Help with ADRs

[mommy4]

Hi! We still have some time before we have to make ADRs we are not going until November, but I wanted to ask how you decided what park you were going to that much in advance? We don't have park hopper, so we need to be careful about where we want to be when. We are on the DDP.
Thanks

going in November 08 with a 7,5,3, and 1 year old!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We go during the last week of May through the first full week of June. We don't like going to the Magic Kingdom on weekends as it always seems more crowded on weekends.

The other things I factor in are:

1) Whether or not there are two evening parades at the Magic Kingdom;

2) Whether or not there are two showings of Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios;

3) What park has extra magic hours on what day.

Now that our son is 11, we are able to take advantage of the later hours when any of the three things above are happening.

The theme park hours are posted six months in advance. In the meantime, I would suggest you start checking out the menus for each of the Disney restaurants. Menus and prices can be found here on these boards and also over at www.allearsnet.com under Dining. This way, when the park hours come out, you already know where you want to eat.

Since you don't have park hoppers I would suggest that you eat in the theme park that you are actually in on that particular day. We do this and it is just so much easier for us.

We use our counter service credits at lunch and our table service credits for dinner. I usually make our ADRs for about 7:00 p.m. Table service meals normally take about an hour to an hour and a half (depending on where you eat). You can take your time on your meal and still have time for the night time entertainment.

I hope that this helps in your decision making process.

 

[GatorLady]

I would avoid the parks with EMH (evening). People will start to arrive to take advantage of these hours making it more crowded, and with your children being the ages they are, I wouldn't think it would be something you're going to be able to take advantage of.

I think checking out the menus is a good idea too. Also, just keeping reading these boards, there is a wealth of information here.

 

[The Lion King]

Since you don't have park hoppers I would suggest that you eat in the theme park that you are actually in on that particular day. We do this and it is just so much easier for us.

This is what I did for our upcoming trip. We only have 3 days to visit the parks/no hopper. So, I just decided that the first day would be MK and picked a restaurant for dinner there Crystal Palace. The next day is AK and we are going to Tusker House. Our last day is DHS/MGM and we are going to Prime Time Cafe. The morning we check out we are going to Cape May for a character breakfast then hitting the road to come back home.

Hi! We still have some time before we have to make ADRs we are not going until November, but I wanted to ask how you decided what park you were going to that much in advance? We don't have park hopper, so we need to be careful about where we want to be when. We are on the DDP.
Thanks

going in November 08 with a 7,5,3, and 1 year old!

 

[weHEARTmickey]

I'm not sure how many nights you are staying, and that would factor in on the decisions. We normally stay 9 nights & we like to plan 2 days at water parks, along w/ 1 day to "goof off" & play at the resort. For those 3 nights, we try to eat dinner at the different resorts. With the ages of your little darlings, these would be my choices for the parks:

MK--Crystal Palace (we've had lunch & dinner, but I've heard b-fast is wonderful, too.) The kids just love the whole Pooh gang.
and/or MK--O'hana's (at Poly) for b-fast w/ Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, & Pluto (Stitch may be scary to the babies??)
EPCOT--Garden Grill-- Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale spend lots of time w/ each table.
DHS--Hollywood & Vine breakfast (Even though we didn't love the food, your kids will probably LOVE the Playhouse Disney characters)
AK--Tusker House breakfast w/ Donald (We used to go to Breakfastosaurus w/ Donald, but they don't do that...so this will be our 1st summer at Tusker House)
extra--Chef Mickey's at Contemporary--again, the food is not great, but your little ones will have some great characters coming to their table (rather than all of you waiting in a long, hot line for pictures & autographs)