Help w/ ADR w/ Kids

[Cinbride]

This is the first time we have considered making reservations somewhere. Last time (first time our family of 3) went we just had counter service. This time w/ Daughter that is two. I don't think she will be scared of the characters she may shy away at first. She loves Mickey. So if anyone can help get me started in where we may try out. Looking to do a couple places. Going in Feb (yes I know I am running behind) We don't really care for fancy food. Hamburgers and fries are fine with us. Also considering breakfast. She usually starts breaking down 1-2 for nap. Although when we are out she usually does good. Thanks in Advance for your help.

 

[nbsmjs]

We took DS when he was 18 months and he loved it! We did chef mickeys and he was in heaven. We also did crystal palace which he also loved. The buffet character ones were the best for us b/c he was (and still is) a picky eater and the buffets gave us lots of options to try for him and the characters provided entertainment. He also liked the Coral Reef where he could watch the fish. And, believe it or not, he loved Marrakesh b/c he liked watching the sitar player and the belly dancer....

hope that helps!

 

[Thumper729]

We also did Crystal palace fir dinner and our DD 2 loved it. I thought she would be scared of the characters, but she is not. Crystal Palace has the Winnie the Pooh characters. If you want to see Mickey- I would do Chef Mickey's. That is very hard to get into though. I have been trying since the 90 day mark to get into there for our Dec trip.
Good Luck.

 

[Cinbride]

I believe Crystal Palace will be closed in early Feb.
If you can give me the places Mickey will be and any other good places to try out maybe with the princesses? Also the prices for this.
dd is 2. thanks

 

[twinklebug]

I believe Crystal Palace will be closed in early Feb.
If you can give me the places Mickey will be and any other good places to try out maybe with the princesses? Also the prices for this.
dd is 2. thanks

Check out http://allears.net/din/dining.htm - they have just about every menu and price as well as updates on their site.

 

[Cafeen]

I believe Crystal Palace will be closed in early Feb.
If you can give me the places Mickey will be and any other good places to try out maybe with the princesses? Also the prices for this.
dd is 2. thanks

Crystal Palace is closed from Jan 3 (I think) to Feb 14ish.

Mickey - Chef Mickey's (Breakfast/Dinner). Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy are the norm (but subject to change, of course). Large buffet.

Mickey - Garden Grill (Dinner). Micky, Goofy, Chip & Dale are the norm here. Family Style dinner.

For Princesses, there are 3:
Akershus Storybook Dining (any meal). Combination of Family Style hot food and cold food buffet. Normally has Belle greeting in the front (and includes a photo package) and can have Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, Jasmine, and/or Mulan (typically there are 4 "roamers").

Cinderella's Royal Table (Breakfast/Lunch). Pre-plated choices on a fixed price menu. This is a signature dining "experience". Cinderella greets you downstairs (and a photo package is included). Typically upstairs has Belle (blue dress), Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, or Jasmine. (Again, 4 is the common number). Dinner includes Fairy Godmother and two of the mice. No princesses (other than Cinderella greeting downstairs)

1900 Park Fare (Dinner). Buffet. Slightly different than a "pure" princess dinner, but has Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, and the two step sisters.

Other locations include:
- Liberty Tree Tavern (All Meals between Jan 3-Feb 14ish). Minnie, Pluto, Chip & Dale I believe.
- Cape May (Breakfast). Donald and some others
- Tusker House (Breakfast). Donald, Daisy, and others
- Hollywood & Vine (Breakfast and Lunch) June and Leo from Little Einstiens, JoJo and Golaith. (Playhouse Disney characters)
- 'Ohana (Breakfast) Lilo & Stich.

Menus and typical pricing can be found by looking up the restaurants on the Dis Dining page. Note that prices will likely be higher than shown there when you go, but if before the 13th(ish) you should be staying out of holiday pricing, so it shouldn't be that bad.

From personal experience, I would recommend both Chef Mickey's and Akershus.

Chef Mickey's, food-wise, was ok. Nothing great, but not horrible. The characters are the "classic" Disney crew that we all love though. We did breakfast here on our first day in September and it was a good time. Our 2yo really enjoyed it and all the characters were great with her.

Akershus. This place was great overall. We did breakfast here as well and the food was very good, as was service and characters. The free photo package is a nice bonus, and this is definitely a nice alternative to CRT (and a lot cheaper, less credits if on the DDP, and overall a better experience)

We also did breakfast at CRT and lunch at Hollywood & Vine, neither of which I was overly impressed with.

Hollywood and Vine had good characters, but the food left a lot to be desired. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that good either. Service was decent at least.

CRT was a letdown all around. Service was horrible and the characters were pretty impatient for the most part. The food was alright at least. I did not feel that this meal was worth the cost at all (we paid OOP, would have "cost" more had we used TS credits on the DDP).

 

[MissAndrea]

If I'm not mistaken, they moved Pooh and friends to LTT during the CP refurbishment.

 

[Thumper729]

If I'm not mistaken, they moved Pooh and friends to LTT during the CP refurbishment.

