Overwhelmed with decisions

[TanyaNMJ]

Originally posted under the reservations section....think that's wrong. Sorry, I'm pretty new at this!

Hi all

Planning kids' (ages 6 and 4) first WDW trip in mid May....am overwhelmed with decisions. We're not doing a dining plan do I really need to book all our dinner reservations? I'm starting to feel over-scheduled already. That being said, we usually eat by 6P and long waits won't really work well for the kids.

I need two more dinner ressies, one after our AK day and one after our 2nd MK day (we're staying at WL). We're not huge buffet folks (unless it's breakfast). I think I've narrowed it down to these: Coral Reef, Rose and Crown, Kona, Captain's Grill, and 50's primetime. My husband is a steak guy, I'm seafood or vegetarian and the kids are pizza, pasta and picky. Also looked ohana but I don't really get it... We're already booked into Kouzzina, Artist Point (no kids),Teppan Edo for dinners and two character breakfasts (Safari and Crystal palace). Couldn't get into Le Cellier . We're also relying on disney transportation so I'm worried about LONG commutes.

TIA for your expert advance and info!
T

 

[TanyaNMJ]

Originally posted under the reservations section....think that's wrong. Sorry, I'm pretty new at this!

Hi all

Planning kids' (ages 6 and 4) first WDW trip in mid May....am overwhelmed with decisions. We're not doing a dining plan do I really need to book all our dinner reservations? I'm starting to feel over-scheduled already. That being said, we usually eat by 6P and long waits won't really work well for the kids.

I need two more dinner ressies, one after our AK day and one after our 2nd MK day (we're staying at WL). We're not huge buffet folks (unless it's breakfast). I think I've narrowed it down to these: Coral Reef, Kona, Captain's Grill, and 50's primetime. My husband is a steak guy, I'm seafood or vegetarian and the kids are pizza, pasta and picky. Also looked ohana but I don't really get it... We're already booked into Kouzzina, Artist Point (no kids),Teppan Edo for dinners and two character breakfasts (Safari and Crystal palace). Couldn't get into Le Cellier . We're also relying on disney transportation so I'm worried about LONG commutes.

TIA for your expert advance and info!
T

 

[PearlySwan]

Originally posted under the reservations section....think that's wrong. Sorry, I'm pretty new at this!

Hi all

Planning kids' (ages 6 and 4) first WDW trip in mid May....am overwhelmed with decisions. We're not doing a dining plan do I really need to book all our dinner reservations? I'm starting to feel over-scheduled already. That being said, we usually eat by 6P and long waits won't really work well for the kids.

I need two more dinner ressies, one after our AK day and one after our 2nd MK day (we're staying at WL). We're not huge buffet folks (unless it's breakfast). I think I've narrowed it down to these: Coral Reef, Rose and Crown, Kona, Captain's Grill, and 50's primetime. My husband is a steak guy, I'm seafood or vegetarian and the kids are pizza, pasta and picky. Also looked ohana but I don't really get it... We're already booked into Kouzzina, Artist Point (no kids),Teppan Edo for dinners and two character breakfasts (Safari and Crystal palace). Couldn't get into Le Cellier . We're also relying on disney transportation so I'm worried about LONG commutes.

TIA for your expert advance and info!
T

^^^ Hi! It's understandable that you feel overwhelmed. There is soooo much to consider when planning your first WDW vacay. Having said that, if you want to have a sit down table service meal, you need to make your reservations as soon as possible. People plan their meals as far in advance as 180 days out. Yes, that's 6 months before they get there. Soooo that makes it difficult to walk up to the more popular restaurants and get seated on any given day at dinner time. Have you tried making reservations on-line? They seem pretty effortless and the advantage of doing them on-line is that if there is no availability for your preferred date/time, the on-line system will give you other options. You've already booked some really good meals, including excellent character meals!

For your choices after AK and MK, look into the restaurant reviews in allears.net or here on the disboards. People have different food preferences and so you'll hear different opinions on which of those are great places and which aren't. We only tried Coral Reef and thought it was really good.

Btw, one other thing you could do, to avoid the hassle of planning all the park touring yourself, is to make a small investment by purchasing a touring planner on-line ($10-$20). Some options: Tour Guide Mike, Ridemax, and Touringplans.com

Enjoy planning your first WDW vacation. It will be magical!

 

[jennylyn_b]

I would definately recommend dinner reservations for all the table service restaurants you want to eat at. Otherwise, you will be subject to getting turned away or having incredibly long wait times, which doesn't work too well with little ones. Our trip in 2006, we didn't do reservations and ended up eating at counter service the first couple of nights until I could get some ressies.

Magic Kingdom has a little restaurant called The Plaza which does serve sandwiches, burgers, meatloaf along with amazing ice cream desserts. Also, there is Tony's which is an Italian restaurant. Although the food gets mixed reviews, it is themed after the Lady and Tramp so the kids might enjoy that.

