Some ADR feedback, please

[mastermind307]

I am currently working on my ADRs for our Nov. trip. It will be me, DH, DD5 and my parents (who have never been to Disney). We are not adventurous eaters, we just like simple food. We are already booked and we did do the DDP (still hoping a free offer comes out!) so I want to make sure that the places we are eating at makes sense to the cost of the DDP. Here's the list I have so far.
Crystal Palace breakfast ( I hope to get an 8:05 adr)
Akersus breakfast (DD loves princesses)
Chef Mickey's dinner
Ohana dinner
Garden Grill dinner
Liberty Tree Tavern dinner
CRT (just me, DD5, and my mom and we will pay opp)

I know there's a lot of character meals, but after looking at the menus several times, it seems like the meals that have food we would like have characters. Some of the other restaurants we thought about are

Trails End - not very expensive so not sure if worth it for use on DDP
Whispering Canyon - not sure if we'd like the antics
50's Prime Time - not sure if the cost is worth DDP and not sure if we'd like the antics

Would anybody change anything or have other dining suggestions? I have a few weeks before my 180 day mark, but I'm trying to get everything in order so I can make the adrs at that time. Thanks.

 

[Joolish1313]

I am currently working on my ADRs for our Nov. trip. It will be me, DH, DD5 and my parents (who have never been to Disney). We are not adventurous eaters, we just like simple food. We are already booked and we did do the DDP (still hoping a free offer comes out!) so I want to make sure that the places we are eating at makes sense to the cost of the DDP. Here's the list I have so far.
Crystal Palace breakfast ( I hope to get an 8:05 adr)
Akersus breakfast (DD loves princesses)
Chef Mickey's dinner
Ohana dinner
Garden Grill dinner
Liberty Tree Tavern dinner
CRT (just me, DD5, and my mom and we will pay opp)

I know there's a lot of character meals, but after looking at the menus several times, it seems like the meals that have food we would like have characters. Some of the other restaurants we thought about are

Trails End - not very expensive so not sure if worth it for use on DDP
Whispering Canyon - not sure if we'd like the antics
50's Prime Time - not sure if the cost is worth DDP and not sure if we'd like the antics

Would anybody change anything or have other dining suggestions? I have a few weeks before my 180 day mark, but I'm trying to get everything in order so I can make the adrs at that time. Thanks.

Hiya!
Looks great. My DH friends and parents all get our character photos at character meals. Seems easier than waiting in line
Also I should say we make it a point to avoi buffet-style food: it sits for a while, and it all tastes bland, plus the options are mediocur. We love the family style (where they bring it out to your table and can bring more of 1 item, etc.) and prix fixe options too.

Here's my two cents.

Liberty Tree is no longer a character mea, just wanted you to knowl; the food is great.
Crystal Palace: (buffet style) skip it. It was WAAAY louder, and more obnoxious than Whispering Canyon. And the food was awful. This is the place that prompted us to avoid all buffets (the ones that leave all the food out in 2 long lines) by Disney. If it's between Crystal Palace or WC, I'd go with Whispering Canyon.
We LOVE Ohana for breakfast; can't beat the Mickey Waffles. This one is family style.
Trails End was acceptable for a buffet, but they BBQ is better at FLame Tree QS.
We haven't tried Chef Mickey's because it's buffet. We've wanted to try Garden Grill but havent made it there yet.

We really enjoyed Coral Reef because of the fish tank. WHile it's not a character meal the kids might really enjoy it. And we LOVE Tony's for dinner. I'd recommend doing it about 5pm so you can watch them take down the flag; there's a band and an armed forces honoree who comes out. We've also eaten there during a parade, very cool. Another similar option is the Grand Floridian for a later dinner, then you can watch the fireworks from their beach. This could work if you aren't spending the day in the parks or are at a water park. Another great resturant is Via Napoli. It is priced well and I would recommend it if you need a resturant for dinner or lunch when not using the dining plan. For another option we always go to Les Chefs. The mac & cheese there is delish and Remy the rat from Ratitoulle comes out. It's fun.

