More ADR Advice for a First Timer

[Kelly loves Food]

Here we go again...I've finally whittled this down to no more than 2 TS per day and tried to avoid park hopping for meals (other than Day 1). I know Kona is on there twice, but I really want to try both meals - though recent Kona reviews leave me open to trying something else. Any other suggestions? Its just me, DH and DD9.

Arrival: Arrive at Pop around 9pm

Day 1: 1900 Park Fare at 8:05am
Coral Reef at 5:15pm

Day 2: Tusker House at 8:05am (or 8:20 - which one to cancel? Does it make a difference?)
Yak & Yeti at 2pm

Day 3: Kona Cafe at 9am
Hoop De Doo Musical Revue at 6:15pm

Day 4: Tokyo Dining at 1pm
Garden Grill at 7:10pm

Day 5: Be Our Guest 12:40pm
Kona Cafe 6:45pm

Day 6: Go home flight leaves at 2pm

 

[RafikiTiki21]

I would keep the 8:05 Tusker House--- you wouldn't really wake up and arrive at the park any differently for a 8:20 reservation, but the 8:05 gives you a slight advantage of finishing sooner and you can go to Safari closer to rope drop time (assuming this is a pre-opening ADR, and you're interested in lower safari lines).

 

[SM101]

Is it your first time at Disney? Or first time doing ADR's?

If it's your first time at Disney, I'd only do one TS per day, and just pick out something interesting for QS for the other meal. More park time; less restaurant time.

Are you going to have a car? Otherwise other-resort breakfasts are a PITA to make - transportation from resort to resort is slow anyway and it's even worse that time of the morning.

 

[Aliceacc]

I've got to agree with SM101. If this is your first time at WDW, you may face a mutiny from your daughter when she spends so much time each day at a restaurant, instead of on the rides and seeing the attractions. And I know that 2 sit down meals a day would be way too much for us.

One TS per day gives you family time to sit and talk about your day, without losing 4 hours a day eating.

If you still really want those restaurants, I would move one of the breakfasts to your departure day:
1) the Tusker House breakfast :A big breakfast is NOT going to leave you all that hungry for your big 2pm lunch.
2) 1900 Park Fare: Which park are you planning to be in that day? (1900 Park Fare is close to MK, but Coral Reef is in Epcot.) Either way, you can make rope drop at one of the big parks and really get a lot done before the crowds.

 

[SM101]

We actually like two TS meals per day, but we've been several times and we usually go for about 12 days, so it's not such a rush to get everything in. If we do a shorter trip - like a 4 day one - we will usually do 2-3 TS total and then just do QS with a focus on non-burger options.

We also schedule 7-8 hours in between meals and just have a snack in between.

 

[goodeats]

It seems like a lot of character dining for a 9 yo, but you know your kid. The reviews of Garden Grill food-wise look good, so it might be worth keeping, but if you want to cut down on character dining I'd switch that to a WS restaurant just to be different.

I don't think your meals are too close together or anything, but I am a breakfast person and am a much happier person if I start the day with a proper protein filled breakfast versus pastries. If I eat a breakfast buffet at 8:00am I'll want something for lunch around 1:00pm for sure. I don't overstuff myself though.

 

[Kelly loves Food]

Thanks everybody! I love all the advice, as this is our first time going and the planning can be overwhelming. My daughter does not care if she has any character meals, I actually didn't even realize that I had so many! My husband does not like to be on his feet for a long time, so I am hoping the TS meals will give him a nice break. But maybe I'll try to rework this plan again.

 

[tomatecerise]

At Quick service you can take your Time and relax too. At animal kingdom the most of quick service is outdoor and it's hot, very hot in that park and it close early.

Don't Forget Disney springs for Quick, Wolfgang puck and Cookes of Dublin are very good!

 

[Aliceacc]

Here's what I would do in your shoes:
Plan one ADR per day, most days-- that can drop you down to the DDP and not the Deluxe. For my family-- including my 17 year old son-- enough said there!-- it's plenty of food.
Place an order with Garden Grocer for bottled water, some park snacks, and some breakfast stuff... fruit, bagels & cream cheese, juice...

Determine your parks, and get those FP's in.

