I feel like my ADRs

[JJ&JSMOM]

are missing something. Here is a list of my ADRs - for some reason I feel like it missing something. I don't know - there are so many restaurants to choose from. As you can tell I didn't pick any from Epcot because I'm not sure when we're going there. DH doesn't care for Epcot and w/have 3 young kids so I'm not sure they'll appreciate it enough to reserve 1 whole day.

Arrival day: 5:10 Chef Mickey's
Day 1: 10:20 Donald's Breakfastaurus
Day 2: 12:10 Sci Fi
Day 3: 11:30 Crystal Palace
Day 4: 1:20 CRT
Day 5: Seaworld
Day 6: 10:20 Ohanas character brkfst (not sure which day to go)
Day 7: 10:50 Ohanas character brkfst (not sure which day to go)
Departure Day - leave by 1:00pm (should I plan anything here? may just eat at Capt Cook's and hang by the pool)

Thanks for any opinons/suggestions

 

[solferino]

What about Liberty Tree Tavern? It's not my favorite food wise, but we've been pleased with the character interaction at the dinner.


The Garden Grill in Epcot also has great character interaction for dinner, if you do decide to go that route. We like the food there enough that we'd go twice in a trip, but haven't yet, as there are other restaurants we want to try first.

What about 1900 PF?

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

What about Liberty Tree Tavern? It's not my favorite food wise, but we've been pleased with the character interaction at the dinner.


The Garden Grill in Epcot also has great character interaction for dinner, if you do decide to go that route. We like the food there enough that we'd go twice in a trip, but haven't yet, as there are other restaurants we want to try first.

What about 1900 PF?

Thought about LTT but didn't know which day. I think thats the hard part about all this ADR planning is its so hard to decide what to do and which park to go to months in advance. I'll revisit the LTT and see what I can do. Thanks for the idea!

 

[DLBDS]

This is just my opinion but.....are you SURE you want all of those character meals? If you have small kids, I feel you'll be wasting a LOT of money on them (especially CRT). No kid eats that much food...not even my DD10....and she can put away some food. There are so many other places to eat at WDW that cost less than the character meals (Whispering Canyon Cafe at the WL has fun interaction for example). Besides, sometimes you just want to relax and chill out and have an uninterrupted meal with your family while at WDW. Those character meals are tough on the person in charge of photography too (I speak from experience on this). You have to constantly stop eating, stand up and take pics. There's really no chance of enjoying your meals. Hope this is helpful. Then again, maybe you WANT all of those character meals. In that case, GO and ENJOY!

 

[dqpowell]

In my opinion you're spending an awful lot of money or table service credits on mediocre food. Sci-Fi is the worst restaurant in WDW in terms of food quality, and most character meals are nothing special in that respect either. Given the ages of your kids, I'd keep the Chef Mickey's dinner, Crystal Palace character lunch and the 'Ohana breakfast, and ditch the rest. CRT can be great if you have girls, but it's really expensive at 2 credits. If you can't stand the idea of dropping it, maybe just do that and one other character meal.

BTW, tell your husband if he hasn't been to Epcot in a few years he might want to give it another try. Three of the best rides in all WDW are there now -- Soarin', Test Track and Mission:Space. If you can convince him to spend one day there, or even a half-day in the morning, you can (maybe) get a lunch reservation at Le Cellier. It's a great restaurant for only 1 table service credit.

You might also consider 'Ohana for dinner. Not a character meal, but lots of fun for the kids and pretty good food too.

David

 

[DLBDS]

Thought about LTT but didn't know which day. I think thats the hard part about all this ADR planning is its so hard to decide what to do and which park to go to months in advance. I'll revisit the LTT and see what I can do. Thanks for the idea!

I'm not on his payroll but wanted to recommend him to you....try TourGuideMike (TGM). He can tell you approx. 6 months in advance what day is best for each park. He calls them his Least Crowded Parks Charts (LCPCs). He highlights them in green (go), yellow (caution) and red (stay away). He also explains why. You can save $3 if you subscribe via the DISboards (Theme Parks, Attractions and Strategies Forum. He's the sponsor over there.). It'll cost you only $18.95 and that price is good until you go....whether it's next week or 3 years from now. He makes it so easy. Once he publishes the LCPCs, you can decide where you're going when and make your ADRs accordingly. SO simple. I've used him for 3 trips so far. Good luck!

