I need help! WDW dining is expensive!

[wheredreamsbegin]

I just called Mears (who directed me to their taxi division). I was told that our five year old would not need a car seat, but that the three year old and 18-month-old would.

They do have car seats available; however, they don't have many cars with car seats. I was told that it could take longer to get a taxi if we required one with car seats. The woman explained that even if we called a day in advance to arrange for a taxi, it might not be easy for us to get one with the car seats.

Thank you for prompting me to make this call! I suppose I will have to look at sending my husband and five-year-old ahead by taxi or we will all have to get up just a little bit earlier to make those ADRs!

I hope this information helped.

 

[barbarabini]

Kick off at chef mickeys and maybe you will even get to view the fireworks from the contemporary.

Keep park faire if your girls like the princesses -- we always start our vacafor dinner there

 

[pinkerbell]

I don't know how many people have read all of the previous posts, so I will summarize where I have come from my OP:

*I am eliminating some of the TS (San Angel Inn, Rainforest Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern, and Tutto)

*We will have friends dining with us at some of the buffets. They can watch our kids while we get food and we will watch theirs while they get food.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's input! The information provided in the above post leads me to one final question...

If I were to cut one of the following from each group, what should it be?

Group 1
Chef Mickey (chosen to kick off our vacation and to see the Contemporary)
Tusker House (chosen because we really want to see Daisy)
Cape May (chosen because we wanted to stay at BCV & I heard it's good!)


Group 2
1900 Park Fare (chosen to see Mary Poppins and GF)
Crystal Palace (chosen b/c we need a dinner at MK and building looks neat)

I think Chef Mickey's IS disney, it is our first meal every trip and hope to never have to change that - It is more about the experience than the food.

as for the other group - tuff call and I defer to those more knowledgable - I would probably go with CP though if it will keep traveling to ressies down - as many PP have mentioned, time is so critical, kids get tired and so do adults - i did not see if you had purchased the Dining Plan - i really think it would be a value for your family with the choices you have made.

could we see what the current plan looks like? Planning, even if it is vicariously, is so much fun

Have a MAGICAL vacation,
pink

 

[CarolA]

Just a few words.

I ate at Liberty Tree. It was horrid!

IMHO Le Cellier has let things slide. It's not what it was so I really don't even try to eat there.

You are staying at SSR? Take advantage of it and have breakfast in your room. You have the fridge and at least a microwave depending on what you booked.

Dump Rainforest...... First it's the SLOWEST meal at Disney (heck, having tried the chain in lots of other cities it my hold some type of world record!) Plus little kids actually don't always like the "thunder and lightening effects"

I agree with lots of other posters. No more then ONE sitdown a day and that may be too many with three young kids!

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

could we see what the current plan looks like? Planning, even if it is vicariously, is so much fun

Thank you so much for asking to see our current plan. Here it is:

Sunday, March 15th
dinner: Chef Mickey

Monday, March 16th
lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
dinner: Sci-fi Dine In

Tuesday, March 17th
breakfast: Cape May Cafe
dinner: Le Cellier

Wednesday, March 18th
lunch: Hollywood and Vine
dinner: CS at AK

Thursday, March 19th
breakfast: CRT

Friday, March 20th
dinner: Beaches and Cream

Saturday, March 21st
breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
dinner: Crystal Palace

Sunday, March 22nd
lunch:Earl of Sandwich or WPE

I have not officially cancelled any of my reservations. I want to sit on this for a couple of days before I do anything. It's so hard for me to let go of my initial plan! If anyone sees anything in this plan that could use tweaking, I would welcome your comments. I would also appreciate recommendations for Thursday night. We will be at MK in the morning and into the afternoon, but we'll probably be back at SSR that evening.

Thanks!

 

[Totally Tink]

Thank you so much for asking to see our current plan. Here it is:

Sunday, March 15th
dinner: Chef Mickey

Monday, March 16th
lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
dinner: Sci-fi Dine In

Tuesday, March 17th
breakfast: Cape May Cafe
dinner: Le Cellier

Wednesday, March 18th
lunch: Hollywood and Vine
dinner: CS at AK

Thursday, March 19th
breakfast: CRT

Friday, March 20th
dinner: Beaches and Cream

Saturday, March 21st
breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
dinner: Crystal Palace

Sunday, March 22nd
lunch:Earl of Sandwich or WPE

I have not officially cancelled any of my reservations. I want to sit on this for a couple of days before I do anything. It's so hard for me to let go of my initial plan! If anyone sees anything in this plan that could use tweaking, I would welcome your comments. I would also appreciate recommendations for Thursday night. We will be at MK in the morning and into the afternoon, but we'll probably be back at SSR that evening.

Thanks!

I don't know what time you're eating lunch and dinner, but just be aware that hopping from park to park is going to eat up a good bit of time. You may not get a lot done besides using the transporation system and eating.

