Where to begin??

[lisa roanhouse]

Our 180 days is coming up and we have 5 table service meals to book. I don't even know where to begin.

1. Where's the best forum/thread/website to find the best character and/or table meals?
2. When staying at AoA if we do a pool day, what would be a great table service restaurant?

We have boys ages 10,8,and 3 and a 4 year old daughter. I want a princess meal for her, but something the boys might be okay with as well. Other than that, just looking for great ideas.

Please guide me where to look for info and descriptions. We have the Disney Dining Plan for the 6 of us. I'm pretty sure which days we are going to which parks.
Thanks!!

 

[Shanti]

All of the character meals are nice. Choosing which one is largely dependent on where you are going to be. 1900 Park Fare might be a good princess meal for your family, because while it has Cinderella and Prince Charming, it also has Cinderella's wicked stepmothers and stepsisters, who can be quite funny, and will likely make a (funny) fuss over your sons. It's in the Grand Floridian Resort, close to the Magic Kingdom. The princess only comes out for dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

 

[minnie mum]

The first place to start is figuring out which parks you will be at each day. Then select a restaurant either in or near that park. There are 3 princess meals: CRT, Akershus, and 1900 Park Faire.

The WDW dining site has menus for every restaurant, so you can see in advance if the food will interest hour family. Allears. net also has menus.

Most of the character buffets have a wide selection, and kid favorites, but the quality is mediocre. (you're paying for the character experience). A few have very poor reviews on the food (Chef Mickey dinner, H&V). Boma, at Animal Kingdom Lodge has the best buffet on property but isn't a character meal.

On your non park day you might want to dine at one of the resort restaurants like 1900 PF, Boma or Sanaa at AKL, or take in a dinner show like Hoop de Doo Revue. HDDR has been a family favorite for many, many years.

 

[Nancyg56]

I agree that 1900 PF is a good character meal that will appeal to all of your family if you want to include a Princess in the mix. Akershus in Epcot is ALL PRINCESS> WE like breakfast but it is a princess meal.

If you want to skip the Pincesses portion of the characte meal you could choose Tusker House in AK< good breakfast and I have heard that lunch and dinner is very good as well. This one has Classic Disney characters.

Chef Mickey in the Contemporary Resort is the most Disney of all the Disney character meals. It has the Fab Five and screams DIsney. We like it but if routinely gets lousy reviews.

One that I like is Garden Grill in The Land in Epcot. This one is pure fun and features Farmers Chip ad Dale.

On your non park day I suggest a resort meal. Boma or Sanaa in AKL ae both ealy good and you woudl have a chance to visit the AKL. I think you will be there during the Holiday season so maybe one of the Epcot resorts and check out the decorations. Cape May a the Beach Club or any of the boardwalk restaurants would be nice.

You could choose this evening for your character meal and hit the monorail resorts to check out decorations, or Whispering Canyon Cafe at the WIldeness Lodge. The kids might enjoy that meal. You take the boat from MK, which is lovely, and this will give you the chance to see the WL lobby during the Holiday season.

 

[samsteele]

If you are still uncertain as to where exactly you would like to dine when your booking window rolls around, I would also suggest you try to make reservations (advanced dining reservations or ADRs) for Be Our Guest dinner (BOG), 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort), 1900 Park Faire and Akershus. You can cancel some of these later should you decide one or more are not for you, but its very difficult to get some of these ADRs and hard to be blocked out later once you discover them and you really want to go. If I'm reading your post correctly, you are looking for 5 TS (table service) ADRs so you have a 5 night stay at AoA? If so, definitely be ready at 6am to make your ADRs online and start with booking your last night first and then work backward each night of your vacation. You have a better chance of finding some of these popular ADRs with that strategy. If you have a 5 night stay (as opposed to eg a 10 night stay), some of these ADRs will be very difficult to get even when your 180 day booking window opens up at 6 am due to their popularity and how the 180 day + 10 system works.

A great TS restaurant for your pool day at AoA means going off site. Some of the restaurants at the Disney Resorts (including Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge and 'Ohana at the Poly) are excellent but will require a bus transfer. You'll need to take your AoA bus to a nearby park and then take another bus from the park's bus area to the restaurant's home resort. This may well be faster than doing a bus transfer at Disney Springs (former Downtown Disney). If you only wish to take one bus, you can take the direct Dis Springs bus from AoA. Dis Springs has some fun, tasty spots including Raglan Road, T-Rex, Rainforest, etc. Should you be interested in the T-Rex restaurant and can't find an ADR via Disney Dining site, remember you can call them directly (tel no posted on their facebook page) to make a ressie.

