Oh my food...Deluxe Dining Plan ??'s

[AmandaNied]

Hello!

My family has decided to make out second trip to Disney(my husband just asked me if we are turning into "those" people we are staying onsite at the Port Orleans Riverside & my husband insisted on the deluxe dining plan (he works on the road and eats a lot of fast/quick meals and wants to enjoy sitting down to eat and relaxing)

My question is: I am making out ADR's now (going to be there Feb 27- March 5th) and it looks like our resort is booked up for breakfast times. What other places are close by? I have never stayed onsite, so I am not sure of how quickly we can get to places. We are not early morning people, especially not on vacation!

Also- how to you plan your ADR's? I am not a reservation person, but understand the need. DO you typically stay at one park all day and make ADR's for there? We do have park hoppers, so if it wouldn't be a big deal to jump around- or is that not a good idea? (ack, so confused!)

Thanks for imput!

 

[Faldred]

Do you have your own car, or are you relying on Disney transport? If the former, your options are pretty wide open, otherwise, you'll want to stick to the parks or resorts right near them (Boardwalk and Bay Lake area, plus AKL).

Planning for hoppers is fine, just don't schedule yourself such that you're running all over the property to get from an ADR to an ADR. I personally recommend making touring plans such that you don't have to run halfway across a park, let alone from park to park (or DTD or resorts away from the park).

If possible, try to work your ADR and park touring schedules concurrently and complimentary to each other.

 

[Colleen27]

The restaurant at Port Orleans doesn't serve breakfast any more, which is why you aren't finding availability. Your resort is close to the Downtown Disney area, but there's nothing there for a sitdown breakfast either, so your best bets are either breakfast at the food court or waiting to eat when you get to the park you're spending the day in.

As far as planning ADRs, do you have an idea of which parks you want to visit each day? We alsways plan that first, then make the ADRs to work with the parks. If you have a car you can be a little more flexible, but if you're relying on Disney transportation you'll want to plan things in/near the park you plan on being in at meal time.

 

[beccaisqueen]

We also pick the parks first, then check out the ADR's and adjust if necessary to eat at a favorite place.

 

[TDC Nala]

Yep- no more sit-down breakfast at Boatwrights. Discontinued in February 2008.

 

[JessicaFaye508]

How To Plan Your Disney Vacation with a Dining Plan:

1) Get a piece of paper. and write out a chart. For your trip:

2) If you are basing your park choices on Extra Magic Hours, be sure to look those up.

Because I'm in the planning mood, I did you a favor and did that for you:
February 27th: MK EMH 8-11
February 28th: DAK EMH 8-6
March 1st: EPCOT EMH 8-9; DHS EMH 7-10
March 2nd: DAK EMH 8-6
March 3rd: MK EMH 8-8
March 4th: EPCOT EMH 9-12 am
March 5th: DHS EMH 8-7

Now, looking at this schedule, you will decide which parks you want to go to on each day. If your family likes to do EMH, then revolve your restaurant choices around which parks have EMHs that day. But because of your park hopper flexibility, you actually can be pretty open to restaurant idea locations. Just try and make a BASIC idea of which park you're going to on which day.

3) Now you have 2 options:

The first is that you can call 1-800-WDW-DINE where you will be put on the phone with a WDW cast member who will make the reservations for you. This process often takes longer, but it's always fun to call WDW

The second choice is to go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/ and make your dining reservations RIGHT ONLINE. Yes, disney just added this wonderful option. It is so much more convenient. All of your options are spread out in front of you.

4) Then, once you get confirmation numbers for all of your choices, write them down on your chart so you know where you're going each day. It's that easy!

--------

Now I would also like to make some restaurant recommendations for you.

Assuming you are going to all four parks, my top TS picks would be:

Magic Kingdom:
#1 - The Crystal Palace (for breakfast, preferably)
#2 - Tony's Town Square Restaurant
#3 - Liberty Tree Tavern

At Epcot:
#1 - The Garden Grill
#2 - The Coral Reef
#3 - Le Cellier Steakhouse
#4 - Nine Dragons
#5 - Akershus (for breakfast) (if you have girls who LOVE the princesses)

At Disney's Hollywood Studios:
#1 - 50's Prime Time Cafe

At Disney's Animal Kingdom:
#1 - Tusker House

Outside of the Parks:
#1 - The Turf Club @ Saratoga Springs (if for some odd reason you end up there, this restaurant is BEYOND fantastic.)
#2 - Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue @ Fort Wilderness
#3 - Ohana @ the Polynesian (breakfast)
#4 - Whispering Canyon @ Wilderness Lodge

Hope that helps Have lots of fun planning! That's one of the best parts!

 

[padawans]

I think with the deluxe plan you might want to try some signature restaurants. Its hard to use up those credits with 1 credit restaurants. We ate at signatures every night and still left with 9 credits. Have a great trip.

