just decided to upgrade to DXDP, critique of plan and some restaurants needed!

[flipflopmom]

Last year, we did DXDP. Loved the convenience and various restaurants, but we did not like all the scheduling and running. Had decided on DDP, but after realizing our kids LOVE breakfast, and are typical grazers, we decided to upgrade. Staying 6 nights, so we have 18 credits to use. Can you look over and give any suggestions? Starred meals are those new to us.

Sunday - 2 credits -driving, arriving EARLY am, Touring MK until room at BLT is available, then watching Wishes on Balcony after dinner!
Breakfast - Main ST. Bakery using snack credits
Lunch- *Plaza 12pm (Hopefully won't fill up too much before dinner!)
Dinner - Ohana -5pm - DH's fav., father's day dinner

Monday - 2 credits - RD at MK, rest, pm EMH @ AK
10:25 "brunch" at Crystal Palace
6:25 Boma

Tuesday -3 credits -MK am, Epcot EMH
7:25 *Kona (short monorail ride to breakfast, get to MK early as possible, EMH morning)
12:00 *Tony's, then pool break and rest,
7pm *Chef's de France (DD, age 10) wanted to eat in France???

Wednesday - 3 credits -daytime break, sleep in, pool day, DHS pm EMH
10:25 Ohana breakfast
5pm *Yachtsman

Thursday -2 credits -AK morning, MK night
8:05 Tusker House (AK opens at 9)
4:55 *1900 Park Fare (DD age 2 gets to meet Prince Charming!!!)
Back to Mk for Main St. Electric Parade and summer nightastic fireworks


Friday -2 credits -Epcot All Day
8:05 *1900 Park Fare - can't wait to see the Mad Hatter and Alice! Get to Epcot at close to RD as possible!
lunch - snacking around the world!
Dinner - 8:00 Ohana again, Dh's request was to have 2 dinners here

Saturday - 3 credits - check out
7:15 Chef Mickey's - short walk from room, DD1's second request was to go back here!
get ready, pack up, check out, one last trip to MK
2:00 Farewell to WDW lunch in the castle - CRT

head home. That leaves 1 credit, so we can either add a cs lunch Thursday if the girls are hungry, or get a cs dinner to eat on the drive home.

We do a LOT of character meals, the girls love it. Last year we had breakfast and dinner at CM, Ohana, and CP, decided we liked breakfast best at CM and CP, but loved both at Ohana. This year we are doing the same thing at 1900 PF, mostly b/c of the different characters.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

You picked a lot of my favorites! Especially the character meals. For us, the joy of deluxe is doing all table service. We like the food better and it's easier to accomodate food allergies.

For your extra credit, how about a lunch at Hollywood Studios? We prefer To go to HS at rope drop, or morning EMH even better. We got so much done in the first few hours. Then enjoyed a fun lunch. NO wait for Toy Story or Tower of Terror and we got lots of fast passes to use later. I suggest scifi diner or 50s prime time. My one and only experience with HS pm EMH was it was very crowded. Toy story was an hour or more wait.

How about a lunch at Epcot on Friday? We loved Marrakesh for lunch. The music was nice and the belly dancer performed encouraging children to try bellydancing on the dance floor. We are looking forward to trying lunches at San Angel Inn and Biergarten on our next trip.

On our Animal Kingdom day, we are going to just snack for lunch or get pizza from Pizzasafari (not using dining plan for pizzasafari) so we have more time for the park

We would skip yachtsman and do one of the 1 credit restaurants in Epcot because there are so many to choose from. For 2 credit restaurants, our favorites are California Grill and Citrocos.

Have a wonderful trip and post your restaurant reviews. We love hearing about everyone's experiences.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

You picked a lot of my favorites! Especially the character meals. For us, the joy of deluxe is doing all table service. We like the food better and it's easier to accomodate food allergies.

For your extra credit, how about a lunch at Hollywood Studios? We prefer To go to HS at rope drop, or morning EMH even better. We got so much done in the first few hours. Then enjoyed a fun lunch. NO wait for Toy Story or Tower of Terror and we got lots of fast passes to use later. I suggest scifi diner or 50s prime time. My one and only experience with HS pm EMH was it was very crowded. Toy story was an hour or more wait.

