My Restaurant Dining List

[kyanandme]

I wanted to get some input about the reservations I have booked at the following restaurants. It will be myself, DH, DS(5), DD(3), and DS(1). My husband and I have been to Disney a few times before we married. Then we had kids. So this is the kids first time going. I planned to get the Deluxe Dining Plan. We are staying at the AKL. We arrive on Jan. 5, really late in the evening. If I have calculated correctly, I have to drop 2 meals. Looking for any advice from the experts. TIA

Wed., Jan. 6 (Magic Kingdom & Grand Floridian)
Cinderella @ 9:05am (2 meals)
Liberty Tree Tavern @ 3:30 pm
Citrocos @ 8:55pm (2 meals)

Thurs., Jan. 7 (Epcot & Grand Floridian)
Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall @ 8:00 am
Le Cellier Steakhouse @ 1:10pm
Narcoosees @ 7:05 pm (2 meals)

Fri., Jan. 8 (Animal Kingdom & Wilderness Lodge)
Donald’s Safari Breakfast @ Tuskers @ 8:15 am
Yak & Yeti @ 1:00 pm
Whispering Canyon Café @ 7:00 pm

Sat., Jan. 9 (Magic Kingdom & Poly)
Liberty Tree Tavern @ 8:05 am
Plaza @ 1:30 pm
‘Ohana @ 8:10 pm

Sun., Jan. 10 (Hollywood Studies & Boardwalk)
Hollywood and Vine @ 8:20 am
Sci Fi @ 4:25 pm
Flying Fish Café @ 9:00 pm (2 meals)

Mon., Jan. 11 (OYO & Downtown Disney)
Chef Mickey @ 8:40 am
Teppan Edo @ 1:00 pm
Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue @ 7:15 pm (2 meals)

Tues. Jan 12 (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
Boma @ 7:55am

 

[cnorth]

If I am correct, you will be there for 7 nights, which gives you 21 credits/person. Seems like you are using 24 credits, which is 3 too many. A few suggestions:

Is there a reason you feel you need to eat 3 TS meals a day? You could use snack credits to get pastries and such for breakfast. You could pick some up the night before, and just get a drink with your refillable mug. That way, you could have a more relaxing breakfast in the room. That would free up some of your credits. Or you could use snack credits for a light lunch if you want to keep the character breakfasts.

If you do want to have 3 sit down meals a day, I would go for sampling rather than trying to eat it all. Three meals with appetizers, entrees, and desserts is a ton. If you want the break, then go for it- just don't eat much at each place or you will quickly want to start giving up on ADRs.

I think your choice of ADRs are good. You might think about trying Jiko, though, since you are staying at AKL. The food there is amazing.

Overall, I think you will love the DxDDP. We wouldn't go without it (although we do one late breakfast/early lunch and one signature dinner per day). You get to try some really amazing restaurants. Enjoy!

 

[pancras]

It looks like you made the same mistake I did in thinking three meals a day meant three different restaurants. If you eat at only TS restaurants you end up with a timetable you have. Once you put in Signature restaurants, they cost 2 credits a person a time instead of 1. Look at how many credits you have each day and work out your adrs that way I found to be easier. If you have a look at my ADRs you can see how I have adjusted them.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34197618&postcount=1

 

[JennSaint]

Personally if it were me I would drop one of the Princess meals. I think one is sufficient especially since you have 2 boys. If you dropped CRT that's two TS credits right there. I have heard such good reviews on the Princess Storybook breakfast so I would keep that one.

I would probably also drop Teppan Edo on Jan 11. After eating breakfast at Chef Mickey's I don't think you'll be ready for a sit down lunch at 1pm.

I also agree with the PP who said eating 3 table service meals a day is alot. I made this mistake on our first trip. Especially on the days where you are eating a breakfast buffet. I think you could get by on a snack until dinner time.

Another thing is since your kids are so young and I noticed that some of your dinner meals are scheduled late. Do you think they will really be able to stay awake? We made that mistake with a dinner at Ohana's and my little guy was asleep in the chair.
You may want to rethink your plan. Maybe cancel some of the lunches and schedule your dinners a little earlier if you can switch them.

