Sister Trip - Skip Character Meals?

[SweetMo]

My sister and I are going to WDW for 7 nights / 6 days the week after Thanksgiving. This is my first child free trip (and her first trip ever!) and I have no idea how to plan our TS meals. I'm used to hitting up all the character meals, and while I LOVE them, I'm not sure that they are the best option this time.

She has trusted me to plan EVERYTHING! What restaurants are musts when traveling child-free?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Artist Point!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I put in a vote for Jiko and one for Via Napoli!!

Must admit that on my first trip with just my sister, we still did CRT and CP breakfast... we just like the meals and settings.

 

[SweetMo]

I put in a vote for Jiko and one for Via Napoli!!

Must admit that on my first trip with just my sister, we still did CRT and CP breakfast... we just like the meals and settings.

I think I may do a CP breakfast just because I'm a big fan of the food. I'm not sure about Jiko, but I was looking at Boma.

 

[alex9179]

I certainly would skip them, with the exception of what you know will be good and want to do. Will you be on the dining plan? If not, look at the Swan/Dolphin offerings for good food and especially Blue Zoo for a more adult atmosphere (kids are there, of course but it caters to the adult crowd).

If OOP, you can also consider the lounges for lighter dinners and cocktails. That would be my preference because they don't require ADRs and scheduling isn't so tight. 2-3 TS meals for dinner or mix it up with TS for lunch breaks.

If DDP we've really enjoyed
Via Napoli - my favorite and my only must do
Sanaa or Yak & Yeti
50's Prime Time - the fried chicken and PB&J shake are tasty but we had a ball with our server, which made it memorable.
Sci-Fi - loved the ambiance and the films were funny, especially the commercials! OK food but a LONG wait to be seated, we waited about an hour after our ADR.
Raglan Rd - DH especially loved it, try to get a table to watch the stage
BOG- we loved our lunch. I think sandwiches NEED condiments, though, and realize that tastes differ. I notice that sometimes the bad reviews are because the individual ate them without any. I can imagine how dry they would be! Loved the castle and pre-ordering made it a breeze.
The Wave
Narcoossee's and time it to watch the fireworks
Boatwright's
Kona - only had breakfast but The Samoan was delicious. DH asks me to make the macadamia nut butter every so often-should probably do that. He had it on regular pancakes and loved it.

We don't go THAT frequently and haven't been to any of the new ones. The above are ones we'd dine at again. The only TS we aren't interested in doing again is 'Ohana. Crazy atmosphere and ridiculous amounts of food. Nothing memorable about the flavors, either.

Hoop-Dee-Doo sounds fun and more affordable with just two people. Classic Disney with bottomless adult beverages and a ride home!

Adult trips are so fun! I went with my mom and we had a blast. So carefree.

 

[Parker Clan]

It's just been me and my fiancé the last five years (no kids) we haven't done any character meals yet .. some meals we enjoy - Via Napoli, BOG, Ohana, Trails End, Trattoria Al Forno, and for a fun night out maybe Hoop dee doo?
Have a magical trip

 

[SweetMo]

We will be on the DDP for this trip. So far the short list includes:

Via Napoli
50s Prime Time
Biergarten
Ohana
Boma
Kona Cafe
Crystal Palace
Liberty Tree Tavern

We have 7 TS and I am still so undecided. Turns out planning an adult trip is harder that I had thought it would be.

 

[Dreamport]

A trip only has to be as "adult" as you want it to be. You've said you enjoy the food at Crystal Palace despite the characters so go on and eat there! Try getting a pre-park opening breakfast to treat your first-timer sister to an empty Main Street. We've eaten (as all adults) at 50s Prime Time and Biergarten and enjoyed both although they did skimp on the antics at 50'sPT. The chicken dinner more than made up for it though. YUM! This upcoming trip we're hoping to bring a pair of first timers as well so I'm trying to balance everything, too. So far the two meals I'm pushing for both have characters and I have no idea where to send everyone for a nice dinner. Good luck!

 

[Lisa F]

if you want to do all 8 i'd do liberty tree for lunch and pay oop

 

[dachsie]

I am going with a friend who has never been as well. We are doing Tusker House as I felt she should experience at least one character meal as we will be at Disney. We are also going to Sanaa, BOG, HDDR, via Napoli and Kona for breakfast. I also have been to Artist Point which was nice.

