Help with ADR's for Party of 7

[Southernswthrt]

Hi everyone! We will be going to WDW in December with a party of 7 - 3 adults, 1 senior, two 5-yr olds and a toddler. I need help deciding on ADR's - mainly character meals as my 180-day window opens in 3 days

Some general questions -

• Is it difficult to get an ADR for 7?
• What happens if only half of the party shows up?
• Is 8 am early enough that we will be able to get to the attractions with the rest of the rope drop crowd?

We know for sure we want to do the Princess Breakfast at Akershus.
Another one that I'm pretty sure about is Tusker House breakfast. My great debate about this one is whether to do TH on our first full day or wait until later in the week? I want to go to MK the first day, but it would also be great to have breakfast with the main characters the very first morning as well. And my favorite thing in the whole world is FOTLK


Other meals I'm tossing around are lunch at H&V, CP Lunch or Dinner, and Cape May Breakfast. Non-character - 50's PT, Ohana, Cape May Dinner (Clambake) - are the crab legs really worth it???

We are there for 6 full days and we want one meal in the park each day. We are staying at WBC and have TIW. First time with kids in a LONG time so I'm out of the loop with the character meals.

I've been getting lost in these boards and confusing myself more than getting decisions made....TIA for your thoughts and suggestions!

 

[wdw4rfam]

We had 7 in march. No problems getting adr's at all. My parents went and there was two times they ended up not going with us to dinner and there was no problems with just 5 showing up. According to the policy on the website, you will not be charged, and we weren't.
We did Obama dinner and bfast, both are must do's. I don't recommend h&v lunch, and I am not alone. The bfast is much better with the same characters. Cp is a great lunch or dinner you should do.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Booking for a party of 7 shouldn't be too tough if you book on day 180. Based on experiences, I'd book 'Ohana dinner first. If you're going for the 8am at Tusker- you may also want to book that early on in the process. Oddly enough, we found spots limited at 50s pt when we booked a few weeks ago.

As for those early adrs... I've only done Akershus lunch and dinner, but I've heard breakfast is about the same timing...and if that's the case, it will probably take more than an hour.Tusker on the other hand should get you out right around park opening if you have the 8 am or just a little after.

As for when to do Tusker...I'm a big MK on the first day person, so if it were me I'd push it to later in the trip...but considering you're a fan of FotLK- you might want to bump it up to day 1.

I agree w/the PP about Hollywood & Vine. The bad lunch and dinner reviews have kept us away from those meals, but we LOVED breakfast there.

 

[jagafen]

As for when to do Tusker...I'm a big MK on the first day person, so if it were me I'd push it to later in the trip...but considering you're a fan of FotLK- you might want to bump it up to day 1. QUOTE]

Just for a different perspective...AK is usually our first park on our trips...especially if we're tired from traveling. We do AK first to help us acclimate to the heat (but that may not be as much of an issue for you) and to do a "little bit of Disney" on our first full day.

Besides, nowhere is it written that a disney vacation has to start at the MK!

 

[Southernswthrt]

Thanks for the replies! Just thought of 2 more questions:

• My DD will be 20 months. How does that work at buffets, family style, and regular restaurants? Will I have to pay for her, buy a kids meal, or will they let her eat off my plate?
• Can I make a reservation under my name for others in my party if I will not attend that meal?

Based on the comments, here's my current plan:
Sunday - CP (B) / MK
Monday - RA (B) / EP
Tuesday - Ohana (D)/ HS
Wednesday - no ADR's / MK (pm for Wishes & MSEP)
Thursday - TH (B) / AK
Friday - 50's PT (L/D) / HS (pm for Fantasmic)

So only Wed with no ADR - thinking maybe 1900 Park Fare - read a lot of good things about characters there but not so good about food...should we wing it or make an ADR somewhere around MK for L/D?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[goteamwood]

We are going in Oct/Nov with a party of 8, including two 2-year-olds. I spoke to the helpful folks at the ADR line about the kids under 3 and they said they can share your plate no charge, or you can order off the menu for them - including buffets. We had no problems getting ADR for 8 for 'Ohana dinner, Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace character breakfasts, Garden Grill Character dinner, Tusker House Character lunch plus '50 Prime time dinner. All for 8 people. I did jump on at day 180 though.

Good luck!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I got adr's for 11 and I was switching them up everyday because I couldnt choose!

 

[butterfly71076]

Hi everyone! We will be going to WDW in December with a party of 7 - 3 adults, 1 senior, two 5-yr olds and a toddler. I need help deciding on ADR's - mainly character meals as my 180-day window opens in 3 days

Some general questions -

• Is it difficult to get an ADR for 7?
• What happens if only half of the party shows up?
• Is 8 am early enough that we will be able to get to the attractions with the rest of the rope drop crowd?

We know for sure we want to do the Princess Breakfast at Akershus.
Another one that I'm pretty sure about is Tusker House breakfast. My great debate about this one is whether to do TH on our first full day or wait until later in the week? I want to go to MK the first day, but it would also be great to have breakfast with the main characters the very first morning as well. And my favorite thing in the whole world is FOTLK


Other meals I'm tossing around are lunch at H&V, CP Lunch or Dinner, and Cape May Breakfast. Non-character - 50's PT, Ohana, Cape May Dinner (Clambake) - are the crab legs really worth it???

We are there for 6 full days and we want one meal in the park each day. We are staying at WBC and have TIW. First time with kids in a LONG time so I'm out of the loop with the character meals.

I've been getting lost in these boards and confusing myself more than getting decisions made....TIA for your thoughts and suggestions!

