Newbie: Review reservations and advise

[Dawnlight]

I'm visiting with my family of 8 (2 adults, children 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 9) and my mother from 12/22 to 12/29. We don't eat any meat or shellfish and have other limitations as far as some dairy is concerned. I'd like you experts to review the reservations I've made so far for table-service meals and to advise about what would be best bets as far as quick service meals (we have the basic dining plan). My mother is treating us to this vacation and we're both relative newbies (I visited as a kid when there was only MK and again about 20 years ago). We started reservations late instead of right at day 180 and due to being a large party of 9 at peak time, we lost a lot of options already. We are staying at All Stars Movies.

Arrive: 12/22 with 3pm check in
Dinner
Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant: Downtown Disney

Magic Kingdom 12/23:
Dinner
The Plaza Restaurant
(dinner options were very limited, so this was not a first choice. Might it be better to use 2 quick-meals for this day at MK or go with a breakfast or lunch option).

Epcot 12/24:
Dinner
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (character meal)

Animal Kingdom 12/25:
Breakfast
Tusker House Restaurant (character meal)

Hollywood Studios 12/26:
Dinner
50's Prime Time Cafe

Magic Kingdom 12/27:
Dinner
The Crystal Palace

Epcot 12/28:
Dinner
Biergarten Restaurant

My four oldest are boys and not into characters and even my girls are not big on princesses or characters, but I do like the idea of at least one character meal. If there are better options, though, I wouldn't mind dropping one.

Also, everyone in the party has an adult meal plan. My girls, 9, will be on the kids plan, but it's very very limited, especially for kids that don't eat meat. Are the adults able to share their buffet foods with the kids, or is that a big no-no?

Thanks so much for your help and advice!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I see for your 12/23 reservation Liberty Tree Tavern is also open; that is an excellent restaurant, as well as the Crystal Palace. As for character dinners, we ate at Akerhaus and enjoyed ourselves. It is geared toward princesses, but the food was good.
You will be doing a character breakfast at Tusker House, so maybe skip the other character meal and go for the Candlelight Processional instead. You could drop the dinner at MK on 12/23 (saving the meal credit) and put it toward the processional, then try for a Fast Pass plus for Be Our Guest on 12/23. That counts as a lunch, not a TS credit. There are several options. Since BOG is a hot ticket, you could try for that. Or, just keep scouring the reservations for one to pop up. People often overbook, then when they finalize their plans they begin dropping reservations.
Over all, though, your reservations look pretty solid, with good choices!

 

[Dawnlight]

Thanks for your reply. I booked another slot for 12/23 for Liberty Tree Tavern. I hadn't realized that I can double book reservations, so this is helpful to get things in place and then take time to look at menus more thoroughly.

Do people over book also so they can later coordinate dining with fast passes?

We do not have park-hopper passes and don't want to leave the parks to dine due to coming at peak.

Can you tell me more details about the candlelight processional? My family isn't Christian, but my mother is; is it very religious in nature or more secular? I think my mother wants to get the most for her dining pass and doesn't think it's worth 2 credits, but neither of us know anything about it and what it entails.