Animal Kingdom for us means a trip to AKL for Boma's dinner buffet. I know you said you aren't a big fan of buffets but you might want to consider this one as an option. It is in my opinion the best dinner buffet at WDW. The rainforest cafe is also nice for children if they are into dinosaurs and aren't scared by loud noises. The food is average to good but the prices are a bit high for a chain restaurant.

Have you considered heading to Downtown Disney one of these nights? There you will find even more restaurants. I know, you probably didn't want anything else to consider, sorry.

As far as Disney transportation goes, in my last 4 trips since 2006, I have only had to wait more than 15 mins for my bus once. I know others have had problems but we never had except that once.

Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any further questions, i love to help when i can

 

[TanyaNMJ]

Thanks Jennylyn! Sad, but I can't figure out how to message you....

Did consider Fulton's Crab House DT but it seems like a HIKE from WL. Am I wrong?
Glad to hear Tony's is an option as the kids are Italian obsessed and they won't care if it's bad. DH and myself however.... but this trip isn't about us!

I'll check out Boma's...we stayed in AKL 8 years ago prekids and didn't try the buffet. Thanks for the suggestion.

T

 

[Nadjalu]

I would say ressies for you are a must, especially if you aren't flexible with eating late.

Coral Reef would be perfect for the steak and seafood lover in you both. They have an awesome strip steak and well.....seafood, duh.

Ohana, is a meal that is served family style. All customers get the same thing, there isn't a menu to choose from, the meal is the same for everyone unless you have allergies and have contacted the restaurant to make special arrangements.
The meal is pinapple bread (yumo), a salad, terriayki wings, noodles, brocolli. The meats are shrimp, pork, turkey and steak, grilled on skewers the server brings to your table. It is all you can eat of any of these items. Oh and there is 3 sauces served to use with the wings and meats.
Dessert is the best bread pudding I have ever eaten and I don't like bread pudding!
It is very good food, however it is a loud restaurant yet fun for the kids.

Try and not be overwhelmed, just think you will be in Disney!

 

[ssawka]

Since you are staying at WL, have you considered the Whispering Canyon Cafe?

Also, Mamma Melrose might be a good place for your family. The fantasmic package is a good deal, if you have any interest in seeing fantasmic, the only problem is that you would have to eat early to do that.

 

[m_fancher]

I also have 2 boys 4 and 6....
we love Coral Reef, they are fascinated with the aquarium.
how about whispering canyon cafe or hoop dee doo right at your resort one night for dinner? Both are fun meals, especially HDDR. You could head back to FWL from MK. If you are looking for another character dinner you could try Chef Mickeys. But that is another buffet.

Have fun planning....

 

[Rylee]

I vote for Coral Reef or Kona.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

I'd say the Whispering Canyon Cafe too...then you wouldn't have to worry about transportation, and you can make an early evening if you want. They are usually up to some shananigans that should keep the little ones amused.

 

[shawnh199]

First off, I would definitely make ADR's for your restaurant choices, especially for the times you are looking to eat at because that 6pm time slot is extremely popular.

Keep trying for that Le Cellier reservation. We could only make reservations 90 days out for our trip and free dining was going on. We couldn't book Le Cellier at that time, but I tried several times a day online and finally a week or so before our trip I was able to get a ressie. I'm so glad I was persistent, because it was our favorite restaurant out of the 18 we ate at back in December. The NY strip was the best tasting steak we have ever had and the bread sticks are awesome.

I hear the steaks at Coral Reef are really good too, but we couldn't ever get an ADR for there the day we needed (turns out there was a large wedding party going on there.)

We ate at 50's Prime Time and it was one of our favorites as well. Awesome fried chicken.

As steak lovers ourselves, I can recommend the steaks at Grand Floridian Cafe, Turf Club Bar and Grill (Saratoga Springs) and Tony's Town Square (MK). We are not into fish, but all of these places had several fish dishes as well.

We loved the Safari Breakfast and CP. They will be on our list for our next trip for sure. I know you say your not really into buffets, but the lunch/dinner buffet is wonderful at Tusker House.

We had 18 ADR's on our trip in December and I was worried about how long it would take to get to parks/resorts. We didn't have much trouble at all (only if we were running late to catch a bus, but we were never more than 10 minutes late to an ADR and were usually seated right away). Our longest waits were for the Down Town Disney Bus so that we could transfer to resort buses for meals (and we stayed at SSR which is the closest resort to DTD). We planned our meals to be at the parks we were going to for the day, even dinner if the park was open late enough or at least a near by resort) so we never felt like we were missing out on our park time.

I can't comment on any of the other restaurants you have listed except to say I've read mostly good things about them on these forums. Check out the food pic thread for some great looking food pics. It might help you decide on a restaurant or two.

Have a great trip!