Should I do PS?

[mom2redheadgirls]

Hi,
We have just booked our 5+2 at AKL!!! Yay! My dilemma is that with all that time I just don't know if I can plan all our days & our Priority Seatings. I am honestly not sure where we will end up most days. We will probably start out at the early entry park first and them park hop later on. I want to be wild and just wing it. We are going September 19-26th and we are a party of 5 (1 is a highchair so really a table for 4 is fine). Also my in-laws may come down for a day or two while we are there. I just thought I would do the Priority Seating those days since we will be a larger party. We went in March and never made it to one of our PS!!! What do you think? Do you think the 5+2 will make September a busy time? Thanks.
Steph

 

[4greatboys]

Why dont you try to make a rough sch and then make 1 ps a day or 2 or 4 for your whole trip--the places you really want to eat at. last Dec (the beginning of Dec) when my ds' and I were there we tried to get in to Sci Fi. They werent taking any walk ins and that time of the year is not a busy time. So I dont think I'd take a chance on missing out at some place you really want to eat at.

 

[Grumpy92]

PS General Rule of Thumb:
If your dining falls into any of the following catagories you need to make a PS.
* Want to dine with the character meals. They are very popular and some are hard to get into.
* Want to dine at one of the popular restaurants. Cal Grill, Cindy's, LTT, Narcoossees, WC, Ohana, Sci Fi, 50s PT, Le Cellier.
* You are visiting during a holiday or school break period.
* You like dining at 7pm or noon.

 

[Tooneric]

AKL! We loved it! Just saw a program last night on the Travel Channel on the Top 10 Family Resorts in North America. Guess what was number 1? You're going there!

I like to sketch out a plan but keep it flexible. I try to make PS for at least a few dinners, maybe a character breakfast, but I don't plan every meal. For instance, we've never been to California Grill and we're going there Saturday so I booked dinner there. We all love Kona Cafe and we typically try to do one dinner at a country in Epcot so we booked those. That way, we get in the main things we want, but we can change it if we feel like it. With a large group, I'd think it's a good idea.

By the way, I loved Boma, and my wife loved Jika. I did too, but it is up there in price. I try to limit myself to one or two expensive restaurants a trip. Boma is a really unique buffet and Jika was just fabulous. Try to check out "Great Hotels" with Samatha Brown on the Travel Channel if you haven't seen the AKL episode. Maybe it will be on before your trip! Enjoy!!!

 

[swilphil]

Steph,

You're PS situation sounds similar to mine. Last summer I made about 6 PS's and only made it to 2 of them. I was travelling with my in-laws and they don't like to plan ahead. This summer I've made three PS's--dinner at Whispering Canyon, Ice Cream Social with characters at Epcot, and Crystal Palace Character breakfast.

I'm staying at the Swan and their Lobby concierage desk is able to get PS's a day or two in advance at a lot of places. I also think I may try to stop at a few restaurants a couple of hours before we eat and just put our name in. I am going to post something about this on the restaurant board to get some feedback.

It is a good idea to make PS's for large parties. Keep in mind that we had to book two separate tables last year for our large group, and they had no problem finding one table for all of us.

 

[Geomich]

We usually go in September and this year I have made 4 PS's-1 lunch and 3 dinners (one night is a party of 10). If you want to do Chef Mickey or Crystal Palace character meals- I would make a PS. Also last year we had a hard time finding a place to eat at Epcot without a PS. They were running the Fairytale package that may have made it a bit more crowded than usual. If I can remember correctly we also had a hard time at Downtown Disney.

I agree with you, I would like to wing it, but I have found that if I only make a few PS's I can schedule around it with alot of flexibility.


Enjoy your trip!

 

[MrsG]

We are usually 4 people and make PS once we check in as we really don't plan our days out completely, we like to wing it. This time we are 6 and decided to make one PS. When I called we had trouble getting the day and time we wanted, so I called back and planned all our PS meals. Worst case, we have to cancel but at least we know we have a place and time of our choice to eat if we want.