Restaurant plans?? Views

[Ruth B]

Hi all
Trying to come up with first draft off dining plans. Travelling with a 3 and 8 year old so want a mix of kid focus/ good food.
We are on free ddp and staying club. Going to have a ts lunch mainly on park days and hotel/ other resort on rest days.
We are staying at akl and staying 11 nights

So far thinking:
Boma dinner-dinner 1st night and brunch last day
Crt lunch
Tusker house- l
Sanna lunch
Bog lunch
Beaches and cream- d
Epcot restaurant- Norway princess or coral reef ( views??)
Ohana- dinner
Jiko

Can't pick anywhere at Dhs, might to cs?

Think we have 2 more evening of eating out- wondered about Dtd dino place or mickey bbq at fw?

Any view or advice would be great
Thank you
Ruth

 

[Nancyg56]

BOG at lunch time is CS, JIC you thought it was TS

In DHS, are you going to Fantasmic? WE like the Fantasmic dining ackage at Mama Melrose and generally book it for lunch.

Coral Reef is hit or miss IMO, but I think it is a really cool restaurant to try.

If you are looking for a 2 TS meal the night you ae thinking about Mickey's Backyard BBQ, I would switch that to HDDR, or maybe the luau at the Poly.

 

[kwdw]

While I love Sanaa lunch - it's not in a park. Since you are staying at AKL - I still think it's okay to do Sanaa if you are planning to be at the resort anyway around lunch - maybe because it's a resort day or you are sleeping late or planning to return back to the resort by lunch. Now - Sanaa is over at Kidani. Might be fun to hit the pool over there on that resort day. I like the Kidani pool slide better than Jambo slide anyway!

Looks like you have girls with two princess meals. There's going to be that NEW Minnie seasonally themed dining experience in HS. That might solve a HS dinner plan.

I agree with HDDR or Mickey's BBQ for something different. The BBQ is outside - so depending on the time of year you are going - weather can be hit or miss.

You don't have any breakfasts in there. Now - you are staying club level - so maybe that's purposeful. Could try to add Crystal Palace for breakfast and drop one of the princess meals - I don't think you need two.

Just be warned - "kids" can get sick of too much table service dining at Disney. I do think you are being thoughtful about that in your mix - but if that Jiko dinner is planned for the last night, I can just picture kids who are either (1) exhausted, grumpy and are zombies falling asleep or (2) exhausted, grumpy, acting out and would really rather be at MK eating a hot dog at Casey's so they can go run around the treehouse again. Went to Disney as a kid on a big dining plan with the family at 9 yo --- by late in the trip - I was suffering from the kid's syndrome of "exhaustion from too many TS meals". It was fun in the beginning - our family did go out to eat once a week at home so I knew what to expect - but by the end - I felt like I'd spent a lot of time in restaurants - and really - all I wanted was a corn dog and a frozen choc banana and the restaurant didn't serve that.

 

[River Country]

The only advice I can give you is

1. Epcot Restaurant-Unless its breakfast stay away from Norway we had lunch there 2 years ago and it was inedible. If coral Reef is your other option then book that one the tank is great even if you are not up close to it.

2. DTD T-Rex is a larger version of Rainforest Café and soooooooooooooooo overrated. Food is average and pricey we were 2 adults 1 child and no alcoholic drinks 2 apps and 3 entree's and we were over $100...just not worth it to me.

3. Mickey's BBQ is cute and the food is BBQ food and actually pretty good, entertainment is great but as a PP stated depending on time of year Weather could be a factor

4. DHS you should try for 50's PT which is super fun if you want it to be. Hollywood Brown Derby is a signature and is excellent. Sci Fi and Mama Melrose are mediocre. I would stay away from CS at DHS it is probably the park with the worst options in that Category. As a PP stated there is Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood and Vine which seems like it will be a great time as well and that is a character buffet.


Good Luck

 

[JZCubed]

Hi all
Trying to come up with first draft off dining plans. Travelling with a 3 and 8 year old so want a mix of kid focus/ good food.
We are on free ddp and staying club. Going to have a ts lunch mainly on park days and hotel/ other resort on rest days.
We are staying at akl and staying 11 nights

So far thinking:
Boma dinner-dinner 1st night and brunch last day
Crt lunch
Tusker house- l
Sanna lunch
Bog lunch
Beaches and cream- d
Epcot restaurant- Norway princess or coral reef ( views??)
Ohana- dinner
Jiko

Can't pick anywhere at Dhs, might to cs?

Think we have 2 more evening of eating out- wondered about Dtd dino place or mickey bbq at fw?

