To Dine or Not To Dine - that is the question!

[irene_dsc]

Irene,

Have you looked into Akershus? That's in norway and it's eating with the princess. Crystal palace in MK is winnie the pooh and gang. Libertry Tree tavern at MK has minnie, goofy, chip and dale.

There is some great dinning that you can get as part of your regualr table service meals. And the kids will have a blast. LOL Forget the kids, I turn into a 5 year old whenever I see chip and dale.

Well, right now, the top contenders are Hollywood & Vine for Little Einstein characters (tho I had nixed it because they don't have Annie, dd's favorite - tho that would actually be our 2nd to last day, which is the day I had planned to sleep in, do MGM, then order pizza in our room, get a babysitter and dh and I go out), or Chef Mickey's if we can get it. In UG, they said Crystal Palace is very loud, which could be an issue, and I didn't want to make ds sit through 2 princess meals!

Hm - it's sounding like H&V is getting the most reasons (esp. since ordering pizza is a very inefficient use of the DDP). (I'm also guessing our last day will be at MK, tho it is our "open" day officially.)

(I also keep wondering how well we will actually stick to this plan once we are there...)

 

[golden]

RE: ADRs...

We are going the beginning of March. Still deliberating about the DDP or not for 2 kids, 3 and 8.

I too have concerns about ADRs...though what I hear is that if you don't make them, instead of having a few minute wait to be seated, you wait an hour. We'll be eating Mickey bars every night for dinner if that's the case.

Any truth to this?

 

[Ilovefozzie]

RE: ADRs...

We are going the beginning of March. Still deliberating about the DDP or not for 2 kids, 3 and 8.

I too have concerns about ADRs...though what I hear is that if you don't make them, instead of having a few minute wait to be seated, you wait an hour. We'll be eating Mickey bars every night for dinner if that's the case.

Any truth to this?

Yes, I've noticed that the popularity of the DDP and ADRs the table service restaurants cause them fill up fairly quickly. The different parks have a board listing available space...most of which is listed as completely full by 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Even with the DDP wait time can be 15-30 minutes. Or you can get seated right away. But I can't think of a single time, where we've been waiting to be seated, where "walk-ins" get seated quickly. At a few place, Rose and Crown and Le Cellier, where "walk-ins" were flat out turned away. The ADRs filled EVERY seat, and there was nothing available that day at all.

I know, not at all what you probably wanted to hear....sorry! Is there anyone who can tell them otherwise??? I would LOVE to be wrong.

 

[irene_dsc]

Lol - well, there is always counter service as an option. Part of my thing was not wanting to do the, "What do you want to eat?" "I dunno, what do you want to eat?" conversation every night, which tends to drive me bonkers. I *think* March is a slower time of year, so you might be ok without ADR's for most places??? Of course, part of the whole DDP debate was also that if I miss our ADR's, am I going to end up doing CS instead? And it's unclear whether we'll be allowed to trade down TS credits for CS credits, if necessary.

 

[dspads]

Hey Irene,

We just got back from DDP with a 3yo and almost 5yo. I have a dinning review started on the review board if you want to check it out. We did find the whole ADR/scheduleing thing hard with kids. You just never know. And if you've never been there it's hard to imagine how your days will go. Our plan was to use our resort sit-down if we needed to cancel ADRs and it worked out.

The biggesrt 'pro' for DDP (2007#s) is that a buffet for the 4 of us at Chef Mickeys cost more than the entire cost of our DDP for that day - hard to beat. TS are expensive at WDW and its nice to not see a bill at the end!

Personally, I don't think I'd do it again, though. But your kids are the right ages to try it - I wouldn't want to pay adult prices for a 10yo.

Oh, and I remember seeing signs at the CS places that gave instructions on how to order. I think they said 'TS credits accepted' at the bottom. Anyone else know about this?

Have fun!

 

[eliza61]

We don't do the dining plan anymore since it only saved us about $75.00 bucks and for us it wasn't worth the hassle. We have a ddp card that gives us 20% off on our bill for up to 10 people including alcohol (we do drink at TS)
That was a better fit for my family

 

[eliza61]

RE: ADRs...

We are going the beginning of March. Still deliberating about the DDP or not for 2 kids, 3 and 8.

I too have concerns about ADRs...though what I hear is that if you don't make them, instead of having a few minute wait to be seated, you wait an hour. We'll be eating Mickey bars every night for dinner if that's the case.

Any truth to this?

We never do adr's and always have a sit down dinner but with your young children it might not be the best way to go.
Our last trip was 11/7-11/14. We only had 1 ADR and we missed the dang thing.

• my kids are teenagers so they don't usually have melt downs when hungry.
• we eat at off hours. We never try and get seated at noon or 6:00 pm. We never have any problems getting a table at 7:30.
• Since we don't worry about getting to the parks at rope drop, we some times ate a big breakfast. This was the most pleasant surprise. The food was always hot and delicious and we could skip a big lunch. On those days dinner was earlier which made it very easy to get a table. Oh we usually got some great ice cream around 7:00 pm
• We called dining in the morning and found out what was available. we ate at some very good resort restuarants that were almost empty.

