Planning for Jan/Feb

[southlakejr]

So DH and I are in the beginning planning stages of our first trip to WDW. Even though we are DL vets, there are a lot of differences, especially with dining. I was hoping I could pick your collective brains a little!

First things first- how many ADRs should we make? We will most likely be there for 7 days. In DL, we don't really do table service (didn't realize it was such a thing!) and so the concept is a little foreign to us. Normally, we have one table service meal in DTD each trip we take (trips are usually 2 days or so in length)

Which restaurants are the "must do"s? We don't have children, so character meals are not really high on our list. Outside of those, which restaurants or meals are really a big part of the WDW experience? Neither one of us are huge breakfast or sweet people, but we do like our appetizer

Do we really need to make ADRs for January/February? We are headed out either the last week of January or first week of February and will be there mostly midweek. Admittedly, it stresses me out to think that I have to decide what and where I want to eat 6 months in advance, especially as a newbie. Will they really be necessary that time of year?

 

[Steph2527]

Hello there! Unfortunately dining ressies are necessary no matter what time of year you visit WDW now-a-days. Id like to recommend Be our Guest (100% yes you need a ressie, at the 180+10 mark), we love ohana, Tony's (MK), and while we don't have kids yet, we really love Ohana's breakfast, Chef Mickey's, and crystal palace. We also enjoy in epcot..Rose and Crown, and Via Napoli. Downtown Disney, we found that Raglan road (irish pub) has good food/drinks/entertainment! I'm sure everyone on here will give you other suggestions, but these are just what we enjoy! Happy planning!

 

[purple figment]

Making dining plans is a lot more work for DW than DLR. At any time of year, if there are any TS restaurants you really want to eat at it's better to make reservations.

There are so many cuisines and experiences that it's hard to say what is a "must do." Some of the restaurants that we enjoy include:

-Cinderella's Royal Castle (MK) for the atmosphere and being able to eat in the castle.
-Be Our Guest (MK) is the most recent and hardest to book restaurant, but you can go for lunch (counter service) so no reservations accepted. Well worth it to see the interior and the food is pretty good.
-Les Chefs (Epcot) at lunchtime (M-Sat) to see Remy.
-Rose & Crown (Epcot) for a view of IllumiNations.
-Via Napoli is owned by the same company as Naples in DTD at DLR, although we've found the food better at Via Napoli.
-California Grill and/or Narcoosssee's for a great view of MK's Wishes.
-Boma (AKL) buffet for breakfast - traditional breakfast foods with added offerings with an African influence. Before or afterwards you can go outside and view the animals. If you go for dinner you can go outside and view the animals with night vision goggles.

For counter service:
-Eating around the World Showcase is always fun.
-Zebra Domes (a dessert) at Mara (AKL)
-Be Our Guest as mentioned above