Where to book for our September 14-17 trip?

[taraprather]

We are going to walt disney world this September 14-17 and I have no ADR's
We have never done the disney dining plan before and I plan on making the best use out of it...
Here is where we plan to be each day.
September 14-Thursday- MK
September 15- Friday- Probably epcot and AK, and maybe some MK
September 16-MGM early and then MK

I am wanting to do at least 1 character meal (my 2 year old daughter is TERRIFIED of characters).
Where are the best places to eat...sit down meals for dinner?? I would be willing to go to resorts also.
THANKS!
Tara

 

[DVCisME]

Chef Mickey would be great! It would also be easy to get to MK by monorail. If you would rather have something in the park Liberty Tree Tavern has characters, but from my experience are not extremely available.
You might also want to consider Hollywood and Vine at MGM it has the playhouse disney characters if your daughter watches them. Good luck and have fun!

 

[twinklebug]

We are going to walt disney world this September 14-17 and I have no ADR's
We have never done the disney dining plan before and I plan on making the best use out of it...
Here is where we plan to be each day.
September 14-Thursday- MK
September 15- Friday- Probably epcot and AK, and maybe some MK
September 16-MGM early and then MK

I am wanting to do at least 1 character meal (my 2 year old daughter is TERRIFIED of characters).
Where are the best places to eat...sit down meals for dinner?? I would be willing to go to resorts also.
THANKS!
Tara

I'll second Chef Mickey's. Someone here mentioned that at one of the breakfasts they spoke with the person seating them to let them know one of their children was afraid of the characters and they had a great experience (characters tip-toeing behind the child etc) I'll link to the thread f I find it.

Just a quick comment on your day 2... you might find 3 parks in one day a lot for an adult, nevermind children. AK in particular will drain your energy because it's so large and hotter than the other parks (I'd start here at rope-drop that day).

 

[JimMIA]

I'm going to be a contrarian on Chef Mickey's.

When DD4-going-on-24 was six weeks shy of 3, we took her to WDW for the first time. Our FIRST meal was Chef Mickey's, and the first character she saw up close and personal was Goofy -- who was acting, well...Goofy. He scared her to death.

It took us a long time to get her calmed down (and this is a kid who thinks snakes and large alligators are "so cute!", BTW). Finally, we got seated. Then Chip showed up and stole her heart. He calmed her down and she was okay from then on.

But Chef Mickey's is a very loud event, with a lot of music and action. It may not be your best choice for a first exposure. Even CP, with Pooh and friends, was a little intimidating until "Pig-A-Let" showed up.

I'd go for something with human characters for a first experience. The Norway Princess breakfast was Girlie's second character meal, and she had a wonderful time there.

Now, with 7-8 character meals under her belt, Girlie is absolutely fearless. But it was a rough beginning for her, and like I said, she's really not a fearful kid at all.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[MrsMud]

I think the new character breakfast and lunch at MGM is geared to toddlers/preschoolers, with JoJo and other Playhouse Disney characters. You might want to consider that for your MGM day. At Epcot, your daughter might enjoy all the fish at Coral Reef. As for MK, the one most geared towards little ones would be Crystal Palace, but that's also a character meal (Pooh and friends). Or, does she like princesses yet? CRT can't be beat for the Princesss set, but it's 2 TS credits. Non- character at MK, you have Tony's Town Square (Italian with Lady and the Tramp theme, no characters), and the Plaza (standard sandwhich, burger, salad and ice cream place). Oh, and LTT for lunch has no characters and you order off the menu. Dinner has characters and is a family style meal. Don't forget the monorail resorts and Wilderness lodge for a possible dinner on your MK days (not in the park, but very easy to get to from MK). HTH!

 

[slenderella]

Just an FYI. You might want to try to make ADR's ASAP because the most popular TS restaraunts are booked when we go . (September 8-15) There are so many places to choose from though. Happy picking.

 

[Terk-1]

September 14-Thursday- MK-- I would strongly recommend the Crystal Palace. This is a great place to dine and I have always had great food & service there. This is a character meal with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore & Piglet.
September 15- Friday- Probably epcot and AK, and maybe some MK-- I really enjoy the Rose & Crown at EPCOT. Good food there. At Animal Kingdom, the Tusker House is an absolute must for me. Great food there.
September 16-MGM early and then MK-- I really enjoy 50's Primetime Cafe at MGM. Have always had great food & service there.

 

[HACAM]

If you are at the MK on the first day, I would suggest making an ADR at any of the restuarants close to the MK, but I would suggest you do it very soon, as most of the popular restuarants like Chef Mickey's get booked, go to www.allearsnet.com for more restaurant information, it will give you all the resort restaurants, as well as the park restuarants.

I just changed an ADR yesterday and was not able to get a reservation at the Concourse Steakhouse but was able to get one at Kona. It is really hit or miss, but the restuarants are really getting booked up, so move fast! Good Luck!

Have a great trip, and maybe we'll see you there, we are there Sept. 16-20.

 

[taraprather]

OK, so I've made an ADR for 5:50pm on September 14 at concourse steakhouse. I also have an ADR for crystal palace at 8:25am September 15. The 16th, I'm letting my husband choose. (we are leaving early afternoon on the 17th).
Thanks everyone for your wonderful advise.
Only 29 more days!!!!

 

[PortieOwner]

I'm going to be a contrarian on Chef Mickey's.
I'd go for something with human characters for a first experience. The Norway Princess breakfast was Girlie's second character meal, and she had a wonderful time there.

My 2.75 year old last year did not like the human characters at all, but did great with the huge plush characters.

Portie

 

[MeLaNie9]

I also would not recommend Chef Mickey's. We went there for breakfast with DS2 in May and he was upset before even sitting down because we had to wait forever for a table (45+ min) despite ADRs and he was hungry!!! It was so crowded and loud, lines to get food were awful, and the characters were slow to come by because it was so crowded. Much better were CP and Garden Grill. DS loved the characters at CP, and the Garden Grill characters came back to our table multiple time as he warmed up to them over time.
Other than those buffets, I would have liked to eat at non-buffet TS restaurants the rest of the time. A 2-yr-old can just share off your plate and the food was so much better.