Then take it as it goes. We still do a mid day swim/nap break at the resort... but we go in summer. Plan for one each day. You may find that you don't need it-- fine, you have extra time. But we find that it recharges our batteries and enables us to do a late night and an early morning in the parks.

If you do want one or two breakfast/dinner combos, pay out of pocket for the breakfasts-- they tend to be cheaper than the dinners.

So, yeah, I guess I'm suggesting cutting your ADRs in half, more or less. But I think it will give you more flexibility. And if you find you want more TS meals, you can always see what's available last minute. (Your family of 3 will be MUCH easier to fit in than mine of 5.)

And what about those ADRs you're dropping? They give you a head start on plans for your next trip.

 

[JennyDrake]

Is it your first time at Disney? Or first time doing ADR's?

If it's your first time at Disney, I'd only do one TS per day, and just pick out something interesting for QS for the other meal. More park time; less restaurant time.

Are you going to have a car? Otherwise other-resort breakfasts are a PITA to make - transportation from resort to resort is slow anyway and it's even worse that time of the morning.

TOTALLY AGREE.

Even WITH a car, you are going to spend a lot of time in transportation and waiting to be seated. I find even WITH ADR and going during the OFF season, I still wait 15-30 minutes to be seated. With dining time and transportation, you are "losing" up to 3 hours per meal during busy season.

 

[samsteele]

Re your Coral Reef 5:15 pm ADR on Day 1, you might consider checking for an earlier ressie eg 4:30 pm or even 5 pm. Coral Reef is notorious for backing up and being slow to seat tables. An earlier ressie might give you a jump on the dinner crowd wave. An earlier ADR might also increase your chance at a table closer to the tank. While 5:15pm isn't terrible (as say a 6:30pm would be), you will likely still have a good 20 min plus wait to be seated. I wouldn't give up the ADR, but just check to see if you can grab something even earlier.

 

[Kelly loves Food]

Re your Coral Reef 5:15 pm ADR on Day 1, you might consider checking for an earlier ressie eg 4:30 pm or even 5 pm. Coral Reef is notorious for backing up and being slow to seat tables. An earlier ressie might give you a jump on the dinner crowd wave. An earlier ADR might also increase your chance at a table closer to the tank. While 5:15pm isn't terrible (as say a 6:30pm would be), you will likely still have a good 20 min plus wait to be seated. I wouldn't give up the ADR, but just check to see if you can grab something even earlier.

Thanks for the tip! I'll take all the advice i can get!

 

[DISNEY1975]

Just my opinion....

GOOD
Day 1: 1900 Park Fare at 8:05am
Coral Reef at 5:15pm

Not enough time between meals. If youre going to get pics with the characters, you wont leave until 9:30 - 10is, FULL from the buffet You will not be ready for another full meal at 2. I tried it and failed
Day 2: Tusker House at 8:05am (or 8:20 - which one to cancel? Does it make a difference?)
Yak & Yeti at 2pm

Excellent!
Day 3: Kona Cafe at 9am
Hoop De Doo Musical Revue at 6:15pm

Can you get a little earlier than 1? Again, 4.5 - 5 hours between huge meals is not recommended by me
Day 4: Tokyo Dining at 1pm
Garden Grill at 7:10pm

Good if your only getting a sandwich for lunch. If youre getting a heavy meal, then maybe move the Kona closer to 7:45ish.
Day 5: Be Our Guest 12:40pm
Kona Cafe 6:45pm


I do 2 TS per day. Breakfast and dinner (learned the hard way from my first time on the deluxe dining plan, prior to discovering DISboards!) If we are starving (never happens) between meals, we'll get an ice cream. Portions at Disney are HUGE and meals tend to be very heavy on the stomach. Lunch and dinner is just not possible for us. And to add walking around after a big meal...Bleeehhhh!

 

[Harambe]

We usually go for 10 days, and have about 7 TS ADR's. The rest we do Counter service, but those meals can be just as relaxing, as long as you know where to go and where to avoid (busy, noisy). You don't say when you are going, but if it is during the extreme heat, make sure you go to counter services that are indoors with AC (say, Pizzafari in AK). But if it is the cooler months, you can do some great counter service with outdoor tables that are quiet and relaxing (say, Flametree BBQ). Most of the TS we do are lunches (cheaper), but we like to do one wonderful non-park dinner and an early night (your HDDR plan will take care of that and it is a great show!).

