Help with selecting Restaurants - First WDW Trip

[darcoops]

I love your choices! All places we adore. I would consider also Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. Either just for ice cream ( the kitchen sink? ) or for lunch/dinner and dessert. It is a small restaurant so gets quite booked up. But it's def worth the experience we love it! It's even worth paying oop for an ice cream I would say.

Once the kids seen the photo's of the kitchen sink, it was on the must do list. My 14 y.o DS thinks he would demolish one by himself!!!!

 

[darcoops]

"Timely manner" for BOG is the day before, exactly as it is for all the restaurants at WDW, and the no cancellation/no show fee is also the same... $10 pp on the reservation charged to your cc. No extra added fee, or charge.

Thanks for that advice, really appreciated.

 

[darcoops]

TH and CP are both good, but are different.Personally, if I was choosing breakfast, I woudl look at TH. I like the location. But if I wanted dinner, I would choose CP. There is something quite magical about sitting in the Crystal Palace in the evening. It is pretty any time of day, but evenings are especially lovely. I also appreciate the break because if we are in the MK at night, it means we are staying for evening entertainment.

AS was advised above, you can now use your credits for CRT and for HDDR. I know that this is personal preference, but given a choice of only one, I think I would choose CRT, but if your goal is Princesses, Have you considered Akershus in Epcot? I prefer breakfast, it is AYCTE and is very good, It is expensive so it is a good use of TS credit, even for breakfast. Epcot has so many really nice dining options, that it seems a shame that you have not booked any there. Young people like Coral Reef. THe food and service can be hit or miss, but it is still worth considering, as is San Angel Inn, if you like Mexican. Again, the theme is pure Disney, dining in the Pyramid!

Truthfully, I would look at the buffets, think about why you are choosing them and then explore your options. If you want to do a 2 credit meal, and you know how your family eats, you can think about choosing two TS meals that have larger portions, add an appetizer or two OOP, and then split two meals for 4 people. YOu do this twice and you have one more meal included. You will need to pay OOP for the child's additional meal, but you may be able to stretch your meals and will not be ordering food that you cannot finish. You cannot do this at Via Napolui, or any buffet, dinner show or AYCTE restaurant though, so you will need to really preplan.

AS to BOG 3 times, you will need to be very careful about canceling in a timely manner if you decide you booked it too often. You do not want to be charged with a fee.

Thanks for the advice, didn't even realise we had nothing booked at Epcot.

Have read they have the best and biggest variety of snack & there QS options are very good also. Is this good option?

If not might have to talk one of the kids into re picking there "Must Do's" with Epcot the only option!!!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Once the kids seen the photo's of the kitchen sink, it was on the must do list. My 14 y.o DS thinks he would demolish one by himself!!!!

I am pleased! We saw quite a few couples in there having enjoying one just the two of them! I have heard there was one teenager who ate one by himself ... if the legend is true I don't know! Do enjoy your trip! Long flight for you guys I thought we had it tough from the UK. Do you stop over?

 

[Mousetopia]

One of the biggest things that cross up first time visitors and even veterans is time management and how long it will take to get from one side of WDW to the other. You have a Lot of travelling for meals planned. If meals are more important than the parks, perfect! Otherwise you may want to rethink. Resort to resort is difficult. Try Uber for that to save time, but you will still lose a big chuck of time. My best advise is plan parks first..what day where then chose dining for its location and convenience.

 

[darcoops]

I am pleased! We saw quite a few couples in there having enjoying one just the two of them! I have heard there was one teenager who ate one by himself ... if the legend is true I don't know! Do enjoy your trip! Long flight for you guys I thought we had it tough from the UK. Do you stop over?

Yes very long flight. Flying United as they had the best deals. Mel to LAX. LAX to SFO. SFO to MCO. Estimated 25.5 hrs. Long way about and could have gone LAX to Houston then to MCO in 21 or 22 hrs. But felt the layover wasn't long enough. Only an hour or so between flights. Without getting delayed I don't think we would make it the connecting flight. The to make matter worse a flight from LAX to Orlando has just shown up on the United website, but it is double the price and as we got the special flights no flexibility to change. But might call them and try!!!!! Anyway we are that excited about the trip, we just looking forward to taking off.

