Please help a newbie with his dinner reservations!

[Capo]

Hello Everyone!

I am new to these forums and also new to the dining experience. Though I have been to the disney parks more times than I can recall, it's always been on the ultra-budget approach, so there is much (like, the nicer restaurants) which I've never seen.

For my wife's and I's anniversery, we're going to disney in 2 weeks for 7 nights (we're also bringing our 1.5 year old daughter).

This time around, we're staying at a moderate resort and we've gotten the mid-line disney dining plan (1 snack, 1 quick server, 1 sit down, a day) and so we've booked restaurant reservations for many restaurants we've never been too (We've been to mexico and canada in Epcot before, that's it).

Anyways, availability is a bit tight, so this is what we currently have booked right now. If any of you pros can comment on these selections, that would be great. We're looking for a mix of nice restaurants with some character meals too.

If anything we've chosen is simply BAD, please let us know! We're using all of our sit downs for dinner (except one, due to availability).

Day 1 (Dinner) Whispering Canyon Café, Wilderness Lodge.
Day 2(Dinner) Epcot-Japan, Teppan Edo
Day 3(Lunch) Epcot-Canada, Le Celier
Day 4(Dinner) Ohana, Polonessian Hotel
Day 5(Dinner) Crystal Palace, Magic Kingom
Day 6(Dinner) Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Day 7(Dinner) Boatwrights, Port Orleans

We would also LOVE some suggestions on some good quick meal service spots. We're aware most are fast-foodish, but if there are some "hidden secrets" in this area where the food is a bit better, that would be great too!

Lastly, can anyone tell us what a "snack" is considered as on the dining plan? We're not actually sure what we can get.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Your selections look fine to me, especially Crystal Palace for your baby. She'll love the characters there. They're so cuddly.

Since you chose Boatwright's, I would guess that means you're staying at Port Orleans Riverside, correct? In that case, I think you'll really enjoy the food at your resort's food court. You'll find plenty of good, non-junky selections there. (You've seen the menu's on allearsnet.com, right?)

Any food court meal--breakfast, lunch or dinner--counts as a counter service credit.

When I was there in August, snack credits could be used toward any single serving food item priced under $4.00. For us, they were adequate for small meals. At the resort food court, snack credits got us fresh baked breadsticks and sauce, chili cheese fries, bowls of chili or soup, and all kinds of pasties/baked goods.

Since you get desserts with your food court meals, we often held onto them for later snacks, then used our snack credits for light breakfasts or lunches. With CS meals, we got desserts like fresh fruit cup, big cookies, and brownies, which kept well in our room's cooler.

 

[Capo]

Your selections look fine to me, especially Crystal Palace for your baby. She'll love the characters there. They're so cuddly.

Since you chose Boatwright's, I would guess that means you're staying at Port Orleans Riverside, correct? In that case, I think you'll really enjoy the food at your resort's food court. You'll find plenty of good, non-junky selections there. (You've seen the menu's on allearsnet.com, right?)

Any food court meal--breakfast, lunch or dinner--counts as a counter service credit.

When I was there in August, snack credits could be used toward any single serving food item priced under $4.00. For us, they were adequate for small meals. At the resort food court, snack credits got us fresh baked breadsticks and sauce, chili cheese fries, bowls of chili or soup, and all kinds of pasties/baked goods.

Since you get desserts with your food court meals, we often held onto them for later snacks, then used our snack credits for light breakfasts or lunches. With CS meals, we got desserts like fresh fruit cup, big cookies, and brownies, which kept well in our room's cooler.

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm glad to hear you like our choices. Is there anything that we're not doing which you (or anyone) would say is a MUST if you want to enjoy the Disney Dining experience?

And yes, you're right, we are staying at Port Orleans River Side. We have an early flight out on Sunday morning, so I thought eating at our hotel would make it easier on our last night. I am a bit concerned about that restaurant since I just don't see much about it - is that one worth using a sit-down swipe on?

It may be a while before we're able to take another nice trip like this, so we're hoping to maximize every day/meal/location as best as we can.

Thanks!

 

[Mr. Pig]

Your selections look good to me. I think the reason you don't see much about Boatwrights is that it is not at a park, DTD or on the monorail loop so it is a little out of the way. I haven't been there myself for a long time so I can't give a review. My advise is not to look at too many bad reviews. There are always some that don't like a restaurant just as there are always someone that just loves each one.

For CS a couple suggestions would be Cosmic Rays at MK. You can get a good sized Chicken or Chicken/Ribs combo meal. Another choice would be Pepper Market at CSR which has a wide variety of meals that are all considered CS. This would be a little out of the way to get to though if you are not staying at the resort but could well be worth it. Also Flame Tree BBQ at AK if you like BBQ food. You can check out menus on wdwinfo.com or allearsnet.com.

