Need to cancel some ADRs. Which would you choose?!?

[3littlecuties]

After calculating an estimated cost for the dining on our next trip, we decided that we need to cut down on some TS reservations. Our kids will be 12, 10, and 7 on the next trip so 2 of them will be charged as adults for buffets/character meals. If we do sit down places, they will likely order off the kids' menu. Therefore, we decided that we want to replace some of our TS meals with QS meals to cut down on cost.

Here's what we have reserved. I have bolded the ones that we are considering cancelling. Thoughts?

We will be staying at Yacht Club if that matters.

Fri D: Coral Reef (never eaten here and wanted to try it)

Sat B: Garden Grill (gets us into Epcot early so we can get on Soarin early)
Sat L: Via Napoli (late lunch)
Sat D: QS

Sun B: 1900 Park Fare (Easter brunch...I wanted a nice brunch for Easter)
Sun L: just snack
Sun D: Be Our Guest (we've never done dinner here and have heard mixed things. We really like it for lunch and have an ADR for lunch later in week)

Mon B: in room
Mon L: Mama Melrose (never done this one...wanted something new at HS)
Mon D: QS

Tue B: in room
Tue L: QS
Tue D: O'Hana

Wed B: in room
Wed L: Teppan Edo (one of our faves!)
Wed D: QS

Thur B: in room
Thur L: Be Our Guest
Thur D: Homecomin'

Fri B: in room
Fri L: Tusker House (thinking of trying Satuli Canteen instead)
Fri D: QS

Sat B: Trattoria Al Forno

 

[Calee]

I know its not one you have highlighted, but I'd cancel coral reef. Hands down worst meal of our last trip...plus there are so many good quick service places in world showcase.

 

[3littlecuties]

I’ve considered that too. I’ve heard mixed reviews. I think my kids would think it is fun but we can definitely get some good QS in the world showcase. We’ve stayed at Yacht Club and Boardwalk before and eaten at ESPN on arrival night. My oldest son loves it but I’m not thrilled with the food. I was looking for an alternative to that!

 

[OKW Lover]

We’ve stayed at Yacht Club and Boardwalk before and eaten at ESPN on arrival night. My oldest son loves it but I’m not thrilled with the food. I was looking for an alternative to that!

Consider the Dolphin Fountain then. Better burgers than ESPN or Beaches & Cream.

 

[eeyoresmom]

The Fountain at The Dolphin is very much like Beaches and Cream with prices similar to qs. We love Satuli Canteen. Love TH as well but there's a big price difference there. I'd skip BOG for dinner. Park Fare is a similar enough experience on the same day.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Consider the Dolphin Fountain then. Better burgers than ESPN or Beaches & Cream.

Posted at the exact same time

 

[Tksolomom]

I would cancel Turkey House and do Satu’li Canteen. At least at the other restaurants the kids can share an adult meal if they want. It depends on how important character dining is to you.

 

[3littlecuties]

Consider the Dolphin Fountain then. Better burgers than ESPN or Beaches & Cream.

This is good to know! We love the ice cream at Beaches and Cream (No Way Jose!!!) but the burgers are not good IMO.

 

[3littlecuties]

I would cancel Turkey House and do Satu’li Canteen. At least at the other restaurants the kids can share an adult meal if they want. It depends on how important character dining is to you.

Character isn’t that important. We have lots scheduled.

Just to be clear, we are considering cancelling all of the bolded ones.

 

[alex9179]

I would change any ADR that charged a fixed price, rather than paying for items ordered. That saves a lot, right there, given how your kids choose to eat.

As for the bolded, I enjoyed Satu'li much more than TH. My kids (13,12,9) still talk about how much they enjoyed the food. Trattoria had a good adult breakfast but I don't think it's a great value for you. The kid selections were very disappointing. I haven't dined at Homecoming, yet, but it's tentatively planned for my upcoming trip.

 

[rosiebean]

I know you asked about the options in bold, but here's my overall opinion based on recent visits with two kids who are "Disney Adults".

Overall advice: book one TS meal a day and play it by ear for other meals (snack in room or grab QS).

Regarding your first night, my crew would either eat QS at Epcot or just hang out at SAB and grab QS at Hurricane Hannah's (which would be my kids' preference above all else). We aren't fans of Coral Reef. I'm not a fan of the Fountain (burgers weren't good at all and service was really bad my one visit). Regarding other options around the Boardwalk area, my kids refuse to eat pizza at the BW pizza QS stand. We really loved Captain's Grill at YC for dinner, but now that it's refurbed with a new name and totally new menu, I can't honestly recommend a meal there...though I'd love to try it out!