Some great online resources to check out what kind of food is served at WDW restaurants are: allears, disney food blog and disneytouristblog (Tom Bricker). Allears has some of the best, regularly updated menus as well as some pics of the entrees.

 

[lisa roanhouse]

If you are still uncertain as to where exactly you would like to dine when your booking window rolls around, I would also suggest you try to make reservations (advanced dining reservations or ADRs) for Be Our Guest dinner (BOG), 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort), 1900 Park Faire and Akershus. You can cancel some of these later should you decide one or more are not for you, but its very difficult to get some of these ADRs and hard to be blocked out later once you discover them and you really want to go. If I'm reading your post correctly, you are looking for 5 TS (table service) ADRs so you have a 5 night stay at AoA? If so, definitely be ready at 6am to make your ADRs online and start with booking your last night first and then work backward each night of your vacation. You have a better chance of finding some of these popular ADRs with that strategy. If you have a 5 night stay (as opposed to eg a 10 night stay), some of these ADRs will be very difficult to get even when your 180 day booking window opens up at 6 am due to their popularity and how the 180 day + 10 system works.

A great TS restaurant for your pool day at AoA means going off site. Some of the restaurants at the Disney Resorts (including Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge and 'Ohana at the Poly) are excellent but will require a bus transfer. You'll need to take your AoA bus to a nearby park and then take another bus from the park's bus area to the restaurant's home resort. This may well be faster than doing a bus transfer at Disney Springs (former Downtown Disney). If you only wish to take one bus, you can take the direct Dis Springs bus from AoA. Dis Springs has some fun, tasty spots including Raglan Road, T-Rex, Rainforest, etc. Should you be interested in the T-Rex restaurant and can't find an ADR via Disney Dining site, remember you can call them directly (tel no posted on their facebook page) to make a ressie.

Some great online resources to check out what kind of food is served at WDW restaurants are: allears, disney food blog and disneytouristblog (Tom Bricker). Allears has some of the best, regularly updated menus as well as some pics of the entrees

Wow. Super helpful. Thanks for the booking last day first idea. I wondered how that would all work after reading up on ADRs on my touringplans account. This is quite the undertaking. I so appreciate all the help. I do think my boys might love T-Rex.

 

[lisa roanhouse]

If you are still uncertain as to where exactly you would like to dine when your booking window rolls around, I would also suggest you try to make reservations (advanced dining reservations or ADRs) for Be Our Guest dinner (BOG), 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort), 1900 Park Faire and Akershus. You can cancel some of these later should you decide one or more are not for you, but its very difficult to get some of these ADRs and hard to be blocked out later once you discover them and you really want to go. If I'm reading your post correctly, you are looking for 5 TS (table service) ADRs so you have a 5 night stay at AoA? If so, definitely be ready at 6am to make your ADRs online and start with booking your last night first and then work backward each night of your vacation. You have a better chance of finding some of these popular ADRs with that strategy. If you have a 5 night stay (as opposed to eg a 10 night stay), some of these ADRs will be very difficult to get even when your 180 day booking window opens up at 6 am due to their popularity and how the 180 day + 10 system works.

A great TS restaurant for your pool day at AoA means going off site. Some of the restaurants at the Disney Resorts (including Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge and 'Ohana at the Poly) are excellent but will require a bus transfer. You'll need to take your AoA bus to a nearby park and then take another bus from the park's bus area to the restaurant's home resort. This may well be faster than doing a bus transfer at Disney Springs (former Downtown Disney). If you only wish to take one bus, you can take the direct Dis Springs bus from AoA. Dis Springs has some fun, tasty spots including Raglan Road, T-Rex, Rainforest, etc. Should you be interested in the T-Rex restaurant and can't find an ADR via Disney Dining site, remember you can call them directly (tel no posted on their facebook page) to make a ressie.

Some great online resources to check out what kind of food is served at WDW restaurants are: allears, disney food blog and disneytouristblog (Tom Bricker). Allears has some of the best, regularly updated menus as well as some pics of the entrees.

Thanks so much for the super helpful tips.