The CM's are laughing @ me! Opinions on our ADR's?

[Wendy31]

I've made so many changes to our ADR's (mostly just times & switching days) that the CM's are laughing at me when I call Disney Dining!

And, I'd love some more opinions on our dining plans - to see if I need to do any more switching & rearranging! Following is the current plan:

Miscellaneous Info/Details that you may or may not find useful - We're staying in a cabin at FW (7 nights, 8 days w/ 8-day Park-Hopper MYW + Dining); we'll have our mini-van. My parents will be joining us on the Thurs & Fri of our trip, which is why our planned parks for some of our days don't necessarily agree w/ the Unofficial Guide's suggestions... but I didn't know what else to do... Anyway, enough rambling! Here we go!!

ARRIVAL DAY (Tuesday) - MK

(We'll be leaving St. Augustine on Tues morning & arriving in WDW probably between 11:00 am & noon.)

Lunch - Counter Service at either Casey's, Pecos Bill's, Roarking Forks (WL), or Gasparilla Grill (CR)

This all depends on when we arrive & when we're able to check-in... and what we're in the mood for... Opinions? Which is better - Casey's or Pecos Bill's? I'm thinking for our 1st "official" meal that Casey's might be fun... don't know if I can talk DH into a hot dog, though...

Dinner - LTT, 5:30 pm

I had hoped to, after dinner, ride our 3 favorite rides (Dumbo, IASW, & HM) & then find a place for Spectro by 8:00 pm. Do you think this is doable?

* The Day's Objectives (in addition to our meals because, believe it or not, there really is more to Disney than scheduling ADR's... ) - Checking in to our cabin; riding Dumbo, IASW, HM; & watching Spectro & Wishes on Main Street

MGM DAY (Wednesday)

Breakfast - Cabin
(0r, please God, the rumored Toy Story meal! Pixie Dust, everyone, please! )

Lunch - Counter Service at Toy Story Pizza Planet
(Or, please God, the rumored Toy Story meal! More Pixie Dust, everyone, please! )

Dinner - FDP @ Mama Melrose's, 6:20 pm

I rescheduled this from 6:00 to 6:20 to have enough time to get to dinner after the parade which is at 5:30 pm. Now, will we have enough time to eat dinner, ride "The Great Movie Ride", & then get to Fantasmic in time for good seats? Fantasmic starts at 9:00 pm; since we'll be seating in the reserved FDP section, I figure we need to be there around 8:30 pm. Thoughts?

* The Day's Objectives - Beauty & the Beast show, The Little Mermaid Show, the Muppets 3-D show, the Backlot Tour Ride, some character meet & greet, a little resting & relaxing at the cabin, Stars & Motorcars Parade, the Great Movie Ride, Fantastmic

MK DAY (Thursday) - My parents will be with us!

Breakfast - Cabin

Lunch - Crystal Palace, 11:45 am

Dinner - Counter Service at either Columbia Harbour House or Pinocchio Village Haus

Am I correct in assuming that Pinocchio Village Haus would be more crowded at lunch, and we would be likelier to get a window seat where my DD can see IASW (her favorite ride) at dinnertime?

* The Day's Objectives - Not getting frustrated w/ my mother; various rides & attractions (not all of them!) in Fantasyland, Toontown, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Adventureland; maybe a little resting in the cabin; Spectro & Wishes

EPCOT DAY (Friday) - My parents will be with us!

Breakfast - Cabin

Lunch - Garden Grill, 11:50 am

Dinner - Counter Service in the World Showcase (I don't know & don't care about the rest of my family members - well, except for our children who I assume will be eating at the McDonald's in the Refreshment Outpost - but I'm eating at Boulangerie Pastierie! I've been wanting & waiting to eat in France since my senior trip to WDW in 1991! And, gosh! I mangled the spelling of that, didn't I?)

* The Day's Objectives - Not getting frustrated w/ my mother; FW rides & attractions (not all of them!); touring WS countries; back to the cabin for campfire & movie

MK DAY (Saturday)

Breakfast - Cabin (Another Pop Tart, anyone? )

Lunch - CRT, 12:00 pm (I can't help it - I adore eating in the castle!)

Dinner - Grilling Out at the Cabin! (When I asked our DS what his favorite meal at WDW had been last year, he replied, "When Daddy grilled hot dogs at our little cottage." So, of course, we have to grill hot dogs & brats again! However, if the Toy Story meal - Pixie Dust, everyone! -becomes reality, I'm sure his favorite meal will be different this year!)