Any view or advice would be great
Thank you
Ruth

We traveled with our then 3 y.o. a few times.

Going out for dinner with a child that young makes planning difficult, particularly after the stimuli of the Parks & swimming pool.

What does't help is the need to travel to/from Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Norway Princesses vs. Coral Reef - Coral Reef has a wall of acquarium that's a view for a little one. Akershus has better princess interaction if your 8 y.o. is a girl. But even the 8 y.o. would enjoy the view at Coral Reef. Coin flip.

That O'hana and Beaches'n'Cream dinner are a lot of work. Disney does not make resort-to-resort very easy. O'hana is overloaded with stimuli - makes managing the toddler very difficult in the evening….and then you have to travel back to AKLodge. Taxis are the solution - $20(+/-) each way.

 

[figment_jii]

For your DHS day, I'd look into Sci Fi, but it depends on how easily scared your little ones are. The restaurant is set-up like an old drive-in move theater and they play clips of sci fi movies and cartoons (most of the clips are pretty cheesy, but they might scare little ones). The food is nothing fancy, but I've found it to be tasty.

I don't really think of Beaches and Cream as much of a place to have food; most folks seem to go for the ice cream. It has a pretty limited menu. If you're doing that on your Epcot day, I'd be tempted to stay in Epcot and go to another one of the restaurants in World Showcase (there are lots of outstanding choices).

I echo the comments about Jiko. I really liked eating there, but it is a Signature dining location and one of the more quiet and dimly lit locations. The average meal takes between 90 and 120 minutes, so keep that in mind if it's towards the end of the trip. For a more lively Signature location, I'd look into California Grill. It's brightly lit and pretty vibrant.

 

[crabbygal902]

T-Rex at Disney Springs---we didn't like it at all. The food was very expensive and not good quality, on par with our local Applebee's on an off night. It was extremely loud, even to me who teaches at a middle school and eats in the cafeteria. Perhaps Splitsville would be a good choice; the family could bowl and enjoy a nice dinner at the same place.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We just came back from a FD trip with 8 and 3 year old girls.

I would definitely pick Akershus for the princess experience. Your kids will be out of the princess stage soon. Save Coral Reef for when they are older. We really enjoyed our meal at Akershus, and it is great for little princesses.

Is your husband going with you? If so, then I would suggest dropping the kids at Simba's Clubhouse and enjoying a romantic dinner at Jiko, just the two of you. Jiko is expensive and more formal, so it is a great place for an adult meal. The kids will love the kids club.

I know people complain about Chef Mickey's, but my girls really liked it. Food was fine and varied. Characters were fun.


Your choices look wonderful. Those are some of our favorites. We just love AKL, too. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Ruth B]

Hi all,
Thank you so much for all the comments and suggestions.
I am traveling with my husband and son(8) and 3 year old daughter.
Really good point re table service overload- think we will leave Jiko( unless we can get child care sorted out)
Minnie at Hollywood and vine sounds great and gives us a sit down meal at HS.
Still unsure re number of princess meals- if we do one , which one?
Any suggestions of boy friendly meals? Think we will like Tusker house and ohana but do wonder about Mickey B B Q as report suggest it shorter than other dinner shows and they would both love the carriage ride and wider resort.
Thanks again
Ruth

 

[Ruth B]

Sorry missed out;
We will get cabs to Ohana and Beaches and cream( not Epcot day, plan on having pool morning and then go to boardwalk and early dinner )

akl boma and Sanna we will do on arrival/ pool day / departure

Hopefully use club level for breakfast and nights when we have lunch in parks.

Any other Dtd suggestion? How long do you think you need to explore with kids?

Thanks again
Ruth

 

[CandiceF]

My DS8 loves Sci-fi and Tusker house.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I guess the first question is when are you going? You mentioned you have free dining, which tells me that your trip is coming up pretty soon, unless it's a bounceback. If that's the case, you're way behind the 8 ball when it comes to being able to make a reservation at most of the places you've listed. If your trip is in the next month ot two, it's going to be more of "where can I get a reservation", instead of "where would be the best choices for our family to eat".

 

[Ruth B]

Hi. Not going til October 2016, so plenty of time to agonies!!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Hi. Not going til October 2016, so plenty of time to agonies!!

How did you get free dining in October of 2016 already? Overseas, or bounceback?

 

[Ruth B]

Overseas guest

 

[DisBuckMan]

Overseas guest

Cool...it appears you guys get a lot larger offer windows than we do here in the US.

 

[Ruth B]

They really push the free dining / hotel/ ticket package and booking ahead.
Gives us time to save for the flights!!