Your Opinions (help), Please

[JAG2007]

We're going on our first trip to Disney at the end of the year; there will be 3 adults and one toddler (2 years old)...

DH and I are 98% positive we're going to go with the deluxe dining plan; we want to be able to eat whatever,where ever, without having to think about it.

Given this is our very first trip (for all of us), I want to make sure we have amazing meals. Also, we want to hit as many character meals for the toddler.

Right now our plan is to make our reservations based on which park we'll be at for the day since we don't plan on getting park hoppers on the tickets (to save some money).

So, my question is what are the 'must eat' places?

Choosing which places to eat is overwhelming! I am reading as many reviews as possible and researching as many menus available.

 

[Mom2JPL]

We've been 2x's with kids ages 5, 4 and 2 (first trip they were 3, 2 and 1)
and used the reg ddp, not the deluxe.

I think you'll find with the deluxe that you're going to spend a lot of time in the restaurants and not in the parks. Character meals take almost 1 and 1/2 hours by the time all the characters hit your table. We book one character meal a day (on the reg ddp) and it's not always for dinner.

We're early risers and would hit the parks at opening. We're not park hoppers either, although we did leave the park every day, usually right after lunch, to head back to our room and let the kids nap/swim in the pool. After our break we'd head back to the park and eat dinner and then ride more rides until about 7:30ish or so and then back to the room to sleep.

So far we've been these characters meals, and loved them all!

MK:

CRT (breakfast)
Crystal Palace (breakfast and lunch)
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner, but it's no longer a character meal)

AK:

Tusker House (breakfast)

HS:

Hollywood & Vine (lunch)

Epcot:

Akershus (breakfast and lunch)

Polynesian:

'Ohana character breakfast

Grand Floridian

1900 Park Fare (dinner)


For the above resorts, we took the bus to MK and then the boat or monorail to the resort for the meal.

I say if you're booking a breakfast book the earliest one possible before the park opens, and you'll be done close to rope drop in the park.

I found booking lunches early worked best for us, because the kids were getting tired and needed the break by 11:30 or so.

We also booked early dinners, 5ish or so. Then we had time afterward to hit a park.

Have fun planning!

 

[JAG2007]

We've been 2x's with kids ages 5, 4 and 2 (first trip they were 3, 2 and 1) and used the reg ddp, not the deluxe.

Thanks for your reply...

Ideally, we're looking to hit at least one character meal a day, although I don't think AK has a character meal (but, I could be wrong)...

What I'm thinking is going to happen is that we'll eat a big breakfast, snack for lunch, and then a big dinner (we typically don't eat large meals, but given how much walking we'll be doing, I'm sure we'll be hungry by the end of the day), which would meet the 3 TS for the bigger meals and then 3 snack credits for 'lunches'.

My problem is picking which meal at each park; there are so many choices!

 

[dancin Disney style]

We've been 2x's with kids ages 5, 4 and 2 (first trip they were 3, 2 and 1)
and used the reg ddp, not the deluxe.

I think you'll find with the deluxe that you're going to spend a lot of time in the restaurants and not in the parks. Character meals take almost 1 and 1/2 hours by the time all the characters hit your table. We book one character meal a day (on the reg ddp) and it's not always for dinner.

We're early risers and would hit the parks at opening. We're not park hoppers either, although we did leave the park every day, usually right after lunch, to head back to our room and let the kids nap/swim in the pool. After our break we'd head back to the park and eat dinner and then ride more rides until about 7:30ish or so and then back to the room to sleep.

So far we've been these characters meals, and loved them all!

MK:

CRT (breakfast)
Crystal Palace (breakfast and lunch)
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner, but it's no longer a character meal)

AK:

Tusker House (breakfast)

HS:

Hollywood & Vine (lunch)

Epcot:

Akershus (breakfast and lunch)

Polynesian:

'Ohana character breakfast

Grand Floridian

1900 Park Fare (dinner)


For the above resorts, we took the bus to MK and then the boat or monorail to the resort for the meal.

I say if you're booking a breakfast book the earliest one possible before the park opens, and you'll be done close to rope drop in the park.

