Newbie starting from the very beginning

[kelly0726]

I am just starting to plan out my adrs for upcoming trip in Sept-OCT. I only have a few days to nail my plan down and would love some input. I haven't been there since I was a kid and don't really have any specific memories of where I would want to go back to.

So, I would love to hear your favorites or even how you decide on which day you decide to book which one. Is it based on which park it is located in?

We will be there for 9 days and it will be me, dh, ds4 and ds2.

Also, we may be meeting up with friends for part of our trip. Can we make 1 reservation for the 2 groups or how does that work since we are both doing free dining?

Thanks

 

[Christine]

I first usually plan my parks. I got to touringplans.com and find the "best days" for each park and follow it. I write it all out on a handmade spreadsheet.

I then start working my dining around that.

For instance, on my trip right now, I am going to eat at Citricos on my Magic Kingdom day (I can monorail over from the MK). I will eat at Boma on my Animal Kingdom day, and so forth. It usually falls right into place.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

I also start like Christine. Pick which parks you will be at each day and then plan your restuarants around that.

 

[kelly0726]

Thank you!

Can anyone give me their top 5 must dos for first timers with ds4 and ds2.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Definitely go by park hours and EMH hours and plan what parks you will be at and on what day. I always have a vacation folder with a notepad to do this and hold any other important papers I need during the trip. Take a sheet of paper and fold it so you have enough columns for the amount of days you'll be there. Then, find out your park hours and decide where you want to go. We typically visit during the peak season and make sure to decide which EMHs we are going to hit first. After that, plan your restaurants according to what park you will be at or near. Only book restaurants at that park or in a neighboring resort. You can Google for a WDW map to help with this.

Have a great time!

 

[DisneyCruiser83]

Everyone will have different opinions, but for ds4 and ds2, my top 5 would be:

1) Chef Mickey's (Contemporary)
2) Crystal Palace (MK)
3) Ohana's (Poly)
4) Boma (AKL)
5) Teppan Edo (EPCOT: Japan)

Have a great trip!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I plan side by side meaning if I will be in the MK that day I will eat close by. You don't want to waste time traveling from one end of the world to the other. It makes life easier. Also plan it out if you want to arrive on an emh morn or night to.

 

[MinnieTink]

We are also meeting up with a group of friends, who are also on the Dining plan. I was able to make some reservations for our whole group, no problem!

Some suggestions....

MK... We like Tony's, but we also like some restaurants at the monorail resorts. Many people love Chef Mickey's. We like it too, but prefer breakfast at Ohana at the Polynesian because it is not a buffet. The characters are fun there and the food is really good.
Epcot.... A fun one is Coral Reef. We were there in 2007. The food was adequate but the atmosphere is AWESOME! We are trying Teppan Edo this year. We love to go out for Hibatchi at home, so we will see what it is like @ WDW.
DHS... My DH likes Mama Melrose. (I'm not sure... we had really good food there in 2007, and a "lackluster" experience in 2008) My kids LOVE Sci-Fi. Another place where the food is ok. (At least it was for us. We are going back for burgers and shakes this time. We will apply the "Keep it Simple" rule)
AK...We don't have a ton of experience at this park, so I don't know. This year, on our AK day, we are going back to the Poly to Kona. They have really good food. No atmosphere tho.

Also, don't forget to get some fun snacks. There is a list. I think it is a sticky on the top of the restaurant boards. I already have Pineapple floats, chocolate covered strawberries and cream cheese filled pretzels on my must do list!

 

[marylouwho]

I second the recommendation for Coral Reef. The entire long side of this restaurant is the aquarium in Epcot. Your kids will be so busy watching the fish, it will be a nice dinner for you and your DH.

Have a great time!

 

[itchin2go]

Our first trip with our 5 year old daughter, we just made a handful of ADRs. The only must-dos for us at the time (having not been there since my childhood) were California Grill (for a nice night out), and Cinderella breakfast (for my daughter). We played everything else by ear, which worked out fine. We were able to get same day ADRs for LOTS of places.

My main strategy is to concentrate most dining around wherever we're staying. So when we're staying at an MK resort, we dine mostly in that area. When staying at an Epcot resort, we dine mostly around the Epcot area. If you don't have park hopper tickets, you need to make sure you're dining in the park you chose for a given day - or in a resort (hotel) restaurant.

I think in your situation, I would do a princess meal and another character meal. Dining in the castle is very special, and you have your option of breakfast, lunch or dinner. We did a late breakfast so we would have some good morning ride time before sitting down to eat. The Princess Storybook meals in Epcot are very well done as well. You generally won't find Cinderella there, but Belle and Ariel make semi-regular appearances there. Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary has the core characters and is very popular. Pooh and Friends make the rounds at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, and the buffet there is very well-reviewed. It is generally packed though. We liked the Cape May breakfast buffet at the Beach Club resort for a laid back character buffet experience. The characters (Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto, I think) are dressed in beach garb, which is cute.

Peruse the menus here or on allears.net to see if anything else strikes your fancy.

 

[exit30]

Try this site for menus etc., it's a great help.
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[JoePa4Ever]

We liked the Cape May breakfast buffet at the Beach Club resort for a laid back character buffet experience. The characters (Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto, I think) are dressed in beach garb, which is cute.

Just an FYI: Cape May brkfst used to have Goofy, Minnie & Chip & Dale but now it's just Goofy, Donald & Minnie

Thank you!

Can anyone give me their top 5 must dos for first timers with ds4 and ds2.

Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Coral Reef
Ohana
50's PTC or Sci Fi

 

[SmallWorld71]

I like the suggestions so far.

My tip would be to not do all your TS at the same meal. A couple years ago (when DD was 4) we did all dinners except 1 day we did lunch, and about 2/3 of the way through the week I thought she was going to fall asleep at dinner. It was just too much. On the other hand, if you do a lot of breakfasts, you may miss out on prime park touring time. Last year, we did several dinners, mixed in with a couple lunches and a couple breakfasts. It worked out so much better.

DD's favs include:
1) Crystal Palace (her fav TS at WDW)
2) Chef Mickey's
3) Biergarten
4) Coral Reef
6) 'Ohana
7) CRT - a princess meal, but she wants me to put it on the list

Hollywood and Vine also has a Playhouse Disney character meal, but we have never tried it.