These are just my & my DH's observtions. I'm sure you'll have others answering this. Have fun planning your trip!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I would dump CM dinner (food was horrible, should have listened to the reviews), Garden Grill (I have heard the same bad reviews as CM) and Liberty Tree (I dont like Stouffer's frozen food...you should try lunch there instead as it was excellent!)

 

[dixonsontour]

Looks good! My DD was almost five last trip, great age to go.

My DD loves coral reef - they give the kids a menu with fish to spot in the acquarium. The food had some plain options like steak.

DD also loves sci fi but it is not a great use of a TS credit we usually pay oop.

We also loved teppan edo - don't know if that counts as plain food. It was just steak or chicken cooked in front of you served with a few veggies and rice and noddles. My DD loved the show the chef did.

 

[mastermind307]

Last September when we went we had the free DDP so I wasn't looking at food prices like I am this time.
My DH wants to do Crystal Palace breakfast again, it was his favorite. If it were up to me, I'd choose something else.
Liberty Tree Tavern was a favorite of mine. I thought about doing lunch instead of dinner, but dinner cost more so makes more sense for the DDP. Chef Mickey's, we ate at last time also and the food was good (at least we thought so) and my mom wants to try it.
And of course my DD5 has choosen the Castle meal.
So that leaves Garden Grill, Ohana, and Akershus.
Garden Grill and Ohana are ones we would like to try. We did Akershus breakfast last year and enjoyed it. The only reason I put it on again was so DD could meet the princesses. I know we're also doing CRT, but I thought there might be different characters at each place so we wouldn't have to wait in so many lines to meet the princess because I know she'll want to meet ALL of them!
Would you keep the Akershus Breakfast or try something new?

 

[Nadjalu]

I think your choices sound very good for simple eaters.

A few of the restaurants that you have choosen are our favorites.

Crystal Palace is one. The food is very good, we usually eat dinner here. And the atmosphere is quaint, reminds me of Mary Poppins. Of course the characters are a bonus.

Chef Mickey's is another favorite. It is a must do for dinner every trip. We have always found the food to be very good. Yes it is buffet food, but a notch above in our opinion. It is always a bit hectic, but so are all character meals. We haven't tried breakfast, as we enjoy the dinner too much.

Ohana is our absolute favorite!! The food is very good and they have the best dessert anywhere in WDW. There have been a few times where the service is slow, but the food is always good so we endure the slow times.
As I was saying, dessert is fabulous. The bread pudding with Banana fosters caramel sauce....oh my!! Drooling just thinking about it.

LTT - we did this dinner on our last trip and thought it was very good. I will agree that the mac/cheese did taste like stouffers, but the rest of the meal was great. The ham was so tender, I couldn't get enough of it. The sauce was a bit strange that they use, but I scraped it off and it wasn't an issue.
The mashed potatoes, rolls...oh so good. Definitely worth trying if you like comfort foods.

Now I must say that if WCC's menu appeals to you don't let the antics stop you from eating there. Just inform the hostess that you would prefer a server that will respect no antics, this shouldn't be an issue.
We have had servers that were really into the antics and some that we didn't even know they were around. LOL
And to be honest the antics aren't like 50's, it is just that the servers are a bit loud and obnoxious.

I hope I shed some light on your choices by our experiences. Enjoy your trip!!

 

[topmonkeygirl]

I would get rid of Liberty Tree Tavern and Chef Mickey. Stouffer's frozen mac-n-cheese, yuck, you can make that at home. I've never done lunch there but have heard alot of reviews about doing lunch instead of dinner there. Chef Mickey's, I don't like the dinner buffets Disney has to offer. Breakfast on the other hand is really good. I would dump those 2 and pick 2 that aren't buffet. I would go to The Wave instead, the food is good and it's not signature.