Where do I even begin to plan my ADRs?

[ShellKing]

Our trip is July 8 - 13th. We just planned it, so I know we're kind of 'late' on planning ADRs. I know they're important because my sister planned our whole trip around them in 2002. It was so nice to be on a schedule with a toddler and an infant (in 2002). We seemed to hit all the best including CRT.

Now my kids are 7 & 10 and I don't want to have a schedule, but I realize I don't want CS all the time. My dh has a conference each day until about 1pm, then he plans to meet us wherever we are when he calls.

We're staying at All-Star Movies because we decided that would be just fine as we plan to be in the parks all the time anyway. No naps needed at this point in our lives.

A character meal would be fun, but not required b/c we're go to DLand a lot. Is my tiny 10 yr old dd considered an adult at buffets?

I know it's my responsibility to do research on all the choices, but I would love it if someone just told me what I should do. Maybe point me in a direction and I'll take it from there? Thanks for any help.

 

[SnowWtch]

I'd advise getting at least 1 ADR is you want to eat someplace special. During that time of year things tend to fill up a bit and it's so hot you don't want to have to guess where you'll be eating. As to your DD, I believe 9 is the cutoff for kids. So, at 10 she would be considered an adult. Check out allears.net and maybe you might find a menu to spark your interest. We don't like to do a lot of ADRs but 1 or 2 special places usually find their way on our itinerary.

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[danielle782001]

Welcome to disboards

let me see if I can help you a bit....

1) Yes, your 10 year old will be charged at the higher rate because it is 10 and up

2) Did you get the dining plan, because it helps off set the cost of foods?

3) You are going to Disney World, not Disney Land

4) Character meals are great for kids because the characters come to you instead of waiting on lines for them at the parks...I do think they are important if your children have characters they would really like to see....A few I would suggest are
Chef Mickeys for breakfast before going to the MK (buffet)
Tusker House in the AK (buffet)
Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner in the MK (family-style)
Garden Grill for lunch or dinner in Epcot (family-style)

5) Where should you start? With the dining section of these boards...You should go through the menus to decide where you would like to eat...We always pick a bunch of places we want....Then we go through the schedule of times and events for each park to decide where we should eat on which day....

For example, we made a 8:05 ADR at Tusker on a day AK opens at 9:00, so we are in before the park opens...We would have made it for 9:30 if it was a day they had early EMH and they would open at 8:00

6) You should make some of your ADR for when you know DH can meet you, so look at the places you would like to eat for dinner...Some great family places you all might enjoy include
Liberty Tree Tavern in MK
50s Prime Time in DHS
Sci-Fi in DHS

But there are so many places to eat with different types of foods...That is where your work comes in...What types of foods does your family eat? You should scan through all the menus to find the types of places you think your family will enjoy...

But do this all quickly because time is running out for you...Be prepared to have some back-up choices because you are doing this last minute.

So right now, go through the menus, make a list of places you would like to eat in each park, then check the times each park will be open and if there are any special events that day that you want to go to or avoid for some reason, then put together the lists together...Match up places you want to eat with the best parks to visit on which days.

If you need more advice...Come back

Good Luck!

 

[flipflop]

I usually start by figuring out if there are any special event going on that we want to see (like Osborne lights, etc) and what parks we will be in on which day. I do that based on the Unofficial Guide crowd calendar. Then I look at allears and figure out which rest. we would enjoty Then I match the meals to the parks/location of hotel and make my adrs accordingly.

 

[ShellKing]

Thanks for the help. I think I need to not stress and just do it. I can always make one ADR and call back for another. and another. Also, I wasn't very clear, what I meant is that we go to Disneyland a lot, so seeing characters isn't very important to us because my kids have done that. My sister had everything so planed out (Excel spreadsheet and all!) that it was perfect. We saw fireworks from Ohana, etc. But I think I'll just make a few ADRs so we have some non-CS meals. deep breath. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction(s).

 

[ShellKing]

oh, and we don't have a dining plan because my husband will have breakfast/lunch at his conference, my dd is 10 and doesn't eat a lot (of course I'll pay the 10 yr old price when that's how it works) and lastly, our park tickets were given to us by family.