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Honestly, I'd back it off to one TS a day. Remember that at your 60 day mark, you'll be making FP+ selections, which means that between ADRs and FP+s, you'll have 5 "appointments" to keep each day.

The first day seems really hectic to me. There isn't resort-to-resort transportation, so unless you have a rental car or will take a taxi/Uber, just getting to that early ADR is going to be an issue. I think you'd have to take a bus to the TTC and then the monorail to the Grand Floridian, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can weigh in. If taking Disney transportation you'll need to leave your room by 7:00 at the latest, which means a fairly early rise following a late night the night before. Then your next adventure is to get from the Grand Floridian to Epcot. This will require a monorail switch at the TTC. Let's plan on another hour to get from the Grand Floridian to Epcot, to be safe. So you're arriving at Epcot around 11:00. Are you planning on going to the World Showcase immediately, or riding some rides in Future World first? If you head to head to the WS first you'll need to make your way back to Future World by 5:00 to make your ADR. That's not a lot of time to explore, and then you'd have to schedule all your FP+s for after dinner. If you ride when you arrive, then you're cutting out time in the WS because you have to head back to Future World for that ADR. I'd cut one of those two meals.

Day 2 I'd cut out Yak & Yeti TS and just get food from their CS window.

Day 3: What park are you planning on being at? I wouldn't give up a rope drop to eat at Kona Cafe. And again, the resort-to-resort transportation is going to eat a huge chunk of time.

Day 4: There are so many yummy CS places in the World Showcase that I'd cancel Tokyo dining and just grab some CS instead.

Day 5 seems OK, but Kona seems like an odd choice for your final meal of the trip.

 

[Kelly loves Food]

Day 1, I was going to try to do MK after Park Fare, and then get to Epcot later. Would that make more sense? Or I may cancel Coral Reef if my DD is okay with that.

Day 2, I pushed back Yak & Yeti to 2:30 lol. I can't give up either of those, so I'm going to have to learn the hard way on that one!

Day 3, I originally had a Kona ADR for 7:55, but thought that was too early after 2 early ADRs the days before. I was planning on MK that day, but maybe I should switch back to 7:55 or try for a later ADR?

Day 4, I'm actually tempted to cancel Tokyo Dining...or switch Garden Grill to our final meal on Day 5. This will be an Epcot day.

Day 5, BOG will be sandwiches, leaving us open to a bigger dinner. I had put in for Kona because it looks good to me and because I couldn't get Ohana. But maybe we should look for something more magical...

Again, thank you to everybody for your suggestions!

 

[laughinplace199]

Here we go again...I've finally whittled this down to no more than 2 TS per day and tried to avoid park hopping for meals (other than Day 1). I know Kona is on there twice, but I really want to try both meals - though recent Kona reviews leave me open to trying something else. Any other suggestions? Its just me, DH and DD9.

Arrival: Arrive at Pop around 9pm

Day 1: 1900 Park Fare at 8:05am
Coral Reef at 5:15pm

Day 2: Tusker House at 8:05am (or 8:20 - which one to cancel? Does it make a difference?)
Yak & Yeti at 2pm

Day 3: Kona Cafe at 9am
Hoop De Doo Musical Revue at 6:15pm

Day 4: Tokyo Dining at 1pm
Garden Grill at 7:10pm

Day 5: Be Our Guest 12:40pm
Kona Cafe 6:45pm

Day 6: Go home flight leaves at 2pm

I know every family is different, but in my opinion, 2 table service meals per day is a lot of sitting and eating, especially when you have a little one with you.

Is your DD ok with so many breakfasts? We usually only do 1 TS breakfast because the kids are eager to get to the park early and ride some rides before the lines are too long.

What time does AK open on Day 2? If it's a 9:00 AM opening, I'd go with the 8:05 breakfast. You'll be done just as the park is opening. P.S. TH is one of our favorite breakfasts!

I'd cancel one of your meals on Day 4. On Day 2, would you consider Yak & Yeti's counter service instead of a table service meal?