Please help me decide!!!

[clerkshipwanted]

First full day there - this Saturday.
We are doing MK. Will get there early.
I had 5:15 SOA booked (we are staying at Poly) but a 7:15 Garden Grill is available.
My kids usually eat on early side so I am not sure if 7:15 will just be too late for them (I know you won't be able to answer that for me!) but is Garden Grill good?
Do kids just run on adrenaline while they are at Disney?
Is SOA not great for a 4 and 6 y/o?
Such a silly thing to stress over but just want it to all work out.

 

[MicRac]

Garden Grill is at Epcot so if you are doing Magic Kingdom that day you will need park hopper passes. If you don't have those I would stay with Spirit of Aloha.

 

[clerkshipwanted]

Garden Grill is at Epcot so if you are doing Magic Kingdom that day you will need park hopper passes. If you don't have those I would stay with Spirit of Aloha.

I do have parkhopper - so does that mean you would recommend garden grill?

 

[Spikerdink]

I would keep the SOA - great way to kick off the vacation....plus on your first day the kids will be super excited - and will want to spend as much time in MK as possible. The Poly is so close to MK while GG you would need to monorail over, walk to the entrance, walk to the restaurant... alot of walking for dinner when you could spend more time doing MK fun things with the kids.

 

[BuckeyeBarb]

We have eaten at Garden Grill with children the same ages as yours. Everyone enjoyed it & ate well! And, I personally think it would be nice to have a character dinner with Mickey on your first night. I've never dined at SoA, but I'm sure you can't go wrong. Have a great trip!

 

[Quin]

This coming Saturday 11/19? Looks like it will be pretty crowded at MK. MSEP 9 pm, Wishes 10 pm, MSEP 11 pm, park close midnight.

How late will you/your kids want to stay up? Specifically, are you going to want to see a parade and Wishes tonight, or would you rather get to bed a little earlier in order to make rd someplace Sunday?

If you are going to want to spend part or all of the evening in MK, then I would say to keep the SoA ADR. Fast and easy to get back to the MK afterwards. If you are OK with missing Wishes tonight, it might make more sense to tour MK during the day (have lunch regular time, but then have some significant late-afternoon snacks). Head over to Epcot via the monorails in plenty of time to walk over to The Land for a 7:15 GG. The character interaction there is very good. After dinner, I'd grab the monorail back to TTC and then walk or monorail back to Poly for an early bedtime. Make sure you get out of Epcot BEFORE the crowds disperse after the 9 pm Illuminations.

 

[clerkshipwanted]

Thanks all.
I am leaning toward risking the late dinner b/c of Mickey - and the soso reviews of SoA. Plus more time at Disney (we would never go back after SoA).
Or we could swim in afternoon but still have a long day at MK. Couldn't do that if going to SoA at 5:15. With GG we get two extra hours of fun or relaxation. I figure even though kids are usually in bed by 8pm at home there is no way that will happen our first full day at Disney.

We do have early ressie the next day - 8am to see the Princesses at Askershus - I am hoping my kids will have the energy to get up for that if they go to bed 2+ hours later than usual.

Guess we will find out!!!!