 

[cel_disney]

if you want to do all 8 i'd do liberty tree for lunch and pay oop

I agree with that! Via Napoli is also a good OOP choice! But one thing I would caution is not to try TOO hard to fit in everything - just make it a great trip so they want to go back and try the rest another time.

If I was on an adult trip, I would factor in Trader Sams too...I'm not sure I would do Kona AND Ohana...unless maybe you were staying at poly...

 

[butterfly71076]

My sister and I did an "adult" trip in 2013. We did any character meal we wanted, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, and Chef Mickey's. It was so fun! We took pictures, got autographs. If you and your sister want to go to a character meal, GO! You will have a blast!!

 

[zzshorty]

My sister and I did an adult trip last year. I'm 25 and she's 23. She wasn't keen on character meals, but I booked 3 dinners anyway because I wanted to try them, 1900 Park Fare, Garden Grill and Cinderella's Table. The only one we enjoyed was Cindy's, we didn't enjoy 1900's food and Garden Grill was just a total flop.

We found we preferred the princesses and face characters more, I like the fact that you can have a bit of a conversation with them. We weren't thrilled with our Snow White at Cindy's, she just asked if we wanted a picture and didn't say anything else but the others were great.

Last year we did Hoop De Doo and we both thought it was a riot! I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I love Sanaa but my sister who isn't hugely adventurous wasn't keen.

We're doing another trip this year and our plans are:

Boma Dinner
Teppan Edo Dinner (my sister LOVED this and requested it again)
Via Napoli Lunch
BOG Lunch
Ohana Dinner
Beirgarten Dinner
Cinderella's Table Dinner

 

[chigirl]

I'm taking my husband for our 25th Anniversary surprise trip...he loves characters, so I have Tusker House planned as our characternmeal. I also chose SciFi ( loved the atmosphere in 2014 trip), Narcooses, and Ohana. We live by Chicago and get to eat at some of the best restaurants in America and Im a good cook, so I picked our choices for fun. Like the view from Narcooses and he likes Ohana, but I am nervous about this surprise trip!!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My DS8 and I took my sister to WDW for her first visit in 25 years last February! My DS goes a lot, so we made this a "girlie" trip for my sister. In terms of dining, we really mixed it up between classic Disney and great food. We had two character meals (Tusker House and CRT), so my sister could get pictures with Mickey and the princesses and then did some signatures.

You might consider throwing a character meal in the mix! Maybe Akershus to dine with the princesses? Some of our other, more adult, 1 TS credit favorites include The Wave, Spice Road Table, Sanaa, O'hana, Via Napoli. You may already know, at Biergarten, you'll be seated with other people as they have tables for 8 and fill them.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

My sister (@Disney_Alli ) and I did a girls trip to Disneyland. We did a few character meals and had a really fun time! If you want to go to character meals... Go!

 

[mommycrawford]

I think I may do a CP breakfast just because I'm a big fan of the food. I'm not sure about Jiko, but I was looking at Boma.

Boma is wonderful IMHO...Lots of choices. Different seasonings but very familiar food. Very nice atmosphere. If you wanted a character meal, perhaps 1900 Park Faire or Crystal Palace are a little more low key. Do later in the evening if you want to have fewer children there.

 

[etzmn123]

My fiancé and I are going on our third trip together (no kids) and restaurants we liked last time or will be trying this time are:
Kona
Olivia's (we're staying at OKW)
Boma
Raglan Road
Be Our Guest (lunch last time, will try for breakfast this time)
Rose and Crown
Beaches and Cream
Yak and Yeti
Trail's End
Morimoto
If we were going to do a character meal it would most likely be Tusker House

 

[LindseyJo22]

It really just depends on what you guys like - we're doing a character meal this trip (me, husband, and my mom) because we enjoy them. We aren't going super all out just because there are other places we'd like to try, but don't let the fact that it's an "adult" trip stop you from character meals if you enjoy them. However, there are some really nice options if you'd rather do some fancier things. We enjoyed Chefs de France a lot for dinner; they have a good fixed price menu that is tasty and relatively reasonable for three courses. I haven't been to any signature meals, but Trails End lunch was fabulous, and we loved Be Our Guest lunch as well as Kona for breakfast.

Morimoto or Boathouse might also be good options for more "adult" dining!