I also think your plans at Epcot on Saturday can be trimmed down. I'm not a big fan of GG, but if the ADR gets you into Epcot early, I'd go for it and skip the TS lunch. The breakfast at GG is very filling...and even eating early, my family would still be full midday. Honestly, I rarely schedule two TS meals in one day, and when I do, it's an early breakfast and 'kind of late' dinner (7 to 8:30 pm)...and even at that late of a dinner time, we eat a lot lighter at night after a TS breakfast. And with your room so close to Epcot, you can head back for a rest, snack in your room, and head out later for a QS dinner in Epcot.

Likewise, on Sunday, I'd cancel the BoG dinner since you have breakfast scheduled at 1900 PF (esp. since you have lunch scheduled at BoG later in the week). OR, I'd keep the BoG res and split entrees or just get apps or dessert and wine.

Regarding Thursday and Homecomin' dinner ADR, you'll have a pretty filling lunch at BoG (we were stuffed after our lunch there last August and shared a few QS entrees among many of us as snack that night). But you can always just snack on appetizers at Homecomin' if you really want to experience the restaurant...or split a few entrees. Or do QS at Disney Springs.

I just keep going back to how my party gets really full after a TS meal at WDW, so much so that we eat pretty light the rest of the day (and we are not a bunch of skinny Minnies, lol).

And on Friday, I'd totally try out Satuli Canteen instead of TH. I enjoy TH, but it's not a favorite...but the reviews at Satuli are fantastic!

In any case, good luck! I hope wherever you land for meals, you enjoy them

 

[3littlecuties]

I know you asked about the options in bold, but here's my overall opinion based on recent visits with two kids who are "Disney Adults".

Overall advice: book one TS meal a day and play it by ear for other meals (snack in room or grab QS).

Regarding your first night, my crew would either eat QS at Epcot or just hang out at SAB and grab QS at Hurricane Hannah's (which would be my kids' preference above all else). We aren't fans of Coral Reef. I'm not a fan of the Fountain (burgers weren't good at all and service was really bad my one visit). Regarding other options around the Boardwalk area, my kids refuse to eat pizza at the BW pizza QS stand. We really loved Captain's Grill at YC for dinner, but now that it's refurbed with a new name and totally new menu, I can't honestly recommend a meal there...though I'd love to try it out!

I also think your plans at Epcot on Saturday can be trimmed down. I'm not a big fan of GG, but if the ADR gets you into Epcot early, I'd go for it and skip the TS lunch. The breakfast at GG is very filling...and even eating early, my family would still be full midday. Honestly, I rarely schedule two TS meals in one day, and when I do, it's an early breakfast and 'kind of late' dinner (7 to 8:30 pm)...and even at that late of a dinner time, we eat a lot lighter at night after a TS breakfast. And with your room so close to Epcot, you can head back for a rest, snack in your room, and head out later for a QS dinner in Epcot.

Likewise, on Sunday, I'd cancel the BoG dinner since you have breakfast scheduled at 1900 PF (esp. since you have lunch scheduled at BoG later in the week). OR, I'd keep the BoG res and split entrees or just get apps or dessert and wine.

Regarding Thursday and Homecomin' dinner ADR, you'll have a pretty filling lunch at BoG (we were stuffed after our lunch there last August and shared a few QS entrees among many of us as snack that night). But you can always just snack on appetizers at Homecomin' if you really want to experience the restaurant...or split a few entrees. Or do QS at Disney Springs.

I just keep going back to how my party gets really full after a TS meal at WDW, so much so that we eat pretty light the rest of the day (and we are not a bunch of skinny Minnies, lol).

And on Friday, I'd totally try out Satuli Canteen instead of TH. I enjoy TH, but it's not a favorite...but the reviews at Satuli are fantastic!

In any case, good luck! I hope wherever you land for meals, you enjoy them

Thank you so much for this response. I think it makes a lot of sense. We don’t usually schedule more than one TS a day on our trip so I’m not sure why we did this time. Honestly, I debated the Via Napoli reservation but thought maybe we could just split a pizza to try it out and then it wouldn’t be as large as a normal TS meal. Maybe we should just skip that one and pick up F&G festival snacks around the world.

As far as BOG dinner, I think I was just surprised to get it! And it’s late-ish so I thought it might be ok but I think cancelling this will be fine. We will go there for lunch later and I really enjoy the lunch there.

I think Homecomin’ was more to just try out a new place. DH wants to cancel it though to give us more flexibility. Typically, we try to do our TS meal for lunch as it gives us a nice mid-day break. We try to rope drop mornings, have a sit down lunch, then maybe do 1 more attraction before heading back to the hotel. Then we’ll do down time or pool time and decide what to do from there. Either head back into a park for evening activities or to DS or just stay at the resort and roast marshmallows or walk the Boardwalk or something like that. If we drop BOG dinner and Homecomin’, that will leave O’hana as our only dinner reservation and that is a planned non-park day for us so it will be fine. We just find that our kids are unpredictable as far as how long they’ll last in the parks and we like the flexibility in the afternoon/evening.

