Please help me make my dining list manageable!!

[Momager]

We are going in the beginning of November for 7 nights 8 days. It will be my father, his wife, my hubs, myself and our daughters, 14, 13 & 4. The two older girls have been several times but this will be the first, and probably last time for a long time for our baby. She loves princesses and Disney Jr characters. But sadly it can't be all about her for the trip!

So please help me decide!

HDDR is a must along with Cindys Castle. We're on the dining plan, and I realize that those are both 2 credits. I don't mind paying oop for 1 meal, just don't know which one we should choose! Also, since we will be there during F&W, I'd like to just snack around the world too!!

Please guide me! Its been far to long since our last trip, and my Disney Knowledge is very rusty!!!




Magic Kingdom:

Crystal Palace - Breakfast
Jungle Navigation Co.



Epcot:

Coral Reef
La Hacienda de San Angel



DHS:

Playhouse Disney Play n Dine at Hollywood & Vine - Breakfast
50’s Prime Time Cafe



Animal Kingdom:

Tusker House - Lunch



Hotels:

Beach Club - Cape May Cafe (Character Breakfast)
Boardwalk - Trattoria al Forno (Character Breakfast)
Contemporary - Chef Mickey’s (Character Breakfast or Dinner)
Storybook Dining @ Artist Point - Wilderness Lodge - Dinner
Fort Wilderness - Hoop De Doo Review
Grand Floridian - 1900 Park Faire (Character Dinner)
Beach Club - Beaches & Cream Soda Shop

 

[brockash]

Beaches n Cream will be your cheapest to pay out of pocket for. Where are you staying? In our opinion the resort restaurants are kinda a pain unless you're already going to be in the area for something.

 

[Momager]

Beaches n Cream will be your cheapest to pay out of pocket for. Where are you staying? In our opinion the resort restaurants are kinda a pain unless you're already going to be in the area for something.

We're staying at the Beach Club, and honestly just planning on getting the kitchen sink when/if we go.

 

[brockash]

We're staying at the Beach Club, and honestly just planning on getting the kitchen sink when/if we go.

If your staying at Beach Club then all those ones on Boardwalk wouldn't be hard to get to. I'd probably cancel 1900 Park Fare and really Chef Mickeys (basically same characters as Cape May, but different attire.)

We haven't been to the new character meal at Artist Point, so I'm not sure, but when would you go - how inconvenient would it be for you?

 

[Momager]

If your staying at Beach Club then all those ones on Boardwalk wouldn't be hard to get to. I'd probably cancel 1900 Park Fare and really Chef Mickeys (basically same characters as Cape May, but different attire.)

We haven't been to the new character meal at Artist Point, so I'm not sure, but when would you go - how inconvenient would it be for you?

My only issue with doing Cape May over Chef Mickey is that we would have to do Cape May for breakfast only. I hate morning ADRs because I want to be at every park for rope drop lol
But I do agree that it makes more sense since we're in that hotel anyway..... Maybe I could get a super early reservation.... lol

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I would be sure to do the 1900PF dinner.

I think with the age spread of your kids it is a great option. The older girls may get a kick out of the stepsisters/Lady Tremaine plus with Cinderella/Prince Charming it’s great for younger kids too. We really love this character experience. So much personality.

 

[Momager]

I would be sure to do the 1900PF dinner.

I think with the age spread of your kids it is a great option. The older girls may get a kick out of the stepsisters/Lady Tremaine plus with Cinderella/Prince Charming it’s great for younger kids too. We really love this character experience. So much personality.

We did this dinner on our last trip about.... 5 years ago and everyone really enjoyed it!

 

[CaLuCa]

I've eaten at every one you have mentioned except the Boardwalk character breakfast. The ones I would nix (if you need to cut) in this order:

1. Chef Mickey's (pure chaos, very late seating -one time up to an hour late, mediocre food)
2. Storybook dining (just did it last week. Unless you have a die hard Wicked Queen fan, it's really a skip)
3. Beaches and Cream (food tasted like it came from the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, but I LOVE the kitchen sink! Save your hunger for Food and Wine booths)

I like everything else. It's been awhile since I've been to some of the character meals, and there was a period where food was very heavily salted, especially Play and Dine. I'm hoping it is getting better.

Some of my happiest memories come from HDDR and 1900 Park Faire (both dinner and breakfast). Watching my kids laugh and giggle like there's no tomorrow is such magic.

Use the dining plan for any AYCE or Character meal. Pay out of pocket for Beaches, Jungle, 50 PTC, CR.

For Cape May (which had delicious food when we ate there), see if you can get a late ADR, do your rope drop at one of the EMH parks and take your break as a brunch, maximizing the rope drop, and getting a nice swim break in. Then go to Epcot and snack around the world for dinner.

