Need help with ADR's - can't decide

[bechtelca@comcast.ne]

I find myself drawn to the character meals. It will be myself, DH, DS 11, DD 8, and DS 4 - we are on the DDP. Am I doing too many buffets/character meals? Also, can the kids on the DDP eat anything off the buffet or do they have to stick to just the kid selections? Please review my ADR's and tell me if it is ok or if I am missing some great places to eat. We do not want to do any 2 TS places nor CRT.

10/22 Epcot day - Garden Grill for dinner
10/23 AK day - Tusker House dinner
10/24 MK day -CP lunch and CM dinner
10/25 relax day at Boardwalk - Spoodles for dinner
10/26 DHS day -Fantasmic dinner pkg - H & V
10/27 unplanned day - Coral Reef dinner

 

[TxRabbit]

I really like buffets myself. I planned a lot of them for our first trip to the world. We did buffets for 3 of 5 TS meals. For our second trip, my buffet ratio decreased significantly. Here's why...

I really appreciated the TS meals as a little bit of a break. A time to sit down and rest for a while. The buffets didn't deliver on that idea. Up and down. Up and down. Get my own food. Help DS with his food. Etc. You get the idea. The characters would come. I would be all excited to see them, get pictures, if I didn't plan it right, my food might get cold on the plate. It wasn't the relaxing meal that I wanted the TS to be for me and my family.

However, I still plan buffets in our trips. The kids can eat whatever they want and are NOT limited to the kids selections. This works well for DS who has broader tastes than many of the TS offering for children. I LOVE character meals too. I just plan more traditional sit down meals than buffets.

In the end, you know what is best for your family. If you want to keep all the buffets, go for it! My only real concern looking at your plan is CP and CM on the same day. That seems to be a lot to me. I wouldn't do both on one day.

Happy planning!

 

[dzneelvr]

I'd switch out the Garden Grill for Biergarten in Germany and H&V package for Sci Fi in DHS. They are both "experiences" and ones you won't get anywhere else than at WDW The Fantasmic package isn't all it's cracked up to be either. We did it once and had worse seats than if we just found them ourselves. Tusker House is good food but it's plastic and paper. Have you ever been to a Rainforest Cafe (there's one as you enter AK)? they're really neat and you eat off plates and use real glasses! Like the last poster, we overdid the buffet one trip and never again. TS is service FOR you, rather than buffet's self service (which usually meant Mom up and running for everyone). Have a wonderful time!!

 

[bechtelca@comcast.ne]

thanks for your suggestions. I'm a bit reluctant to give up that fantasmic dinner package as it was so hard to get. Is there a bad seat for the show? Sci-Fi did intrigue me as I think my kiddos would think it was great fun. I know the day with CP and CM is full, but that has been the only day I could get them. I will probably keep trying to get a different day for the CM. Rainforest is fun, but we go often in chicago, also not on the DDP. what about Yak and Yeti or what else would be close to AK as we plan on staying there for the day.

 

[natnelliesmom]

We really enjoyed the Yak and Yeti. The food was SUPER good! My girls really enjoyed the food as well.
Great kids meal choices there.
We went for lunch at 11:00 and there was no line- 10 mins later the line was out the door. It's a good place to try without an ADR.
Good luck,
Sarah

 

[natnelliesmom]

I should also mention that any of the places at the AK resort are good options as well. Boma is a good buffet. Many options and a nice ambience.
It's just a short hop over from the park.
-Sarah

 

[Simba22]

I find myself drawn to the character meals. It will be myself, DH, DS 11, DD 8, and DS 4 - we are on the DDP. Am I doing too many buffets/character meals? Also, can the kids on the DDP eat anything off the buffet or do they have to stick to just the kid selections? Please review my ADR's and tell me if it is ok or if I am missing some great places to eat. We do not want to do any 2 TS places nor CRT.

10/22 Epcot day - Garden Grill for dinner
10/23 AK day - Tusker House dinner
10/24 MK day -CP lunch and CM dinner
10/25 relax day at Boardwalk - Spoodles for dinner
10/26 DHS day -Fantasmic dinner pkg - H & V
10/27 unplanned day - Coral Reef dinner

Epcot Day: I would skip Garden Grill and eat in World Showcase somewhere... we made ADR's for Biergarten and never made it so we are aiming to make it there next time, but we have eaten at 9 Dragons (China) and San Angel Inn (Mexico) on multiple occasions and always enjoyed our meals. I guess it depends on what you and your kids like to eat If you're set on a character meal, try Akershus in Norway. It's a princess meal so your boys might not be too keen on it, but your daughter will talk about it long after the trip is over! Or you could change your ressie all together and have breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto at Ohana (at the Poly). Epcot is a short monorail ride away!


AK Day: Tusker House is good but we prefer to go to either Yak & Yeti or Rainforest Cafe. Although on AK days, we have also been known to eat a CS lunch (like Pizzafari) then leave AK at closing and head to DTD or another resort for a TS dinner. In our experience, the Rainforest Cafe at AK is MUCH better than the one in DTD. I don't know why, but the food has been fresher and the servers much more attentive.

MK day: I've never been to Chef Mickey's personally so I cant say one way or another whether this is a good choice or not...A lot of people love it, a lot of people say it's just so-so. If you decided not to go on your Epcot day... I would go to Ohana for breakfast then move my Crystal Palace ressie to dinner and pick up lunch at Casey's or something. The Plaza Restaurant in MK is also VERY good.

DHS day: The Fantasmic Package is hit or miss. You pay the reservation charge and if the show is cancelled due to inclement weather, you don't get your money back. And the seats that they "reserve" for you are all the way to the left of the theater when you walk in, so you're not even center stage. I've also heard a lot of folks complain that the food at Hollywood & Vine is cold (due to it being a buffet and just sitting out for a while) or just lacking in choices or taste. I would skip it and go to Sci Fi or Mama Melrose's. We've had great meals at both!

Coral Reef: Great choice! The restaurant is beautiful and the food was dee-lish!

 

[thunderbird1]

You can never have too many buffets, especially if you have kids, IMHO. There's nothing more frustrating than ordering your dd/ds their all time favorite meal (mac n' cheese), then watching them not eat anything because "I don't like THAT kind of mac n' cheese." At a regular TS restaurant, I'm thinking, great, now s/he'll be hungry 10 minutes after we leave and we'll all have to stop to feed her/him. At a buffet, you go get a different plate of food; hopefully, something s/he'll eat.

Having said that, I wouldn't do CP and CM on the same day. I understand about not being able to get any other day, so don't cancel anything yet, but I definitely wouldn't go to both. If you have to give up one, give up CM, because you'll already see Mickey and Minnie at Garden Grill (I think--it's been a long time since we've been there).

And Boma rocks, but you already have Tusker House, which is supposed to be very similar to Boma so, unless you really, REALLY like African food, I wouldn't do both in such a short period of time.

And if you have a Rainforest Cafe near you, don't bother going while in WDW. There are too many good restaurants to go to the same places you could go at home.