Ohana earlier. Your opinions appreciated - our dining plans.

[DisneyMomma81]

Trip is mid-late next month!
Just DD and I
We have free dining!
We have 16 TS *total* credits.

As of now we have -
Day 1 - Crystal Palace 1:35 and Ohana 8:10pm - we had a late breakfast at CP when we first visited WDW, DD's friend recently visited HI and told her Hawaiian food is yummy

Day 2- Sci-Fi Dine-In 1:55

Day 3- no TS

Day 4- Coral Reef 1:30 *DD is excited about this* or Garden Grill 4:35

Day 5- C's Happily Ever After 6:40

Day 6- Hoop De Doo 8:30

Day 7- Chefs de France 2:00

Day 8- Be Our Guest 4:05 and CA Grill 9:30

Sharing a meal with DD at non buffet meals would be fine, she still eats like a bird. We had the dining plan in 2009 and it was too much food.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I think you are having several meals within a few hours of the next meal. Considering some meals can take 60 to 90 minutes then you turn around 3 hours later and it's time for the next meal. Personally I would have lunch between 11 am and 1 pm then dinner between 6 and 8 pm. That's just what I would do.

 

[delmar411]

Outside the fact that you are eating nonstop you have way more meals than credits planned. Are you planning n paying OOP for all those extra meals?

 

[mm1971]

Trip is mid-late next month!
Just DD and I
We have free dining!
We have 16 TS *total* credits.

As of now we have -
Day 1 - Crystal Palace 3:40 and Ohana 9:30pm - we had a late breakfast at CP when we first visited WDW, DD's friend recently visited HI and told her Hawaiian food is yummy

Day 2- Sci-Fi Dine-In 1:55

Day 3- no TS

Day 4- Coral Reef 1:30 *DD is excited about this* and Garden Grill 4:35

Day 5- C's Happily Ever After 6:40

Day 6- Hoop De Doo 8:30

Day 7- Chefs de France 2:00

Day 8- Be Our Guest 4:05 and CA Grill 9:30

Sharing a meal with DD at non buffet meals would be fine, she still eats like a bird. We had the dining plan in 2009 and it was too much food.

Day 4 and day 8 have two meals pretty close together. I know from our meals we weren't even hungry that soon. I would suggest moving one reservation to day 3 where you have no meals and then space out the other day a little more if possible. Keep BOG since finding another reservation is unlikely based on our experience. I assume you did California Grill to see wishes while dining. Maybe just plan to eat lite there.

If you want opinions, Chefs de France is awesome as are most of your selections. We did the Sci Fi Dine in a couple of weeks ago and while the burgers were good, not sure we would do it again. Maybe try Brown Derby. It's a little more expensive if you are not on the dining plan, but we prefer there.

Have a great time.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Trip is mid-late next month!
Just DD and I
We have free dining!
We have 16 TS *total* credits.

As of now we have -
Day 1 - Crystal Palace 3:40 and Ohana 9:30pm - we had a late breakfast at CP when we first visited WDW, DD's friend recently visited HI and told her Hawaiian food is yummy

Day 2- Sci-Fi Dine-In 1:55

Day 3- no TS

Day 4- Coral Reef 1:30 *DD is excited about this* and Garden Grill 4:35

Day 5- C's Happily Ever After 6:40

Day 6- Hoop De Doo 8:30

Day 7- Chefs de France 2:00

Day 8- Be Our Guest 4:05 and CA Grill 9:30

Sharing a meal with DD at non buffet meals would be fine, she still eats like a bird. We had the dining plan in 2009 and it was too much food.

I think your meals are too close together on Day 1, Day 4 and Day 8, especially Day 4. Even if you are seated close to your ADR time of 1:30, by the time you order and get your food, it'll be after 2:00. At GG, if you're seated close to your ADR time, the food is available right away, as it's served family-style, so you're eating again by 5:00. It just seems like a waste of credits to me.

Even with you being just a few weeks out from your trip, I'm sure that you could find some more practical ADRs. I have scheduled trips in 3 days and also in 3 weeks and been able to get ADRs for our preferred restaurants at good times. If it were me, I'd aim for more like:

Day 1: breakfast/early lunch at CP, dinner at 'Ohana
Day 2: OK
Day 3: OK
Day 4: Coral Reef since your dd really wants that, maybe try to get Chefs later that night if you can get a GG on Day 7 instead
Day 5: OK
Day 6: OK -- if you can't get a suitable reservation to replace GG, look for a character breakfast this day (Cape May? Chef Mickey?), or early lunch
Day 7: OK, or try to get GG this night instead
Day 8: Keep BOG, I'd cancel CG.

In your dining credit count, I'm assuming you're not counting at least one or two of the 2-credit meals, maybe HDDR and CRT because they are pre-paid. I'm not sure what you're planning to pay OOP for, because even with sharing meals, I don't think you have enough credits to cover them all.

 

[Mickeefan]

Trip is mid-late next month!
Just DD and I
We have free dining!
We have 16 TS *total* credits.

