Too many reservations - help me choose!

[CoachKristy]

We will be at WDW January 6-12. I'm trying to make this trip as special as possible because my husband is doing the marathon, my 8 year old daughter will be turning 9 there, and it is the first trip for our 6 year old twins and our 4 year old. I have a few reservations that we absolutely have to do but there are others I just don't know about. I also wanted to spread out the characters to include ones that aren't girly. I don't want our twin boys to be on princess overload. We are on DDP so I will have 6 table meals possible and I don't mind paying oop for 1 additional. Please help me narrow this down. I'm open to suggestions for changes as well.

Day 1 - EPCOT
Akershus 8am breakfast
Biergarten 6pm dinner ***must keep

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom (Marathon morning)
1900 Park Fare 6:20 dinner

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom
Chef Mickey's 7:30 breakfast ***must keep

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios
Hollywood and Vine 8:05 breakfast
50's Prime Time 12:05 lunch

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace 8:05 breakfast
CRT noon lunch
'Ohana 7:10 dinner (heard this was good for viewing Wishes)

Day 6 - Returning home in the am
'Ohana 7:30 breakfast

 

[3pletprincesses]

I would only one of the 2 princess meals CRT/ Akershus. The last 2 times I was there including this past May, it was the exact same princesses. I would actually pick Akershus and keep 1900Pf because you will be sure to see CInderella if it'sa must do and the step sisters are hilarious.


You have 2 meals too close to my likings. I have problems getting my 4 yo triplet and myself to eat at 2pm when we had breakfast at 8am. Any way to change your lunch into a dinner instead?


Your day 5 seems like alot of food. No way would I be able to do CP, CRT and Ohana on the same day. I would do CP for breakfast and Ohana for an early dinner with snacks in between.

 

[deakam]

I would drop CRT. Our 6 year olds were not very fond of the food. And all of the Characters there can be found elsewhere plus--it is 2 dining credits per person.

Second--the Ohana breakfast---what time are you leaving? Do you need to catch ME? Breakfast can be almost as long as dinner. The food is terrific and Lilo and Stitch are great. Plus you do have to wait for a photo before entering.

Third--the time of your Ohana dinner may not put you in the right place at the right time to catch Wishes from the restuarant and you have to have a window table. But you should be able to finish a nice meal and walk to the beach to catch Wishes with plenty of time. We love Ohana for dinner. If you are not a fan of meat..pick another place.

I would agree with the above post--change your Hollywood Studios lunch to a later lunch or a dinner. That is a whole lotta food in a 4 hour span. I would skip the breakfast---eat something quick at the resort or grab a pastry at Starring rolls and keep my lunch ressie. That will put you at 8 table service--7 if you skip breakfast at Ohana. I personally would switch Breakfast at CP for breakfast at Ohana and grab a counter service on the day we leave. That's just me---I love Lilo and Stitch.

 

[CoachKristy]

We are most definitely not eating at all the places listed for Day 4 or Day 5. I wanted to have a few different options to play around with.

I'm almost scared to Akershus rather than CRT because I think the girls are expecting to eat in the castle. I would prefer to do Akershus because it is only one table credit and we can get meeting the princesses out of the way on Day 1.

 

[CoachKristy]

We are driving home so the time it takes for breakfast on the last day doesn't really matter.

Wishes is scheduled to start at 8pm on the night we have 'Ohana reservations. Would a 7:10 reservation still be too early? I was planning on telling them that we would wait for a window table.

 

[deakam]

We are driving home so the time it takes for breakfast on the last day doesn't really matter.

Wishes is scheduled to start at 8pm on the night we have 'Ohana reservations. Would a 7:10 reservation still be too early? I was planning on telling them that we would wait for a window table.

Wishes at 8pm? When we go it is usually 9pm. 7:10 would put you in the right place at the right time. Now all you have to do is get that window seat. Make sure to tell them you want to watch Wishes because not all windows have the same view.

 

[Cafeen]

Day 1 - EPCOT
Akershus 8am breakfast
Biergarten 6pm dinner ***must keep

I'd certainly keep Akershus for the food and the value on the DDP. In fact, when I went in 2009 with my friend's little girl. She enjoyed this much more than the castle. Of course, she was only 2 1/2 so that may very well play a role. If you aren't willing to drop CRT though, then I'd suggest dropping this to reduce the princess overload.