 

[hdmichael]

How To Plan Your Disney Vacation with a Dining Plan:

1) Get a piece of paper. and write out a chart. For your trip:

2) If you are basing your park choices on Extra Magic Hours, be sure to look those up.

Because I'm in the planning mood, I did you a favor and did that for you:

February 27th: MK EMH 8-11
If you don't want to hit the crowds at MK that night for EMH or you are tired from traveling, this might be a good night to eat at one of the resorts for dinner (Wishes fireworks are at 8:00 tonight, if you can grab a 7:15 or 7:30 reservation at Narcoossess or California Grill you will be able to see the fireworks). If you have some energy left after dinner, you are close enough to Magic Kingdom that you can run over and catch some rides between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. OR you can even do Hoop Dee Doo, which would be a fun, somewhat low key start to your trip. Depending on what time you arrive, you could spend the afternoon at Animal Kingdom (try an early lunch at Tusker House) or Epcot (pick one of the recommended restaurants for an early lunch).

February 28th: DAK EMH 8-6
There is a Main Street Electrical Parade here tonight at 7:00 p.m., so, if you want to see the parade, this is probably a good day to plan on a 4:30 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. dinner at Crystal Palace or one of the other recommended restaurants. You want to eat at this time to allow plenty of time to stake out a place to watch the parade. Since dinner is so early, you could go to DHS or Epcot for their regular opening times, and have an early lunch at one of these parks.

March 1st: EPCOT EMH 8-9; DHS EMH 7-10
What about a character breakfast at Donald's (in Tusker House) if you are planning on being at Animal Kingdom at opening or Chef Mickey's (or Ohana, Cinderella's Royal Table, or Crystal Palace) if you are planning on Magic Kingdom at opening? You could get up early this morning and eat before the park opens (schedule the first breakfast time to be on the rides when the park opens), or you could do the latest breakfast they have: go to the park for opening, ride a bit then take a break for a late breakfast. If you spend the day at Animal Kingdom, you could take a bus from there to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a fairly early dinner at Boma or Jiko. If you still have some energy, then head over to Epcot for Illuminations or Magic Kingdom to catch a few rides before 9:00 p.m. to avoid the crowds at Hollywood Studios.

March 2nd: DAK EMH 8-6
Pick any park but Animal Kingdom if you want to sleep in a bit. Schedule a late lunch, then a 7:00 or 8:00 dinner at one of the 2 TS restaurants or do Hoop Dee Doo.

March 3rd: MK EMH 8-8
Fantasmic is at 7:30 p.m. tonight, so this would be a good day to schedule a Fantasmic dinner package. If you want to park hop, then a morning at Epcot or Animal Kingdom would be a nice combination with an evening performance of Fantasmic.

March 4th: EPCOT EMH 9-12 am
If you want to avoid the crowds, pick any park but Epcot, and decide what you want to do. This is a great day to pick some restaurants (except at Epcot) that you want to try, but haven't had a chance to schedule yet. Since it is the next to your last day, you might want to schedule one meal at one of your favorite park you know you will want to "revisit" before you leave tomorrow. How about 50's Prime Time if you are at Hollywood Studios? For dinner, pick a 2 TS restaurant you haven't tried yet.

March 5th: DHS EMH 8-7
End your trip with Epcot (for the Flower and Garden show) or any park but Hollywood Studios if you want to sleep in a bit. The last day is always a great day for a character meal that you haven't already done.

Now, looking at this schedule, you will decide which parks you want to go to on each day. If your family likes to do EMH, then revolve your restaurant choices around which parks have EMHs that day. But because of your park hopper flexibility, you actually can be pretty open to restaurant idea locations. Just try and make a BASIC idea of which park you're going to on which day.

3) Now you have 2 options:

The first is that you can call 1-800-WDW-DINE where you will be put on the phone with a WDW cast member who will make the reservations for you. This process often takes longer, but it's always fun to call WDW

The second choice is to go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/ and make your dining reservations RIGHT ONLINE. Yes, disney just added this wonderful option. It is so much more convenient. All of your options are spread out in front of you.

4) Then, once you get confirmation numbers for all of your choices, write them down on your chart so you know where you're going each day. It's that easy!

--------

Now I would also like to make some restaurant recommendations for you.

