couldn't begin to tell you which ones. Just start with your touring plan. For instance, on the day you go to Animal Kingdom, try Boma because it is easy to get to.

 

[cinnderly]

Yes, that makes sense.

Oh, but what do you mean by going in reverse?


So, I should definitely hit Chef Mickey's, right? And I am hearing good things about California Grill, but I have no idea where that even is yet. What about Downtown Disney? I want to go there on one of our last night's, and was looking at Wolfgang's, but I forget if that is even on the DDP...

 

[Christine]

Yes, that makes sense.

Oh, but what do you mean by going in reverse?


So, I should definitely hit Chef Mickey's, right? And I am hearing good things about California Grill, but I have no idea where that even is yet. What about Downtown Disney? I want to go there on one of our last night's, and was looking at Wolfgang's, but I forget if that is even on the DDP...

To go in reverse of EMH is this: Say that Magic Kingdom is having EMH in the morning on a Saturday. You don't think you want to do this because you are tired, have a character breakfast that day, etc. Then DO NOT go to Magic Kingdom that day at all. On EMH days, those particular parks tend to be more crowded for the whole day than the other parks. So, if you cannot take advantage of the EMH, then avoid it. Many off-site people cannot do EMH so they tour "opposite" of EMH if that makes sense?

If you've never done Chef Mickey's, I'd say do it. I've been a few times and would not go back because I don't care for the food. Go for breakfast. It is hard to screw up breakfast food. Just my opinion though. You should do what you want.

California Grill is supposed to be very good. I've never tried it myself. It is located on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel. This would be a good dinner if you want to spend the day at MK. Or if you are in another park during the day, want to have an early dinner at Cali. Grill and then head over to MK in the evening? This is what you need to think about.

As for Downtown Disney, it's okay. We have a Wolfgang Pucks here in town and I'm not too thrilled with it. But I do like places like Citricos and Artist Point (they are located in the Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge, respectively).

 

[liquid]

I also printed out the MYW Dining Plan brochure which has a list of the available restaurants organized by location - park, resort, DTD, etc. So, once I knew where I was likely to be I chose a restaurant near there, or one that I can't fit on any other day but I am willing to travel to.

 

[liquid]

...and who knows how we will be feeling when we are there. I want to be at the parks in the morning, back at the resort for a swim and some downtime in the afternoon's and then back at the parks in the evening... But which one's and when???

I'm kinda freaking out.

Can anyone who knows tell me which character restaurant's might be the most fun? I think we can choose some of those, and then I'd love some nicer adult type places. My son is pretty flexible and adventurous when it comes to food, so we could eat African, etc.

Any advice would certainly be appreciated! Thanks.

Since I can't plan for how we are going to feel, I just do the best I can! I plan some emhs and some reverse ones like Christine explained.

Here is an example. On 9/16 the MK is having pm emh. We probably want to be there late, so I have nothing planned for the following morning. But...I don't want to spend the whole day there - too much of a good thing, and we'll have been there a few days earlier, during which time we'll have ridden a lot of important-to-us rides.

So I chose the AK for that day. My crew is not interested in any of the African Restaurants so it is a good thing to choose before a night that we will be having a sitdown dinner. The AK probably won't take us all day, so we can leave there around 2, be back at the hotel 2:45 or so, swim 3-5, shower, dress and be back at the MK in time for our 7pm res at the LTT.

Make sense?

As far as character meals, my son was 5 when we went two years ago and he wants to repeat Chef Mickeys in particular. He also liked the Crystal Palace and the LTT. He is not interested in repeating the Princess meals we did, so we are adding Breakfastasaurus and the Garden Grill this time.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We have a trip this summer with my DD(5 almost 6), Nephew (6) and Niece (4). We planned most of the meals around them and let them choose. Here is what we are doing.

Sci-Fi Dine In-Dinner (Kids are really excited about this one.)
CRT-lunch
Boma-Dinner
Breakfastosaurus-Breakfast
50's Prime Time-lunch
Kona Cafe-Dinner
Coral Reef-lunch (Chosen by my Nephew)
'Ohana-Breakfast (Lilo and Stitch)

As you can see we have 3 character meals. My Nephew chose Coral Reef since he has to be tortured by Princesses. My Mom, sister and I each chose a restaurant as well. I think we have a nice mix.

Check out the menus on allearsnet.com

ETA-the 3 kids have been before and enjoyed Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and LTT. We decided to try different ones this time. DH and I also LOVE California Grill.

 

[cinnderly]

You guys are awesome -- I am printing this all out. Thank you!

Any other info is greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[cinnderly]

Just wanted to say thanks again -- I finally made all the ADR's yesterday and made one small change today. I now feel totally settled and am looking back wondering why I was freaking out so much. lol

I appreciate all your help!