 

[kldmom2000]

We had it free in 2006 and then paid for it in 2007. We've opted to NOT get it in 2008. Our reasonings are:

1. It was great for a 5 day trip in 2006 esp. FREE....
2. In 2007, we were there for 7 nights in August. It was too hot sometimes to eat a big meal.... we usually ended up back at the hotel and just grabbed something from Hurricane Hanna's (at the YC/BC). Much of the time, we just didn't want to do the traveling to another resort where we had an ADR (ie. Boma, etc) and there was nothing available for any sit-downs anywhere else.... ended up paying OOP for CS.
3. I NEVER order dessert. I always like to get a salad before my meal. Now that there's no appetizer included, it's really not worth it for me anyway.
4. My girls (they'll be 5 and 8 when we go next time) are picky eaters and the child's menu is just soooo limited unless you go to a buffet.
5. I really don't like to do a sit-down every day. For a 7 night trip, I'm content with 4-5 sit down meals in total.
6. I just really hate having to be on such a rigid schedule.... I'd like a few days where we can just go as we please and not have to drag the girls out of Stormalong Bay if they don't want to because we just "have" to get to our dining reservation A lot of Disney CS is not THAT bad... I actually prefer it sometimes
7. Oh, and most sit-down restaurants will charge you for bottled water with your meal since it's not included on the DDP. I don't drink soda, so this added up after a while....

And that's why I'm not doing the DDP for 2008

 

[Manda]

We had it for free on our last two trips and honestly, I don't have any plans to do it again. Of course, if it comes up free again, I'll probably take it again, LOL. Like another poster said, I don't like the feeling of having someplace to be all the time. And especially with the little one. I have to make all these ADRs in advance and know which park we're going to go to, etc., etc. I don't like having to organize our whole trip around food. When we went pre-child, I had no problem with that. Now, however, I prefer to just go with the flow and keep the boy happy. And pulling him from his 6000th ride of Small World because we need to go sit at a restaurant doesn't make him happy.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

We just came back from WDW. We stayed at POP and were there for 7 nights. There was DH and myself, my DD9 and our 10 mth old baby.
We did not do the DDP because we didn't know very much about it.
When we got home we booked another trip. I looked into the DDP this time and decided it wasn't going to save us money.
If we were to do the DDP we have to book a package. The package is about $300 more expensive for us than if we book things on our own using our CAA (AAA for the U.S) membership. Because DD will be considered an adult for Dec 2008 it also makes it not worth it for us. She doesn't eat a lot and I can't see her appetite growing that much in a year.
I sat down with a pen and paper and figured it out. The worst case scenario is spending what we would have spent had we had the DDP.
I know some people say they like the convenience of not carrying cash. We used our key to the world card many times just for the conveience and then squared up when we checked out of the hotel.
For some it may be a good deal especialy if you have the time and can make all your reservations. For us...we did a few TS meals and that was it. They were almost all buffets too.

 

[trivial]

I don't mind having to be at a particular place at a particular time... not sure why, but I like having things planned out (but when we went, it was just my wife and I; no kids). Regarding the necessity of ADRs, if you're eating at off-times, they may not be necessary. But even in value season, they can save you a lot of time waiting in lines.

If you have an ADR and you come to a restaurant with a line up of 15 groups without ADRs, you simply go to the podium and tell them you have an ADR. You then suddenly have priority over all 15 of those groups; the next available table is yours.

 

[irene_dsc]

Hey Irene,

We just got back from DDP with a 3yo and almost 5yo. I have a dinning review started on the review board if you want to check it out. We did find the whole ADR/scheduleing thing hard with kids. You just never know. And if you've never been there it's hard to imagine how your days will go. Our plan was to use our resort sit-down if we needed to cancel ADRs and it worked out.

The biggesrt 'pro' for DDP (2007#s) is that a buffet for the 4 of us at Chef Mickeys cost more than the entire cost of our DDP for that day - hard to beat. TS are expensive at WDW and its nice to not see a bill at the end!

Personally, I don't think I'd do it again, though. But your kids are the right ages to try it - I wouldn't want to pay adult prices for a 10yo.

Oh, and I remember seeing signs at the CS places that gave instructions on how to order. I think they said 'TS credits accepted' at the bottom. Anyone else know about this?

Have fun!

I checked your review - nice review. Of course, now I'm over-thinking everything! Especially about not having a complete down day scheduled - tho I have thought that we could potentially skip AK. Then, I'd probably skip Boma (chosen partially due to its proximity to AK). Unfortunately, since we are staying at CBR, I'm not excited about doing TS at our hotel - Shutters. And I haven't heard enough good things about the pizza to make me want to do it twice!

But of course, part of the reason I scheduled all those ADR's was to prevent us from eating basically fast food the entire time. And doing buffets to keep the kids from eating chicken nuggets all week long!

