Need Help with planning ADRs and places to go while there

[mkulp]

We will be traveling as a group of 11 (5of those being kids ages 5-12). We will be staying at POP 9/17-9/22. We have no park hopper and the free dining!!

Our plans as of right now are:

9/17 arrive in Orlando 11:30am
Check in resort
Head to DHS, plan to make ADR at 50's Prime time around 4pm

9/18 Animal Kingdom 9-1
break at resort
dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
MNSSHP at MK

9/19 Bfast at Chef Mickey's
Epcot all day

9/20 MK
dinner at 1900 park fare

9/21 Hollywood studios
dinner at Ohana

9/22 Epcot
leave to head home

Ok so that is all that we have planned so far?
What are your opinions about places to eat and days that we picked to go to the parks?
Also, what is the best transportation to get to eat eating place.

Thanks so much for your Expert advice.
I have been to disney 3 other times, but last time was in 2006 and not with as big of a group.

mkulp in IL

 

[exwdwcm]

We will be traveling as a group of 11 (5of those being kids ages 5-12). We will be staying at POP 9/17-9/22. We have no park hopper and the free dining!!

Our plans as of right now are:

9/17 arrive in Orlando 11:30am
Check in resort
Head to DHS, plan to make ADR at 50's Prime time around 4pm

9/18 Animal Kingdom 9-1
break at resort
dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
MNSSHP at MK

9/19 Bfast at Chef Mickey's
Epcot all day

9/20 MK
dinner at 1900 park fare

9/21 Hollywood studios
dinner at Ohana

9/22 Epcot
leave to head home

Ok so that is all that we have planned so far?
What are your opinions about places to eat and days that we picked to go to the parks?
Also, what is the best transportation to get to eat eating place.

Thanks so much for your Expert advice.
I have been to disney 3 other times, but last time was in 2006 and not with as big of a group.

mkulp in IL

looks pretty good!

Transportation- we always rent a car, just a personal preference, as we hate waiting for buses and like the freedom it allows us. However, Disney transportation is pretty darn good. Of course the restaurants at the parks, you just hop the bus/monorail or boat for that park. for those at hotels, you can usually hop a bus to a park, then get one from the park to that resort. Just look into the options- for example, for O'hana- you could just take a bus to the MK/TTC and then hop the monorail to the Polynesian. For dinenr at Whispering Canyon- take the bus to the MK/TTC and then you can hop a boat from MK to the Wilderness Lodge and the boat is a fun option anyhow with the kiddos.

On meals- 50s Prime Time is a favorite of ours- good choice. We are also trying Whiserping Canyon this trip, I've done it once before, but none of the rest of us have. It is a LOT of fun if you enjoy the loud, teasing/taunting type experience. Chef Mickey's is good with the kiddos. The food isn't anything special, but a lot of the dining experiences are more about the environment or characters and not just the food. 1900 park fare- I haven't tried the dinner, only the breakfast and we were not huge fans. It felt unorganized and just not that great. You might read up on the reviews, I am not sure if the dinner is supposed to be better or not. The Crystal Palace at MK is always a good option too- they have a buffet with Pooh and friends (breakfast, lunch and dinner). O'hana is another favorite- can't miss there and the activities for the kids is great. If you can schedule dinner late enough, you can request a window seat and watch WISHES at dinner out the window, we've done it and it is just magic! Or head down to the beach after dinner and you can watch WISHES from there. It's great.

On parks- since you don't have a hopper option, it is a little tougher. We usually take advantage of the extra magic hour in the morning- and then hop to another park in the evening, since the EMH park tends to get crowded as the day wears on. We try and avoid the evening EMH parks unless we dare to do evening EMH (and sometimes we do if need the extra hours in the park). It is always a good idea to go to a park on the morning after it had evening EMH- for example, if there is an evening EMH at MK on Tuesday night, then WEdnesday morning will be less crowded at MK, as most people probably did it hte night before, same with MNSSHP nights- do the MK the day after that. have a fabulous time!