Newbie and overwhelmed

[JoanneNC]

Howdy all
I just booked my families first trip to WDW for SPring Break- yes I know crazy - but hubby doesn't want to take our son out of school as he has missed time for illness, etc

In any case - we are staying at the WL- will be on the deluxe dining plan and hubby and son (6 yrs old) love to eat different foods - sushi - all kinds of seafood, etc Myself and my then 18mth old will just go along for the food ride..lol

What places should I be calling and reserving at?
What times should I be reserving them for - assuming an option? I know we plan on early starts to the day- afternoon breaks - would 4-5pm dinners seem about right?

There is just so much to read - it seems overwhelming - not to mention - I don't even know what park we will be doing each day to help determine where we will be to make eating easier..

ARGH - please tell me that despite all this work - we will have fun....

Thanks in advance

 

[katiesmom2]

Hi Joanne,

I know it is overwhelming when there is so much to organize, but rest assured you will have a fabulous trip. You still have time to plan, so take a deep breath and you will be fine!

You might want to use the method I use (and probably most people use) when planning. In WORD or just on a piece of paper, make a calendar of the dates you are going to be at WDW. Then you can plug in your park days (I also record the times the park is open on that day), possible dining ideas, etc.

You will need to make a decision pretty quickly as to which parks you will visit which days. Try to avoid each park on the day that park has extra magic hours - see http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/emhour.htm
Each park tends to be busier than normal on these days. Now, you do have access to the EMH because you are a Disney guest, so you will need to decide if it is worth it to you to have extra hours if it is busy.

Then, start looking at the dining pages (allears is the best resource) -
http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm

We've never done the dining plan, so I can't really comment on that, but you will probably want to do a character meal and you might want to reserve at least one meal a day (especially while you are at the parks). The dining plan allows you so many table service meals right? You will definitely need to reserve most TS restaurants if you want to get a decent time and ensure you get a reservation at all!

You will get lots of info on allears (you can even look at menus and photos of the restaurant) and on this board as to which are the favourite dining spots. You MUST reserve since you are at the World at such a busy time. You may find many places already booked, so when you can Disney Dining to reserve, be prepared to change restaurants or change your schedule.

If you have specific questions, there are lots of great people on this board who will be more than happy to help.

I would say, having been at WDW the week before Spring Break (and witnessed the influx of people...oh my goodness) you will need to have realistic expecations of how many rides you will get on each day. The lines will probably be very long for almost everything, so warn your son especially that he may not get on everything he wants to get on. Use FASTPASS as much as possible! FASTPASS your favorite ride(s) first thing when you arrive in the morning.

Good luck in your planning. It is a lot to think about, but you will feel better once you get some thoughts down on paper!

 

[java]

I have to disagree on avoiding emh during spring break. To us that is the ONLY way to get stuff done. We were able to get on about 10 of the biggies in MK(Space mountain, buzz, pooh to name a few) all within that early morning HOUR. Utilizing Fast pass was a Godsend too. We rarely waited longer than 20 minutes that very busy busy week.

Where are you staying? with the ages of your children I would think you would need a break mid day and then can do dinner near where ever you are staying.This is why we do Park Hoppers. It allows us to go into a park later in the day just to hit it for dinner. (great when you stay near the EPCOT resorts)

Check out the menus - decide on special ones you would like to do- Like a character meal as those fill up quickly. For seafood there is the Coral Reef which is nice with a toddler as the tank entertains them.

Good luck. First thing I like to do it make a chart with the days you'll be there and what parks you plan on that day- then picking will be easier.

 

[bekkiz]

Since you'll be there for Spring Break, it's going to be important to have booked at least one sit-down a day, to make sure your dining plan doesn't go to waste.

The above posters have good ideas about picking parks for particular days. I think the early morning hours are great, but then I tend to leave after them, as that park gets a little crazy.

Don't forget about eating at the resort restaurants, they tend to not get as booked up, plus seeing the resorts is super fun too.

A couple of ideas, you can check out the menus, and see if your family would like them:
Epcot, in Japan, Tokyo Dining or Teppan Edo (sushi, and other stuff)
Epcot, in Germany, Biergarten, sausage, beer and super fun music
Magic Kingdom, Liberty Tree Tavern character meal at breakfast and dinner, but a nice quieter spot, no furry monsters at lunch
MGM, Brown Derby, a nicer place, but tends to no book up too fast, good food
Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boma, great buffet with lots of new flavors, plus old stand bys
Wilderness Lodge, Whispering Canyon Cafe, cowboy comfort food, but a really good time
Poly, Kona Cafe, probably my newest favorite spot

 

[CamColt]

Welcome to the Dis, JoanneNC! We are glad you found us.


We have a whole section on dining, including complete menus, right here on our site. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining.htm I hope this helps!