I found booking lunches early worked best for us, because the kids were getting tired and needed the break by 11:30 or so.

We also booked early dinners, 5ish or so. Then we had time afterward to hit a park.

Have fun planning!

I totally agree. For a first trip getting the DxDDP will rob you of a lot of time. You have to plan at least 1.5 hours per meal. So if you only do 2 TS per day thats 3 hours lost. If you go to 3 TS places that's nearly 5 hours per day Plus, it's a TON of food. The regular plan is too much food for most people. That is of course unless you are big eaters and are used to eating 3 large meals everyday.

 

[Pakey]

Thanks for your reply...

Ideally, we're looking to hit at least one character meal a day, although I don't think AK has a character meal (but, I could be wrong)...

What I'm thinking is going to happen is that we'll eat a big breakfast, snack for lunch, and then a big dinner (we typically don't eat large meals, but given how much walking we'll be doing, I'm sure we'll be hungry by the end of the day), which would meet the 3 TS for the bigger meals and then 3 snack credits for 'lunches'.

My problem is picking which meal at each park; there are so many choices!

AK does have a character meal, Donald's Breakfast at Tusker House. IMO, it's one of the better ones.

 

[Hoosier Mom]

We went in 2006 with our 18 month old....have restaurant reviews in our trip report below.

We had the regular dining plan. We ate breakfast each day at the CBR food court and did a room charge for that meal.

We did one character meal (Garden Grill). Then we just tried to find as many characters in the park as we could. A sweet place to hang out is the toy store at UK. Pooh, Tigger, and Euyore visit there every little bit for visits and pictures with the kids.

We did our lunches and suppers on the dining plan. I'll list our favorites.

I say go for the deluxe plan if you can.....if I could I would....then we'd probably do a character breakfast every morning. Plus it let's you in the parks earlier.

Another thing we did was pre-order our desserts....so when our entrees were delivered, we let our server know to please enter our dessert orders...that way we could keep the meal moving along for our son's benefit. He did very well.

Ours favs:

Epcot:
LeCellier (liked the pretzl bread, soup, and steak)
Coral Reef (had steak here)
Rose & Crown (fish & chips and apple crumble, yum!)

MK
Tony's was just okay.
Loved the cheeseburgers at Cosmic Rays. Had a cute show (we sat in the back of that room so not too loud). The cheeseburgers here tasted flamed grilled to me. I thought they were the best we had all week.

DHS:
50's Primetime (fried chicken, delicious)
Sci-Fi (burgers & shakes!)

We brought little apple sauces and peanut butter....we purchased a loaf of bread in the gift shop. We made a peanut butter sandwich and packed them in a soft sided cooler. (brought along disposable spoons). Our son is a very picky eater.

Also our resort sold 1/2 gallons of milk. We purchased one to keep in our room. (large bottled water too)

Hope that helps. Have a great time!

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I have friends that just returned from a week at WDW - and they were on the deluxe dining plan. She said it was way too much food, they didn't do anything but go from one meal to the next - after a couple of days of that they started cancelling ADR's. They ended their vacation with a bunch of unused credits.

Having said that - from your post, it sounds like you're planning to do a TS breakfast and dinner - and counter service for lunch. I've read posts from people that this is the best way to do the deluxe plan - 3 meals is just too much. Using a lot of 2TS credit restaurants will allow you to do this.

 

[adventure_woman]

As the PP have stated, please go into it knowing that you will be spending more time in the restuarants than the parks. I have been to Disney A LOT (used to be a cast member). This last January was the first time I have done the DDP - the regular one. We had my DH, myself and my DD2. We didn't do HALF of what I wanted to do (and I know the parks and how to get around!). Most of the time was spent eating, or napping with my DD back at the room. If you are okay with that, then the Deluxe DDP would be for you. However, if you are going to Disney with the intent to see a lot of the parks, then I would definately NOT recommend the DDP, as it will take up A LOT of your time.

