Help with TS restaurants

[Celidh]

My partner and I are going to be at WDW September 29 - October 6. We are staying at CSR and have free dining. We will also be childless.

This is only our second trip but first with the regular dining plan. How do you decide ahead of time where you want to eat. I don't know what I want to eat tomorrow, how can I choose for September?!?!

Seriously though, I have never ate at the table service restaurants so have no idea what I like. We also don't really want to plan each park day in advance in case we don't feel like doing a certain park on a given day or if the weather forecast is bad. We may not do AK at all but will definitely be doing DTD.

We want to try Rainforest Cafe or Raglan Road at DTD, leaning towards Rainforest Cafe because we are intrigued by the theme.

We thought that we would maybe only make 3 or 4 ADRs and take a risk on our other meals, knowing that we can always get a qs instead. I was thinking that if we are flexible in the times we eat and where, getting a couple walk up ts may not be impossible, although I realize that ADRs are the better idea.

Another note, we don't have fancy tastes but are willing to try new things. I can be a little hesitant about new things sometimes though.

Any suggestions for planning and places to eat will be great. We also hope that the buffet at Pepper Market is still there when we go because we are both looking forward to the breakfast. We will do that a couple of days, have a snack for lunch and then have an early supper.

Thanks in advance.

 

[graceesmom]

Are you renting a car or using Disney Transportation? Will you have hoppers or 1 park/day tickets?

If using Disney transportation and no hoppers, then making dining plans is a bit more difficult.

We tend to either 1) book dinners at the resorts instead of in the parks. That may not be very convenient if you don't have a car and are not staying at a resort where there is easy access to TS restaurants or 2) book dinners in Epcot because of the variety and good food there. This is fine if you have hoppers, but wouldn't work if you don't.

 

[cigar95]

The six month thing really isn't an issue. If there's a restaurant that you think you might find interesting tomorrow or Sunday or next week, you'd probably also find it interesting come September. So the thing is just to pick out things that interest you and not worry about how far away that trip is. It's a fairly good bet that your tastes will still be the same when your trip arrives.

I just came back from a trip, and have no idea when I'm going again. But I spent a few minutes this afternoon thinking about at which places I'd like to eat during my next visit. It might not be for two years, but they still interest me - or, in a few cases, they no longer interest me, and I'm pretty confident I will still not be interested a year or more from now.

 

[DisneyMom2Boyz]

I would book some reservations anyway, you can always cancel. I got a great tip from a friend to do your table service for lunch where you'll be instead of planning your day and then where you will be at night. We like to eat a late dinner about 7pm so we have time in the middle of the day to go back to the pool and relax and go back out for the night. Hope this can help.

Resturants we like are: whispering canyon, liberty tree, 50 prime, and ohana

 

[nolanboys]

A good place to look is allears.net. They list all the menus at the restaurants. You can get a good idea of where you want to eat from that.

Just my opinion, but I would skip Rainforest Cafe. The food is only OK and is more of a kid's place - I would go for Raglen Road since it is an adults only trip.

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

I would definitely recommend the Lunch TS plan... I really don't like a HUGE dinner anyway....

It's hard to recommend dining to you as you do not note your preferences...

1. Do you want character dining?
2. What types of food you like
3. Do you like/dislike buffets?
etc....

We LOVE : Teppan Edo, Le Cellier , CRT, 50's Prime Time, Yak & Yeti, 'Ohana Character Breakfast, California Grill, Fantasmic Dining,

LIKE: H&V Buffet, Cape May Dinner Buffet, Beaches & Cream,

Have a Magical Visit !
Mary

 

[minnie mum]

The problem is that you are going during free dining. There will be VERY heavy demand at the TS restaurants, and ADRs will be almost a necessity if you want to eat in any park or at any of the popular resort restaurants.

It's all well and good to be fancy free and go where the wind blows you when the crowds are low, there's no free dining, or you're only doing CS. But throw FD into the mix and you're asking for disappointment if you go without ADRs. We were there at exactly the same time last fall, and without fail, every evening we saw walkups being turned away from TS restaurants. It would be a real shame if you ended up with a handful of unused TS credits at the end of our stay, or were forced to use them for CS meals because you hadn't made any ADRs.That's just a waste.

I find it much less stressful to check out the recommended parks, know which park I'll be going to each day (or which days will be non-park days) and then make ADRs that are convenient for us on each of those days.

