"Welcome to the Magic" first night meal. What do you suggest?

[dopeyone]

We are also staying at POR, We have ADR's for Teppan Edo our first night. We've been debating just hanging out at the resort, then catching some dinner at DTD. We've done this before, the boat ride is nice and DTD is amazing!

 

[girliewhirlie]

11 years running, my "girl" vacation with my family ... we always go to DTD the first evening and eat at Rainforest Cafe. Then, we trot across the sidewalk and get our treats from Goofy's Candy Shop. That's the just the beginning of a glorious, fun-filled, good food-eating week!! ENJOY!

My husband and I are taking our first trip in 68 days. Our first night? Rainforest Cafe, of course!!

 

[portocall]

We are doing Chef Mickey's. I thought it would be fun for the kids to start off with some character interaction. We are staying at POR as well.

 

[TxRabbit]

I'm in the camp of make your travel day EASY!

We've been three times now to WDW.

On the first trip, we ate dinner at the resort. Boma at AKL.

For the second, we arrived so early, around noonish, that I thought for sure we could do a nice meal. I planned Citrico's at GF (we were staying at Beach Club). We were so tired by the time dinner rolled around, the thought of having to go through the rigamaroll of Disney transportation to get to dinner...and then dealing with the sitdown meal...ugh...we canceled and ate at the resort.

For our recent one, we just planned to eat at the resort again.

On a travel day, there's nothing like a non-traveling dinner. You have a great location, with easy access to DTD. There is a lot of Disney fun there. Plenty of picture opportunities with statues and things that hang out in front of the stores, World of Disney, Once Upon a Toy, etc etc. It may be crowded in the evening, but it will be a no line waiting, soak up the atmosphere kind of thing to do.

We LOVE Wolfgang Puck Express. It's like a CS/TS combo because the fountain drinks are self serve, but they bring your food to your table for you. Real plates. Real silverware.

I think a no stress first evening is the best way to get into the Disney magic.

 

[tnmom25]

We usually don't do anything our first night there. But, we always have breakfast at CM on our first morning. BUT, this time we are going straight to MK and having dinner at the castle during Wishes. I can't wait!!!!! I was torn between this idea or dinner at O'hana and watching Wishes from the Poly beach. If you've never done that, it's pretty cool. They do hav the music piped in and you can see the Water Parade too.

 

[NuttyDisneyMom]

My first choice is Ohana for the first night meal. If you can see the fireworks before/after your meal or catch a view of the castle, it is a nice little teaser of what's to come in the next days.

Can you see Wishes from Ohana? Do they pipe in the music? And do they offer an alternative kids menu. I know for certain my 9yo won't eat any of that ...

Yep! We always make our ressie for 9:30pm at the earliest so we can sit on the beach and watch the EWP while we wait for our table Sometimes we wait a few minutes longer for a table by the window so we can see Wishes, but it's SOOOO worth it to us!

Ohana without a doubt. Nothing says Disney like a ride around the monorail at night! Also, its a good place to watch fireworks and the water pageant after dark.

We also sit on the monorail before and after we get there the first night too....something about seeing that castle at night when you first come in We also do some resort trekking/shopping too at GF and CR (since they're on the monorail line)

Oh and we, personally, would never go to DTD on our first night in the World.:headache It's too crowded and the last thing I want to do after a long car ride is feel more cramped, and around people no less! I'd rather relax and soak in some magic, then hit the gates running the next day

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I'd say make it some place you won't be disappointed if you have to cancel. DTD is fairly convenient to POR - Planet Hollywood, Raglan Road or Wolfgang Puck's.

If you're on the DDP, I'd make an extra ADR for a different day (maybe a character breakfast or a sitdown lunch) so that if you don't make your ADR on the first night, you have a back up later in the week.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We also sit on the monorail before and after we get there the first night too....something about seeing that castle at night when you first come in We also do some resort trekking/shopping too at GF and CR (since they're on the monorail line)

We are doing that for our first night. We have ADRs for Cali Grill and since we are going to be there the first week of December we are going to ride the monorail afterwards and go to Poly and GF and look at Christmas Decorations.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I learned from experience not to make something like the Hoop Dee Doo the first night...You never know when they are going to give you a 5 hour delay on the plane!

When we stay at the Boardwalk, we always would go to the ESPN for dinner that night. This time, we are staying at Bay Lake Towers, and we decided to choose Ohana because it should be a quick ride on the monorail. You definetely want something close to "home" on your first night. You will want to unpack and explore the resort and you'll be very tired from travel.

I think you can take the boat from Port Orleans? I would have to agree with the others here who suggest DTD. We at at Trex last year and loved it! I think the food was very similar to Rainforest Cafe, so that would probably be a good choice as well.

 

[pixleyyy]

Thanks for all the responses! We decided to take a leisurely boat ride to DTD that night for dinner. I can't wait! 88 days and counting...