 

[goofygal531]

This will be our third trip on the DxDDP, my family just loves it. I was considering the basic DDP for this trip, but my kids enjoy all the character meals. It's really a value in the long run.

I just wanted to point out that you need a 7am ADR at Kona in order to make it to MK for 8am rope drop. You have to allow at least 45 mins for a TS meal without characters.

Having breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at 8:05 am is too late for a 9am Rope Drop at Epcot. You need to consider something earlier. Character dining takes longer plus that restaurant is notorious for being off schedule even that early in the morning. You can't expect to be seated at your ADR time, you need to allow at least a few minutes wait. Then commuting to Epcot, even though simple on the monorail, does take a while to change trains at the TTC. You have to allow at least 20 mins travel time. For an Epcot day, I would suggest breakfast at Chef Mickey's, it's an easier commute to Epcot. Or even Ohanas - from the Poly you can walk to the TTC and skip the MK monorail loop. Then you have to allow time to get thru security and the ticketing area. If you want to be close up front to the rope drop, you need to arrive at least 30 mins prior to opening. When is your trip? Crowds need to be considered if your going during a busy time.

I agree with the above poster that a lunch in AK is needed. You have 8 hours until dinner, your kids will get hungry. I always scheduled a TS meal, then you have the option to dine CS should you change your mind. (Always canceling the TS meal )

Personally, Ohana's at 8pm is too late, but that's just me. That's a very heavy meal to dine at that hour. My family usually schedules a 10:30 am Tusker House brunch then 5:30 pm Ohana's dinner, both are large meals and work well together for us.

I agree, I'd skip Yachtsmen and dine within DHS. We always do the 8am H&V breakfast then lunch at either 50's PT or Sci-Fi, both are fun restaurants for the kids.

One other thing, do you want to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare then return the next morning for breakfast? We also dine at the same restaurants for different meals, but I always schedule them far apart so it doesn't feel like we were just there, KWIM?

 

[flipflopmom]

For your extra credit, how about a lunch at Hollywood Studios? We prefer To go to HS at rope drop, or morning EMH even better. We got so much done in the first few hours. Then enjoyed a fun lunch. NO wait for Toy Story or Tower of Terror and we got lots of fast passes to use later. I suggest scifi diner or 50s prime time. My one and only experience with HS pm EMH was it was very crowded. Toy story was an hour or more wait.

I am a little worried about the DHS EMH, honestly. But we don't care about TSM - no flames - we just didn't love it and didn't find it worth the madness. Our only must do's there are VOTLM, and RnR. We also wanted to hit the Playhouse Disney Dance party, so we are taking the risk.

I just wanted to point out that you need a 7am ADR at Kona in order to make it to MK for 8am rope drop. You have to allow at least 45 mins for a TS meal without characters.

Having breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at 8:05 am is too late for a 9am Rope Drop at Epcot. You need to consider something earlier. Character dining takes longer plus that restaurant is notorious for being off schedule even that early in the morning. You can't expect to be seated at your ADR time, you need to allow at least a few minutes wait. Then commuting to Epcot, even though simple on the monorail, does take a while to change trains at the TTC. You have to allow at least 20 mins travel time. For an Epcot day, I would suggest breakfast at Chef Mickey's, it's an easier commute to Epcot. Or even Ohanas - from the Poly you can walk to the TTC and skip the MK monorail loop. Then you have to allow time to get thru security and the ticketing area. If you want to be close up front to the rope drop, you need to arrive at least 30 mins prior to opening. When is your trip? Crowds need to be considered if your going during a busy time.

I agree with the above poster that a lunch in AK is needed. You have 8 hours until dinner, your kids will get hungry. I always scheduled a TS meal, then you have the option to dine CS should you change your mind. (Always canceling the TS meal )

Personally, Ohana's at 8pm is too late, but that's just me. That's a very heavy meal to dine at that hour. My family usually schedules a 10:30 am Tusker House brunch then 5:30 pm Ohana's dinner, both are large meals and work well together for us.

I agree, I'd skip Yachtsmen and dine within DHS. We always do the 8am H&V breakfast then lunch at either 50's PT or Sci-Fi, both are fun restaurants for the kids.

