*******Official August 2017 Countdown Thread ~ Feeling hot, hot, hot!!!******

[TJDisneymama]

Our new ones include Kona, Cape May Cafe, Beaches and Cream, and Ohana breakfast (we've done dinner but never breakfast.) Hope you enjoy Rose & Crown!

i've done all those. Cape May dinner was pretty good, but being from New England, seafood at WDW rarely lives up to our expectations. But, still enjoyed it.

 

[TJDisneymama]

We tried really hard to focus on new places with our DxDDP this trip because we absolutely love food, so our new places are: Skipper Canteen, Tony's, Crystal Palace Breakfast, Be Our Guest Dinner, Grand Floridian Cafe, Ohana Dinner, Biergarten, Chefs de France, Spice Road Table, Tokyo Dining, Nine Dragons, Rose and Crown, Sci-Fi Dine In (after cancelling on both of our last two trips), and Boma.

Planning my meals is always the highlight of my trip. Maybe I like food too much, lol. I'm jealous of all the new places you get to try. I'm not ready to give up character meals so that always puts a dent in the number of new restaurants I can try b/c I always have to include a few of the old favorites (at least 1 princess meal, at least 1 Mickey & gang meal). I don't dare ever get the DxDDP b/c I would for sure come home 20 lbs. heavier. I've been on nutrisystem for the past 9 months so it's going to be hard enough for me not to lose my mind and go crazy at the buffets I have planned.

 

[McFlea]

So.....let's get this thread moving! Anybody trying any new ADRs this trip? I always do at least 1 new restaurant (trying to make my way through every single TS restaurant in WDW), this time it will be dinner at Rose & Crown. Also doing breakfast at 1900 Park Fare.....been there for dinner before, but never breakfast, so I'm excited for the characters at breakfast. The others meals will be repeats -- BoG dinner on my bday, CRT on DD's bday, H&V dinner for the Fantasmic! package, and (eventually!!!) Tusker House dinner for the RoL package.

Ooh! I love talking food! Our new ADRs this trip are Kona breakfast, Whispering Canyon lunch, 50s Prime Time lunch, Coral Reef lunch and BOG breakfast (had lunch last trip). I'll probably add one more. I'm doing lunches as opposed to dinner for the mid-day break and to maximize evening/night park time. ADRs we've enjoyed in the past are 'Ohana dinner, Sci Fi, Via Napoli, 1900 PF dinner, Chef Mickey's (everyone's gotta do it once, right?), Tusker House, LTT and Garden Grill. Wow, I just realized we're doing all new this time around. Come on free dining!!

 

[Mocharilla]

Planning my meals is always the highlight of my trip. Maybe I like food too much, lol. I'm jealous of all the new places you get to try. I'm not ready to give up character meals so that always puts a dent in the number of new restaurants I can try b/c I always have to include a few of the old favorites (at least 1 princess meal, at least 1 Mickey & gang meal). I don't dare ever get the DxDDP b/c I would for sure come home 20 lbs. heavier. I've been on nutrisystem for the past 9 months so it's going to be hard enough for me not to lose my mind and go crazy at the buffets I have planned.

We always print out the list of all the restaurants and turn it into a giant planning session with the menus where we cross them off until we narrow the list down. It's my favorite part of planning. I do enjoy the character meals, but DS9 isn't a big character fan, so we didn't do as many this time around. We did it on our Honeymoon and said "never again!" but here we are again, lol. I have no self control at buffets, so I hope you have better luck than me!

Ooh! I love talking food! Our new ADRs this trip are Kona breakfast, Whispering Canyon lunch, 50s Prime Time lunch, Coral Reef lunch and BOG breakfast (had lunch last trip). I'll probably add one more. I'm doing lunches as opposed to dinner for the mid-day break and to maximize evening/night park time. ADRs we've enjoyed in the past are 'Ohana dinner, Sci Fi, Via Napoli, 1900 PF dinner, Chef Mickey's (everyone's gotta do it once, right?), Tusker House, LTT and Garden Grill. Wow, I just realized we're doing all new this time around. Come on free dining!!

50s is such a great choice. I'm getting so impatient waiting in hopes of free dining covering our dates.

 

[JodyLynC]

We are doing Club Level for most of our trip so we will be doing Quick Service meals. The only Table Service we are doing is Boma dinner and SciFi lunch. We are also doing a late lunch at BOG which is a QS with ADR.

 

[Tomh]

We don't have any new ADR's this year. We are having lunch on the way into Disney at Caribbean Jack's in Daytona. It isn't completely new to us, but will only be our second time there.

We are planning on trying out some of the new quick service offerings at Disney Springs for lunch. I think a couple may go for D-Luxe burger, and others may try the new BBQ place.

