Prepay a meal for relatives?

[Threehearts]

My brother is going to WDW with his wife and their SEVEN children. I have helped with their arrangements for rooms at POR and now would like to treat them to a meal or event. My brother is on a strict budget and would never allow me to treat if he knew ahead of time. What I would like to do is to pre-pay for a meal and then tell him that it's all taken care of. Tip must be prepaid too b/c otherwise I'm not sure he could swing it. The kids range in age from 15 to 2 and each one is nicer and more well-behaved than the next. They put my kids to shame! This will be a once in a lifetime trip. Any ideas for restaurants? Nothing that would be very dressy as they will not have those clothes with them Thanks so much. Threehearts(Susan)]

 

[stacilee]

my off the top suggestions:
Gosh, the possibilities.... How much do YOU want to spend?
Do you want just a meal (dinner at Boma might be fun and the kids could enjoy all that the resort has to offer in the evening like the firepit stories, the viewing of the animals with the night vision binoculars. It's a fun resort and the meal is fantastic.

Do you want a charater meal? How about chef mickey's at the Contemporary. I think their breakfast is better that the dinner, but as a mom of 4 Man it is tough getting everyone ready for an early Breakfast PS!

Or The crystal palace (pooh & friends) has a wonderful buffet -in the MK- breakfast is our favorite followed by lunch.

If you really want to spend a wad of $$$ the Hoop de doo review (over at Fort Wilderness) is SO much fun! A good dinner & a thigh slapping show- all in all worth every penny.

all of these places are fine for typical vacation wear. Shorts, sneakers, t-shirts. Clean and neat are just fine.

You are the nicest aunt in the whole world! You'll have to get some of the arrangement experts in here to tell you how to sprinkle that pixie dust just right. I wouldn't begin to know other than to call disney (dine) and ask how this would be done.

Good Luck, Good Luck!

 

[momxx5]

I suggest Chef Mickeys.

That would be fun for everyone and definately a fixed price(not ordering off menu). You can call the manager and ask about pre-paying for them. I'm sure this isn't the first time they have handled this.

You are a very thoughtful sis!

 

[Drcell01]

You might consider buying meal certificates. The Quick & Casual certificates are valid at many places through out WDW. Check on ebay for these. They include tax and gratuity.

 

[Threehearts]

Thanks so much, everyone. I'm a little worried about the vouchers because they are so overwhelmed just contemplating all of the WDW details. I've bought them a Passporter which helps. I'm looking for the easiest plan that I can think of. They will have a car so the bus situation won't be a concern. I think a dinner may be better than a breakfast since I wouldn't want to interfere with any EMH plans that they may have. I know at this point that they are only planning on counter service and food court meals due to the expense. Thanks again and any more tips are welcome. I really need to find out how this prepaying process would work. Do you think calling WDW Dine is good enough or should I be calling the manager of the chosen restaurant? Can you call a restaurant directly? Threehearts

Just thought of something-
Would a fireworks cruise be better than a dinner or is that too much with a 2 y/o and all?

 

[ahutton]

I would guess it would be easiest to do that at a fixed price meal, maybe 'Ohana? That way there is a full meal, a nice resort with a great view and fun for the kids, and unless they order dessert or bar drinks I belive all else is included. Plus for a group that size I would expect they will automatically add the gratuity.

 

[Belle5]

We have taken our 6 children ages 9 mos.-17 years to WDW many times. (OK, the 9 month old has only been once...) I really do think the meal vouchers are going to be the way to go if you are bent on pre-paying. Then you could help them decide which restaurant would give them the most bang for the buck with the vouchers. Personally, I would totally stay away from the children's vouchers and buy maybe 5 adult vouchers and just have all of them share a bunch of food.

Buffets tend to be exhausting for the parents of a lot of kids. There is so much disturbance and so much in and out of the seats. What we really enjoy is being waited on (OK, I like being waited on) and everyone being able to stay in one place so we can look at each other when we talk. If you don't do the vouchers you might want to consider figuring out how to slip them enough money to exactly cover a character meal served family style (LTT or Garden Grille) or a non-character family style meal like "Ohana's. Yes, it's fun for everyone to choose what they want at a buffet but I can't emphasize enough how chaotic they are for a large family.

You are a wonderful person for trying to bless them in this way.

 

[Julia M]

I'm paying for a meal at V & A's for my parents. I think your best bet is to call the restaurant itself and ask to speak to a manager.

On the other hand, I think the idea about buying vouchers is a good one.......that way you can choose the restaurant and even make a PS, and there isn't any way to turn it down (it's not like you can use the vouchers elsewhere)

 

[Threehearts]

Thanks, again. You guys are great! Susan

 

[Belle5]

One more thing...you mentioned they will do counter services due to the expense. You might want to encourage them that by sharing meals at reasonable sit down meals they may stay near the final tab of a counter meal.

 

[poohandwendy]

I really have no advice, just wanted to say how incredibly AWESOME you are for wanting to do this!!!! What a generous and thoughtful thing to do!!!!

 

[maggiew]

I also would recommend getting the breakfast vouchers for them. That would be an easy way to prepay a meal. Plus it may allow them to do a character meal which they might not do due to the costs. They could do Chef Mickeys which is really fun and has the "main" characters. But if a buffet is not for them due to the large number, they could do the Princess Breakfast or CRT which is served family style at the table. If you could get them a PS at CRT and them give them a voucher - WOW! you would be a beloved Aunt (not that you aren't already).

I am not sure how much you wanted to spend, but I believe when we went to Hoop Dee Doo you had to prepay. So you could do that. Call and make the arrangements and pay with your credit card.

Maggie