 

[sherabby]

We do breakfast in our room or a counter service breakfast and do the regular dining plan. The three meal dining plan is way too much food unless you want to do a few signature 2 credit dinners. We find out we are pretty full even with the counter service and one sit down dinner. We end up taking home some of our snacks because we have no room for them!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Thank you so much for asking to see our current plan. Here it is:

Sunday, March 15th
dinner: Chef Mickey

Monday, March 16th
lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
dinner: Sci-fi Dine In

Tuesday, March 17th
breakfast: Cape May Cafe
dinner: Le Cellier

Wednesday, March 18th
lunch: Hollywood and Vine
dinner: CS at AK

Thursday, March 19th
breakfast: CRT

Friday, March 20th
dinner: Beaches and Cream

Saturday, March 21st
breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
dinner: Crystal Palace

Sunday, March 22nd
lunch:Earl of Sandwich or WPE

I have not officially cancelled any of my reservations. I want to sit on this for a couple of days before I do anything. It's so hard for me to let go of my initial plan! If anyone sees anything in this plan that could use tweaking, I would welcome your comments. I would also appreciate recommendations for Thursday night. We will be at MK in the morning and into the afternoon, but we'll probably be back at SSR that evening.

Thanks!

I think this plan looks pretty good. Much more do-able than your original, IMO.

For your Thursday, you could take the boat over to DTD from SSR and go to Earl of Sandwich or let the kids have McDonald's. Or, my favorite, skip dinner and just have Ghiradelli ice cream!

Even though your plan indicates a lot of park-hopping, in most instances one of the meals you've listed is a CS, so you can always adjust your plans as you need to.

Have a great trip!

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

I think this plan looks pretty good. Much more do-able than your original, IMO.

For your Thursday, you could take the boat over to DTD from SSR and go to Earl of Sandwich or let the kids have McDonald's. Or, my favorite, skip dinner and just have Ghiradelli ice cream!

Even though your plan indicates a lot of park-hopping, in most instances one of the meals you've listed is a CS, so you can always adjust your plans as you need to.

Have a great trip!

Ghiradelli's is a great idea. After all, we are on vacation. I don't see anything wrong with ice cream for dinner!

I do think this plan is much more do-able. I don't think the hopping and eating will be a problem because, as you said, we don't have TS back-to-back. We can adjust our plan as we need to.

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[pinkerbell]

Thank you so much for asking to see our current plan. Here it is:

Sunday, March 15th
dinner: Chef Mickey

Monday, March 16th
lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
dinner: Sci-fi Dine In

Tuesday, March 17th
breakfast: Cape May Cafe
dinner: Le Cellier

Wednesday, March 18th
lunch: Hollywood and Vine
dinner: CS at AK

Thursday, March 19th
breakfast: CRT

Friday, March 20th
dinner: Beaches and Cream

Saturday, March 21st
breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
dinner: Crystal Palace

Sunday, March 22nd
lunch:Earl of Sandwich or WPE

I have not officially cancelled any of my reservations. I want to sit on this for a couple of days before I do anything. It's so hard for me to let go of my initial plan! If anyone sees anything in this plan that could use tweaking, I would welcome your comments. I would also appreciate recommendations for Thursday night. We will be at MK in the morning and into the afternoon, but we'll probably be back at SSR that evening.

Thanks!

If possible, to stay in the same park for two days instead of hopping - Switch one ressie on both Mon & Wed so you have both meals in the same park Example AK - lunch flame tree, Dinner CS ?? (maybe even a ressie for BOMA which is very close - not even 5 min by car) or anywhere since AK closes early and Wed all day at DHS lunch at H&V and dinner at Sci Fi. Or vise versa.
We have NEVER (oops did ONCE, never again) park hopped since having the kids, and since all the parks take at least a day, had pretty much stopped before having them as well.
Heck, I dont even think you'll need a hooper, can you change your ticket type and save some $$$$
This will also help if you are getting fast passes, things like Toy Story mania etc, I'd hate for you to have to forfit fast passes because you will be in another park at the return time and miss an attraction.

 

[LAWalz23]

If you can stand one more opinion! In an earlier post you had the 2 groups from group one I would eliminate Cape May breakfast, When you are in EPCOT or at Beaches and Cream you can see BCV and/or walk over to BWV both are very nice. From group 2, I would elimate 1900 Park Faire, these are actually based on an earlier post when you said your kids asked specifically for Tusker House and CRT so I would keep those. We always start our trip off with Chef Mickey's, it sets the mood for the trip (and we don't have to run after those characters)!

Since you are staying at SSR, dinner options are Artist Pallette, food is good, or DTD, where Earl of Sandwhich and Wolfgang Puck Express are very good! Another transportation tip is you can take the boat from SSR (starts at 10am) to Old Key West and Port Orleans (switch at DTD) in addition to DTD. Also if you are in the Congres Park section, you can walk to DTD and take a bus to any resort from there. Ater 10am the buses run from DTD to the parks and there is also a stop at the West Side before going to your destination. The pools at SSR are real nice also. Every section has it's own quiet pool and the main pool and the one near the Grandstand have water play areas. The Grand Stand section is the first bus stop follwed by Carousel, (there is either a 2nd Carousel or another stop I forget the name of here),Congress Park and the Springs last for the parks, DTD buses go in a different order though! You can get lots more info on SSR on the DVC boards!

Going back to the room for a rest in the middle of the day is a great strategy!With your new plan you might want to consider the regular DDP, it may save you money! Have fun!