If you are unfamiliar with the restaurants then do a little research to learn about each of the park restaurants and what their menu's look like. And check out the resort restaurants too. See which ones appeal to you. Check out a few of the reviews. If you have a question about a restaurant, well that's what we're here for. We'd be glad to answer any questions you have.

 

[Celidh]

To answer a few questions... We will not be renting a car so will be relying upon Disney transportation.

We don't have parkhoppers but have left them off with the plans of adding if need be when we get there.

We do like buffets but don't have any definite plans for a character meal. We could take it or leave it depending on whether we want the food there.

The six months in advance doesn't really bother me too much it is just that if we make a reservation say in Mk but when we are there decide on that day that we would rather to another park or stay at the resort then we have to cancel that reservation and find something else. I have come to the realization that is just a fact and we will have to deal with it. Is it a pain to try and get through to cancel ADRs?

As far as what kind of food, I really haven't been exposed to many different types of food and can be a little hesitant if it is something I haven't had before. Another thing I guess I have to get over!

We wouldnt mind too much if we had to use a few of our TS credits for QS. It would be different if we had paid OOP for the dining plan though.

I have the allears site bookmarked (this one too) and have been over the menus. I know there are some restaurants that I look at the menu and think that there would be nothing there that appeals to me so I know those ones would be out.

Rose and Crown sounds good in Epcot. Any comments on this?

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

[hollywoodprincess91]

Some of the ADRs require a credit card when you book and if you cancel too close to the reservation time, you will be charged for no show.

 

[minnie mum]

Rose and Crown might be a very good choice for an Epcot day, especially if you aren't very adventurous. We like the food, love the ales, and dream of their Sticky Toffee Pudding. Another 'safe' choice at Epcot could be Biergarten. It is a buffet with a wide variety of choices.

As a PP mentioned, SOME of the restaurants require a credit card number to hold the ADR. If you cancel these reservations with less than 24 hrs notice, or don't show up, you will be charged a cancellation fee.

My suggestion is to tentatively plan your park days and make your initial reservations based on convenience (ie: a WS restaurant on an Epcot day or a monorail resort restaurant on a MK day). As you get closer to your visit, and you've had more time to refine your research or you change your mind, you can cancel existing ADRs and make new ones. It doesn't have to be a painful process- Many of us actually enjoy the planning!!

Oh- one other thing: if you really don't want to get PHs and are worried about changing parks and having an ADR at the wrong park, consider doing some of your ADRs at the resorts. That way you can enjoy the restaurant no matter what park you're at that day.

 

[cigar95]

As a PP mentioned, SOME of the restaurants require a credit card number to hold the ADR. If you cancel these reservations with less than 24 hrs notice, or don't show up, you will be charged a cancellation fee

Just to avoid potential problems, remember that the cancellation deadline is MORE than 24 hours. There must be a full calendar day between cancellation and reservation, so that any Thursday meal must be cancelled by the end of the day on Tuesday, for example.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

How do you decide ahead of time where you want to eat. I don't know what I want to eat tomorrow, how can I choose for September?!?!

You make some reservations now, based on what you MIGHT enjoy. Then you change most of your reservations a day or two ahead of time (remembering, as others have said, to cancel two days ahead for signature restaurants if you don't want to go).

I've been monitoring available reservations at various times of year for some time now, and unless you're very picky about what to eat or when to eat, or it is Christmas week, there is nearly always a decent choice of places 24 hours ahead of time at every park (except maybe Magic Kingdom, where there aren't really any decent choices to begin with...) and at many of the resorts.

You're going during a very slow week to begin with. This week right now is a very busy week. As of right now, there are reservations available for two people for tomorrow evening within 30 minutes either way of 6pm at such places as Tusker House, Yak & Yeti, Hollywood Brown Derby, Sci-Fi Dine-in Theatre, Bistro de Paris, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining, Citrico's, and Narcoossee's, to name just a few. SO you will have very little trouble, I'm sure.

There are really only a very few places where you need firm reservations months ahead of time: some of the character dining, for instance, which may not interest you as a childless couple (e.g. Cinderella's Royal Table). if you want to go to Victoria and Albert's, you definitely want to reserve as far in advance as possible. 'Ohana is another one that does seem to fill up very early. And dinner shows may well sell out. But these are the exceptions.

 

[Celidh]

You make some reservations now, based on what you MIGHT enjoy. Then you change most of your reservations a day or two ahead of time (remembering, as others have said, to cancel two days ahead for signature restaurants if you don't want to go).

