OMG - Craziness in planning - Let me know what you think :)

[emmabean]

Going to Disney 11/28-12/3 - WOO HOO! Have two daughters - Emma who is 4 and Chloe is 2! Today was my first day for ADR's - How Crazy - between online and calling in.... I THINK I AM DONE... We are staying at the Polynesian! Please let me know your thoughts on my schedule (should I change any restaurants)!

Sunday (Magic Kingdom): - Arrive 10:00 A.M.

Lunch : Kona
Dinner: California Grill

Monday (Animal Kingdom):

Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner: Boma

Tuesday (Magic Kingdom)

Breakfast: Chef Mickey's
Lunch: Cosmic Rays
Dinner: O'Hana or Crystal Palace - WHAT ONE WOULD YOU DO????

Wednesday (Hollywood Studios):

Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Lunch: Hollywood & Vine
Dinner: Spirit of Aloha

Thursday (Magic Kingdom)

Breakfast: O'hana
Lunch: Cinderella's Royal Table
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare

Friday - We Depart

Breakfast: O'hana


YOUR INPUT IS APPRECIATED

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

The only thing I can say is you're going to be spending WAY too much time in restaurants. With kids your ages I would imagine they would much more prefer being in the parks than running from one ADR to the next.

Do you go out to eat 3x a day at home for an entire week?? I would really rethink your dining plan and do more park stuff - less sit down restaurants.

I'll give you an example - on our last trip we had somehow booked 2 TS in one day. It was a crystal palace lunch and Ohana dinner. Well, we were so full from Crystal Palace at 12:00pm that we could barely eat at Ohana and this was at about 6:00pm. I was so upset because we were really looking forward to this and couldn't fully enjoy it. I couldn't imagine adding another meal to that day.

 

[sharonabe]

I agree with the PP. We will assume you have the Deluxe Dining Plan.

You need to budget at least 2 hours for every sit-down meal you are eating, and more for the ones you need to travel to. Are your daughters also going to need an afternoon nap? If so, you now have only about 3-4 hours of park time considering the parks close a little earlier in the winter.

I would seriously reconsider doing the DxDP and eating all those sit-downs. The regular DP has plenty of food and you can still have much of the variety you have in your current ADRs.

 

[Shih-Tzu]

Sorry - I also have to agree with PP. And, when considering time....
(1) - you have to get to the restaurant
(2) - you may have to wait in line (I remember we waiting for over an hour at one place we had an ADR)
(3) - the time in the actual restaurant
I know for a fact that my children wouldn't have been very happy campers at that age with that many table service meals and the time lost with all of WDW just out side the door...sometimes the TS meals are not the fastest from the time you're seated, order and then get your meal...

I even found it difficult last September with TS for dinner ADRs - there were times that we just didn't like being "locked in" to something - especially if we were really enjoying ourselves at the time and saying "oops - can't stay here and watch/do this - gotta work over to *** to be checked in for supper..." (and we had NO children with us)

We will be there the same time as you, but this time we are going for mostly counter service and MAY make one or two reservations later....that's why we didn't take the DDP this time.

 

[GoMegGo]

I'm going to agree with the PPs about spending too much at getting to and sitting in restaurants with little ones. Once you take in to account getting to the different resorts and parks, you are dedicating a huge about of time to dinning. I think having 1 planned sit-down meal a day is a good thing, and having those meals near/at your home resort will certainly save you time at the beginning and end of the day.

I assume you'll be heading back to the resort for pool/nap time in the afternoon like most parents of little ones. You might not want to sit on a bus for 20+ minutes after that just to make an ADR at a distant resort.

Also, I noticed you have no plans for EPCOT. Some of the best counter service food can be found in that park.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Going to Disney 11/28-12/3 - WOO HOO! Have two daughters - Emma who is 4 and Chloe is 2! Today was my first day for ADR's - How Crazy - between online and calling in.... I THINK I AM DONE... We are staying at the Polynesian! Please let me know your thoughts on my schedule (should I change any restaurants)!

Sunday (Magic Kingdom): - Arrive 10:00 A.M.

Lunch : Kona
Dinner: California Grill - drop (the kids will be exhausted and it will ruin the experience)

Monday (Animal Kingdom):

Breakfast: Tusker House
Late Late Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner: Boma - drop

Tuesday (Magic Kingdom)

Breakfast: Chef Mickey's - drop (eat in room)
Early Lunch: Cosmic Rays
Dinner: O'Hana or Crystal Palace - my choice (easier to not leave)


Wednesday (Hollywood Studios):

Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Lunch: Hollywood & Vine - drop
Dinner: Spirit of Aloha - drop eat CS

Thursday (Magic Kingdom)

Breakfast: O'hana - drop eat in room
First Lunch: Cinderella's Royal Table
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare - drop change to CS

Friday - We Depart

Breakfast: O'hana


YOUR INPUT IS APPRECIATED

My changes are in red. You have way to much dining, with no times in the parks, I really feel you will regret it. Put the other restaurants on your next trip.

 

[dawnmommy]

while you do have lots of great places selected, I have to agree with the other posters that it is just too much restaurant time with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

Maybe try to stick to one TS meal a day, or perhaps 2 on just a few days? My kids are similar ages to your's. we do have one day with a late character brunch, then a character dinner. Even that, I was hestitant to do.

