Ok, so I always go ADR crazy at first (don't worry, I always cancel. I just hog at first) and this trip is the hardest one for a few reasons:
1) We've already been A LOT of places. Nowhere near all of them, but enough to make not wanting to go the same place twice a little difficult.
2) My little sister is coming with us, and she's not an adventurous eater by any stretch of the imagination. I'm picky, but I'm usually willing to try new things. She's not. Maybe she's gotten better as she's gotten older, but I don't know.
3) Since she's coming with us, and we're footing the food bill, I'm trying to pay closer attention to how much we're spending this time around. Ironically, even though part of the driving force of this trip is DS's last "free" trip, we're probably spending just as much money as we would if we were paying for him.
4) Since I'm traveling with a 2 year old for the first time, I can't really "plan." I want things to be as flexible as possible, in case he melts down right before a meal, and we need to leave. He'll probably be fine, but you never know. (On his last trip, at 3 months old, he had a massive blowout while we were in the middle of our one signature meal of the trip)
5) I have NO idea how DS will respond to the characters. From what I know about him, he'll probably be terrified, but I don't actually know. He could love them more than anything else. (well...that's not true, he's probably going to love all the trains more than anything else, but he does love his "Flow" (Mickey) and "dahna DUCK")
5) We always take breaks. It's DH's only rule, so I give it to him. It's also (thought painful for me to admit) good for me to get away from the parks and relax, or I get cranky.
Anyways, here's what I have thus far. This morning I added Chef Mickey's and Tusker House, because it occurred to me that he might LOVE the characters, and eating with them would be so much fun for him.
April 13th: Arrival Day
No ADRs yet, because we're not sure when we'll actually be getting in. I was considering a later dinner at Boatwright's (since we'll be staying at POFQ) but the menu underwhelmed me. We could also go somewhere in Downtown Disney, but it may be better to just plan on counter service that night.
April 14th: Hollywood Studios
Mama Melrose - 12:05pm
Mama Melrose - 5:20pm
- I need to cancel one of these, but I can't decide which one. I usually opt for lunch reservations, because it's easier for me to guarantee that we'll be in a particular park at that time. However, DHS is an interesting case. I've never eaten at the Starring Rolls Cafe, and I want to, but they close at 4pm. I can't just plan on going there late morning and skipping breakfast, unless I want to go by myself, because DH has to have a full breakfast every morning. He doesn't like it when I make him wait. I would just do dinner at MM, but it's entirely possible that we could leave the park and not come back.
So, do I just go with the dinner ADR, and plan on Starring Rolls for lunch? Or do I plan on lunch at MM, and just drop by Starring Rolls for a cupcake after right before we go on our break? I would like to try a sandwich too, but the cupcakes are my main goal.
We've eaten at every other TS restaurant at DHS, and with the 2 year old, I don't really want to go somewhere not in the park.
April 15th: Universal Day, so I got a reservation at Mythos. I don't really care either way on this one, except I know that we're going to need a slight break this day, because I doubt we'll plan on a break back at the hotel. We'll probably just stay until we run out of things to do sometime in the afternoon.
April 16th: Break Day
Ohana - 5:15pm
- this one is not negotiable. I've gotten ADRs on both trips that we've cancelled in the past 2 years. Then on the trip we went on in November 2010 my only option was late at night on arrival day, so I cancelled. It's on a day when we won't have park admission anyways, and it's late enough in the day that I doubt we'll care either way.
I'm also planning on keeping our rental car from when we go to Universal, so getting there won't be hard.
I suppose it's possible that we may decide to go to the Magic Kingdom this day, and have our break day the next, but that won't really change anything either.
April 17th: Magic Kingdom
- No ADRs. We've eaten at all the TS places here, except Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree Tavern.
Crystal Palace would be nice, except DS isn't really into Pooh, so I'm not really willing to spend the money.
The menu of Liberty Tree Tavern doesn't appeal to DH or I at all.
We haven't eaten at many of the CS places at the Magic Kingdom, so I don't mind not having a TS here.
Lunch will likely be Be Our Guest, unless I can score a TS ADR for dinner.
April 18th: Animal Kingdom (morning) Epcot (afternoon)
Tusker House - 9:45am
Restaurant Marrakesh - 5:45pm
DH and I did Tusker House breakfast on our honeymoon, so I'm not really anxious to go there again, but it's an in park meal with "Flow" and "dahna Duck." I would do lunch, but we have the ADR at Marrakesh for dinner, and I doubt we'll be really hungry enough if we eat too late. I don't want to push the dinner back too much, because we're planning on sticking to DS's bedtime as much as possible. I probably could push it back an hour or so. The other issue is that DH HAS to get Fish & Chips every time we go to Epcot. If we do breakfast again at Tusker House, then he can get his Fish & Chips as soon as we get to Epcot, and knowing my husband, he'll be hungry again by the time we get to Marrakesh. If we do lunch, it will be pushing it.
(I doubt my sister will like Marrakesh, but DH and I decided that she can deal with one meal that wouldn't be her choice. Worst case scenario, she sits with us for an hour while we eat, then we go get her something somewhere else.)
April 19th: Last Park Day.
Chef Mickeys - 7:00am or 10:45am
- I'm tentatively planning on rope drop at Epcot, then hopping over to the Magic Kingdom, but it really depends on which park we feel we missed the most in. I expect that will be Epcot, as we won't have been there for Rope Drop yet, but I don't actually know. If we do Tusker House the day before, we won't do Chef Mickey's.
Tusker House
PROS: In the park and slightly cheaper
CONS: We've done it before, we'll be cutting into prime park touring time, and we risk being "overfed" that day.
Chef Mickeys
PROS: We can do it before any park opens for the day and it's somewhere we've never eaten before
CONS: More expensive, and convincing DH that we need to wake up that early will be difficult. The 10:45 would only really be possible if we do Rope Drop at the Magic Kingdom again OR sleep in a bit.
April 20th: Departure Day
The same at the arrival day. Since we don't know when we'll be leaving, I don't know what to plan on. I also know we'll probably spend any morning we may have packing.
The other variable is that we are planning on a "date night" while my sister watches DH. I'm considering Victoria & Albert's (which has availability pretty much every night during our trip) but I'm not sure about spending the money. I'm thinking that we'll probably put it during the evening, after we go to Universal, so we can use the rental car to get there, and it will be easier for us to get back should they run into any problems.
The only signature dining we've done is Jikos, Cinderella's Royal Table, and the Hollywood Brown Derby. I just don't know where to go? Should we splurge and do Victoria & Albert's? Should we save some money and go somewhere else? Should we eat somewhere much less expensive and do another activity as a couple (ie. it might be fun to do the Seas Aqua tour at Epcot)?
?
If you see me, you better say Hi!
We're staying at the same resort at the same time! Do you know what section? We'll be in the Cars building.