 

[blanq]

Personally if it were me I would drop one of the Princess meals. I think one is sufficient especially since you have 2 boys. If you dropped CRT that's two TS credits right there. I have heard such good reviews on the Princess Storybook breakfast so I would keep that one.

I would probably also drop Teppan Edo on Jan 11. After eating breakfast at Chef Mickey's I don't think you'll be ready for a sit down lunch at 1pm.

I also agree with the PP who said eating 3 table service meals a day is alot. I made this mistake on our first trip. Especially on the days where you are eating a breakfast buffet. I think you could get by on a snack until dinner time.

Another thing is since your kids are so young and I noticed that some of your dinner meals are scheduled late. Do you think they will really be able to stay awake? We made that mistake with a dinner at Ohana's and my little guy was asleep in the chair.
You may want to rethink your plan. Maybe cancel some of the lunches and schedule your dinners a little earlier if you can switch them.

I agree with your comments about late meals and young ones. To the OP, I wish you lots of luck trying 3 TS meals each day with a one year old and a three year old, and I really mean that sincerely and not in a snarky way. You will likely spend close to 6 hours per day eating and getting to/from meals. Your buffets should speed up things a bit.

 

[MSLRAC]

Personally if it were me I would drop one of the Princess meals. I think one is sufficient especially since you have 2 boys. If you dropped CRT that's two TS credits right there. I have heard such good reviews on the Princess Storybook breakfast so I would keep that one.

I would probably also drop Teppan Edo on Jan 11. After eating breakfast at Chef Mickey's I don't think you'll be ready for a sit down lunch at 1pm.

I also agree with the PP who said eating 3 table service meals a day is alot. I made this mistake on our first trip. Especially on the days where you are eating a breakfast buffet. I think you could get by on a snack until dinner time.

Another thing is since your kids are so young and I noticed that some of your dinner meals are scheduled late. Do you think they will really be able to stay awake? We made that mistake with a dinner at Ohana's and my little guy was asleep in the chair.
You may want to rethink your plan. Maybe cancel some of the lunches and schedule your dinners a little earlier if you can switch them.

I agree, you don't want Princess overkill for your boys and you'll get more princesses for your buck (or credit) at Akershus. I would also cancel Tappen Edo due to the timing. Every time we eat Japanese (be it at home or at Epcot) it's been a 2 hour meal. That will kill your day and you've got two other solid meals set for that day. So I'd drop that one and opt for a bit heavier of a snack in the afternoon that day.

I would also reconsider your dinner times. Our kids are the same age and there is no way they could handle those late dinner ADRs after a busy day in the parks. We are going in February with DxDP and are doing 3 TS meals a day. I have started our days with breakfast at 9 am followed by lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 7 pm. I've also tried to pick somewhat "lighter" meals for lunch. I've also made sure that we are eating in or very close to the park of choice for the day so we don't lose too much time with travel.

But I think you have a great list that just needs tweaked a bit.

 

[lemondog]

We do DxDDP as well, but I have to honestly say, 3 TS meals is just too much food for us! We always do a TS breakfast and then TS dinner...lunch is almost always CS, or on the days we do a Signature dinner, we use snack credits.

On the days you are doing a 2TS dinner I would drop the lunch completely and just do CS. Also, if possible schedule an earlier dinner time would probably work much better for young kids. Just to give you an idea of how we use our DxDDP, here is our ADR schedule. It seems to work very well - I think there is only 1 day that we're using 3 TS meals:

SAT:
6:35 pm OHANA

SUN:
8:10 am CRT
6:20 pm BIERGARTEN

MON:
7:00 am CHEF MICKEY’S
1:00 pm LES CHEFS DE FRANCE
7:10 pm BOMA

TUE:
7:30 am OHANA
4:35 pm BROWN DERBY

WED:
9:30 am 1900 PARK FARE
5:50 pm CRYSTAL PALACE

THU:
8:00 am TUSKER HOUSE
6:10 pm YACHTSMAN STKHOUSE

FRI:
8:10 am CRYSTAL PALACE
5:40 pm TONY’S TOWN SQUARE

SAT:
8:30 am KONA CAFE

My kids expect 3 meals a day so we do a CS lunch, or on our Signature Dinner days we'll use snack credits to "create" a meal. It works very well...last trip we came home with 0 unused snack credits (I stocked up on lunch box snacks to take home at the resort gift shop) and 2 unused meal credits.

