Need advice on Dining and ADR's? Come inside! [Merged]

[Nala27]

We really enjoyed the character breakfast at Ohana's (Polynesian - we were there in March) The food was very good - family style - with plenty of refills of whatever you wanted. The characters there were Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. All spent a good deal of time with the children (mine were 3 and 18 mos at the time) After they've gone around they play some music and pass out maracas and the kids can join the characters while they dance around the restaurant. It was so much fun!!

[Drince88]

AZDisneyFan, I merged your thread with the general dining advice thread. You'll find lots of opinions on 'what not to miss' locations if you scroll up from your post.

[tjrj]

Check out reviews here on MP, and also at allearsnet. IMO, any sit-down place that you want to be assured of eating at a desired time, at a desired place requires an ADR-the DDP has assured that. Can you do walk ups now? Probably-but it might be at a less than desirable time and/or at a less than desirable place-and with kiddos-you may not want to mess with their eating times too much.

Can't help on the character dining(we only did Breakfastourus which will be closed soon(November?)-but O'hana's gets high marks-for both food and characters.

It would be helpful to know what kind of food/atmosphere you are looking for as well.

My favorites/wishes:

MGM-Prime Time
MK(close resorts too)-Liberty Tree-Poly either Ohana's or Kona-non-kiddo-Cali. Grill
AK(resort too) Yak and Yeti is new and Boma's was wonderful
Epcot-I wouldn't not go to any TS in worldshow case wo trying it myself-Rose and Crown and Le Cellier were fabulous. I will say that the seafood buffet at Beach Club left alot to be desired.
DTD: My boys(teens) loved Planet Hollywood. Mom was outvoted for Wolfgang Pucks(though we did do the Express(twice) and it was great). Raglan Road was a highlight for all of us.

[MoKat72]

Thanks to that "Amusement Park Eats" show on Food TV yesterday, I added the Brown Derby to our ADRs. I expect it will be well-worth the use of 2 TS credits, especially once I try my first bite of Grapefruit Cake.

[Wendi]

What sit down restaurants or character meals are "must eats" in the resort? I have 3 kids ages 6, 8 and 9. We have never done any reservation dining at WDW. Only DL. Please help, since I am guessing that we need to call right away. Our trip is Dec 6-16.:)

The Hollywood Brown Derby was our best meal and best dining experience ever at WDW.

We also loved Kona Cafe.

I recommend taking your kids to dinner at 'Ohana because the food is fantastic and there are also lots of kid's activities that they can all participate in during dinner. It is lots of fun!

Chef Mickey's is a good character dining experience, we really liked Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare too, but they moved it during our next trip dates so we're going to skip it this time.

[TinaMouse]

Thanks to that "Amusement Park Eats" show on Food TV yesterday, I added the Brown Derby to our ADRs. I expect it will be well-worth the use of 2 TS credits, especially once I try my first bite of Grapefruit Cake.

No kidding! Is there anywhere to buy a slice of Grapefruit Cake without going inside the restaurant? They said something about a bakery nearby--

[MoKat72]

That would be lovely. Then I could have it more than once! I'm going for the first time the month before your next trip. I'll scout for ya while we're there and report back on if I find it anywhere.

[Drince88]

Starring Rolls is right next to the Brown Derby - just down the steps from the board with the wait times, between the board and the Villans shop. I've only gone in there for breakfast, so I haven't paid attention to the availability of grapefruit cake. (But I can attest to the morning availability of yummy and flaky apple turnovers!)

[littlej]

I've seen another poster say that she got the grapefruit cake at Starring Rolls. I'm going to try that myself for the first time on our Dec. trip!

AZDisneyfan, I agree with the others on their must-eats-for-kids suggestions. I'll add that my DH and I got plenty of character interaction (We didn't even have any kids with us!) during our dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern (MK); all you can eat, but they bring it to your table, so no kids getting up and down. The comfort food served there is fun for that time of year: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, flank steak, etc.
I also like the Crystal Palace (traditional buffet) for Winnie-the-Pooh character interaction.

May I add that your dates are ideal for low crowds and relative calm in the restaurants (we're going Dec. 2-6 for the same reason).

[TinaMouse]

Starring Rolls is right next to the Brown Derby - just down the steps from the board with the wait times, between the board and the Villans shop. I've only gone in there for breakfast, so I haven't paid attention to the availability of grapefruit cake. (But I can attest to the morning availability of yummy and flaky apple turnovers!)

OOH! Apple turnovers! Sounds even better! I have the recipe for the grapefruit cake so I guess that I can make myself one of those!

Thanks for the directions. I know exactly where you described.

[ashleyanne119]

My DH and I are Passholders and are taking our first trip w/o the kids for our anniversary. We have made the following ADR's. Let me know if these sound good for a couples weekend retreat!!! We have not eaten at any of the dinner restuarants.
Day At Epcot
Nov. 9th Chef Mickeys For Breakfast (maybe not a couple thing but fun!!)
Nov. 9th Restuarant Marrakesh Dinner

Day at MGM Rest then Epcot
Nov. 10th Bistro De Paris Dinner

Day at Magic Kingdom
Nov.11th Plaza Restuarant (Early Lunch)
Nov.11th Artist Point Anniversary Dinner

[Drince88]

Those sound great, ashleyanne119!

[dahunter1129]

It wasn't in the standard 'refurbishments' part of the park updates, but I'd remembered seeing something about it at one point, and found this update. (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=wd070108mg) The third item under 'quick takes' talks about the closure. I didn't search any farther to see if the dates had been altered, though, but it sounds like you're affected, even if the start/end of the closure has been changed.


Thanks for the info, even though I am disappointed...