Assuming you are going to all four parks, my top TS picks would be:

Magic Kingdom:
#1 - The Crystal Palace (for breakfast, preferably)
#2 - Tony's Town Square Restaurant
#3 - Liberty Tree Tavern

At Epcot:
#1 - The Garden Grill
#2 - The Coral Reef
#3 - Le Cellier Steakhouse
#4 - Nine Dragons
#5 - Akershus (for breakfast) (if you have girls who LOVE the princesses)

At Disney's Hollywood Studios:
#1 - 50's Prime Time Cafe

At Disney's Animal Kingdom:
#1 - Tusker House

Outside of the Parks:
#1 - The Turf Club @ Saratoga Springs (if for some odd reason you end up there, this restaurant is BEYOND fantastic.)
#2 - Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue @ Fort Wilderness
#3 - Ohana @ the Polynesian (breakfast)
#4 - Whispering Canyon @ Wilderness Lodge

Hope that helps Have lots of fun planning! That's one of the best parts!

This is some wonderful advice. Since you said that you aren't morning people, I have listed some alternative parks and restaurant suggestions for you on the EMH days so that you can sleep in just a bit longer on those days or avoid the evening crowds on those days.

We just got back from an 8 day stay at POR on the deluxe dining plan, and here are a few tidbits I picked up:

1. Without a car, it is going to take a bit of maneuvering to get to several of the 2 TS restaurants in the resorts EXCEPT for those on the monorail. Those are easily accessible by taking the bus from POR to Magic Kingdom and then taking the resort monorail to Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian. Otherwise, you are going to need to plan on extra time for a few bus changes, etc.

2. I did take a cab once from POR to Polynesian when my husband had the car, and the cost was $12 one way.

3. The food court at POR does have several breakfast items, and the kids loved their French toast. An added bonus to eating breakfast at POR is that you can bring the food up to your room while you finish getting ready. Also, we brought several breakfast items from home since we were planning on doing several 2 TS meals. For the adults, this worked better than eating a "real" breakfast because we were so full by the end of the day otherwise.

4. Space your meals!!! Deluxe has tons of food, so you really need to leave time between your ADRs. We would eat a 1:00 p.m. lunch and not be hungry again until 7:00 p.m. or later!!

5. We park hopped quite a bit even though it was not necessary: we like to park hop, but don't make reservations that will force you to park hop if that is not what you want to do. You might find the travel time used getting from one park to another JUST for a meal extremely frustrating.

6. Over the years, I have found that we can change our ADRs once we get there, but it is hard to get ADRs at some of the more popular restaurants at reasonable times. I use ADRs to help to make sure we can actually eat where we want at a decent hour, not 9:00 p.m. when the kids are tired and have already had to be fed.

HTH. Have a great trip.

 

[Nadjalu]

Having hoppers is nice, it means you have the flexability to dine where you want.

That said, I still try and make our adrs in the park we are in. Or at the very least at a nearby resort.

Inevitabily we will hop to dine. But that is ok, when I see that is gonna happen I try and make the adr for an early dinner (that is when we use our TS credits), that way we are coming from the resort after our noon break, so it is 1 park in the morning and the other at night.

It does seem to work out.

Especially if you are familar with where everything is.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Yep- no more sit-down breakfast at Boatwrights. Discontinued in February 2008.

It's such a shame too because that used to be one of our favorite breakfasts on property that was not a character meal

As for us, we always look at the park hours first, then decide which park we are going to be at or which days we are going to not be in a park. As for the days in the parks, we just decide what places our family wants to eat at, as for the non park days, we either stay near our resort or if we know we will be in a certain area for the day, we will make ADRs for one of the resorts there. We also ask our DDs to give us a lot of input as to where they would like to try that is new or go back to, then DH and I decide which signatures that we want to either try out or go back to too. Sometimes it can get frustrating, but in the end, it is part of the planning stages which to me is one of the best parts of a Disney trip Have a great trip.

 

[AmandaNied]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!


I really appreciate all of the suggestions, I'm going to school full time and working full time and my husband is working out of town currently so any help I get now makes it a lot easier for planning!

I was reading over the 2011 brochure, and did it say appetizers are now included as well as the dinner/dessert/drink? Gosh..we are going to be moving like cattle twards the end of the trip!

 

[Faldred]

Appetizers are included for DxDP, where appropriate. Remember that you don't have to order all of that food. If you guys want to split one appetizer and one dessert, for example, go for it.

 

[Colleen27]

I think with the deluxe plan you might want to try some signature restaurants.

I second this. That's half of why we love the deluxe plan; the signature restaurants are a whole different level from in-park or one credit resort dining, and well worth the time.

 

[NMW]

We prefer doing early breakfasts in the parks so we are the first to go on rides. In Mk we do Crystal Palce every trip around 8:05. We eat and are right at the rope drop for fantasy land. We hit every ride in fantasy land while most people are coming through the gates. In AK we do an early breakfast at Tusker House. in Epcot we do Norway princess breakfast. We also do 'Ohana or Kona at the Poly and head into MK. We stay at the BC or YC and there we do Cape May or Captains Grille and head into DHS.

 

[stitch1094]

Port Orleans is close to OKW resort. They have a place called Olivia's you can eat breakfast at.