Please help me critique and fill in the dining plan. First time at Disney

[alm99]

Please help me critique and fill in the dining plan. We have 7 TS, 7 CS, and 7 Snacks to use. DH32, DW33, DD8, DS6, DS4.

Our Agenda
Day 1 – Arrive 2pm, Magic Kingdom
Dinner – QS – Need to Plan

Day 2 – Animal Kingdom,
Lunch – QS – Yak & Yeti or Restaurauntosaurus
Dinner – QS – Earl of Sandwich at DTD

Day 3 – Magic Kingdom
Lunch – TS - CRT (TSx2) 1:10pm ADR
Dinner - QS – Pecos Bill or Cosmic Ray

Day 4 – Epcot
Breakfast – TS - Tusker House 10am ADR
Dinner – TS - Garden Grill 5:30pm ADR

Day 5 – Hollywood Studios
Lunch – QS - Need To Plan
Dinner – TS - 50s Prime Time (Need to Reserve)

Day 6 – Have No Idea Which Park, Kids choice(?)
1 QS
1 TS

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom
Breakfast –TS – Crystal Palace 8:10am
Lunch/Dinner – QS – Need To Plan

 

[twocat]

Unless you have Park Hoppers, you won't be able to do Tusker House in the AK and Garden Grille at Epcot.

You have lots of character meals, especially if you keep the Day 4 plan. If you choose to do a character breakfast on Day 4, may I suggest Cape May Cafe at the BC? After Breakfast, you'll be right at the International Gateway at Epcot. If you finish breakfast before WS opens at 11, you'll be guided to FW from the WS.

 

[Jessica527]

They look great, here are some suggestions!!!

Day 1 - Check out Pinnochio Haus, has some great views of It's a Small World"

Day 2 - Yak and Yeti will get you more bang for your buck! Earl of Sandwhich great idea!

Day 3 - CRT is a must do! I would just go on the fly with whatever QS you do... if you want, you could always go to a monorail resort and check our a restaurant at like the Poly.

Day 4 - I would skip Tusker House, personally I don't think it is worth it. Why not get breakfast at a monorail resort? Like Tonga Toast at Ohana or Lobster eggs at GF? Also, Garden Grill isn't my favorite... I think that Coral Reef would be much more appealling for the little ones with the aquarium.

Day 5 - Great plans!

Day 6 - If you do MK, I would schedule Tonys for around 2:15 and ask for a seat outside. (you might need to wait) The parade goes right by at 3 pm!!!

Day 7 - Great breakfast, for QS I would check out a resort!


Hope this helps!

 

[janabananas]

For your QS picks at MK, I would check out Columbia Harbour House. They have good options, other than the usual QS picks. I agree with PP about Day 4 and making sure you have Parkhoppers so that will work for you.

 

[nkereina]

We are two adults and love Sci Fi at DHS. Kids would probably get a real kick out of it. I would not cancel the Tusker House ADR - this was our favorite breakfast and felt it had more/better options than other breakfasts we did (Chef Mickey's, Ohana). If you need another spot at MK, we love Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. Lots of food, really good.

 

[NLD]

Hi alm!

Our Agenda
Day 1 – Arrive 2pm, Magic Kingdom
Dinner – QS – Need to Plan

Columbia Harbor House is a nice QS at Magic Kingdom. Lighter and healthier options than a lot of other Magic Kingdom QS.

Day 2 – Animal Kingdom,
Lunch – QS – Yak & Yeti or Restaurauntosaurus
Dinner – QS – Earl of Sandwich at DTD

Sounds good. Flametree BBQ gets good reviews here for a QS in Animal Kingdom.

Day 3 – Magic Kingdom
Lunch – TS - CRT (TSx2) 1:10pm ADR
Dinner - QS – Pecos Bill or Cosmic Ray

Good.

Day 4 – Epcot
Breakfast – TS - Tusker House 10am ADR
Dinner – TS - Garden Grill 5:30pm ADR

Whoa! Tusker House is at Animal Kingdom, not Epcot. Not sure if you realized that. Even if you have parkhoppers... personally I wouldn't do this. Better to be at Epcot for opening (or close to opening), since this is your only Epcot day.

In addition, Epcot is so big that I personally wouldn't do two sit-down meals on your Epcot day. One is enough.

Sunshine Seasons is a nice QS spot in Epcot if you want a quick breakfast there. World Showcase has lots of QS options for lunch.

Day 5 – Hollywood Studios
Lunch – QS - Need To Plan
Dinner – TS - 50s Prime Time (Need to Reserve)

Good QS can be hard to find in Hollywood Studios. Maybe others have suggestions... Backlot Express maybe?

Day 6 – Have No Idea Which Park, Kids choice(?)
1 QS
1 TS

If you're not sure which park, but know you want a TS meal, then maybe book a dinner at one of the monorail resorts. That way you're within access to both Epcot and Magic Kingdom, in case the kids pick one of those.

