Tell Me What You Think of these plans

[2 lil'princesses]

Some information-We (my DH,me, 2 DD's 6 and 4, my mom, dad, and youngest brother) are traveling to WDW June 25-July 1st and staying at POFQ. We will have 6 day base tickets and the dining plan. Here are my plans.

Saturday-Magic Kingdom
1900 Park Fair for dinner (DD's going to BBB this day)

Sunday-Animal Kingdom
HDDR, can't decide between 5 or 7 time due to wanting to get girls up early the next morning)

Monday-Epcot
Akerhaus-breakfst
Cape May-dinner for my husband and me (our anniversary)
Chef Mickey's-dinner for my family

Tuesday-DHS
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package

Wednesday-? Whatever park we want to go back to

Thursday-MK

I like Wednesday being open. We might go to DTD and enjoy a restaurant there. I just don't know how I feel about not having a sit-down Thursday. I thought about doing Crystal Palace for breakfast OOP but MK has EMH that morning. Other than that day (have to end at MK), I avoided all EMH hours that week. What do you think?

 

[Quin]

Wait - how many nights are you staying? With regular DDP, you get 1 TS and 1 CS credit for each night you stay (not each day you have a park admission), although of course you don't have to only use them 1 per day.

Looks like your current plan already calls for 7 TS credits: HHDR & Mama Melrose are 2 credits each.

For your MK day, consider taking the monorail or boat to one of the resorts to eat. It opens up a lot more dining options than just staying in the park and doesn't add that much time.

If you only have CS credits to use, think about Captain Cooks at the Poly where you can get a Dole Whip for your CS dessert; only place in the World for that. Or try the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary; kind of cool to eat while the monorail goes overhead, and at dinnertime they have some rather unique options.

If you end up having to pay OOP you could take the boat from MK to Ft. Wilderness for the Trails End buffet. It's pretty inexpensive and has basics like fried chicken and corn on the cob.

Or just stay in the MK and try Crystal Palace for a late sit-down lunch. If you're going to morning EMH and plan on staying in the park all day, the whole family will need a mid-afternoon break.

 

[larryz]

The only issue I see is the distance between some of the parks you're in for the day and the dinner location. It's quite a trek from AK to HDDR, and between Epcot and Chef Mickey's. But if you have a vehicle at your disposal, it won't really matter.

Just remember to leave adequate travel time in your plans if you're using Disney transportation, and keep in mind the monorail reliability issues.

 

[2 lil'princesses]

Thank you for the responses.

Mama Melrose is 2 table credits? I thought it was just one.

I didn't think it would be that hard to get from Chef Mickey's to Epcot. I thought they would just take the monorail to the TTC and switch monorails to Epcot.

As far as AK to HDDR, what day would be best for HDDR?

With two little ones in the June heat, we will probably do a lot of mid-day breaks. We managed AK without one last time but maybe I shouldn't try going there to HDDR on the same day.

Thank you for the different suggestions on restaurants but I think we are pretty set on these. Everyone got to pick a favorite so this is what I have to work with.

 

[skw444]

Mama Melrose is only 1 TS credit so you are okay there.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Have you considered the deluxe dining plan? For us.... if we used the Plus dining plan, we would pay out of pocket for some additional table service restaurants, the refillable mugs, and some appetizers..... and the additional cost was equal to the cost of upgrading to deluxe. Deluxe includes appetizers, the mugs, more meals, more snack credits.

Some people say it's too much eating and takes time away from the parks. But we welcome the break from walking and consider the dining to be part of our park experience... especially for the themed restaurants and character meals. We also like the dinner shows and signature meals. Here's some of our favorites...