Snacks, as stated, are generally single serving items under $4. This means that big bags of chips or cheetos at the resorts store are not included even though they are under $4 (they are pre-marked from Frito so Disney can't charge more) but the smaller bags are OK. Otherwise they are things like ice cream, sodas, etc. At Goofys Kitchen at DTD you can use a Snack Credit to create your own snack - like a rice crispy bar with your choice of toppings. The selections are somewhat limited for the snack credit. You will see a Disney Dining Plan symbol on the menu/price boards at any stand for items that can be purchased as a snack with the plan.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I'm glad to hear you like our choices. Is there anything that we're not doing which you (or anyone) would say is a MUST if you want to enjoy the Disney Dining experience?

Crystal Palace would be my top pick for your baby, so you're good there.

If she likes it, she'll love Chef Mickey's, which I would personally choose over WCC. WCC's food isn't bad, but I think the food and entertainment are better at CM's, plus CM's is more convenient with the monorail.

That said, the Wilderness Lodge itself is breathtaking, and if seeing it is why you're going to WCC, it's a decent choice.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful trip.

 

[Capo]

Thanks for the info all, it's very helpful.

Does anyone have any good links to sites which tells you the quickest way to get from your hotel to another location (hotel, park, etc.) via disney's transportation system?

Meaning, that if we're eating at, let's say, the contemporary, is there a bus from Port Orleans which will go right there? Or, is it best to go to the MK and then take the monorail over?

 

[JerseyJanice]

The buses that service POR go to/from the theme parks, water parks and Downtown. You can also get to/from Downtown via boat.

There is no direct resort to resort transportation at POR, except to/from POFQ, which is technically part of the same resort anyway.

To get to Chef Mickey's or WCC or Boma's (for example), you'll need to take a bus to a theme park, then get on another bus to the resort where your restaurant is.

To go to WCC, you might take a bus to the Magic Kingdom, then take the ferry boat to the Wilderness Lodge. If for some reason, MK bus service was slow that day, you could take a bus to any other theme park, then take a bus to WL. However, we've stayed at the WL and found it to be out of the way with SLOW transportation, which is why I think CM's would be more convenient.

Or you can take cabs. (Personally, we've rarely done that because of the extra expense.)

To go to Chef Mickey's, you'd take the bus to MK, then get onto the monorail to the Contemporary resort. It's convenient to go there on a day when you're at the MK anyway.

What you could do is spend your day at MK, take an afternoon break at the resort, then get back on the bus to MK. Have dinner at CM's, then monorail back to MK to see the fireworks and/or Spectromagic.

 

[KatMark]

We've done several of your choices. Of those choices, unfortunately, two were the worse meals we've ever had at Disney (and service) too. Those would be Whispering Canyon Cafe--I would suggest ordering off the menu and not he skillet; the other was Boatwright's--terrible service, more than 40 minutes after our ADR we finally got a table and the food was horrible--sent mine back twice. Love LeCellier--a must do for us each trip.

 

[ms mouse]

I thought Ohona was two credits, I could be wrong, anyone else know?

 

[B-Ride]

Day 1 (Dinner) Whispering Canyon Café, Wilderness Lodge.
Day 2(Dinner) Epcot-Japan, Teppan Edo
Day 3(Lunch) Epcot-Canada, Le Celier
Day 4(Dinner) Ohana, Polonessian Hotel
Day 5(Dinner) Crystal Palace, Magic Kingom
Day 6(Dinner) Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Day 7(Dinner) Boatwrights, Port Orleans

We have eaten at Le Cellier, 'Ohana, Crystal Palace and Boma and all are great choices. The others we haven't tried.

For CS which is a bit different we like Columbia Harbour House at MK and Kringla Bakeri at Epcot.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Ohana's is only 1 TS credit. Here are all the 2 credit places, as copied and pasted from the DDP sticky thread:

Signature restaurants requiring 2TS credits per person:
• Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge)
• California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Cinderella’s Royal Table character breakfast/lunch/dinner with photo package (Magic Kingdom)
• Citricos (Grand Floridian)
• Flying Fish Café (Boardwalk Inn & Villas)
• Hollywood Brown Derby (MGM Studios)
• Jiko - The Cooking Place (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
• Narcoossee's (Grand Floridian)
• Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club)

Dinner Shows requiring 2 TS credits per person:
• Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show (Polynesian)
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (Fort Wilderness)
• Mickey's Backyard Barbeque (Fort Wilderness)

Every other sit-down restaurant is 1 TS credit, including Beaches and Cream, the Plaza at MK and ESPN. If paying for the DDP, those would be your worst values.