So, my family of four plus my parents are heading to WDW this fall (yay!) and staying at the BLT (yay again!), and a logistical issue has come up with a restaurant reservation. I thought I'd seek the wisdom of experienced WDW travelers to help us make a decision.
My spouse and I are sending my parents to Victoria & Albert's as an early celebration of their 50th anniversary (which actually won't happen for several months afterward, but they can't get back to Orlando quite that soon...). I managed to snag two separate reservations, each at 6:30pm, on consecutive nights for the two of them. Now, unless we win the lottery in between now and then, we won't be able to send them on both nights, so we're trying to pick one and release the other one (which I will post on the reservation release thread when I'm about to release it). General background: We will be at WDW in November, and both nights are weekday nights with no special celebrations planned at the Magic Kingdom (I checked). So, the two options:
Day #1: The whole family (minus my dad) will head to Universal for the day. My kids are too little to want to max out the park; our priorities are getting to ride the Minions ride at least once, and experiencing Harry Potter. For my parents to make it to V&A's by 6:30pm, we'd have to get my mom back to the Contemporary in time to change and then travel to V&A's. As further background, while we are quite experienced with Uber, my parents aren't -- we could Uber my mom solo back from Universal to WDW, but would probably need some on-site assistance with Ubering both parents from BLT to V&A's. Not sure yet how we will get to Universal -- since our kids still both need car seats, Uber Family and/or a taxi wouldn't work, and renting a car would not be cheap (though neither would Mead, obviously).
Day #2: This is planned to be our "off" day. We have late reservations at Chef Mickey's for brunch (which my parents would be fine with skipping) and would like to try out the hot-air balloon in Disney Springs. In case you're wondering "why not just have that be the night?" -- that was the one night we managed to get dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. My parents LOVE "Beauty and the Beast" and I really want them to get the dinner experience at BOG. Now, our reservation is for 4:30pm (yes, I know), so theoretically, I suppose, my parents could come hang out with us for an hour without ordering anything, or we could order something for them and take it back to BLT for a later meal. Not sure if having two people at BOG out of a party of six not ordering is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE, essentially okay, or something in between, and am trying to avoid racking up bad Disney karma.
Advantages of Day #1: My parents could get the full BOG dinner experience on Day #2, and could sleep late the morning after their V&A's adventure (3 1/2 glasses of wine apiece with a split wine flight is still quite a bit!). Disadvantages: Trying to navigate Universal (with my mom the big Harry Potter fan) and then get my mother back in time to change, freshen up, and then make it to V&A's by 6:30pm.
Advantages of Day #2: Removes the need to negotiate Universal AND V&A's on one day and probably ensures a more relaxed environment in which my parents could enjoy V&A. Disadvantages: Uncertain if parents could participate in the BOG dinner experience, earlier wake-up time the next day.
If anyone has any thoughts/reactions/interjections either way, I'd be most grateful, especially if they're of the "OH HECK NO" variety. We're getting close to the time that I expect V&A to contact us about the reservation, so I'd rather cancel the one we won't use in advance. BTW, my parents seem fine with either option (at least theoretically), so having some input from Disney vets would be most helpful. TIA!
My spouse and I are sending my parents to Victoria & Albert's as an early celebration of their 50th anniversary (which actually won't happen for several months afterward, but they can't get back to Orlando quite that soon...). I managed to snag two separate reservations, each at 6:30pm, on consecutive nights for the two of them. Now, unless we win the lottery in between now and then, we won't be able to send them on both nights, so we're trying to pick one and release the other one (which I will post on the reservation release thread when I'm about to release it). General background: We will be at WDW in November, and both nights are weekday nights with no special celebrations planned at the Magic Kingdom (I checked). So, the two options:
Day #1: The whole family (minus my dad) will head to Universal for the day. My kids are too little to want to max out the park; our priorities are getting to ride the Minions ride at least once, and experiencing Harry Potter. For my parents to make it to V&A's by 6:30pm, we'd have to get my mom back to the Contemporary in time to change and then travel to V&A's. As further background, while we are quite experienced with Uber, my parents aren't -- we could Uber my mom solo back from Universal to WDW, but would probably need some on-site assistance with Ubering both parents from BLT to V&A's. Not sure yet how we will get to Universal -- since our kids still both need car seats, Uber Family and/or a taxi wouldn't work, and renting a car would not be cheap (though neither would Mead, obviously).
Day #2: This is planned to be our "off" day. We have late reservations at Chef Mickey's for brunch (which my parents would be fine with skipping) and would like to try out the hot-air balloon in Disney Springs. In case you're wondering "why not just have that be the night?" -- that was the one night we managed to get dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. My parents LOVE "Beauty and the Beast" and I really want them to get the dinner experience at BOG. Now, our reservation is for 4:30pm (yes, I know), so theoretically, I suppose, my parents could come hang out with us for an hour without ordering anything, or we could order something for them and take it back to BLT for a later meal. Not sure if having two people at BOG out of a party of six not ordering is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE, essentially okay, or something in between, and am trying to avoid racking up bad Disney karma.
Advantages of Day #1: My parents could get the full BOG dinner experience on Day #2, and could sleep late the morning after their V&A's adventure (3 1/2 glasses of wine apiece with a split wine flight is still quite a bit!). Disadvantages: Trying to navigate Universal (with my mom the big Harry Potter fan) and then get my mother back in time to change, freshen up, and then make it to V&A's by 6:30pm.
Advantages of Day #2: Removes the need to negotiate Universal AND V&A's on one day and probably ensures a more relaxed environment in which my parents could enjoy V&A. Disadvantages: Uncertain if parents could participate in the BOG dinner experience, earlier wake-up time the next day.
If anyone has any thoughts/reactions/interjections either way, I'd be most grateful, especially if they're of the "OH HECK NO" variety.
We're getting close to the time that I expect V&A to contact us about the reservation, so I'd rather cancel the one we won't use in advance. BTW, my parents seem fine with either option (at least theoretically), so having some input from Disney vets would be most helpful. TIA!