* The Day's Objectives - More touring of MK; swimming, water mice, resting at cabin; fireworks & water parade from beach at FW

AK DAY (Sunday - Father's Day!)

Breakfast - Donald's Breakfastasauras, 8:30 am

Lunch - Counter Service, Flame Tree for me & DH & Restaurantasauras Happy Meals for DD & DS

Dinner - San Angel Inn in EPCOT, 6:30 pm

It's Father's Day, and DH has always wanted to eat at San Angel Inn - quite like I've always wanted to eat in the France World Showcase; we'll also stay for Illuminations. Do ya'll think eating at 6:30 pm will still allow us enough time to get good places for Illuminations?

* The Day's Objectives - touring AK (Safari, Kali River Rapids, Pocahontas show, Dinoland, FP for DH to ride EE, Tree of Life, etc.); maybe Jungle Jammin' Parade; Illuminations at EPCOT

WHWDY DAY ("What Haven't We Done Yet?" Day) (Monday)

Breakfast - PSB @ Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in EPCOT, 8:35 am

Lunch - Counter Service at either Columbia Harbour House or Pinocchio Village Haus (whichever we didn't eat at on Thurs) in MK

Dinner - WCC at the WL, 6:00 pm

This is our last dinner! I hope it's fun!

* The Day's Objectives - Soarin' again & Cookie Class at EPCOT, Share a Dream Come True Parade at MK, resting at cabin, Wishes on Main Street

DEPARTURE DAY (Tuesday)

Breakfast - Chef Mickey's at the CR, 9:30 am

Lunch - Counter Service at Earl of Sandwich in DTD

* The Day's Objectives - EMH morning at MK to ride all our favorite rides again, shopping in DTD, driving home...

So, those are the plans for now! (Until I decide I need to call Disney Dining again & bother those poor CM's.) Anything anyone would do differently?

By the way, when I called today, the CM had heard of the Toy Story meal rumor (Pixie Dust, please! ), but that's it - she didn't have any details at all... At least that's what she said... But we all know differently, don't we? There's going to be a Toy Story meal, and we all know it, Disney! (A little "Lost" reference there for all you fans like me! )

Many thanks for any suggestions!! (And for reading this insanely long post!)

 

[siestakeys04]

Well all of your adr's look good to me. I love the idea of dh cooking out on the grill that was cute. I would not change but what can i say if something looks better than what i have i'm going to change too!!!!

 

[twinmom]

Okay with my very limited knowledge I would think it would be hard to eat at LTT at 5:30 then ride Dumbo, and HM and catch the 8:00 parade. Of course I guess it depends how crowded it is.

But the main thing I want to know is what is the cookie class on Monday at Epcot? Is that the thing at innoventions where they bake cookies sometimes???

I also love that your main objective is not getting frustrated with your mother. If it works can you teach my children your tricks. I will be taking my 3 DS's in a week and my main objective should be not to let them get me frustrated. Good luck with your objectives!!!!!!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

Casey's is a lot of fun to sit outside and watch people on Main Street. I thought their hot dog was good, and I am not a huge hot dog fan. Pecos Bill is good, but I would probably pick Casey's if they were side by side. That said, we've only been to Casey's once because we are usually not by it when we are hungry.

I think you are just going to have to be flexible if you are going to ride the Great Movie Ride after dinner. I think everything would have to fall in place like your ADR is on time and there is not a huge line at GMR. On our last trip the wait was 40 minutes. My DH said we don't wait that long so we came back later and walked right on!

Have fun and remember to relax! We stumbled upon the Toll House cookie class one year, and it was the best thing of the day even though I had not planned it! Good luck with your mom. I have that objective every Christmas break when we travel together!

 

[Wendy31]

Thanks for the replies!!

Originally posted by siestakeys04 - Well all of your adr's look good to me. I love the idea of dh cooking out on the grill that was cute. I would not change but what can i say if something looks better than what i have i'm going to change too!!!!

Yeah, when we first started planning our trip to WDW for this year, we had thought about staying at either the WL or the CBR. However, when I asked DS about his favorite meal, I knew we had to go back to our "little cottage" - that's what the kids called our cabin at FW last year. (Also, DH says that FW reminds him of when he used to go camping w/ his family. Who knew DH could be sentimental? )

Originally posted by twinmom - Okay with my very limited knowledge I would think it would be hard to eat at LTT at 5:30 then ride Dumbo, and HM and catch the 8:00 parade. Of course I guess it depends how crowded it is.