 

[Momager]

I've eaten at every one you have mentioned except the Boardwalk character breakfast. The ones I would nix (if you need to cut) in this order:

1. Chef Mickey's (pure chaos, very late seating -one time up to an hour late, mediocre food)
2. Storybook dining (just did it last week. Unless you have a die hard Wicked Queen fan, it's really a skip)
3. Beaches and Cream (food tasted like it came from the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, but I LOVE the kitchen sink! Save your hunger for Food and Wine booths)

I like everything else. It's been awhile since I've been to some of the character meals, and there was a period where food was very heavily salted, especially Play and Dine. I'm hoping it is getting better.

Some of my happiest memories come from HDDR and 1900 Park Faire (both dinner and breakfast). Watching my kids laugh and giggle like there's no tomorrow is such magic.

Use the dining plan for any AYCE or Character meal. Pay out of pocket for Beaches, Jungle, 50 PTC, CR.

For Cape May (which had delicious food when we ate there), see if you can get a late ADR, do your rope drop at one of the EMH parks and take your break as a brunch, maximizing the rope drop, and getting a nice swim break in. Then go to Epcot and snack around the world for dinner.

What was your issue with Storybook Dining? I've read amazing reviews, and eeeh reviews so I'm on the fence about it. But both I and my toddler loves Snow White lol Though we will see her at Cindys Castle too....

Also, do you know what the latest time you an get a character breakfast adr at cape may??

 

[CaLuCa]

Not sure on the latest time for Cape May, but it might be around 11.

I wrote a quick review on the Storybook ADR Watch thread. Basically, our character interaction was not what others had experienced, but that was not my main issue. The inconsistencies of the food dinged it more for me. I also happen to fall into the LOVED AP club and really hoped the character dining would be a fun addition. I miss the original AP. I also didn't like the singing of songs every ten minutes or so.

If you and your DD love Snow White or the dwarves, it would be a big plus for you. But the Queen steals the show!

 

[Lisa F]

portions are massive at 50's primetime and also inexpensive so I'd pay for that one OOP

after that probably Skipper Canteen and/or La Hacienda. It is easier to eat more efficiently on less cash at a la carte places. Coral Reef is very pricey so I'd keep that on on the plan.

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

tbh if i had to cut one, it would be coral reef. my parents went there and they said it was terrible. this was a while ago though, so it might be different! otherwise though, of the restaurants on your list that i've been to, i love all of them!

 

[LovesTimone]

HDDR is a must along with Cindys Castle. We're on the dining plan, and I realize that those are both 2 credits. I don't mind paying oop for 1 meal, just don't know which one we should choose! Also, since we will be there during F&W, I'd like to just snack around the world too!!

Please guide me! Its been far to long since our last trip, and my Disney Knowledge is very rusty!!!


Magic Kingdom:

Crystal Palace - Breakfast - this is a keeper breakfast with pooh and friends is really fun and the breakfast here is a fav of ours...
Jungle Navigation Co.



Epcot:

Coral Reef - With the ages of your family this will a great hit with everyone... we took our 3 year old grandson for dinner and he loved it...
La Hacienda de San Angel - Here I would read the menu... If everyone loves super spicy food then it would be okay... if not you might want to rethink this spot. For us they really don't have any options that are not covered in some type of hot hot peppers or sauce, even when its suppose to be not spicy it was...to the point I could not even eat... so we had a margarita and DH had some salsa and chips, and we left...



DHS:

Playhouse Disney Play n Dine at Hollywood & Vine - Breakfast - We enjoyed breakfast here, with the Disney Jr. stars... Breakfast was good, not over the top.. Character interaction was really fun.
50’s Prime Time Cafe - We are not this type of family and we did have a bad experience there so I can't recommend it...the food and service was terrible...



Animal Kingdom:

Tusker House - Lunch - We love the character in the safari clothing... to cute... We prefer breakfast or dinner, lunch just did not do it for us it was to heavy of a meal for that time of day... We like Rainforest for lunch at AK, there is one on site so you don't have to leave the park... If you are a Landrys member you might have points to spend or are going during your birthday you might save a bit and I would Pay OOP here, share some appetizer... super fun...



Hotels:

Beach Club - Cape May Cafe (Character Breakfast) -
Boardwalk - Trattoria al Forno (Character Breakfast)
Contemporary - Chef Mickey’s (Character Breakfast or Dinner) - We like dinner here better than breakfast with picky eaters they always can find something here... as well the monorail running through is sure to be a hit..
Storybook Dining @ Artist Point - Wilderness Lodge - Dinner
Fort Wilderness - Hoop De Doo Review - For my family this is a no go...we tried once and that was more than enough... the food was terrible the night we went... You should check out something at Disney Springs lots and lots of new restaurants to choose from
Grand Floridian - 1900 Park Faire (Character Dinner) - Keeper super fun
Beach Club - Beaches & Cream Soda Shop[/QUOTE] - Kitchen sink fun - food not so much....


There are so many new dinning options, that I would spend some time checking out the menus, to see if they will match with your family... especially if you haven't been in a while...

On Cinderella's Castle dinning... you are paying for eating in the castle and the princess... the food was just so so at best... just so you know...