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom (Marathon morning)
1900 Park Fare 6:20 dinner

I really want to do this mean to hang with the Step Sisters and Step Mom. I haven't gotten the nerve up to do it as a single, solo guy tho . Maybe for 2012 if I end up down there with friend and her little one again it could be an option. (Or just taking mom if she ends up on dining plan for that trip). No real comment other than that .

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom
Chef Mickey's 7:30 breakfast ***must keep

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios
Hollywood and Vine 8:05 breakfast
50's Prime Time 12:05 lunch

Unless the characters are absolutely crucial, I'd drop the H&V meal. There isn't much benefit entering DHS early (you don't really get far ahead for TSM passes), the food at H&V does not come highly recommended, and it's typically regarded that '50s PT isn't something to miss (if you're into the antics, which I am not ). On the record though, I am a card-carrying member of the "anti-H&V" club, so take with a grain or two of salt.

'50s PT would be a very good possibility to consider paying OOP for. If you can't drop H&V and you want to keep 50s (which I recommend you do), then consider pushing this off until a bit later.

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace 8:05 breakfast
CRT noon lunch
'Ohana 7:10 dinner (heard this was good for viewing Wishes)

This day is pretty full, as you are aware of. If the castle thing isn't a huge deal, I'd certainly drop CRT. It's not a good value on the DDP and, from reports, not that great of a value even OOP. (I didn't find my breakfast there in 2009 worth the price I paid either, but it was breakfast, not lunch). If you absolutely positively have to do this meal, then consider paying OOP for it and using the two saved credits at other meals. Since it's nowhere near twice the price of 1 TS locations, and the fact that it's not at least 55-60 per adult (for lunch), it could be hurting the bottom line mathematically. However, it's also your trip so don't let that dissuade you too much. There's something to be said for the convenience factor. (You'd also want to do the math between it and the other meals you'd use those two credits for).

(Hey, I'm getting better at spelling convenience the first time through, thanks to all the discussion regarding DDP on these boards , it's been a trouble-word for me for many years).

For 'Ohana, with Wishes at 8 it's going to be tight unless you get a window seat, which will likely be everyone else's idea at that same time, so waiting for one may not be an option. 'Ohana also typically runs behind anyway, so with a 7:10 I wouldn't expect to sit much before 7:30 (without waiting extra for a special table), pushing it even tighter. So, if dropping CRT is not an option, as much as I'm sure you hate to hear it, 'Ohana would be my choice to drop if Wishes is just that important. I'd suggest trying to make an earlier reservation, 6-6:30ish should work as you can linger a bit if you do get a window table, or run outside to the beach after if you don't. However, everyone here knows the issues in adjusting 'Ohana dinner reservations.

Day 6 - Returning home in the am
'Ohana 7:30 breakfast

Overall, the plan looks good and with some tweaking it'll be great.

 

[shburks]

I'd personally drop Hollywood & Vine, too.

Day 5--I cannot imagine trying to eat that much food in one day! If we do Crystal Palace, we are usually not hungry again until mid-afternoon so thinking about three BIG meals just makes me sick! If you're already doing Akershus, I think I'd do away with CRT and keep Crystal Palace and Ohana that night. Like a pp said, I would do a big breakfast at CP, snacks mid afternoon and big dinner at Ohana.

I know the princess idea is quite magical...BUT do your girls know you can eat in there? I personally don't think it's very obvious that there's a restaurant inside and perhaps if they've already had a magical princess experience at Akershus they won't even miss CRT!

Your "must keeps" are some of our favs, too!

Have fun...just don't get yourself so overscheduled with food that you don't get an opportunity to enjoy being in the parks!

 

[juliebug1997]

I am one of the few that hasn't enjoyed Ankershus. The food was okay, the princesses, okay. Eh. However, I have enjoyed every moment at CRT and I've been several times. The first time I got to go was last year when I was 35. It wasn't around when my parents first took us all those years ago, but I know that they would have if it had been around. Even my brother, who I took last Christmas, enjoyed it. My husband asks for it for nearly every trip.

Me personally, I would cancel Ankershus and do Cape May instead. Goofy, Donald, and Minnie. Minnie's in there for your daughters and Donald and Goofy are there for everyone! Then, you could walk into Epcot through the International Gateway.