PS Question, How Many to book???

[It's A Happy Day]

We are taking our 1st family trip to WDW in October !!! Never did priority seatings in past trips but it was 2 adults and we went with the flow. We will be there for 10 days - 7 days in the parks. There are 4 of us in our party - dh, dd3, ds4, and me but also have mil, fil, and my mom coming down overlapping dates - so this will give us 7 total party for some days if we all dine together. My major issue is if I call to make a PS and tell them 7 people and only 4-5 show is it a major deal? I would rather book more people and have less show than other way around but not sure how to approach. Also how many character meals should I book. I want to do as many PS as possible because I don't want to have to wait too long for seating with toddlers and does anyone recommend certain ones with both a boy & girl.

 

[Scottwdw]

I would book the larger number. They may tell you the party will be split between two tables but most restaurants will gladly accomodate you when you check in. You might want to plan to check in about 15 minutes before your ADR (PS) time.

As for Character Meal suggestions, Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort has breakfast & dinner, 'Ohana at the Polynesian and Cape May at the Beach Club has breakfast. These meals feature classic Disney characters like Mickey, Goofy, Chip & Dale and others.

Magic Kingdom has the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner with Minnie & Friends.

Epcot has Mickey, Chip and Dale at the Garden Grill for all meals.

Animal Kingdom features Donald's Breakfastosaurus with Donald Duck, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto.

For more information, check out the DIS' List of Character Meals

Hope this helps!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Book the larger number rather than the smaller. Larger tables are fewer and thus harder to come by. I tried to change some of our ADR's a few weeks before our May trip and found that it's nearly impossible to do so for a group of FIVE! I would think a larger group would be even more difficult.

There were several times during our May trip when our almost 13 yo ds decided not to join us for TS meals. You are always asked again at check-in "How many are in your party?" CM's never seemed to mind when we adjusted downwards.

Usually, I book 1 TS lunch OR dinner each day and 2-3 TS breakfasts. This October, my in-laws will be joining us. My fil is diabetic and must eat at set times. Both like food even more than dh and I (if that's possible). Thus, I'm planning on booking breakfasts every morning, some lunches, and all dinners. We've never been this scheduled before, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[tamu91]

I'd say book the higher head count because it's easier to trim than add. This happened on our last trip. We had a party of 10 but 3 extra heads decided to join us at the last minutes. I had several PS for 10 and trying to add 3 more people within 30 days was not fun. We were able to add everywhere except at Chef Mickey's on Mother's Day