We went to H&V lunch last year, we loved it! Thought the food was good, hot stuff was hot, cold stuff cold, kids section, while a bit messy, was the same. Characters were great! We had several interactions with each character, and DS loved dancing with Jake to some of the pirates songs.
I try not to listen and exprience things for ourselves. If I would have followed the majority on this one, we would have missed a meal we really enjoyed. Same thing with Mama Melrose. We really enjoyed our F! Lunch. Thought the food was great as well as the service! Most people don't like it.

We have been to Tusker House, 3 years in a row, we absolutely love it! We consider it the best character breakfast in WDW.

Ohana, without a doubt, for dinner. We love it and, this year, I have 2 reservations for dinner!!

Hope you enjoy your trip!!!

 

[xstitches]

I took my twin girls to 1900 PF for dinner, we loved it. The character interaction was great, and unlike others we enjoyed the food! We are going back again in nine days. As long as we have a great time I will make another ADR for January.

 

[Southernswthrt]

Thanks for the replies! I've made the following ADRs:

CP - Sun - 8:35 (earliest I could get! ) We'll miss rope drop for sure but hope the crowds won't be too bad when we're done.

RA - Mon 8 am

Th - Thurs 8:10

Also made a Tuesday ADR for 50's PT but debating whether or not to keep it. Sorry I didn't do Ohana like I had originally planned...just not sure the whole party would go for Ohana...

 

[Southernswthrt]

So now I'm playing the "let's switch our ADR's 100 times" game...LOL

I've made more than I will likely keep, but wanted to have the option to cancel as my plans become more finalized. So here it is:

Saturday - 7 pm Dinner @ Rainforest Cafe DTD
Debating on whether to keep this one because we arrive at 2:40, check in at resort @ 4 pm, and somehow need to make it over to DTD to trade my voucher for annual pass and also get to the grocery store in between...Thinking maybe counter service or off-site somewhere so we don't have to be tied to a reservation??? Am I crazy?

Sunday - 8:35 am Breakfast @ Crystal Palace MK
Seriously thinking of cancelling this one. It's later than I had hoped for, so we will miss rope drop. But it is still before the park opens... No one in our group is wild about Pooh & Friends, and we could save some money by eating in the room. What should I do?

Sunday - 6:55 pm Dinner @ Whispering Canyon Cafe WL
This is another one I'm debating on keeping. Great reason to visit this resort because it's beautiful at Christmastime. Not sure about all the antics, but hear the food is pretty decent and "down home".

Monday - 8 am Breakfast @ Royal Akershus EP

Monday - 8:20 pm dinner @ Ohana Poly
Plan is to watch Wishes @ 8 on the beach, then eat dinner, then possibly catch the Electrical Water Pageant from the beach

Wednesday - 11:30 am lunch @ Rainforest Cafe DTD
This one will likely stay because we plan to shop there in the morning and head to MK in the afternoon on this day.

Thursday - 8:10 am breakfast @Tusker House AK

Thursday - 6 pm dinner @ House of Blues
This one will likely go because we can eat there at home. We'll likely be at DTD again this afternoon since this is our AK day. Would love to try Raglan Road, but not sure the rest of my party would go for that. Most of the places we're picking are more kid-centric. Also thinking of off-site for this one.

Friday - 6:45 dinner @ Chef Mickey's
My thought here was that it's our last night and I want to end the trip with a bang for my niece who is 5. It doesn't necessarily mean that we need to go here. Besides, it's expensive! Other options are 1900 Park Fare - she does like Cinderella and the evil stepsisters. Maybe take part in the Campfire Sing Along at Fort Wilderness? Or maybe switch the O'hana reservations to this night and watch Holiday Wishes at 9:30 from Poly (not sure this would be as fun for her as a character interaction), but the fireworks are really neat from Poly beach!

So any further suggestions/comments would be appreciated!

 

[Southernswthrt]

subbing for updates

Thanks again for the comments

 

[danceintherain]

Do you live on the west coast?
Otherwise, I think your times are on the late side with kids. As nice as watching Wishes and the Water Pageant from the beach at the Poly sounds, I see logistical problems with kids, unless you're staying nearby. I'm in the group that likes to enforce bedtime as much as possible on vacation, since I know my kid will be up at the crack of dawn no matter what. Others will disagree, and you know your kids best.

I would cancel the Rainforest Cafe, especially since you're planning on eating here later in your trip. Eating off property is a perfectly fine idea, or I don't imagine you'll have a hard time finding a place to walk up in DTD. You could always call WDW-DINE and see if there's anything available once you have a better idea of your time frame.

I haven't done CP yet, because it's simply not a priority for me. If it wasn't likely that I'd be able to participate in Rope Drop, I wouldn't want a before opening ADR. Part of the reasoning behind getting up early is to take advantage of the low crowds. If I wasn't going to be able to start riding until closer to 10am, it wouldn't be worth it for me.

I'm not a huge fan of dinner at the resorts, because of the difficulty of getting there, so I probably wouldn't do WCC unless I was staying there. We use Disney transportation and take midday breaks though.

I LOVED the character interaction at 1900 Park Fare, but hated the food. It would be a fun way to end your trip.

 

[Southernswthrt]

Thanks for your comments! I think I will cancel the DTD for Saturday, CP on Monday, and HOB on Thursday. We're from the other LA - Louisiana We'll be staying at Bonnet Creek, so fairly close by the park, and plan on midday breaks. Right now, not 100% sure that the whole group will attend the dinner meals. We figured we had some time to iron all that out!

I do agree that the Ohana reservation is late, and I will continue to try to get an earlier ADR but they're sooooo hard to get!

We will have a rental car, so getting to the resorts won't be a problem. I actually prefer taking my own car over DT!