 

[kathie859]

I think I'd ditch a few character meals.

And I'm confused. Exactly WHEN are you going to Seaworld? After your CRT @ 1:20? That doesn't seem to be time efficient if you factor in eating time, leaving the park time and travel time to Seaworld.

And lastly, there's so much to do at Epcot. I'll encourage you to rethink it.
The girls will love Soarin', The Nemo Ride and Turtle Talk--quite possibly Universe of Engergy and maybe Test Track. Don't forget Figment and the 3D Movie in the Imagination Pavillion. Plus Mexico has updated El Rio de Tiempo so you'll want to see that and Norway, too. A Character Meal the girls might like is the Princess one @ Norway. Frankly, I'd never waste good morning time at a sitdown breakfast. I'd rather hit the ground running early and be ready for a nice lunch and some relaxation after the crowd arrives.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Thanks for the replies! Yes we do have a lot of character meals don't we. Lets see I chose CM so we could meet Mickey & friends asap. Donald's Breakfastaurus was booked because originally I couldn't schedule CM's on night of arrival so that one I could cancel as long as we go to CM the night before. Sci Fi - DH and my son think its so cool so not sure if I can cancel that one. CP is mainly for DD2 (and me ) - I love Pooh! CRT is for DD4's 5th bday and she wants to eat in the castle. Ohana's w/Stitch is for DS8 - loves Stitch which I scheduled twice because I wasn't sure which day we would go. We are staying at the Poly so that makes it easy for a sleep in day or an early lunch after an early am at MK.

Thanks again - food for thought! No pun intended !

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

I think I'd ditch a few character meals.

And I'm confused. Exactly WHEN are you going to Seaworld? After your CRT @ 1:20? That doesn't seem to be time efficient if you factor in eating time, leaving the park time and travel time to Seaworld.

You are right sorry about that - actually SeaWorld is Day 5. I left that out! I can see the confusion - I will fix it!

 

[DLBDS]

JJ&JSMOM, where are you staying? This would help in offering advice.

 

[casaazul]

I would get dh to go to Epcot. It is wonderful and the kids will enjoy the Nemo ride. Plus a number of other attractions including Soarin!!. The aquarium is awesome and my kid enjoyed the Land ride too. In the World you have time to just enjoy the park and have some great food. With kids, I would try the Biergarten, when the band starts, you can go down and dance!!! You can always head over to the Boardwalk area.

I agree with others, too many character meals. Unless of course your kids love them. I might skip the Breakfastasaurus and have an early 5pm dinner at Boma. That way you can do all the park and still have a great meal. I would think that Sci Fi Dine in would not be fun for little kids. I would skip it and go to somewhere on the Boardwalk for dinner.

Have fun.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

JJ&JSMOM, where are you staying? This would help in offering advice.

At the Poly - I put it in an earlier post . It really does make a difference doesn't it. I've switched our ressies a couple of times and now we are staying w/the Poly. With MNSSHP and the kids wanting to go to MK so much I thought the monorail would be quick transport.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

I would get dh to go to Epcot. It is wonderful and the kids will enjoy the Nemo ride. Plus a number of other attractions including Soarin!!. The aquarium is awesome and my kid enjoyed the Land ride too. In the World you have time to just enjoy the park and have some great food. With kids, I would try the Biergarten, when the band starts, you can go down and dance!!! You can always head over to the Boardwalk area.

I agree with others, too many character meals. Unless of course your kids love them. I might skip the Breakfastasaurus and have an early 5pm dinner at Boma. That way you can do all the park and still have a great meal. I would think that Sci Fi Dine in would not be fun for little kids. I would skip it and go to somewhere on the Boardwalk for dinner.

Have fun.