As of now we have -
Day 1 - Crystal Palace 3:40 and Ohana 9:30pm - we had a late breakfast at CP when we first visited WDW, DD's friend recently visited HI and told her Hawaiian food is yummy

Day 2- Sci-Fi Dine-In 1:55

Day 3- no TS

Day 4- Coral Reef 1:30 *DD is excited about this* and Garden Grill 4:35

Day 5- C's Happily Ever After 6:40

Day 6- Hoop De Doo 8:30

Day 7- Chefs de France 2:00

Day 8- Be Our Guest 4:05 and CA Grill 9:30

Sharing a meal with DD at non buffet meals would be fine, she still eats like a bird. We had the dining plan in 2009 and it was too much food.

I would have to agree with the PP's. As for sharing, not sure Ohana will allow sharing, not sure Garden Grill will allow sharing, and no sharing at Hoop De Doo, I'm sure. Personally, I would maybe do a late breakfast/brunch or early lunch & then a dinner, especially if you want to try some signature restaurants.

I did the deluxe dining once and while it was fun to try a bunch of new restaurants, by the end of the vacation, I was tired of eating. Our last meal was 1900 Park Fare and I really didn't enjoy it.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I know we can't share at buffets.
Day 4 - I don't plan on keeping both GG and Coral Reef, only one of those.
Day 8, maybe dessert only at CG, it's our last night.
Is HDDR worth two credits? Worth it for two girls?
Would GG be a better option on our Chefs de France day? We can share at Chefs.
If I pay OOP for a meal or two which would be the best choice?

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I know we can't share at buffets.
Day 4 - I don't plan on keeping both GG and Coral Reef, only one of those.
Day 8, maybe dessert only at CG, it's our last night.
Is HDDR worth two credits? Worth it for two girls?
Would GG be a better option on our Chefs de France day? We can share at Chefs.
If I pay OOP for a meal or two which would be the best choice?

I would definitely pay OOP for Sci-Fi. It's probably the cheapest place on your list. Maybe Coral Reef, also, if you think you might share.

I haven't been to HDDR before - it's coming up for my birthday, though! I've heard it's fun, loud and funny. Lots of corny jokes. I think my 7- and 11-yr old boys will love it.

My thought on going to CG so late, even if it is just for dessert, is that I've heard a lot of people dawdle over their meals there so they can get the Wishes viewing. So while you have an ADR for 9:30, you might be well past that time getting seated. Something to consider. But, if you elect to do that and just have dessert, then you'd want to pay OOP for that too.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Thanks Claire - is Ohana worth it so late? It's our first day so we won't be exhausted but it will make for a late night.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Changed CP to 1:35 on day 1

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Thanks Claire - is Ohana worth it so late? It's our first day so we won't be exhausted but it will make for a late night.

I would say it depends on your usual eating habits and whether you have a time change to deal with. My family is used to eating fairly early - we eat dinner between 5:30 and 6:00 most days, and some days (like tonight before church) as early as 5:00. Eating at 9:30 would not work for us - I'd be miserable eating a big meal and then going back to my resort and sleeping on a full stomach.

Changed CP to 1:35 on day 1

Good move!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I would say it depends on your usual eating habits and whether you have a time change to deal with. My family is used to eating fairly early - we eat dinner between 5:30 and 6:00 most days, and some days (like tonight before church) as early as 5:00. Eating at 9:30 would not work for us - I'd be miserable eating a big meal and then going back to my resort and sleeping on a full stomach.!

9:30 will still be 7:30pm for us that first day, we're two hours behind EST. I tried getting Ohana earlier but no luck.

 

[wiigirl]

Thanks Claire - is Ohana worth it so late? It's our first day so we won't be exhausted but it will make for a late night.

I think it would be worth it....

 

[mm1971]

I know we can't share at buffets.
Day 4 - I don't plan on keeping both GG and Coral Reef, only one of those.
Day 8, maybe dessert only at CG, it's our last night.
Is HDDR worth two credits? Worth it for two girls?
Would GG be a better option on our Chefs de France day? We can share at Chefs.
If I pay OOP for a meal or two which would be the best choice?

If you pay OOP, I would suggest Sci Fi since I think it is the least expensive, especially if you do not buy the souvenir cups with the drink (a long story that end with us spending about $40 we didn't need to). The other OOP would probably be GG.

In my opinion HDDR is a lot of fun and I think everyone would enjoy it. It is worth 2 credits for what you get. It is basically a western comedy show and they get the crowd into the action. Very fun.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Got Ohana at 8:10pm on day 1 instead of 9:30! We'll head out of the Magic Kingdom at 7 and make our way to the Poly.

 

[Shmily1]

Things that are worth it:
Coral Reef
O'Hana
BOG
CRT

If you must do it, pay OOP for it: Sci-Fi

I've heard Mickey's Backyard BBQ was better than HDDR

CP was fun but the food wasn't to die for like some others on your list.

No matter what you pick, you'll have a blast. Enjoy!!!