Beyond that, we are returning to a bunch of our favorite places to eat. Suppers at Rose and Crown, Ohana, Liberty Tree Tavern, and the Plaza. Breakfasts at Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, and Chef Mickey's.

 

[hsmamainva]

We have four new dinner ADRs! Can't wait to try them! T-Rex, Ohana, Via Napoli and Yak & Yeti!

Returning to our favorites as well -- 50's Prime Time, Rose & Crown, and BOG. Also our favorite 3 character breakfasts, Ohana, Crystal Palace & Hollywood and Vine.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We are planning a few new ADRs this trip too! Old favs are the Wave and 50s PTC. New dining will be Raglan Road, Kona(dinner), and Frontera Cocina. Also planning to try GFCafe but we haven't made ressies--it will be a meal on-the-fly as it sounds like they are rarely booked solid. We have visited Kona previously but only for breakfast. I picked new venues based on menus and allergy reviews by other posters. We are well versed in food allergies over the years as DD is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and bananas. I am newly diagnosed non celiac gluten sensitivity and I have a food intolerance to egg yolks. It has definitely added another layer to the planning for this trip!

Eagerly waiting for Pandora to open so that I can read over guest reviews and see crowd tendencies before solidifying FP plans.

 

[mantysk8coach]

Sorry to change topics...but I need someone to convince me that I'm going to love the Poly. I mean, I know I will, and it's always been my dream resort, but our last two trips have been at Yacht and Beach Club, which I just absolutely loved. Can't beat Stormalong Bay, and I just loved the overall vibe of the lake area and the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I know I will love Poly...but can someone who has stayed at both convince me I've made the right choice?

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Sorry to change topics...but I need someone to convince me that I'm going to love the Poly. I mean, I know I will, and it's always been my dream resort, but our last two trips have been at Yacht and Beach Club, which I just absolutely loved. Can't beat Stormalong Bay, and I just loved the overall vibe of the lake area and the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I know I will love Poly...but can someone who has stayed at both convince me I've made the right choice?

I'll take a stab at convincing you

The Poly is in my top 2 favorite resorts(GF is the other). The atmosphere creates an island vacation while on a Disney vacation. It is so magical to hang out at the lava pool or on the beach and listen to the sounds of the ferry boats and the train at MK while gazing over the lagoon at the castle all while sipping on a Pina Colava. At night, the tiki torches and the sounds of the music from the luau make this resort just intoxicating. Grab a Dole whip and stroll on over to one of the beaches and watch the EWP and the fireworks show over the changing colors of the castle.

If that isn't enough, there is a walking path over to the GF which is a lovely serene diversion whether for pleasure or to catch a bite to eat. Speaking of eating, not only does Poly have great QS and TS, being on the monorail and a boat ride away from GF, CR, WL and FW, it has a multitude of EASY eating options without ever stepping on a bus.

The rooms are more spacious than BC/YC and have really great storage. Having smaller outer buildings instead of one large building means quiet rooms with less indoor foot traffic and beautiful foliage to explore while traversing the resort for amenities.

All of this without even mentioning the great transportation to MK via boats or monorail.....

While BC/YC is a beautiful area, it just doesn't have the same atmosphere being on seven seas lagoon across from MK that is really just magical. You will LOVE staying at the Poly. Hope that helps

 

[Newcastle]

I'll take a stab at convincing you

The Poly is in my top 2 favorite resorts(GF is the other). The atmosphere creates an island vacation while on a Disney vacation. It is so magical to hang out at the lava pool or on the beach and listen to the sounds of the ferry boats and the train at MK while gazing over the lagoon at the castle all while sipping on a Pina Colava. At night, the tiki torches and the sounds of the music from the luau make this resort just intoxicating. Grab a Dole whip and stroll on over to one of the beaches and watch the EWP and the fireworks show over the changing colors of the castle.

If that isn't enough, there is a walking path over to the GF which is a lovely serene diversion whether for pleasure or to catch a bite to eat. Speaking of eating, not only does Poly have great QS and TS, being on the monorail and a boat ride away from GF, CR, WL and FW, it has a multitude of EASY eating options without ever stepping on a bus.

The rooms are more spacious than BC/YC and have really great storage. Having smaller outer buildings instead of one large building means quiet rooms with less indoor foot traffic and beautiful foliage to explore while traversing the resort for amenities.

All of this without even mentioning the great transportation to MK via boats or monorail.....