One other thing, do you want to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare then return the next morning for breakfast? We also dine at the same restaurants for different meals, but I always schedule them far apart so it doesn't feel like we were just there, KWIM?

Unfortunately, we are kind of stuck with a lot of these. DH just decided last night, only 2 months away. I really had to to do the best I could with what was available. I might try to get in a Y&Y on AK day. Dh wanted to try Yachtsman, I hope it will be an easy bus ride or walk to DHS afterwards. I left Ohana late so we would have more time at Epcot, we will be sooo stuffed, but plan on going back to swim and pack up. I might try to switch the Ohana and 1900 PF breakfast to see if I can arrange those a bit better. Thanks for the suggestion. I am hoping to get an earlier Kona, too.

WHY DID HE WAIT SO LATE TO CHANGE HIS MIND????? Thanks for the input!

 

[goofygal531]

Unfortunately, we are kind of stuck with a lot of these. DH just decided last night, only 2 months away. I really had to to do the best I could with what was available. I might try to get in a Y&Y on AK day. Dh wanted to try Yachtsman, I hope it will be an easy bus ride or walk to DHS afterwards. I left Ohana late so we would have more time at Epcot, we will be sooo stuffed, but plan on going back to swim and pack up. I might try to switch the Ohana and 1900 PF breakfast to see if I can arrange those a bit better. Thanks for the suggestion. I am hoping to get an earlier Kona, too.

WHY DID HE WAIT SO LATE TO CHANGE HIS MIND????? Thanks for the input!

I hear you on the late ADRs! This was a last minute trip for us and I'm lucky I got any character meals, no Chef Mickey unfortunately.

To get to DHS from Yachtsman's is just a boat ride away. You can walk, but it's a good 15-20 minute walk. I've walked from the Boardwalk, but wouldn't walk from the YC, it's really not as close as people claim it to be.

Have a fun trip.

 

[flipflopmom]

Okay, so I just went back and rearranged some stuff.

Made Kona at 7:30 on Monday, which should get up to MK for Rope Drop at 9. Made Tony's for lunch that day, and CP at 10:30 on Tuesday. That gets us at EMH at 8, 2 1/2 hours for touring. Ditched the 1900 PF breakfast, we'll fit that in next year, and changed our Epcot morning breakfast to Akershus at 8:15. We'll be finishing up closer to RD at 9, and already be in the park. Sure, that means we have 3 princess meals (1900 PF, CRT, and Akershus), but DD2 will only be 3 once! The obsession with the princesses can't live forever!

Added a Y&Y lunch at 12. Don't know if we'll keep it or not, since it will have only been 4 hours since breakfast and 5 until dinner, but we have it! Of course, I'll cancel if we won't show. Honestly, we love the apps and desserts, and may just go in for those! Not the best use of money, but if it's what we want....


Thanks for all the suggestions. I was just trying to grab places we wanted to eat, stressing over getting something at this late date! Thanks bunches!!!

 

[DisneyFamily123]

We loved 1900 ParkFare.... Much better than Kona. The best thing about Kona is Tonga toast and you can get that cheaper at the Poly's counter service.
The food and characters at 1900PF were great!

 

[goodferry]

If you do still have an extra credit, I would swap Boma with Jiko, one of our favorites!

 

[sherabby]

Everything sounds great! We are also going deluxe this August for the first time! My son has food allergies too and to him the dining is a huge part of the Disney experience! He gets dessert at a restaurant where at home there are no options for him.
This is our plan:
Sunday August 15 Hoop Dee Doo Review 5:00 pm

Monday August 16
Ohana 7:30am
Epcot Le Cellier Lunch 11:35am
Garden Grill Dinner 6:30pm

Tuesday August 17

DHS Sci-Fi Lunch 11:20am
50’s Prime Time Dinner 6:30pm

Wednesday August 18

Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace 8:05am
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:55 pm Cinderella’s Royal Table 6:40 pm
Thursday August 19

1900 Park Fare Breakfast 8:05am Whispering Canyon Café 6:10pm

Friday August 20

Magic Kingdom Chef Mickey’s 7:35am
1900 Park Fare 6:15pm
Saturday August 21 Breakfast
Surprise Hotel 7:30am
(Nick Hotel!)