 

[JoanneNC]

Great advice - keep it coming

I have successfully booked 1 character meal - so that is cool
We do have the park hopper option and will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge -

FastPass definitely sounds like a great option to atleast reduce the wait time

 

[Pakey]

I did spring break in 05 and I agree, you need to be realistic and you need to plan, plan, plan. (BTW, we had a great time on our spring break vacation and hopefully you will too). I strongly suggest that you also plan which day in what park and then make your meal reservations accordingly. You are going to want to limit the amount of time you spend traveling to and from your dining destinations and you are probably going to want to limit the amount of time you spend dining so that you have more time in the parks. With the much longer lines, you will need every bit of that time.

Because of the age of your children and the time of year you are going, you may want to limit the amount of "signature" dining places you pick. Not only are some of them not really all that suitable for children (think fine dining), they also take much longer to get through a meal.

We also took advantage of EMH hours when we were there on spring break so I would not discount them. We did not spend that day in that same park but we did hop over for the EMH and took advantage of some shorter lines.

It's going to be more time effective to eat at the parks for most of your meals but on the other hand, if you want a break from that, you can travel to the various resorts to eat. I think the only place with sushi that's on the dining plan is Ca Grill at the Contemporary resort and Wolfgang Puck's at DTD. Ca Grill is a signature dining (2 credits) but there are usually families with children there. You have to plan on at least 90 minutes for a meal at a signature, plus the travel time to get there and back. For seafood, there is Narcoosees (a signature) and then Coral Reef at Epcot which has a large aquarium you view as you dine. There is also Flying Fish (another signature) on the Boardwalk which you can walk to from Epcot.

I think the planning for our WDW trips is as fun as going so relax and enjoy it. And asks lots of questions out here, everyone is very helpful!

 

[GQ's Ghost]

6 years old....he's either in K or 1st grade.

Unless he is struggling, pull him out of school. Find out what the lesson plan is for the week, and make a real world learning experience based on that.

example, they will be learing about nick;es .05¢

make you son buy things with coins all week, help teach him the difference.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Great advice - keep it coming

I have successfully booked 1 character meal - so that is cool
We do have the park hopper option and will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge -

FastPass definitely sounds like a great option to atleast reduce the wait time

Since you do not have Park Hoppers, maybe you can plan to go to the parks that have morning EMH's to take advantage of the rides being more accessible. Or my other thought was to plan to go the the Park that had EMH the night before and just get there at rope drop. Hopefully one of these strategies will help you plan your Parks so you can plan your meals. We were there for a few days over Spring Break last year and it was really crowded so definitely make as many ADRs as you can so you don't lose out on paying for the dining plan. I definitely recommend Liberty Tree for the food and the character interaction at Dinner. It is a must do every trip for us. O'hana can be fun but the food lately seems to be hit or miss. Crystal Palace has decent food and the Pooh characters.

I am sure you will have a great time! Wishing you pixies dust for the rest of your planning!

 

[Hopefully]

First of all, Welcome to the DIS. You will find great help and advice here.
I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed. There is a lot to think about.
Personally, I think the first thing you must do is decide what park which day. It is imperitive that you eat near by where you will be each day. To spend extra time travelling to an ADR will make you miserable and I fear not enjoy your vacation. Both the Unofficial Guide and Tour Guide Mike give you information (for a fee) on which park is best for which days during your stay. It is worth the investiment.
Once you have made a basic plan of where when you can start your ADR planning. Have you reviewed the menus here on the DIS as well as allearsnet.com? This is a great starting place.
Each TS meal can take 90 - 120 minutes which comes out of your park touring time. Character Buffets can be more or less, if you are waiting for the characters to stop by.
Your son is at a great age for a few character meals. But I would not limit myself to those.
There are many really good resort choices as well.
We love the International restaurants in WS at Epcot and with park hoppers end most evening there. I agree with a PP I think Teppan Edo in Japan would be a good choice for your family. You sit at tables for 8 (so there would be others at your table) and the chef "performs" as he cooks your meal right in front of you. Another good choice for your family would be the Biergarten in Germany. There are several shows during the course of the evening and the kids are invited up to sing and dance. It is a Germany buffet and again you are seated at table of 8, so you would be with others.
We loved 'OHana in the Poly. The setting is exquisite, the view incredible, the food great, the service wonderful. During the evening the have Hula Hoop contests, and Coconut rolling contests etc for the kids. I think your son would love it
Get started on planning out your days, and keep an eye out here for advice and you will have a great trip.
Good Luck and Happy Planning!!

 

[Mickey-4-Me]

Spring Break? What are the exact dates you are traveling?

 

[JoanneNC]

March 22 through March 29

 

[Mkrop]

I would do the EMH am(get their at opening) and then hop somewhere else later. We also found that we liked lunches as our sit down meal so if you have any trouble getting ADRs try some lunches, it is a nice break.

We did character meals almost everyday, we were able to avoid the lines for meeting characters bc of dining with them which might help since you are going at a very busy time.

I made a very simple spreadsheet with what day had EMH am and then went there when calling for ressies. We did some breakfasts and lunches and then did counter service for dinner. My youngest feel asleep pretty early one night so I was gald we did lunches so we didnt have to cancel and could use all of our credits

Gl and have fun.

 

[Mkrop]

double post