 

[VFL]

Homecomin and Tusker House

 

[Elle23]

I know its not one you have highlighted, but I'd cancel coral reef. Hands down worst meal of our last trip...plus there are so many good quick service places in world showcase.

We are at Coral Reef 2 weeks ago, and it was one of our favorite meals of the trip.

The food was really good and the atmosphere/ view was really cool. Luckily, we were seated near the aquarium. I don’t think we would have enjoyed it as much if we had been farther back.

 

[DisMommyTX]

I would cancel Coral Reef, BOG lunch, Tusker House, and Trattoria Breakfast.

I would do the BOG dinner and skip the lunch. We don't care for the lunch options. The dinner menu has much better food, and both kids and adults can order off the kids menu. We tend to book a late dinner there (after 9pm when park is open past midnight) just planning on soup and cupcakes, but maybe one or two end up ordering/sharing kids meals. We prefer CHH or Pecos Bill's for QS lunch.

We also did the Bon Voyage breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno on our last trip. No one really enjoyed their food except DD who just told the waitress what she wanted and created her own plate. The characters were fine, but we had much better interactions at both 1900 PF and Garden Grill.

TH was better this trip than in the past, but we LOVE Satuli. I would keep it until half way through the trip then decide if you really want another character meal or not. Keep at least one good character meal for the end of the trip just in case someone gets sick or something happens that causes you to miss the early ones. Then, cancel when you are sure you don't need/want it.

Two meals on your second day seems like a lot, but we really like Via Napoli, so sharing a pizza sounds good as long as they are at least 5+ hours apart.

 

[lovethesun12]

I know you asked about the options in bold, but here's my overall opinion based on recent visits with two kids who are "Disney Adults".

Overall advice: book one TS meal a day and play it by ear for other meals (snack in room or grab QS).

Regarding your first night, my crew would either eat QS at Epcot or just hang out at SAB and grab QS at Hurricane Hannah's (which would be my kids' preference above all else). We aren't fans of Coral Reef. I'm not a fan of the Fountain (burgers weren't good at all and service was really bad my one visit). Regarding other options around the Boardwalk area, my kids refuse to eat pizza at the BW pizza QS stand. We really loved Captain's Grill at YC for dinner, but now that it's refurbed with a new name and totally new menu, I can't honestly recommend a meal there...though I'd love to try it out!

I also think your plans at Epcot on Saturday can be trimmed down. I'm not a big fan of GG, but if the ADR gets you into Epcot early, I'd go for it and skip the TS lunch. The breakfast at GG is very filling...and even eating early, my family would still be full midday. Honestly, I rarely schedule two TS meals in one day, and when I do, it's an early breakfast and 'kind of late' dinner (7 to 8:30 pm)...and even at that late of a dinner time, we eat a lot lighter at night after a TS breakfast. And with your room so close to Epcot, you can head back for a rest, snack in your room, and head out later for a QS dinner in Epcot.

Likewise, on Sunday, I'd cancel the BoG dinner since you have breakfast scheduled at 1900 PF (esp. since you have lunch scheduled at BoG later in the week). OR, I'd keep the BoG res and split entrees or just get apps or dessert and wine.

Regarding Thursday and Homecomin' dinner ADR, you'll have a pretty filling lunch at BoG (we were stuffed after our lunch there last August and shared a few QS entrees among many of us as snack that night). But you can always just snack on appetizers at Homecomin' if you really want to experience the restaurant...or split a few entrees. Or do QS at Disney Springs.

I just keep going back to how my party gets really full after a TS meal at WDW, so much so that we eat pretty light the rest of the day (and we are not a bunch of skinny Minnies, lol).

And on Friday, I'd totally try out Satuli Canteen instead of TH. I enjoy TH, but it's not a favorite...but the reviews at Satuli are fantastic!
In any case, good luck! I hope wherever you land for meals, you enjoy them

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

Also looks like we will both be fighting the MK crowds on Easter Sunday

 

[Disneylover99]

I'd cancel all the bolded restaurants.
If they're not must do's, than don't do them.
Having the flexibility of fewer ADR's is the way to go, especially on your last 3 days. It will free up time.

 

[stace1214]

I'm in the minority for sure, but I would cancel BOG. I didn't love dinner at all. I've heard very mixed reviews about Homecomin'. There are so many QS at Disney Springs, I'll bet you could find something there you'd all enjoy. Tusker House is good, but I'm honestly not sure it's worth paying the adult price for the buffet for kids who won't eat a whole lot, especially if your kids are not really into characters.

 

[Sandiz08]

I would stick to one table service a day. That might help you narrow everything down.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I love Coral Reef, but a lot of people don’t. Mama Melrose is also a favorite of my family.

I would drop Homecomin and go to Earl of Sandwich. I’d also drop Tusker House and try Satulli or go to Flame Tree BBQ. Since you are doing BoG for lunch I would skip dinner there.