What to do first night--help me!

[Aggiegrl]

For the life of me, I can't decide what to do the first evening of our end of January trip.

We will be flying in around noon on a Friday. We'll be there 7 nights and have decided to be a little looser with our meal plans since we've gone ADR commando in the past and will have a 3 night cruise at the end of our trip with plenty of food. We only have 3 meals planned--Biergarten for lunch, Cal Grill for dinner, and Raglan Road for dinner.

We're childless, so its just DH and I. We don't need a romantic, expensive dinner the first night. It can be TS or CS. I'd like to try a character meal (never done that), but I'm not sure I can handle the kids. I'm a youth director by trade and unruly kids schlepping buffet food everywhere won't start my vacation on a high note.

Suggest something for us!! My brain is fried.

 

[goofygal531]

Our first night is ALWAYS in MK. How about dinner at Crystal Palace, later (less kids). If you book right around the fireworks, it's a great view. The majority of the people go out on the porch to watch the fireworks.

The other nice character meal is 1900 Park Fare which we're trying Monday. I've heard out of all the character dinners, this one has the best food. Plus "face" characters are a lot more fun for grown-ups

 

[Hootch]

is a good option. I don't know how late it will be open at the end of January though. The restaurant can be loud but there really aren't kids running wild. And I like the food for a buffet character meal.

 

[katieam1]

What about Cali Grill or Narcoossee's? Would be nice, but they are 2TS meals.

 

[iloveokw]

How about a casual evening at Downtown Disney and dinner at Earl of Sandwich. That way you don't have to worry about a ressie or if you are delayed. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Aggiegrl]

I've really been thinking about Crystal Palace, but I'm just not sure about the buffet food quality. Maybe I need to go read more reviews.

MK closes at 8 pm with Wishes that night, so late dining is a no go. Even a later dining time seems questionable since buffets often stop refilling and refreshing. Maybe we could do an early dinner? 4:30 or 5 pm?

What about Epcot? It has EMH that night.

 

[goofygal531]

How about Chefs de France? It's been getting wonderful reviews lately and it's not really kid-friendly. Plus I've heard it has beautiful views from the tables. You could people watch

Epcot has lots of good choices!

I also like Rose & Crown. We dined there in Jan at 7:30. It wasn't crowded at all. We really dragged out dinner, just chatting and enjoying our meal. At 9pm the waitress asked us if we'd like to go to the patio to watch the fireworks. I believe the patio seating is closed off season for meals, but they let you sit there for the fireworks.

 

[ChickieToo]

We ate at Crystal Palace in October. I hadn't been there in 10 years. I truly have to say I was disappointed--it was the worst dinner buffet we'd ever had at WDW. And before this I thought the mediocre food at Chef Mickey's was pretty bad. We won't be back any time soon.

Anyway, how about Ohana's your first night. You can eat and watch the electric water parade and the fireworks over the castle from the Poly beach? If you do a pool day you won't even burn a ticket that first day.

 

[ArmyWife3-4]

I would suggest one of the WS restaurants at Epcot or something at DTD or one of the resorts. If you're looking for something a bit more exotic you could trip Boma or Jiko at AKL. We went to Boma in August and loved it!

Were you planning to use a park entry this day? That will also make a big difference in your plans.

 

[Kmango]

Maybe Garden Grill at Epcot -- it's a character meal, but not a buffet. And as an added benefit, once you're seated, you hardly are aware of anyone else in the restaurant because of the way the concave booths are arrayed around the outside of the rotating circle.

 

[CariAnn]

What about The Wave at the Contemp.? I haven't been but from what I've read it seems new and fresh. If you're dining at the Contemp. with kids you're probably doing Chef Mickey's, it seems as though their other restaurants don't have a lot of kids. And have you seen the desserts here? They look FABULOUS!

 

[jenjersnap]

If you truly wanted a character meal, I agree with 1900 PF - all face characters and the stepsisters are a hoot, plus the food is decent. We love to relax in the GF lobby before or after dinner listening to the piano player.

 

[alan_renfroe]

As others have mentioned, since it is an EMH at Epcot, Rose & Crown might be nice, or Tutto Italia. With R&C, you could have some fish and chips and a nice beer. OR with Tutto, you could have some nice Italian food and glass of wine.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Thanks for all the great replies! I'm thinking Epcot sounds great. We had planned on doing Epcot the next day, but with the EMHs the night before, we might be able to sleep in the next morning and head over a little later.

I'd like to do Rose & Crown, but I'm thinking this might be too similar to Raglan Road (one of our few ADRs).

 

[LI Annie]

We usually settle into our room, explore the resort and then head over to the MK area. We ride the monorail, have dinner at the CR or Poly and watch the fireworks from there. This way you're close enough to the MK to go in if you want to.

 

[Alexander]

We love to start our first night with dinner at O'hana. We then watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly. It is a simple, quiet way to start a great vacation.

 

[lntsmom]

We went to Raglan Road our first night. If you have a later dinner there is music and, at around 8, "Irish" dancing. I put the quotes because it is "The Lord of the Dance" sort of dancing, not authentic. The music was good, the dancing was entertaining, and the service was fantastic.

The dinner was AMAZING. It was a bit noisy, but the food was great. Had I not been alone with my kids I would have tried the Guiness. I had Paddy's Pork. It was so good that I plan on making that style of potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner!

You might consider spending the afternoon at Downtown Disney. Explore the stores...have dinner at Raglan and a late dessert at T-Rex (just to say you've been there! ). If you want to catch a movie, you can do that, too.

 

[BeckieSue]

Last trip we went to the Rose and Crown, for a later dinner.....we did have our DS and DD, but we sat outside right on the water.....if dinner took a little longer we also could have enjoyed illuminations. It was a good meal and nice atmosphere. Good luck with you choice.

 

[denisekayt]

On our last trip we planned a first night dinner at Ohanas. The meal was good, but this trip I have not planned TS for our first night. Having a TS was difficult because it meant that even though we were hungry after arriving from traveling all day, we didn't want to eat much in order to still be hungry for Ohanas. Also, it meant spending time first waiting for our ADR, then eating a longer meal (TS are longer) before we could go to the MK for the evening. I felt like we rushed through our meal without really enjoying Ohanas because we really just wanted to be in the park!

On our upcoming trip I have purposely planned to eat CS our first night, that way we can eat when we're hungry after traveling and go to whichever park we're excited to get to without rushing through a TS meal.

Granted, traveling without kids would make a TS easier on the first night, but it's just something to think about.

 

[Fantasmiss]

My husband thinks CP is the best buffet in WDW, great and interesting food
and lots of choces! I probably agree, but prefer Chef Mickey for the characters.

We have a "tradition" of going to Epcot the first night, go on a few rides and eat at Sunshine Seasons. We love our WDW traditions

I've really been thinking about Crystal Palace, but I'm just not sure about the buffet food quality. Maybe I need to go read more reviews.

MK closes at 8 pm with Wishes that night, so late dining is a no go. Even a later dining time seems questionable since buffets often stop refilling and refreshing. Maybe we could do an early dinner? 4:30 or 5 pm?

What about Epcot? It has EMH that night.