I think right now, I just want our trip to happen, so I can put our plan into action, and see how well it works!!! It's probably a good thing we only started this 2 months out - I don't know how I could stand it to start planning a year ahead of time, like some people do!

 

[irene_dsc]

I don't mind having to be at a particular place at a particular time... not sure why, but I like having things planned out (but when we went, it was just my wife and I; no kids).

Bwahahahaha!!! Life sure changes when you have kids, doesn't it? Hopefully, your kids will deal well with transitions and plans.

Of course, in a lot of ways, I like the idea of having a plan, so I can let the kids know what to expect each day, so we don't end up being completely aimless. Trying for that Holy Grail of planning for spontaneity, so to speak...(part of why I only made 1 ADR per day)

Um, sorry to the OP for completely highjacking your thread...

 

[Grendalynn]

Of course, in a lot of ways, I like the idea of having a plan, so I can let the kids know what to expect each day, so we don't end up being completely aimless.

I think thats what I like best! Knowing what to expect and prepare for... That some of the descision is made for you, although you/we still have power to decide when and where. My DH is a HORRIBLE at making descions, in the result of someone not approving and being angry. He would rather drive around town for 15/20 minutes saying/arguing, "I dont care - YOU decide... Just Pick a place!!" blah blah blah... Hopefully it will help iliminate the hassle of all that!?? Talk to me April 10th and we will see how successful it was!?

 

[KirstenB]

How well do your kids do with sit down restaurants back home? If you could envision them doing hometown restaurants several days in a row, then go for it.

Unfortunately, taking young children to restaurants is right up there with a root canal for me. We have 2 kids, one is 9 the other is 2. The 9 yr old is fine, but until she was 4, she could go either way. I feel like I have to gobble all my food, in case the 2 yr old has a meltdown. If she does, then I'm thinking about all the other stuff I could have bought with that money. Obviously, some kids do great, just not mine.

 

[Grendalynn]

Um, sorry to the OP for completely highjacking your thread...

No worries on the hijacking - its all relevant info!

 

[irene_dsc]

I think thats what I like best! Knowing what to expect and prepare for... That some of the descision is made for you, although you/we still have power to decide when and where. My DH is a HORRIBLE at making descions, in the result of someone not approving and being angry. He would rather drive around town for 15/20 minutes saying/arguing, "I dont care - YOU decide... Just Pick a place!!" blah blah blah... Hopefully it will help iliminate the hassle of all that!?? Talk to me April 10th and we will see how successful it was!?

Yeah, that sounds awfully familiar!!! And I have to admit, now that I've done all of this restaurant research, I have reasons to want to go to each of my ADR places, unlike blindly looking for something that *might* appeal to us.

 

[GoinToDisney]

I have not read the other posts, but had a minute to quickly chime in. We use the dinners as a break. My dd is usually pretty good for them, and we only have 1 child, so for us, it is a nice time to sit down and relax. We try to get back to the hotel, but it never ends up being very relaxing for us. We find it more relaxing to have a nice meal and then find a quiet place to sit while dd naps in her stroller. For some people eating at a restaurant is not relaxing, but remember that even places like LeCellier are full of kids. Most people have kids or know that Disney is the place to be a kid not avoid kids. Takes the pressure off for me. People are less likely to give your kids dirty looks just for talking. Plus the character meals keep them entertained. I say stick with the plan and plan some buffet meals like crystal palace. With a buffet, you eat as soon as you get there. If it's too stressful, eat and leave right away rather than waiting for characters. You can also make some of you table service meals for lunches and see what works best for you.

 

[Elmo888]

We went in January with DD6 and DD2. We had the dining plan and ADRs. I really didn't mind the planned meals. It really is the only place that we needed to be at a certain time. The rest of the day is completely flexible. We enjoyed the variety of the meals and the opportunity to sit and relax.

There were a few times that we were rushed getting to meals. After going back to the resort for a rest, we were rushed a few times trying to get to a 5 or 5:30 ADR. The CMs recommend that you leave your resort an hour before your ADR, so leaving at 4 or 4:30 was difficult (depending on how long we slept - one afternoon, I had a really difficult time waking DD6!). We are going again in January, so I pushed back the ADRs to 6 and plan on giving DDs a snack after resting if needed.

We are going again in January and using the dining plan. If you go to buffets and your kids are 3-9, it is worth it. Most of the kids' buffet prices are over $11, and you are only paying $10 for the day. So, with just one meal (not including your daily CS and snack and not even factoring in the adults), you come out ahead.

And the character meals are a great way to see characters.

Have a great trip!

 

[solfan68]

Another vote FOR the DDP. Granted, not as convenient as our last trip in June '07. But we intend to use it again this summer despite the whole tip debacle.

Its nice to have the meals paid for. Its nice to be able to grab a drink or Mickey Bar during the day and just swipe the card. DS5 ate chicken nuggets and the like, which was fine by him. My wife and I got to have some fun meals that we might not have otherwise been able to enjoy. Lots of debate, I know. But it has always been a nice addition to our family vacations with the Mouse.