 

[darcoops]

One of the biggest things that cross up first time visitors and even veterans is time management and how long it will take to get from one side of WDW to the other. You have a Lot of travelling for meals planned. If meals are more important than the parks, perfect! Otherwise you may want to rethink. Resort to resort is difficult. Try Uber for that to save time, but you will still lose a big chuck of time. My best advise is plan parks first..what day where then chose dining for its location and convenience.

Thanks for the info. We have sort of planned our meals around the park days and making the travel more convenient, but will still have to do a bit of travelling for some. Parks are more important, but also looking forward to the food/restaurants.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Yes very long flight. Flying United as they had the best deals. Mel to LAX. LAX to SFO. SFO to MCO. Estimated 25.5 hrs. Long way about and could have gone LAX to Houston then to MCO in 21 or 22 hrs. But felt the layover wasn't long enough. Only an hour or so between flights. Without getting delayed I don't think we would make it the connecting flight. The to make matter worse a flight from LAX to Orlando has just shown up on the United website, but it is double the price and as we got the special flights no flexibility to change. But might call them and try!!!!! Anyway we are that excited about the trip, we just looking forward to taking off.

That is a long trip but totally worth it! Shame you can't swap your flights to a direct flight from LAX to MCO always worth asking. Fingers crossed!

 

[jimmytammy]

01/12 - Breakfast: BOG (QS)N/O only done lunch. Atmosphere is outstanding!
Dinner: Trails end Restaurant *We prefer the breakfast here

01/13 - Breakfast: 1900 Park FareOnly done dinner here, but its a buffet for all meals. Character interaction is good
Dinner: Hoop Dee DooLots of fun, food is good

01/14 - Dinner: Sci FiNot real big on this one, prefer Mama Melrose

01/15 - Dinner: BOG Friends love the dinner here

01/16 - Lunch: Beaches & Cream (Most likely pay out of pocket)Just as an alternative, ESPN at Boardwalk would be my choice
Dinner: O'hanaGreat meal

01/17 - Breakfast: Tusker House*Friends rave about it
Dinner: Whispering CanyonIts fun and you can order off menu. Resort is best on property IMO

01/18 - Lunch: 50's Prime Time*This is a must do for us every trip. Keep it, I don't think you will be disappointed
Dinner: T-RexN/O

01/19 Breakfast: Crystal Palace*I would skip, characters are cool, but its a buffet
Lunch: BOG (QS)Once you have been to BOG dinner, lunch may disappoint
Dinner: CRTJust to eat in castle is awesome

01/20 Dinner: 1900 Park Fare *

Better choices around monorail IMO. The Wave, Kona, and Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[richmo]

Not going to get too specific, but I see you took out Trail's End. Not a bad decision as the food is very similar to what you get at Hoop Dee Do.

Especially since you're going on a cruise right after this and are trying to cut down on buffets, I might be inclined to ditch 1900 Park Fare for dinner, especially since you'll hit it for breakfast earlier in the trip. I'm also not big on having two TS meals a day...that's a lot of food. The day that really stands out at me is the 19th with two big meals breakfast/dinner and a fairly large lunch at BOG (and many will say that they prefer BOG's lunch over dinner). The only other comment I'd have, that is mentioned earlier, is that its always nice to have an Epcot dinner scheduled, and you don't have that. One possible suggestion, since you have family, is Via Napoli -- they have an excellent family sized pizza (Mezzo Metro, I think) that would serve all of you.

 

[darcoops]

Not going to get too specific, but I see you took out Trail's End. Not a bad decision as the food is very similar to what you get at Hoop Dee Do.

Especially since you're going on a cruise right after this and are trying to cut down on buffets, I might be inclined to ditch 1900 Park Fare for dinner, especially since you'll hit it for breakfast earlier in the trip. I'm also not big on having two TS meals a day...that's a lot of food. The day that really stands out at me is the 19th with two big meals breakfast/dinner and a fairly large lunch at BOG (and many will say that they prefer BOG's lunch over dinner). The only other comment I'd have, that is mentioned earlier, is that its always nice to have an Epcot dinner scheduled, and you don't have that. One possible suggestion, since you have family, is Via Napoli -- they have an excellent family sized pizza (Mezzo Metro, I think) that would serve all of you.

Thanks for the info. Have cancelled the Crystal Palace Breakfast, brought our lunch at BOG forward and booked DD into BBB so she is dressed as a princesses for our CRT dinner.