While BC/YC is a beautiful area, it just doesn't have the same atmosphere being on seven seas lagoon across from MK that is really just magical. You will LOVE staying at the Poly. Hope that helps

Thank you very much for this post! Like mantysk8coach, I had concerns about whether I was making the 'right' choice to stay at the Poly for our upcoming trip. We typically stay at the Beach Club and I was worried that we would miss the Epcot area and Stormalong Bay, especially given that we will be going in July and it will be hot!! For the most part, I have been happy with the decision to stay at the Poly and have been watching a bunch of videos to get me in the mood but your wonderful list of pros/benefits has really helped me to feel fantastic about our decision to try the Poly this time around. Thanks for taking the time to post this

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Back to food. New TS restaurants we are trying this trip are: Ohana (dinner), Boatwright's, Crystal Palace (dinner), Biergarten, BOG (dinner). Some new QS that we hope to try are: Yak & Yeti Quick Service, Satu'li Canteen, Lotus Blossom Café, Riverside Mill food court and Flame Tree BBQ.

Our repeat TS reservations are for Ohana breakfast, Raglan Road and Sci-Fi Dine-in. Our QS that my kids insist on are Katsura Grill and Pinocchio Village.

I am looking forward to trying new ones this time.

 

[TJDisneymama]

So.....let's get this thread moving! Anybody trying any new ADRs this trip? I always do at least 1 new restaurant (trying to make my way through every single TS restaurant in WDW), this time it will be dinner at Rose & Crown. Also doing breakfast at 1900 Park Fare.....been there for dinner before, but never breakfast, so I'm excited for the characters at breakfast. The others meals will be repeats -- BoG dinner on my bday, CRT on DD's bday, H&V dinner for the Fantasmic! package, and (eventually!!!) Tusker House dinner for the RoL package.

Oh! I just realized that (assuming I get the ROL dining pkg), I've never done dinner at Tusker House before, only lunch or breakfast, so that will be somewhat new for us too.
Didn't there used to be a website that lists every restaurant and you can check off the restaurants you've been to? I Googled but couldn't find what I was thinking of....

 

[Pirate princess 2]

Only 2 new restaurants for us this trip. We are trying Skipper Canteen for dinner and The Wave for breakfast. Our other ADRs are Spirit of Aloha (which got rained out last year), Yak and Yeti, 'Ohana for breakfast, Rose and Crown, Be Our Guest for dinner, Chefs de France, and San Angel Inn. Under 5 months!

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Just booked Early Morning Magic for Magic Kingdom August 15th! We did this last year and loved it .

 

[TJDisneymama]

Just booked Early Morning Magic for Magic Kingdom August 15th! We did this last year and loved it .

oh man, I just checked and they're having EMM on our first MK day (my bday!). We did it last year and loved it too. But as it's just me and YDD this time, and we won't be doing 7DMT, I don't know if its worth the $$$ to do it again........uuuuuughhh, I don't know!

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

oh man, I just checked and they're having EMM on our first MK day (my bday!). We did it last year and loved it too. But as it's just me and YDD this time, and we won't be doing 7DMT, I don't know if its worth the $$$ to do it again........uuuuuughhh, I don't know!

It is expensive (we add on exchange for Canadian dollar ugh! ), but it was a highlight of our trip last year. So many turns on mine train and peter pan - two of our favourites. And we really enjoyed the breakfast. It will keep us going until supper time (maybe with a dole whip for lunch). I would especially love EMM if they offered it for Pandora section of AK with breakfast. Good luck deciding!

 

[TJDisneymama]

It is expensive (we add on exchange for Canadian dollar ugh! ), but it was a highlight of our trip last year. So many turns on mine train and peter pan - two of our favourites. And we really enjoyed the breakfast. It will keep us going until supper time (maybe with a dole whip for lunch). I would especially love EMM if they offered it for Pandora section of AK with breakfast. Good luck deciding!

I don't think I'm going to do it. I just can't justify the cost for 2 rides (and breakfast). I wish they would add another ride or two to it (and a character meet!).
Ooooohhh, I bet they WILL do it for Pandora eventually....too bad there's only 2 attractions there though.

 

[Tomh]

We have four new dinner ADRs! Can't wait to try them! T-Rex, Ohana, Via Napoli and Yak & Yeti!

Returning to our favorites as well -- 50's Prime Time, Rose & Crown, and BOG. Also our favorite 3 character breakfasts, Ohana, Crystal Palace & Hollywood and Vine.

T-Rex is loud, but fun. My son really enjoys it. 'Ohana dinner . . . . yes, yes, yes. Everyone in our family loves it. We've never done 'Ohana for breakfast, but agree whole heartedly with you on the Crystal Palace breakfast!

 

[Tomh]

Just booked Early Morning Magic for Magic Kingdom August 15th! We did this last year and loved it .

I'll meet you at 7DMT . . . we booked EMM for that morning as well