Newbie with questions....

[kateybee]

So, in January I will be taking my two children (7 and 4) to Disney for the first time ever. (I've been quite a few times but the last trip was when I was 15.) We'll be staying 10 nights and got the free quick service dining plan for our stay at Pop Century. My big question right now is about dining reservations. Every book or board I read talks about calling 180 days and all that. However, I went and made the four reservations we wanted online a coupld of weeks ago without any issues. Are these not the same thing that everyone calls about at 180 days?! Are they less valid? I did not have to use a credit card. (As far as I could tell only the Cinderella's Castle required one? No way will my seven year old son sit through Princesses so that one is out!! ) These are the reservations I made:

The Garden Grill for 4:30pm on 1/7/11
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for 4:30 on 1/8/11
1900 Park Fare for 8:30am on 1/11/11
Crystal Palace for 12:50pm on 1/13/11

I have confirmation numbers that showed up when I made the online reservations. I am just worried that somehow I am not doing something right since it was so easy. (Those were all the first choice times/dates I wanted.) Please reassure me that I will be all set and that I did it correctly. Or tell me to get the heck on the phone and do it right!!
Also, the Sci-Fi on is one I'm still questioning. First, we are only planning on one day at Hollywood (which I keep wanting to call MGM since taht's what it was when I was last there!) so I don't know if we will be too busy to want to sit down. Second, how is that one? Is it even worth it? I've got the two kiddos who aren't big on sitting down nicely and just watching something. But I wanted to give my seven-year-old a break from characters and such. If we choose not to do it will we still be charged for something even though I did not use my credit card to reserve it? Argh. I'm so confused.... Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!!!

 

[JimmyV]

Hakuna Matata. You have no worries. People here tend to be extreme in their planning (which is part of the fun of a Disney vacation) and jump in as soon as they possibley can. It is necessary to do so for some of the hardest tables to book. Castle, California Grill, Le Cellier, to name a few. But many if not most places have ample availability two to three months out. I just booked Citircos, Via Napoli, Bluezoo and a couple others for a last-minute trip I decided to take 10-15 days out.

 

[tigger536]

You can make reservations online or by phone up to 180 days out, or 180 days from the start of your trip if you are staying at a Disney resort. Only certain reservations require a CC - notably Cinderella's Royal Table, California Grill, and the dinner shows (the dinner shows require payment in advance).

There are some reservations that book up really quickly, such as Le Cellier, Ohana, California Grill at fireworks time, etc. There are some restaurants and some times that there is less of a demand time. If you are willing to eat at off peak times (earlier or later than the ruch hour dinner and lunch crowds) then at most places it will be easier to get an ADR, unless it is something like LeCellier, which books up fast no matter what time.

You did mostly lunches and early dinners (ie not peak times), you are going during off peak season, and you don't have one of the high demand places. You had all the factors in your favor - so it makes sense you got what you wanted.

Your reservations are comepletely valid! You just lucked out and got exactly what you wanted!! So congrats, and have a great trip!

I think a 7 year old would love sci fi! You sit in cars and what clips of old movies. They will love it!

 

[LuvBug1977]

I may be wrong, but if you have free QS dining plan I think you will be paying out of pocket for those sit down table meals unless you upgrade to DDP. Quick service is a walk up counter where you order and they hand the food to you on a tray. Hope this helps!

 

[kateybee]

Oh thank you!! I feel so much better now!! Reading the travel guides and such they all talk about calling at that earliest moment and never even mention booking online so I started to think I had done something quite wrong.

Yes, we will be paying for these OOP. (Which is another reason I'm thinking about dropping that Sci-Fi one....) But it did sound like one my son would like a lot so I'll admit I'm torn. Granted, he doesn't know even know we're going let alone what dining plans I've made so I could drop it and he'd never even know the restaurant exists! Mean mama!!!

 

[tigger536]

Disney just started the online system last year, so of you are using an older guidebook it would not be mentioned.

Have a great trip!

PS: Have you considered upgrading to the regular DP? If you are already planning 4 TS restaurants it may be worth it. The DP is only about $10 more than the QSDP per day...and you would get 10 TS credits each!

Just a thought!

 

[kateybee]

I did think about upgrading but really don't want to do many sit-down places. We would need to make the kiddos sit down places 10 times if I upgraded and don't see them having that desire or ability at 4 and 7. My fiance and I would love to do more sit down dining but it will have to wait until the kiddos are a bit older and more patient.

 

[septbaby]

I did think about upgrading but really don't want to do many sit-down places. We would need to make the kiddos sit down places 10 times if I upgraded and don't see them having that desire or ability at 4 and 7. My fiance and I would love to do more sit down dining but it will have to wait until the kiddos are a bit older and more patient.

I suggest you take another look at upgrading your dining plan. You will save signifcant money vs paying OOP for your meal choices. Just the 4 meals you've chosen will cost about $330 including taxes (prices below are w/o taxes):

Garden Grill: $104
PF Breakfast: $70
CP Lunch: $72
Sci Fi: $65 (Assumed Ribs and Chicken lower cost entree, two soft drinks and one shared dessert for the adults, two kids meals)

It only cost $11 more per night for an adult, there is no charge to upgrade the children to the Plus dining plan. So for 10 nights for two adults it will cost $220 to upgrade, you'll save $100 and get some really fun meals.

We took our then 5/6year old to Disney a few years back. He was fine at all of our sit down meals. We celebrated his bday at Chef Mickey's and honestly he had so much fun eating was kind of an after thought for him.

If you upgrade you'll have 10 TS credits, but that doesn't mean you have to have 10 meals. Some meals require two credits so you can have fewer sit downs:

1. CRT- if you booked the meal at the castle your son would get a sword and may find the experience of being in the castle cool; not as girlie as we think. Gratuity is covered in your dining plan credits for this one.

2. Hoop Dee Doo Revue is a 2 credit dinner show that your family may enjoy. Meal is all you car to eat and beer and wine are served with the meal. Again gratuity is covered in your dining plan credits.

3. If you want to use a kids club you can even book a nice date night for you and the fiancee.

4. The Plaza in MK is a TS restaurant, but the meal and meal experience can be more like a QS, not too long or formal.

I know this is a lot of information and a lot of decisions and I hope I haven't overloaded you. I just wanted you to have some more info and another way to look at things. We found our TS meal to be a welcome break: great cool lunch at Coral Reef on a hot day in Epcot. Wonderful casual dinner at Boma after our day in the Animal Kingdom and Chef Mickey's was a nice late breakfast/lunch after a really late night at the Magic Kingdom. Narcoosee's was just a wonderful special meal (2 adults and a child).

 

[Jacks2583]

I agree with PP. I would upgrade to DDP. the meals really are great, and it is nice to take a little break from walking around in the parks. It is just one TS a day, so you wont spend a ton of time at meals (like with the DxDP).

Good luck!

 

[hart6066]

If you just want to experience the restaurant, you could share meals or just order apps or desserts--MUCH cheaper than everyone getting a meal!!! At Sci FI, you could get 3-4 milkshakes and fries or onion rings, for example.

So, instead of upgrading to Regular DDP (which may be more than you want to spend this time) you could do a few of these restaurants, but not have everyone order a full meal.

Only thing on that, is I just realized that 3 out of your 4 places are buffets, so you would all be charged--even your 4 year old. In this case, I would crunch the numbers and see what is worth it. IF you want to do all of these (then again, as you said, kids are little enough that they won't know any better you may be better off just upgrading.

Otherwise, you could do one character buffet and Sci Fi for apps/desserts. Just something to think about.

Have fun!