I've been monitoring available reservations at various times of year for some time now, and unless you're very picky about what to eat or when to eat, or it is Christmas week, there is nearly always a decent choice of places 24 hours ahead of time at every park (except maybe Magic Kingdom, where there aren't really any decent choices to begin with...) and at many of the resorts.

You're going during a very slow week to begin with. This week right now is a very busy week. As of right now, there are reservations available for two people for tomorrow evening within 30 minutes either way of 6pm at such places as Tusker House, Yak & Yeti, Hollywood Brown Derby, Sci-Fi Dine-in Theatre, Bistro de Paris, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining, Citrico's, and Narcoossee's, to name just a few. SO you will have very little trouble, I'm sure.

There are really only a very few places where you need firm reservations months ahead of time: some of the character dining, for instance, which may not interest you as a childless couple (e.g. Cinderella's Royal Table). if you want to go to Victoria and Albert's, you definitely want to reserve as far in advance as possible. 'Ohana is another one that does seem to fill up very early. And dinner shows may well sell out. But these are the exceptions.

I had been thinking that it may not be too hard to get a last minute reservation or possibly a walk up at some places since we are only a party of two. Some have said we should have reservations either way. We will most likely make some ahead of time and have a few where we just wing it and live with what we get. I know it's not a great use of a TS credit but we wouldn't mind having to get QS instead if it came down to it.

I really don't want to have to spend time during my vacation on the phone making and cancelling reservations. Does this take a long time? Can it be done from the room and will they charge the call to the room? We are from Canada and haven't decided for sure to pay the $50 each or so to have cell phone service in the US, so may not have the use of a cell phone and as such would have to rely on the phone in the room or guest services.

Thank you for your input.

 

[shannonstar]

With 8 free meals, you have lots of choices to make.

I would choose Raglan Road over Rainforest Cafe, but that's just me.
In Epcot for good food, but not particularly adventurous - Le Cellier, Via Napoli
Boma has both adventurous and non-adventurous food
I have heard Kona Cafe is a great breakfast.
I don't want to overly recommend kid places, but my family loves Crystal Palace and Tusker House for breakfast.

 

[MJMcBride]

I would go to either House of Blues or Paradiso 37 at DTD

some other TS places I would go with are Boma, 'ohana, La Hacienda, and Teppan Edo

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

I'm sorry if a PP has mentioned this....

but don't feel you have to spend time on the phone making or breaking reservations...

You can just stop by the concierge desk at CSR.... they can do it for you...

Also- my last visit I stopped by the Concierge desk to look for a last minute ressie for the next day...
We landed 50s Prime Time at DHS which turned out to be my favorite meal of the day !

Have a magical Visit !
Mary

 

[Celidh]

I'm sorry if a PP has mentioned this....

but don't feel you have to spend time on the phone making or breaking reservations...

You can just stop by the concierge desk at CSR.... they can do it for you...

Also- my last visit I stopped by the Concierge desk to look for a last minute ressie for the next day...
We landed 50s Prime Time at DHS which turned out to be my favorite meal of the day !

Have a magical Visit !
Mary

Don't apologize. I really don't know much about making ADRs because the only TS meal we have had was Chef Mickey. I thought we had to do it ourselves.

thanks.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

I'm sorry if a PP has mentioned this....

but don't feel you have to spend time on the phone making or breaking reservations...

You can just stop by the concierge desk at CSR.... they can do it for you...

Also, you can do it at any OTHER restaurant podium, or so I've been told.

And you can do it via the Internet if you have a computer with WiFi (or a smartphone with WiFi), which is also a great way to find out what's available one or two days out.

In fact, last week, I made a last-minute (as in 1:00 AM) decision to have a breakfast reservation at Hollywood and Vine at 8:05 AM that coming morning, and I made it via the Internet from my hotel room.

I think they don't cut off online reservations until about two hours before the dining time. If you do know, even a couple of hours ahead of time, where you want to eat, you'll be better off showing up with a reservation.

And don't worry if you're not sure of the best time to eat, either. Twice during our week we showed up an hour early for a reservation and they were able to seat us. And it was still easier than not having one, plus they had all our dietary issues in the computer so I didn't have to go over them again.

 

[FaerieDust36]

Quick question for the OP. Has Disney officially announced the free dining for September, did you have a PIN, or are you just assuming it will be offered? I am planning my family's first trip that same week and I'm trying to watch for the FD dates. Any info would be appreciated.