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom
Breakfast –TS – Crystal Palace 8:10am
Lunch/Dinner – QS – Need To Plan

Sounds good. Again, Columbia Harbor House is one of my faves... we'd probably repeat that.

Honestly though with QS you don't necessarily have to plan, you can just stop wherever, whenever and grab what looks good.

 

[hops&dreams]

Are you staying onsite? If so, you can possibly swipe out a counter service or two at your hotel's Quick Service (Counter service) place. We find this more convenient before we leave for the parks or when we get back. We can either eat in our room, or in the little dining area attached to the quick service area.

Another thing we learned was that we only really need 2 counter service meals between the 3 of us. We ended up being able to stretch it a little that way too. You'll find that (well, to us, anyway) portion sizes were HUGE!

Our first trip, we did a lot of buffets, and Dh's request for this trip was NO BUFFETS! We're still ending up at some, but finding that most of our dining for this 2nd trip is not at the parks, but at resorts. I think the only ADR we have at a park is Sci Fi at HS.

Also, DD (who was 6 at the time) really enjoyed Hoop De Doo Revue. So much that we're doing it again! It was one of 2 meals that DH remembered from when he was a kid, but the only one he cared to repeat. It is 2 entitlements though - but totally worth it for us.

Also - snacks....

• 
  (tried on my trip and very much enjoyed)
• Dole Whip Float (yumm!!!) Found at Aloha Isle in MK.
• scoops of ice cream from the Main Street ice Cream Parlor in MK
  (the following are from my research for my next trip)
• hot cinnamon roll at Main Street Bakery in MK (haven't tried this but plan to on our next trip after reading it as a tip over and over again)
• Funnel cake at Sleepy Hallow in MK - only place a funnel cake is still considered a snack on DDP, from what I've read. Other places, you have to pay oop (out of pocket).
• Zebra Domes from Mara at Animal Kingdom Lodge
• giant cupcakes - butterfinger, red velvet, etc, at Starring Rolls in HS.

Also, last trip we had 1 counter service, and 3 snacks left. I swiped them out in my hotel's gift shop/merchantile (Wilderness Lodge) on my way to the Magical Express. The Counter service counted as 3 snacks, and I got a pkg of saltwater taffy, and 5 strips of the goofy candy Company fruit snacks (4individual pkgs per strip) We had enough to give each of DD's classmates a pkg of them when she came back and went to school, and the taffy for her teacher.

 

[leslie826]

For day 6, I'd pick a TS at a resort so it won't matter what park you choose. Whispering Canyon Cafe might be a good choice for the ages of your kids.

 

[alm99]

Thanks for all the great tips and catching my errors for what parks and TS meals.

 

[tlriv5]

Number 1...as much as you plan your counter service meals I have found that when the family is hungry we look for the closest place to eat. I just like to have some good suggestions of different places to eat at each park and know where they are. My family gets grumpy if I say that we are eating somewhere across the park from where we are just for a counter service meal. So you may just have to go with the flow of your day. Our Agenda
Day 1 – Arrive 2pm, Magic Kingdom
Dinner – QS – Need to PlanWe like Cosmic Rays and Columbia Harbour house

Day 2 – Animal Kingdom,
Lunch – QS – Yak & Yeti or Restaurauntosaurus We liked Yak and Yeti
Dinner – QS – Earl of Sandwich at DTD

Day 3 – Magic Kingdom
Lunch – TS - CRT (TSx2) 1:10pm ADR
Dinner - QS – Pecos Bill or Cosmic Ray Both of these are good

Day 4 – Epcot
Breakfast – TS - Tusker House 10am ADR we are not fans of using ts for breakfast and we do love breakfast
Dinner – TS - Garden Grill 5:30pm ADR

Day 5 – Hollywood Studios
Lunch – QS - Need To Plan Not many great choices. Kids might like Pizza Planet and we find things at the little kiosks in front of Tower of Terror.
Dinner – TS - 50s Prime Time (Need to Reserve)One of my families favorites
Day 6 – Have No Idea Which Park, Kids choice(?)
1 QS
1 TSWhispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge is a family favorite as well and a lot of fun for the kids. Maybe choose a resort ts this night so you can get your ressie but you can choose the park while you are there.
Day 7 - Magic Kingdom
Breakfast –TS – Crystal Palace 8:10am Ok, I go back on what I said earlier this is the one breakfast we will do so we can get in park before it opens. It is awesome to be there with no one else on the streets.
Lunch/Dinner – QS – Need To Plan I would just wing this one.

 

[disneydreamkate]

My only advice is to keep your Tuskerhouse ADR. That has been our favorite Character Meal to date...great characters and very good food (by buffet standards). Happy planning and have an incredible vacation!