Too Ambitious ?

[KPLC]

We are heading to Disney 24 - 31 August for the first time as a family. Children are 8 and 5 1/2 and this will be their first trip. I have made the following reservations and was wondering from all the experts out there if this is too much to hope to get done in addition to the parks. I feel that the special meals are as much a part of Disney as the parks - am I wrong? We are on Free dining so I was going to pay for the additional meals.

24 Aug - Lunch at Sci Fi

25 Aug - Break at Akershus
Lunch at Coral Reef

26 Aug Break at Crystal Palace
Dinner at Ohana

27 Aug Break at Tuskerhouse Safari in AK
Dinner at Cinerallas Royal table

28 Aug Break at Chef Mickey
Dinner at Whispering Canyon

29 Aug Dinner at Liberty Tree

30 Aug NO meals booked.

 

[Tricia1972]

So long as you aren't paying and can skip some dinners if the kids aren't feeling it right then, I think you're fine with the exception of your Epcot day.

I think that breakfast and lunch at a sit down location is too much, especially so early in the trip. The kids will want to go, go, go and you'll be corralling them to eat.

 

[caroline1851]

It kind of takes a little while to get from resort to resort, it seems like a lot of your time will be spent getting to different restaurants. What about just keeping your reservations for either your resort or the parks that you'll be at.

 

[Rylee]

I think you'll be alright, as long as your ADR's aren't scheduled too close together. You might welcome the breaks from the heat.

I would keep all the ADR's, and then, you can always cancel an ADR, if you find it too much time spent dining.

 

[Tricia1972]

Before I get flamed, to clarify, by 'skip' I call and cancel when we know we aren't going.

To me canceling is part of skipping - just not an obvious part unless you know me.

 

[Lady_Aurora]

We are heading to Disney 24 - 31 August for the first time as a family. Children are 8 and 5 1/2 and this will be their first trip. I have made the following reservations and was wondering from all the experts out there if this is too much to hope to get done in addition to the parks. I feel that the special meals are as much a part of Disney as the parks - am I wrong? We are on Free dining so I was going to pay for the additional meals.

24 Aug - Lunch at Sci Fi

25 Aug - Break at Akershus
Lunch at Coral Reef

26 Aug Break at Crystal Palace
Dinner at Ohana

27 Aug Break at Tuskerhouse Safari in AK
Dinner at Cinerallas Royal table

28 Aug Break at Chef Mickey
Dinner at Whispering Canyon

29 Aug Dinner at Liberty Tree

30 Aug NO meals booked.

For most of these days, you seem to have it pretty well mapped out. the day with CP for breakfast and then Ohana dinner will work out fine if you are planning to be in MK because of the close proximity. The couple things that might be a stretch due to all of the travel time would be the 27th and possible the 28th. There will be a lot of travel time in between AK and MK and even though Contemp and Wilderness are close to MK, the traveling back and forth might be tiring for the little ones.
The meals are def a huge part of the experience, especially character meals, but you might want to look at is the character repeating. Chef Mickey's, LTT and Tusker House have a lot of the same characters, so if you change anything, you might want to save one of those for another trip, but keep in mind that LTT will not have a character dinner as of 2009.

Hope this Helps!!!!

 

[KPLC]

Thank-you for your replies. If I go ahead and cancel one of the character breakfasts which one would be the one to keep - Tuskerhouse or Chef Mickey?

 

[bytheblood]

Thank-you for your replies. If I go ahead and cancel one of the character breakfasts which one would be the one to keep - Tuskerhouse or Chef Mickey?

Tusker House is by far the best character meal I have ever had in WDW. Chef Mickey's was the worse, even compared to Donald's Breakfastsaurus.

 

[Tricia1972]

Depends on what you're looking for. Good Food? I'd probably cancel Chef Mickey's

Experience? I think Chef Mickey's is a great Disney Experience. Nothing quite beats watching your child's eyes shine as they twirl their napkin high in the air to "Celebrate" Some of my most joyous moments of my last trip in memory are that of my two year old completely believing the Disney magic as he swung his napkin to that.

The food at Chef Mickey's is fine. It's typical breakfast fare and it's pretty hard to completely wreck scrambled eggs, waffles, bacon and sausage. I did not care for their dinner at all - but I'm taking the boys back for another breakfast when we go in 2010 (and I'll have a new two year old to watch in wonder as he twirls his napkin with Mickey and Co.)

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I think the Norway breakfast and Coral Reef lunch is too much too close together. I'd cancel the lunch.

I'd reconsider having to go to MK for character meals 3 days of your trip. See if you can get CP for the same day as your CRT dinner and make a day of the MK that day. If you really want to do Tusker House, try to get it for the OHana day and do AK that day. You'll probably be done with AK fairly early and then you can go back to your resort and freshen up before heading to OHana.

Have a great trip!

 

[KPLC]

Thanks for your replies. I have called Disney and there are NO other times for me to change any of the reservations. This is the first week of the Free Dining and EVERYTHING is fully booked!!. I think I will keep all the reservations for now and see how our trip is progressing when we are there. I will cancel any tables right away should we decide not to use any of the reservations so other diners can get our tables - thanks again for your input.

 

[catho72]

I think the Norway breakfast and Coral Reef lunch is too much too close together. I'd cancel the lunch.

I'd reconsider having to go to MK for character meals 3 days of your trip. See if you can get CP for the same day as your CRT dinner and make a day of the MK that day. If you really want to do Tusker House, try to get it for the OHana day and do AK that day. You'll probably be done with AK fairly early and then you can go back to your resort and freshen up before heading to OHana.

Have a great trip!

I totally agree with the second part of this post....she is offering some excellent advice.

I don't agree with canceling Coral Reef...this is my favorite restaurant and I'm sure your kids would love seeing the huge aquarium. If it were me, I'd have a ressie for 8:30-9 at Akershus and a 2-2:30 lunch ressie at Coral Reef. JMHO

 

[Tricia1972]

I totally agree with the second part of this post....she is offering some excellent advice.

I don't agree with canceling Coral Reef...this is my favorite restaurant and I'm sure your kids would love seeing the huge aquarium. If it were me, I'd have a ressie for 8:30-9 at Akershus and a 2-2:30 lunch ressie at Coral Reef. JMHO

Could the kids get a similar aquarium experience by visiting The Seas with Nemo and Friends? Not the ride, but the aquarium area outside of the ride?

I also think it would be fine to do Ohana dinner on your Crystal Palace day. The Poly is just a short monorail ride from MK. Same for coming to CRT after AK that day - if you're already planning an AK morning and a MK afternoon - it's no big deal making it to CRT for dinner. If you're coming to MK just for CRT it may be better to move things a little bit, but if you're planning on CRT Dinner and then Wishes as a special event - that'd be a neat ending to your day.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I think your schedule looks great. For us the dining is as much of the draw to Disney as the parks are. I always tell people to try each place at least once for the experience. Have fun!