Shows (Beer/Wine included with All!):

• HoopDeeDoo - good choice, fun place, DS laughed non-stop, Food good, All seats have decent view... We had Category 2 which was fine... I think Cat. 3 would be fine too. Cat. 1 could put you up real close.... you don't want to be right next to the stage... you know actors spit when they project their voices!
• Mickey's Backyard BBQ - darn tootin good time with live country music and dancing with the characters
• Spirit of Aloha - fun show We paid out of pocket for Category 1 and were right up front. I think Category 2 would be OK, but category 3 could put you way in the back with limited view). Fire juggler at end was awesome, children get to hula dance on stage. Food great. (P.S., don't go to Ohana Restaurant... disappointing)

Character Meals:

• Hollywood and Vine has Agent Oso, and Handy Manny, and Einstein characters -- children get to dance with them... only at breakfast and lunch. No characters at dinner.
• Garden Grill - Lots of great character interactions here... food very good! Chip and Dale, Mickey, Pluto.
• Crystal Palace is a must do for us. Went twice last trip1

Signature Restaurants: All 2 credit meals but kid-friendly... nice way to enjoy some finer food and expose children too... We especially liked Flying Fish Cafe (has boardwalk entertainers right outside the restaurant) and California Grill (great views of the sunset, castle, fireworks depending on when you go).

Biergarten was fun too... German music with a dance floor (all ages) right in front of the band... buffet with very good food and variety.

If you decide to have lunch or dinner in Animal Kingdom... Yak and Yeti was one of the best meals we had in all of Disney World counting our trip in 2009 and 2010, second only to Flying Fish Cafe. Seriously!

 

[Colleen27]

I think you're good on you HDDR day; proximity to AK just doesn't matter that much with as early as the park closes. We usually use our AK days for a dinner somewhere in the MK area. Sure, you have to allow enough time to get to dinner, but it is a lot easier to get back to your own resort after dinner from the MK area than from any other resort restaurants.

Chef Mickey's is a toughie. The monorails haven't been especially reliable of late and even when they're running smoothly the transfer at TTC is a bit of a hassle with having to go down the exit from the Epcot line and back up to the resort line. My first thought, if the goal is seeing Mickey, would be to think about Garden Grill that night instead since it is in Epcot and fits the overall plan better. But if you keep Chef Mickey's, I'd hop a bus directly to the Contemporary rather than messing with the monorail to get to that one.

Do you think you'll be up early enough to take advantage of the early entry at MK on your last day? If so, it would be nice to have a few hours of low-crowds park time and then a "brunch" seating at Crystal Palace when it starts to get hot and more crowded as the day wears on.

 

[Max Webster]

Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package

QUOTE]

Can you use the Dining Plan for the Fantasmic Package?

 

[larryz]

Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package

Can you use the Dining Plan for the Fantasmic Package?

Yes, you can. We used 2 TS credits at HBD just last week. Great food; so-so Fantasmic!.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Yes, you can. We used 2 TS credits at HBD just last week. Great food; so-so Fantasmic!.

I agree.... Brown Derby was very good... and very under-rated. In fact... it was soooo goooood... when we changed our park plans while there this month to spend more time at Hollywood Studios.. we went back to Brown Derby for lunch. I can post pictures later tonight if you want.

For fantasmic... Brown Derby is also closer to fantasmic than Mama Melrose (ate there last year).

And if you get the fantasmic package, appetizers are included even if you are not on the deluxe dining plan (which always includes apps).

For appetizers, the cobb salad was great - enough for 2 people. Crab cake appetizer was good (and we are from MD so picky about crab cakes), but the best app was an oyster and brie cheese soup... very unique and wonderful taste. I also had the sashimi tuna (this is sushi, not seared tuna) which was very good if you like it... very interesting presentation over a glass filled with what looks like a blue snowball... all edible (I tried!) tastes like blueberry.

Our dinner entrees - Sterling Pork Chop (DW liked it) and a Black Grouper dish I had (not on online menu) that was superb! For lunch, we both had the filet cooked medium.... very good but also a very big steak filet for lunch.

Our desserts -- grapefruit cake..very good, DW liked hers and she doesn't even like grapefruit... I forget the other dessert we had.