 

[julluvsdisney]

you have some awesome choices but I agree with PP sorta! We are doing DxDDP this time and we are doing breakfast and dinner most days instead of breakfast lunch dinner. Too much time spent in the resturants. We booked alot of 2 ts credits CRT HDDR SoA. Lunch will just be prob a few cs in the parks split between us just to tie us over until dinner. Most breakfast ADRs are being booked for 8-830am and then dinner is booked at 630-7. Normal breakfast for my kids are 730am and we usually have dinner at 630pm so this will most likely work for us. No matter what you do enjoy disney!!!!

 

[emmabean]

Oh NOOOOO.... I don't know what to do now.... We are on Disney Deluxe Plan because we want to do a lot of Character Dining (we figured this would be at least half of our total experience time at Disney - as we will likely move slower with the kids)! I like the idea of just booking breakfast and dinner! I tried to keep counter services to Monday & Tuesday lunches - if necessary and then Wed. & Thurs. lunches are character... My thought with breakfast is to start out most mornings in our hotel so it goes faster... but geez.... 2 hours for breakfast sit-downs???? Wow I am going to have to rethink this through!

Any other suggestions are welcomed.... Should I move down to the lower meal plan??? Thanks to everyone so far

 

[dawnmommy]

with kids that age and your first Disney trip, I'd likely drop down to the regular dining plan. BUT...if you really like the Signature restaurants, then maybe it makes sense to do a bunch of those and keep the deluxe dining?

I'd say look back at your reservations, figure out which character meals your kids would really love, and pick a few restaurants that are more for you and your hubby, since it is your vacation too

then add it all up and see if it makes sense to switch to the regular DDP.

We generally try to stick to one table service per day, although in 7 days I did end up with 2 late character brunches, then dinners that evening (on our 2 days to sleep in...)

Of our table Service meals, I think 4 are geared more to our kids, and 3 are geared more toward me and my hubby (my 3 year old isn't begging to go to Jiko, lol)

hope this helps!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Oh NOOOOO.... I don't know what to do now.... We are on Disney Deluxe Plan because we want to do a lot of Character Dining (we figured this would be at least half of our total experience time at Disney - as we will likely move slower with the kids)! I like the idea of just booking breakfast and dinner! I tried to keep counter services to Monday & Tuesday lunches - if necessary and then Wed. & Thurs. lunches are character... My thought with breakfast is to start out most mornings in our hotel so it goes faster... but geez.... 2 hours for breakfast sit-downs???? Wow I am going to have to rethink this through!

Any other suggestions are welcomed.... Should I move down to the lower meal plan??? Thanks to everyone so far

You really need to drop to the regular DDP and then if there is something that is soo soo important, pay OOP. You will save money by dropping down anyways. Good luck. Deluxe will take way too much time and I really think that this will work for you...

A good guide will be:

CS: 45 minutes
TS: 1 1/2 hours
2 credit TS: 2 - 2 1/2 hours

It is very time consuming and honestly you will not be that hungry Excitement will overtake your appetite. Try working with the regular DP and see how your day looks. You will still get enough character dining, and don't forget, your children may shy away from the characters and last minute changes may have to happen. Good luck.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

we just came back from our first trip to disney- We have a 4 yr and 1yo-
We did the regular dining plan and loved it- I truly think we could have handled more sit down places- it was a great way for us to get the kids out of the heat, and away from the crowds

We LOVED the character dining- the food wasnt our favorite but the kids had a blast!!! We also REALLY enjoyed Boma- I love your plan for your AK day! Try to allow for some time to take in the Animal Kingdom Lodge before your Boma reservation if possible (or after)

We also allowed ourselves a taxi a few times so we didnt have to worry about getting up super early for breakfast reservations, or taking two buses back to our resort- which helped a lot with the kids



Go with the flow is the biggest thing I can recommend!

 

[texasgirl73]

I disagree with most everyone else. Your plan sounds great to me, but then again I love dining out and think the restaurants are a great break. The only thing I would worry about is whether or not naps will be needed. That might ruin some of those lunch plans.

 

[Mom2Elliot]

I think your plans look great! What time are your breakfasts? As long as they are before park opening, you will be fine. And if you guys get too tired, you can always use up some of your credits for room service!

 

[serene56]

We are on Disney Deluxe Plan because we want to do a lot of Character Dining
Any other suggestions are welcomed.... Should I move down to the lower meal plan??? Thanks to everyone so far

we are doing the regular dining plan: we have a lot of character dining for our table service. Mostly for late lunches--before we leave to go back to the hotel for rests.

Eating breakfast in the room s we are getting ready to head to the parks.

Our meals:
Crystal Palace 1:30
Sci - Fi 1:30
Ohana 10:30am (our off day)
1900 park fare 4:30
Ohana 6:45
Donalds Safari- 10:30am
Le Cellier 4:30pm
Norway 10:30am

later breakfasts allow us to get to the parks for RD-- get 1-2 FP get on some rides--- so by 10:30 we are ready to sit and get out of the heat.
ride our FP rides-- nd be outta the parks by 1:30