I think you're right. They made LTT a character place due to the refurb of CP

 

[danielle.st]

If you are paying out of pocket and like simple foods anyway, I'd stick with breakfast buffets. They are cheaper and the breakfast foods are always yummy You can try for a late breakfast and call it brunch.
We loved every character breakfast buffet we tried... Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, Hollywood & Vine, Tusker House.

Cape May is at The Beach Club Resort and might be a bit easier to get into than some of the park ones. It has Goofy, Minnie and Donald.

Tusker House is in Animal Kingdom and does have Mickey, as well as Goofy, Daisy, and Donald. Yummy food

Hollywood & Vine had the Little Einstein characters as wll as Jojo and Goliath from Jojo's circus. Those were probably the friendliest characters we saw all week. We loved the food too.

Also, we didn't go to Ohana for breakfast, but my understanding is that Mickey visits there too.

 

[AirGoofy]

Hollywood and Vine had good characters, but the food left a lot to be desired. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that good either. Service was decent at least.

CRT was a letdown all around. Service was horrible and the characters were pretty impatient for the most part. The food was alright at least. I did not feel that this meal was worth the cost at all (we paid OOP, would have "cost" more had we used TS credits on the DDP).

While we thought breakfast food at H&V was not as good, the breakfast food at CRT was great. We have been several times, and DDs (7,5) enjoy the princesses, getting picture with Cinderalla when you walk in, and all the princesses were there. I agree the price is excessive, but it is Disney! We did try lunch there, and that food was awful! The food at the princess breakfast at Akershus is much better, price cheaper, picture with Belle, and we have had pictures there with Ariel (with legs) and Mulan, which he have not found at CRT.

The best Mickey Breakfast for us was Ohana. There was more room in the restaurant, table side service, that juice they bring is great, and food was excellent as well.

 

[djp0630]

Mickey is at Chef Mickey's (Breakfast&Dinner), Tusker House breakfast, 'Ohana breakfast and Garden Grill (Dinner). May be at LTT during Jan & Feb. Cape May breakfast has Minnie, Donald & Goofy, not Mickey.

Try to get Akershus for the Princesses, probably easier to get than CRT.

 

[Cinbride]

Oh this is so confusing. How does everyone 'plan' on when to eat? I feel like it may be to hectic to do it.
It can either be Mickey or Minnie.
I will try that one for the princesses.

We will probably do late breakfast or lunch.
What is the cancellation policys?
Is there a place to show how much each of these cost and if my DD 2 eats free?
Can I do this online?

thanks a bunch

 

[AirGoofy]

Oh this is so confusing. How does everyone 'plan' on when to eat? Can I do this online?

(1) Go to the top of this board and in the second menu bar, select "dining".

(2) Scroll down, under Disney Dining on the left, select "character dining".

(3) Each restaurant in a link to their menu, when characters appear, and maybe prices.

Or, just go to Disney every year or twice a year and memorize these like the rest of us.

 

[djp0630]

Oh this is so confusing. How does everyone 'plan' on when to eat? I feel like it may be to hectic to do it.
It can either be Mickey or Minnie.
I will try that one for the princesses.

We will probably do late breakfast or lunch.
What is the cancellation policys?
Is there a place to show how much each of these cost and if my DD 2 eats free?
Can I do this online?

thanks a bunch

We do early breakfasts (8AM), lunches (~11:30) or dinners (~5/5:30) with my young kids. On our last trips, the breakfasts were great and the dinners were ok, there were a couple meltdowns. We are going again in May and are doing mostly breakfasts (no lunches) and dinners. We aren't doing lunches as much as the places we want to eat mainly only have character breakfasts. We ate at Akershus for lunch and it was very nice. We are doing breakfast this time as we have a reservation for Le Cellier for dinner the same day and I wanted to space it out a bit.

If you book one of the princess meals, Akershus or CRT, there is a 48 cancellation policy. They take your credit card to guarantee if you are on the dining plan or you pay in full at booking. If you don't show up, they charge up to the full price (it's $10/person at Akershus, I think). The other character meals don't have a cancellatin policy, you can cancel the day of. Your DD2 will eat free. All kids can eat off the adults plate or if there is a buffet, eat whatever all for free. The menus & prices are at http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

Yes, you can book online at 6AM 180 days before your arrival date. If you stay onsite you can book 180 days ahead for up to 10 days of your trip, if you have your reservation #. To book online go to:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/restaurants/ You search on your restaurant and click the link that says Book a Reservation. Then retrieve your reservation (at top) then choose date, time, # people etc. It's really very easy.

 

[Cinbride]

WOW that was pretty painless.

I got Chef Mickeys on Sat at 9:20
and Epcot Princess on Tuesday at 9:35.
I figured that was a good time by time we get everyone up and ready. I don't want to have to rush there for 8. We are slow starters lol

I think I may make a few more or try to. Maybe try a few places for dinner? We are staying at WL.


okay I'm getting really excited now.
thanks all.