My plan for dining + a question about logistics

[wundermommy76]

We just went to Disney in Oct. 2011 and we are going again this September - the 23rd - 29th. We booked it when we got the free dining plan email this week! Fortunately, having just been there we know what we liked & didn't like. AK was great, but this time it's going to be a half day thing because there are really only 3-4 things we want to do there. Going to Epcot for a full day & HS for a full day. The other 3 days will be spent at MK - that's where the kids like it best anyway. However, that is the 1st week of MNSSHP with 2 parties while we are there & MK closes early on tuesdays. BTW, anyone know WHY the park closes at 7pm every tuesday according to the schedule? So here is my current plan for dining - mind you, none of these have been reserved yet. And I got the info for park hours, EMH, and the MNSSHP that week from the calendar here on this site.

23rd - Get to Pop Century probably by 11-11:30am so the plan is AK until it closes that night @6pm. Hopefully a 6:15pm dinner @AK Rainforest Cafe.

24th - Full day @MK. Nothing planned for this day cause we might be meeting up with FL friends, so we'll just do quick service meals that day.

25th - Full day @HS. Dinner @ 50's Prime Time Cafe.

26th - Full day @Epcot. Breakfast @ Cape May. Dinner @ Beirgarten. That night Epcot supposed to have extended hours.

27th - Was planning on a full day @MK, BUT my littlest guy LOVED T-Rex last time we were there & this is probably our only day good for it considering no MNSSHP that night so we can stay for the electrical light parade & Wishes. So, I was hoping for a 11am lunch @ T-Rex. And then book it to MK for the rest of the day. I'm hoping to be in MK by 2pm.

28th - Full day @ MK, but since there is a MNSSHP that night, hoping to get a 7pm 1900 Park Fare.

29th - Leave that day. But not before early breakfast at Kona Cafe & a few more hours in MK.

So the logistics question is, if you know that you want to spend the majority of your trip at MK, would you still do T-Rex and lose half a day? My husband says we can bag it, but the little guy loved it so much, I feel like we should keep it. The bigger kids say forget it & let's do a whole day at MK again.....I just don't see any other way to fit T-Rex in though, except for this day. Wish we could stay an extra day, but we can't.

 

[doitforlove]

You could drop Rainforest Cafe on your AK day and just head over to DTD for T-Rex that day?

 

[Wendy31]

Since, on the 27th, you're planning to be in MK all day, why don't you do 1900 Park Fare on this day? You can monorail from the MK to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian for dinner & then monorail back to the MK.

I'd make your dinner ADR for somewhere between 5:00 & 5:30 just so you'll have plenty of time to get back in MK for the MSEP & Wishes.

And, then on the 28th, since MK will close at 7:00 pm for MNSSHP anyway, leave about 6:00 pm or so for DTD & have dinner at T-Rex then. This way, you'll have plenty of time at T-Rex plus some time to look around the shops at DTD.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Since, on the 27th, you're planning to be in MK all day, why don't you do 1900 Park Fare on this day? You can monorail from the MK to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian for dinner & then monorail back to the MK.

I'd make your dinner ADR for somewhere between 5:00 & 5:30 just so you'll have plenty of time to get back in MK for the MSEP & Wishes.

And, then on the 28th, since MK will close at 7:00 pm for MNSSHP anyway, leave about 6:00 pm or so for DTD & have dinner at T-Rex then. This way, you'll have plenty of time at T-Rex plus some time to look around the shops at DTD.

I was going to make the same suggestion. I would go to 1900 PF the day I was going to be at MK all day. T-Rex would be perfect for the evening MK closes early. You would then have some time to spend in DTD.

My only other suggestion you may want to consider is for your Cape May Cafe breakfast. I would move that to the DHS day, instead of the Epcot day. Epcot has much better CS options. You could eat a big breakfast @ CMC, then supplement with snacks until your 50's dinner. That way you wouldn't have to worry about finding a decent CS meal at DHS. You can easily take the boat from Beach Club Resort to DHS, after breakfast.

 

[wundermommy76]

I was going to make the same suggestion. I would go to 1900 PF the day I was going to be at MK all day. T-Rex would be perfect for the evening MK closes early. You would then have some time to spend in DTD.

My only other suggestion you may want to consider is for your Cape May Cafe breakfast. I would move that to the DHS day, instead of the Epcot day. Epcot has much better CS options. You could eat a big breakfast @ CMC, then supplement with snacks until your 50's dinner. That way you wouldn't have to worry about finding a decent CS meal at DHS. You can easily take the boat from Beach Club Resort to DHS, after breakfast.

So it is easy to get to HS from CMC? I read we could take a boat to Epcot from CMC - my kids loooooove riding boats - so that is what also appealed to me to go that day. But if the boat goes to HS too, then I like your idea a lot!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

So it is easy to get to HS from CMC? I read we could take a boat to Epcot from CMC - my kids loooooove riding boats - so that is what also appealed to me to go that day. But if the boat goes to HS too, then I like your idea a lot!

Yes, the friendship boats go to both Epcot & DHS from the Epcot resorts.

 

[wundermommy76]

Oh and I think our T-Rex issue has been solved too! Apparently there is NOT a MNSSHP on Sept 23rd as I had previously thought and MK is even having EMH from 9pm-12am. So we will do AK, eat at Rainforest Cafe (my older sons pick - each kid gets one pick of where they want to eat each trip) and then head over to MK for Wishes and ride some rides till midnight. So since that means they will get to see Wishes 3 times that week (another thing they LOVE is fireworks!) and since we changed one of our MK days to Tuesday then we will leave MK at 6pm and go to DTD for dinner at T-Rex. It worked out great. We changed almost all the days of our park visits, but this new schedule works out great for us.....isn't it funny how something so little as getting to see an extra night of fireworks & time in MK at night can change a whole trip? But the kiddies are happy now & that makes me happy. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[juliemouse]

My only other suggestion you may want to consider is for your Cape May Cafe breakfast. I would move that to the DHS day, instead of the Epcot day. Epcot has much better CS options. You could eat a big breakfast @ CMC, then supplement with snacks until your 50's dinner. That way you wouldn't have to worry about finding a decent CS meal at DHS. You can easily take the boat from Beach Club Resort to DHS, after breakfast.

This is what I was going to suggest. We had TS in Germany our first time there and although it was very good we realized there are so many wonderful CS choices in Epcot that we will reserve our TS for when we're in the other parks and don't have as many choices. We'd rather try a little something in every country than a big meal in one country.