[Chicago Wookiee]

No kidding! Is there anywhere to buy a slice of Grapefruit Cake without going inside the restaurant? They said something about a bakery nearby--

Better yet, just make an ADR for the last seating of the day and only order dessert. This way you can go inside, sit and look, have some grapefruit cake, and leave.

We had dinner there a few weeks ago and from that meal the only thing we liked was that cake!

[Smeecanada]

What is the phone number for ADR's? Is there a 1-800 #?

[Chicago Wookiee]

What is the phone number for ADR's? Is there a 1-800 #?

Food = 407-WDW-DINE
Play = 407-WDW-PLAY

No 800 number and no internet reservations.

[Wendi]

What is the phone number for ADR's? Is there a 1-800 #?

1-800-828-0228 dining is option 3. :D

[scoobydooby]

I've got some queries - sorry if I'm asking the obvious...

1 - If you just ordered a main course off a menu at a sit down restaurant, would your desert and starter become unused credits available another time, or do you have to use all three in one meal or lose them?
2 - Can anyone help me find the thread/link which lists what is available as a snack please?
3 - How amenable are table service restaurants to children ordering off the main menu - smaller portions? Is it a keep strictly to the children's menu arrangement?

[tjrj]

Scooby-You're asking about dining plan credits, right? Then, no, if you chose to use a TS credit at a restaurant and only order a drink and an entree-that credit is used. The "unused" portion of just a starter and a dessert are gone. If you only want an entree and a drink, then I would pay OOP for them and that way, you have an "entire" credit to use at another meal.

The dis has a huge thread as to what counts as a snack credit. disboards.com-under the restaurants-dining plan section. Many places have them tagged with a small sign, but some places don't. Also, just because you see the snack credit sign, don't assume that you can purchase anything under $4 with a snack credit. At the bakery in France, I was only allowed to use a credit for a drink; same thing at a snack cart in China. But I was allowed to use one for kaki-gori in Japan. When all else fails, just ask. One of my favorite places to use them up-Goofy's Candy Company in DTD. Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate dipped pretzels, rice krispy treats.... I found it super easy to use snack credits-could have used a few more as a matter of fact:grin:.

Are you talking about a kiddo that is a child under the dining plan-age 3-9 , I think? Then if a child's menu is available, they must order from it. If you're talking about an older child-one that you therefore paid the "adult" ddp price for-then I'm not sure that it matters-except that it might not be as much a financial bonus for you.

[MoKat72]

I'm thinking of changing an ADR and I'd like a little advice:

First, a little about our circumstances. Our little travel group is just my husband and me, both in our 30's and both giant Disney freaks. We're staying at one of the Epcot resorts and we're going in September for 7 days.

Currently, our first full day includes the Magic Behind the Steam Train tour, which ends at 10:30, then lunch at the Crystal Palace at 11:30. However, my husband loves Donald much more than Pooh and Friends. So, I was considering dropping our Crystal Palace ADR and making one at Donald's Breakfastosaurus for a different day, one that we'll spend at AK. We have only dinner ADRs (no lunch), so I feel like we'll have plenty of time to explore and park hop even if we had two ADRs on the same day. Also, we do not have any other character meals scheduled.

What do you guys think?

[Drince88]

I was able to experience both a lunch at Crystal Palace and Breakfast with Donald in April, actually, my first character meals at WDW (this on my 13th trip!). I'm not a huge fan of breakfast food, but it was pretty decent. The character interaction was nice, though my sister said Donald was a little rushed (I'd finished eating, so went to grab EE FPs while the kids finished meeting everyone). I really enjoyed the food at Crystal Palace, though.

If your husband really likes Donald et al a lot more than Pooh and friends, I don't think you'll regret changing it - but make sure they have a seating available before you cancel the Crystal Palace one! Outside of the characters present, though - I'd totally eat at Crystal Palace for lunch in a heartbeat.

[tjrj]

Can't speak to the Crystal Palace as we haven't tried it. But we(teen boys and Mom) loved Breakfastorus. The restaurant itself is lovely(can't believe that it's a McD's); liked seeing the characters in the safari gear; thought the food was fresh and hot with lots of choices; character interaction was fine-in terms of length for us-lots of hugs and pix. But the main benefit was being the very first at rope drop for EE. We were the first car of the day. Our ADR was the very first of the day-so we missed the clog at the gates, enjoyed an empty park to walk thru on our way to breakfast; had time to enjoy breakfast wo feeling rushed; and hit EE first thing. Perfect!

You'll get alot of differing opinions on Donald's(more than some other places) but we really liked it.

[TinaMouse]

I've done both places and I liked CP better. The inside of the CP is so pretty! However, my kids are big Donald fans, so they would say Donald's for sure. My gripe at Donald's wasn't the food--I felt the characters seemed so rushed.

I agree to ask about getting a time at Break. before cancelling CP.

[dahunter1129]

Ok, just got off the phone with Disney Dining, and our reservation on the 14th at the Tepan Endo is now kaput since it won't be open until the 15th...:mad::mad::mad:...the only TS I could get is Marakesh in Morroco. Any reviews on this for me? Please make me fell better about this!

[TinaMouse]

Oh, how aggravating is THAT?? I've never eaten there. I think it is a love or hate place, much like Sci-Fi seems to be. Chicago Wookiee hates it (he changed my mind about eating there in October), BUT I have read LOTS of trip reports and comments where people really liked it.

Go with an open mind. You never know--you might like it!

Another option: Call when you get on site from your hotel phone. Use the "dining" button and see if something opened up. We have had really good luck with that. You can continue to check each day if you don't mind blowin' a call in.