 

[JamesMom]

Just noticed that you have (2) 9:00pm meals at signature restaurants with a 5,3 and 1 year old children. After a tough day touring the parks, are you sure they have the stamina to not have a meltdown that late at night in a fancy sit down environment? You know your own kids, but mine would be holy terrors or comatose with those plans. My DH and I plan 1 late night meal at Cali Grill while our kids are in the room with Kids Nite Out, otherwise almost all dinner plans are 5ish. Just something to think about.

If curious , here's our Dx ADR list:
Apr 30 - Arrival Day
none
Sat May 1 - Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace 8:05
Trails End 5:30 [If go to Hoop de Doo on Thurs, still thinking]
Sun May 2 - Studios
Play and Dine 8:00
Sci-Fi 1:05
Cali Gril 9:00 (DH & me only: Anniversary Dinner - Fireworks last year at 10)
Mon May 3 - Water Park/DTD
Chef Mickey 8:30a
T-Rex 5:00
Tues May 4 - Animal Kingdom
Tusker 8:00a
Yak & Yeti 12:00
Wed May 5 - Cinco de Mayo in Epcot (we're Texans)
Rose & Crown 12:00
San Angel 5:30
Thu May 6 - Water Park
O'hana's 8:30a
Trails End 5:30 [if don't go to Hoop de Doo - still thinking]
Fri May 7 - Magic Kingdom - round 2
CRT - 8:05a
Le Cellier 6:55 (DH and I only)
Sat May 8 - Departure day Magic Kindom favorites
none

 

[DisneyFamily123]

We were just there for 9 days on the deluxe dining plan. We did deluxe because we wanted nearly all table service for character breakfasts and signature restaurants. It worked out to be cheaper to have the deluxe plan since we would have ended up paying for some table services and appetizers and refillable mugs anyway.

We loved Liberty Tree Tavern - ate there twice for lunch. Get the pot roast or turkey. The desserts were very delicious. I just wish they would bring back the colonial characters.

Citrocos had good food - we had seafood dishes but it was kind of quiet and boring in there. Nice restaurant, but except for the white table cloth, I didn't think the food was any better than other restaurants that only charge 1 DDP credit (like Restaurant Marrakesh, Tutto Italia, Yak and Yeti).

Narcoosees was OK. Like Citrocos, the food was good but nothing spectacular.

Donald's Safari Breakfast was great. Very popular and crowded but the food was very good and many different selections (other than the usual breakfast food). Donald Duck does not sign autographs there (so they can rush people through a photo line and try to sell you one of the $30 photos they do). But Donald is easily available nearly all day in Animal Kingdom park on the greeting trail for autographs. We did get photos and autographs with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. We like Tusker Houses' lunch/dinner buffet too.

Yak and Yeti was one of my favorite restaurants. Casual but absolutely delicious food. I loved the lettuce cups appetizer and fish dishes. And one of the few places to get really good draft beer. I don't like bud light. They have a Safari Amber draft beer made special for AK. It was very good.

I liked Ohana's dinner. It was delicious and I highly recommend it.... as long as you are not a vegetarian.

Hollywood and Vine just stinks. The food is terrible. The same characters are available elsewhere in Hollywood Studios. This was our second try (lunch), and last year had dinner -- I'll never go back again. And I'm not a picky eater!

Sci Fi was OK. My DS4 liked watching the movies and cartoons while eating. The ribs were disgusting. I'd eat here again, but I'd stick to the burgers, fries and onion rings. Don't bother trying a real dish. Milkshakes were good.

Hoop De Doo was a riot of fun. I really didn't want to do this one -- it just looked corny and stupid. But it was really a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching my DS4 laugh the whole time. The waitress was hilarious to joke with.

Boma - I don't know. But we ate at Jiko right across from Boma. Jiko was awesome, hands down, the best meal of the whole trip. And the signature restaurants like Jiko were all very accomodating to our DS4. Ignore the kids menu, just ask for what you want and they will bring it.