We are going that exact same week (2 adults and 2 kids, 8 & 4) and we just made our dinner TS ADRs 3 days ago, so let me share our thinking. I'll let others talk about character meals since those aren't our thing.
Sat. 9/22 - Boma - My personal favorite WDW AYCTE restaurant - to this day I remember the salmon in vanilla cream sauce and watermelon rind salad! I'm pretty sure our then-4 yr old found choices to his liking on our last trip and there is some standard American fare on the buffet to save the day if you have picky eaters. Nothing is super exotic anyway but it was all wonderful. Allow time before or after the meal for looking around AKL and viewing the animals on the savannah; there is also African storytelling out at the fire pit at sundown. This is arrival day for us and we won't be hitting the parks (sounds like you won't either) so can't really speak to touring plans for this day; also explains why we picked a TS outside of the parks. We needed a late (8:30) ADR and it was no problem.
Sun. 9/23 - 'Ohana - haven't been there before but both the food and the fun got raves from friends who just got back (their kids are 8, 6, 4 and 1). Any park other than MK is often recommended for Sundays since Sunday is many families' first full day at WDW and they tend to head for MK. MK has evening magic hours that night, so we plan to tour AK from 9 'til early afternoon, take a midday rest-up, then hit 'Ohana for dinner, then pop over to MK for the EMH (scheduled closing is 8 so should stay open 'til 11). Asked for a 6 pm ADR but had to choose between 5:20 and 7:30, so availability isn't unlimited.
Mon. 9/24 - H&V on the Fantasmic Dining Package. Same as 'Ohana - haven't been there but it got big thumbs up from our just-returned friends. Last avail. FDP seating was 5:00 when I called a few days ago (could have gotten a non-FDP seating as late as 5:50). Morning Magic Hour is at AK but we didn't make a single MMH on our last trip and UG recommends skipping the MMH park anyway (although I'm not sure at this time of year that is that much of a concern). This is an EMH night at Studios (regular closing at 8 so EMH should go to 11). Fantasmic is at 8, so with dinner at 5 there should be time to round up some Fastpasses (to use after Fantasmic) before entering the amphitheater by 7:30. We plan to tour Future World in the morning and early afternoon before a midday break.
Tues. 9/25 - Le Cellier. I originally asked for Fri. 9/28 and it was booked solid (possibly for a IFWF event; I didn't ask). So I tried this night and there was some availability but not much - the CM actually congratulated me upon securing an ADR! If this restaurant interests you, call sooner rather than later. MMH is at Epcot and there are no EMHs. We'll spend this day at MK before monorailing it to Epcot for dinner and then Illuminations afterwards.
Wed. 9/26 - Chefs de France. This is an EMH night at AK which means AK will close no later than 8 pm. Boma would be a good fit here too (but we already have that covered), and isn't the Yak & Yeti TS/CS in AK supposed to be operational by then also? Anyway, it was no problem getting an ADR here, but that's not terribly surprising since we asked for a late one (8:45) to allow us time to get here from AK, and most people in Epcot will be watching Illuminations at 9 instead of dining. We'll spend the morning and early afternoon at Studios. There is no MMH park.
Thurs. 9/27 - Spoodles. Looking forward to trying the restaurant ranked #2 on the list of most expensive TS meals you can have for one TS credit in all of WDW.
ADR was not a problem. We are not using a park admission on this day (going to Sea World) so needed a non-park TS for dinner. MK has MMH; no EMHs.
Fri. 9/28 - Coral Reef at 5:30, then on to MK for
MNSSHP. Due no doubt to MNSSHP, others on this board have reported that the MK TS places (esp. LTT) were filling up or already full for dinner. I checked Concourse Steakhouse at the CR and they did have dinner availability so if you are going to MNSSHP that would be a convenient pre-party dinner option (as would Kona Cafe; I haven't been for dinner but I loved the breakfast we had there on our last trip). We plan on touring World Showcase starting at 11 for lunch using snack credits at the IFWF booths (IFWF starts this day), then taking a midday break before dinner and MNSSHP. There is no MMH park; Epcot has EMH.
Sat. 9/29 - if you want to maximize your last day, Studios is the MMH park and should open at 8.
Hope you have a wonderful time!