But the main thing I want to know is what is the cookie class on Monday at Epcot? Is that the thing at innoventions where they bake cookies sometimes???

I also love that your main objective is not getting frustrated with your mother. If it works can you teach my children your tricks. I will be taking my 3 DS's in a week and my main objective should be not to let them get me frustrated. Good luck with your objectives!!!!!!

Regarding LTT, I've been worried we wouldn't have enough time either. Originally, our ADR was for 5:55 pm, and, yesterday, I moved it back to 5:30 pm. Last May, our ADR was for 5:35 pm, and, in between dinner & the parade, we were able to ride "Dumbo", "IASW", & "Haunted Mansion" - however, we weren't able to snag a front row seat for the parade & fireworks. (We didn't have terrible spots - 1 row back from the front which was fine.) However, this year, we're going in June, so I expect it to be more crowded. According to everything I've read, "Spectro" begins at 9:00 pm & "Wishes" begins at 10:00 pm. So, I figure we need to find our places by 8:00 pm. Hmm... If we're finished w/ dinner by 6:30 pm (& that's a "hopeful" estimate - I doubt we'll be finished in an hour considering it's a character meal), that only gives us an hour & half for rides. Depending on the crowds, we may only have time for 1 ride, huh? Since it's our 1st day, we *must* ride "Dumbo" (DS's favorite) & "IASW" (DD's favorite). So, maybe after lunch, we'll make those 2 rides our priority. I thought about calling & moving our ADR back even further - but I really would like to be able to check-in to our cabin & freshen up a little before dinner. And, since check-in's not until 3:00 pm, I decided it was best to leave it at 5:30 pm. (We *might* be able to get into our cabin earlier since we'll be arriving earlier, but I can't plan on that...)

The Cookie Class is the Jr. Chef Program in The Land Pavillion in Future World at EPCOT. If you're standing in line to ride "The Land" ride, it's directly behind you. It's to the right as you go into building - on the same floor as Sunshine Seasons. Throughout the day at different times (the times are posted), kids can help a chef & his assistant bake Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. It's really fun - my kids had lots of fun w/ it last year! They're given cute little paper chef hats to wear while they "cook", & they get to take 1 cookie w/ them. When we were there last year, the group size was about 10.

And, yes... I love my mother, but she & I don't even shop well together. So I know we won't tour WDW the same. DH & I invited them to go w/ us because I think they'll enjoy seeing the kids at WDW, but I know she & Dad both will have a problems w/ the crowds & the expensive prices. And, Mom likes to "linger"... I know we'll have to move "slower" - not because of their ages, but because she's a "dawdler". Anyway...

Originally posted by K & K's Mommy - Casey's is a lot of fun to sit outside and watch people on Main Street. I thought their hot dog was good, and I am not a huge hot dog fan. Pecos Bill is good, but I would probably pick Casey's if they were side by side. That said, we've only been to Casey's once because we are usually not by it when we are hungry.

I think you are just going to have to be flexible if you are going to ride the Great Movie Ride after dinner. I think everything would have to fall in place like your ADR is on time and there is not a huge line at GMR. On our last trip the wait was 40 minutes. My DH said we don't wait that long so we came back later and walked right on!

Have fun and remember to relax! We stumbled upon the Toll House cookie class one year, and it was the best thing of the day even though I had not planned it! Good luck with your mom. I have that objective every Christmas break when we travel together!

Casey's does sound like a lot of fun! And, since we're having dinner at 5:30 pm, I was thinking it might not be as filling as something like Pecos Bill's.

Last year, after we ate at Hollywood & Vine for our FDP, we would have had time for the Great Movie Ride had we gone straight to it - but we walked around a bit & then, when we decided to try it, we stood in line for a while & then decided we didn't have time after all. So, I was thinking if we ate at 6:20 & were finished by 7:30, we'd have time - if the line isn't horrible. I was just trying to think of something to do in between dinner & the show. "Fantasmic" is at 9:00 pm. I was thinking we would need to be in our seats by 8:30 pm. Does that sound okay? Or, since it's June, do we need to be there earlier? (There is a second "Fantasmic" scheduled for that night, if that makes any difference.)

And, yes... relax!! I'm trying so hard to remember that for this year. Last year, I was so conscious of trying to fit in everything & make magical memories... that I forgot to just give us time to soak in the atmosphere. We're staying one more day this year, but, when I look at our schedule, we're still just as busy! Hopefully, though w/ the extra day, we'll have time to slow down. Maybe I should be more like my mother & learn to dawdle!

Thanks, everyone!!