 

[Pumbaa_]

it is very hard for someone going for the first time to plan what is right - for THIER family

I know we did DDP just once, (when it included the appies) and never again! We just cannot eat an appy each and an entree and a dessert EACH! I suggest go to a local favorite restaurant and try ordering each an appy and entree and dessert and see how you feel when you are done. Now picture doing that every day, twice a day for the length of your vacation.


There is SO much to see and do at Disney. Valuable touring time is spent at TS meals. You say you are going at the end of the years - are you talking about Christmas/NY week? Or prior? If the parks are crowded and you have multiple TS ressies per day, your actual park time will be limited.

Not trying to discourage you, just providing additional info

 

[JAG2007]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

Our time at Disney will be from 11/30-12/04; just after Thanksgiving, yet before Christmas so I am crossing my fingers for low crowds.

Our plan is one park per day; I understand we can't see all of Disney in one trip, so this trip it to hit the things we've always been curious about (rides, shows, etc). I want to keep this as low key, casual, and un-rushed (if at all possible). And, we want to be able to eat whatever we want without thinking about the costs.

At the moment, I've got Spirit of Aloha on the list and that's the only restaurant I can commit to. LOL

 

[arubio0801]

Lol I understand wanting to do some many things at once the first time I went with my DF I wanted to take him EVERY WHERE!! Here are a few of our favs and must dos when we go

MK:
CP- for BF,LN,& DN and it's a CM I've always enjoyed its a must for us
CRT-we've been there for LN, & DN and both were great!! It's also a CM
PV- it's a CS but it's still a fav of mine
CR- it's also a CS but it has puppets and its really cool and great food there's a wide choice to pick from
Tonys-it's a new fav been there for lunch just before we got engaged!

Epcot-
Le chefs de france- we went for dinner and it was amazing!
EU- its a CS but good

MGM-(HS)
50's PT- It's a fav and a must!!
Sci fi- Its a fav and must and it's cool you get in a car and it looks like an old drive in its cool and the kids love it!!
Brown derby-Its great not a must but still good

AK-
There's no where that we have to go to here we usually just eat where ever we are or hungry

AKL-(The hotel)
Boma- It's a buffet but its sooo good its a new fav!

GF-
GFC- we went for BF and it was soo good
I heard 1900 park fare was good and its a CM

DTD-
Earl of sandwich- its a new must!! it was soo good
Raglan road- its a must and a favorite!!!!
Rain forest cafe- its also pretty cool place with all the animals and fish tanks its good food too
Bongos-Its cuban food and I love it!

Hope this helps!

You have some many to pick from you can't really go wrong. I would also say to go to allears.net and look at the menus and see what you like before you make a ressie

 

[Pumbaa_]

you have time to plan then

I would recommend reading some reviews of those that use the dxdpo and the regular plan and no plan and read about their experiences. You may also want to ask the same question on the family board.

Only you can decide what is best plan for you family. Having 2-3 set reservations each and every day can be stressful. No honey, we can't wait for dumbo, we have to go to our dinner now......

While that time of year is slower, it is very popular with the DVC crowd. Not as slow as years ago. ADRs will be necessary.

Good luck planning and we are here for a sounding board as you need

 

[trappednabox]

Ooh I can totally understand where you are right now! We took our 1st trip to WDW in 05, it was a 1st for all of us, and we thought it may be the only time we ever went so we wanted to try a lot of character meals, and spend a lot of time in the park. we were on a plan with 3 TS meals a day, and YES that is a lot of food, and that included apps back then when I think about it now, I can't believe we ate so much!

I would suggest trying CRT or Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, Akerhus (if you're in to princesses) in Epcot, the Donald Breakfast (not sure what it's called)in AK, and try to get a early adr so you'll be in the park at rope drop.

We were really lucky, to get really early ADRs so by the time we were done, we were able to head to the rides without super long lines b/c people were still trying to get in the park.

Good Luck with the planning, and hope you have a trip to remember! One of my favorite sayings is Disney memories are forever! Make some great ones!!

 

[Faldred]

We just got back a month ago with a trip on deluxe dining with three kids (DS3 [almost 4], DD2, and DS2). Check out the trip and/or dining report links in my signature.