How's my dining itinerary?

[Electra2D]

Staying at CR 8 nights, all but 1 day will be at WDW. We will have a car, and have 2 boys ages 3 and 6. They are kind of picky eaters, but enjoy surprising things like tacos, grilled fish, fried chicken, hummus, sausage and guacamole. Not big on the usual kid fare like pasta (except certain mac and cheese), hot dogs and pizza. We aren't on the dining plan because it seemed a poor value for us given the discount we got on the hotel. DH and I enjoy good food, but 3 hour dining events will be a no-go with our kids. Going June 28- July 6. Since everything else is planned, booked and finalized, all I have left to do is make packing lists and overanalyze all my choices! I like spontaneity, but it seems to not be favored on a WDW trip.

Day 1: dinner at Contempo Cafe after arrival (DH won't be there yet, we don't land until 4:30, and I won't have the car yet/ME, so ease/early bedtime is important!)
Day 2: MK Day, 7 am ADR at Chef Mickey (3yo request), lunch at Columbia Harbor, Fantasmic package at Hollywood Brown Derby (is this a good choice? It's our only signature choice as I dropped Tiffins/FOTLK in favor of TH)
Day 3: MK Day: quick hotel room breakfast, BOG lunch (6 yo request), DINNER?? No evening plans, but expect to be done with MK after parade. Contempo again? Boardwalk? Epcot? DS? Boathouse, T Rex, or a QS option? Anywhere that has GREAT beer?
Day 4: AK EMH day, hotel room breakfast, Tusker House lunch ADR, Satuli or Flame Tree for dinner (I think we'll be tired and not into TS, unless we leave AK earlier and have a little hotel break)
Day 5: MK Lite Day, Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast (we stayed at GF with my late mother so GF is nostalgic for me, but maybe GF Cafe isn't the best choice?), Sleepy Hollow, Pecos Bill or Cosmic Rays light lunch or snack, Hoop Dee Doo Revue dinner (I am really on the fence about this one, cancelled the luau in favor of it!... so expensive!, never done it, though)
Day 6: HS, either H&V (probably not, because boys don't know many of the characters) or more likely hotel room bkfst, Sci Fi ADR for lunch, hop to Epcot for Biergarten and maybe FEA if SD FPP(DH I think will like Biergarten, and he is not a big Disney person)
Day 7: Kennedy Space Center, will probably eat dinner with friends somewhere near there
Day 8: Epcot, Garden Grill 8am ADR, Sunshine Seasons lunch, hop to MK for HEA, Contempo for dinner? Where else for dinner? TP has us finishing EP around 4:30. Will prob want a little hotel break b4 HEA, but probably not much time for it. Still have a Biergarten ADR for this evening too.
Day 9, Kona Cafe ADR breakfast before heading to MCO (I want to visit Polynesian too, lol)

TIA!

 

[GillianP1301]

Although the Contempo Cafe is convenient for location, I would not eat there multiple times. Too many other great dining options at WDW. Here are a few specific thoughts/recommendations for you...

Day 1 - This is the day that I would keep Contempo. By the time you are check in and settled, it will be approaching 7:00, so the close proximity and quick meal is perfect.
Day 2 - I would not choose Brown Derby as my only signature restaurant, but there also is not a lot to choose from at HS that you aren't doing at other times on your plan, so for those reasons I would keep it. It will be a good meal, but may not blow you away.
Day 3 - The Boardwalk in the evening is a non park activity. Check out the Big River Grille and Brew Works, could be a good option for you.
Day 4 - Of the 2 QS you have listed, I would choose Satu'li, it's so good.
Day 5 - GF Cafe is good, I prefer Kona Cafe at the Poly though. HDDR is amazing and well worth it. The show is so fun and the food is pretty good too.
Day 6 - H&V is my least favourite character meal and if your kids aren't into those characters, I would skip it for sure. If you don't want to eat in your room again, maybe The Wave at CR. They do a really good breakfast.
Day 7 - We ate at KSC when we went there and nothing great food wise there, so I have no tips. Hopefully your friends have a good recommendation for you at a close by spot
Day 8 - Garden Grill is our very favourite character meal, a must do. I would opt for a World Showcase QS over Sunshine Seasons, personally.
Day 9 - Just seeing you had Kona cafe, so disregard my recommendatiton for Day 5, unless you choose either GF Cafe or Kona and replace the other with The Wave, which I would do.

 

[Meglen]

I just want to put my 2 cents on pp saying to not do contempo twice. When we stayed we wished we went there more was so good and quick and left alot of time to do other things. With small children it might be easier at contempo.

 

[Haygar2]

I wouldn't leave Magic Kingdom for Brown Derby/Fantasmic package. Especially since you will be at HS later. And leaving it for someplace in Epcot. If you MUST have HBD, I would eat it when you are in Hollywood studios. As someone else has mentioned, there are better Signature restaurants. Flying Fish is one of my top 2. Its at the Boardwalk and you can easily go there on your Epcot day if you wanted. Yachtsman at Yacht Club is also wonderful. Another easy walk from Epcot. Captain Cook at the Poly is a great quick service location. Great food. We are doing Garden Grill this trip. I can't wait. Are you doing any trips to Disney Springs? They have delicious restaurants there. I can't say anything about Biergarten. We have never been. Nobody in my family would eat German food.

 

[Electra2D]

My kids oddly love sausage, my oldest loves music and dancing, and DH loves beer. I also went there with my family as a kid/teen and am hoping it's as fun as I recall, lol. I'm hoping that's enough for us all to enjoy it, ha.

We are actually going to HBD/HS after a siesta/resort break in the afternoon, so not going straight there from MK. I have resort breaks every other day as my youngest still naps (in theory) but not in the stroller. It will be hard to do a nicer TS dinner after a full park day, as my 3 kids will be tired and cranky (DS3,DS6,DH40 LOL) by 5 or 6, especially if DS3 didn't nap, which is why I didn't just tack it on the end of HS. Biergarten seems more boisterous and laidback in atmosphere.

I'll check out the other TS you mentioned, thanks! I feel like we're missing out on Cali Grill, but I just don't know that we'd get our money's worth with two little ones dividing our attention. We usually do fancy restaurants only when we have family to watch the kiddos. The Wave menu and ambiance didn't appeal, but maybe would be a good breakfast option. Our kids love breakfast and eat it enthusiastically compared to other meals, so are consequently better behaved/occupied at that meal. We don't have DS in our plan but have at least 1 or 2 evenings with nothing booked so could consider it. We each get to go do something on our own 1 or 2 nights, too, so I may make that a solo trip since I'm the only one who enjoys shopping.

I definitely will cancel H&V. I thought we needed a PPO breakfast, but it seems to confer little benefit for Jedi training or TSL these days (we have a SDD FPP), and Jake isn't there anymore.