Dh is ok w/Epcot for part of day not a whole day. Definitely want kids to go to The Living Seas and we will do some of the rides. DS8 doesn't like fast rides and DD4 may not be ready for them - shes defintely tall enough. DH loves Universe of Energy. We probably will skip D's Breakfastaurus - kids really want to meet Donald but we might see him at CM. We have MNSSHP that evening so we're just going to AK for 2-3 hrs & then back to rest prior to MNSSHP so probably should cancel D's Breakfastarus to allow more park touring! Thanks!

I forgot to ask about Sci Fi. What is it about the SciFi that the little kids wouldn't like? Are the movies scary? That is something I'm concerned with. Thanks.

 

[casaazul]

Sci Fi has seats that face forward. You would have to split up one adult one kid, one adult one kid. Plus with movies and from what I have heard yucky food, might not be the best.

Have fun. Get to Kilamanjaro Safaris early in the morning!! Also walk around the tree, there are some trails that take you close to the animals carved into the tree. A trail starts near the exit to Bugs Life and one on the other side of the tree.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Sci Fi has seats that face forward. You would have to split up one adult one kid, one adult one kid. Plus with movies and from what I have heard yucky food, might not be the best.

Have fun. Get to Kilamanjaro Safaris early in the morning!! Also walk around the tree, there are some trails that take you close to the animals carved into the tree. A trail starts near the exit to Bugs Life and one on the other side of the tree.

Thanks for the advice! We picked AK for the first park because DS8 is so excited for the Safaris. DD4 as well but not as much as her big bro. Thanks again.

 

[casaazul]

Here's a quick photo of your Safari to come.....

Have a great time!!

 

[dfarster]

If you are staying at Poly I would recommend Ohana's on your last night if you aren't staying late at a Park. We ate at 8:10PM and had a blast. I have a 4YO DD and a 6 YO DS. We also did Kona's on our first night. These were our favorite meals along with Chef Mickey's for breakfast. I would also recommend TGM. I followed his plans and they worked out much better than the Unofficial Guide Plan we tried on the 1st day! One photo op I missed was infront of the waterfalls with our whole family. I did take one of my daughter when she dressed up for her Princess lunch and that is a picture I will always treasure!

 

[tink_about_it]

I disagree about Sci-FI! We had burgers, onion rings, and milkshakes...and everything was good...Also...I agree with the above poster about having so many character meals! That's a lot! We only do 1-2 a trip mainly because of the time they take and we're not big buffet fans. We too are TGM fans! Used him for trips so far...we don't leave home without "him"!

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

casaazul: love the pic - Thank you!

dfarster: I thought about Ohana's originally but didn't think kids would like the dinner but since then we've had some barbeques and they've decided they do like meat especially steak! Its hard to decide because our last day I was leaving open so that we can visit their favorite park at night before we go but probably a Saturday night would be real busy. We thought about DTD instead but Ohanas and the fireworks sounds good too!

tink_about_it: We're sticking w/Sci Fi - I was concerned w/the movies but as long as the movies aren't too scary just silly scary it should be ok. We're an onion ring, hamburger, shake kind of family anyway. Its right up our alley! I have checked out TGM. Love the site but what I have a problem w/is knowing what my family would like to do - its really hard to know until we're there but the ADRs can't wait until we're there so I'm just guessing and if we can't make it or change our minds I will certainly cancel them so someone else may be able to use them. Its our first real vacation thats longer then 4 days and our first vacay to WDW so we'll be testing the waters so to speak!

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice. It has helped. I'm cancelling 1 maybe 2 character meals and probably adding Ohana's.

 

[DLBDS]

If you're staying at the Poly, why not give WCC a try? The tables at 'Ohana, I feel, are crowded together and it's very noisy there. The CMs are the ones making all the noise at WCC and it makes for more entertainment. 'Ohana is just kinda chaotic to me with folks, CMs and children milling about. Also, the meats when we were there were so over-smoked it was nauseating. It wasn't that good at all. Another fortune paid for so-so food. The food at WCC is better and you can order off the menu. If you haven't been to the WL before, GO. It's beautiful there. WCC is located to the far left as you walk in the main entrance. You could drive there or take the monorail to the CR and catch the boat over. Very easy to get to from the Poly.

Here's the dinner menu at WCC:
http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_wc.htm