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

[GusMan]

Hello everyone,
If you have questions about your ADR / Dining selections or would like fellow 'padders to review and critique your dining plans, please post such questions and/or comments in this thread.

We hope that you find this thread useful and that it helps you with your dining plans.

Have a great day.

[Meadowlark]

I could definitely use your help. We could not make our Disney plans until a month or so ago and now can't seem to find any dining available - especially in the evening. Any suggestions as to what places might work for last minute reservations. We are taking our 8 year old granddaughter and are leaving tomorrow for 5 days. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Drince88]

Meadowlark, are you set on having table service for your everning meal? What might work is having your biggest meal around 3-4 o'clock and either a big breakfast and late mornign snack, or light breakfast and light early lunch - plus then a midnight snack.

You're probably going to have more luck with the resort restaurants, but I'm not sure how much luck.

What I would do is call disney dining and find out WHERE there is availability for the time you want to be eating. You might even want to wait until you get there (since it is tomorrow) and go chat with your friendly resort guest services desk, where they can help you by looking in the system.

[wwithers]

I could definitely use your help. We could not make our Disney plans until a month or so ago and now can't seem to find any dining available - especially in the evening. Any suggestions as to what places might work for last minute reservations. We are taking our 8 year old granddaughter and are leaving tomorrow for 5 days. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've found with last minute trips that sometimes calling the "day of" is more productive since people decide not to go to dinner (or whatever) and cancel (in December, we got a CRT dinner PS the day OF...we ended up not being able to go, but that's an entirely different story :rolleyes: ). Also, don't underestimate walk ups; even though you may not be able to get into "hottest" spots, there are always no shows and you can often get in if you don't mind waiting a bit.

Try calling first thing in the morning and then again around mid-afternoon/early evening (when people decide they're too tired to go to dinner). Those are the times, on property, when people are most likely to cancel their PSs.

Also if you can manage to eat a little earlier or later than normal it should be a bit easier.

Have fun!

[pixiedust]

Try for late afternoon lunch, say 2 to 3 pm, as most ADRs fill up for dinnertime. Think outside the box for normal meal times, and also go for the resort restaurants, as they don't fill up as often. Grab a counter service meal for breakfast and after dinnertime when there are few lines, as opposed to lunchtime when the lines are long.

Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary, Kona Cafe in the Polynesian, and Grand Floridian Cafe, are all on the monorail from MK, so easy to get to from the park. Whispering Canyon Cafe is a boat ride from MK in the Wilderness Lodge.

At Epcot, you can exit the International Gateway for the Boarkwalk and the hotels there, an easy walk.

Also, most buffet locations, such as Crystal Palace in the MK, morph from lunch to dinner without clearing out the restaurant, so a late lunch slot might be open.

Lots of restaurants have similar lunch/dinner menus. For example, Garden Grill in Epcot just adds a salad at dinner, and the buffets often just add carved meats. By making a late afternoon ADR, you'll be out of the heat in the mid afternoon.

Also, call from the dining line in your room every morning. Lots of people cancel at the last minute. If you walk up to most restaurants, they can look at available space for other locations too if they can't accomodate you.

[Meadowlark]

You are all the greatest and have given me some great ideas. We can definitely do the early dinner and then a late night snack. Victoria (8) would just love that and probably be even more special than just having dinner ;) Will try calling in the mornings before we set out and see what happens. Thanks again.

[Tink77]

Please critique our ADRs . . . :)
(DH and myself - no tots)

Day 1 - MK - CRT breakfast / Crystal Palace lunch / California Grill dinner
Day 2 - Resorts Day - Chef Mickey's breakfast / Victoria & Albert's dinner
Day 3 - Epcot - Le Cellier lunch / R&C dinner
Day 4 - Resorts Day - Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
Day 5 - AK/MGM - Boma breakfast / Tusker House lunch / Brown Derby dinner
Day 6 - DTD/DQ - Fulton's lunch

[Drince88]

Tink77, that's a LOT of table-service eating! I'd really hesitate to do a breakfast and a lunch on the same day; and lunch and dinner (unless the lunch is early and the dinner late).

Are you sure you want to character meals on the same day? I'm not a huge fan of them, though, so I'm not a good judge of that.

You've hit some good locations, though. Except with that list, I'd think you might want to try Jiko, too.

[Tink77]

You're right - it is a lot of table service!! To be honest, we're trying to take as much advantage of our dining plan as possible!! :) AND this trip is a special one! :p We almost always book a room at a Moderate, bring munchies and pick up goodies at the counter service restaurants so this will surely be a treat. :) :D
Good point about timing! I've taken into account that we may overindulge :eek: so I have scheduled our ADR's with a good deal of time in between, just in case.
As for the character meals - we've never taken part but I was thinking that it might be one of the better ways to get some good pics of the characters who are seen less frequently in the parks. Good or Bad idea? :confused:

Have heard wonderful things about Jiko - let's see what I can do to fit it in. Hmmmmm . . . :D


Tink77, that's a LOT of table-service eating! I'd really hesitate to do a breakfast and a lunch on the same day; and lunch and dinner (unless the lunch is early and the dinner late).

Are you sure you want to character meals on the same day? I'm not a huge fan of them, though, so I'm not a good judge of that.

You've hit some good locations, though. Except with that list, I'd think you might want to try Jiko, too.

[GusMan]

You're right - it is a lot of table service!! To be honest, we're trying to take as much advantage of our dining plan as possible!!
Which meals do you plan on using your Table Service credits on?

[pirateship]

Meadowlark: First of all, have a fantastic time with your granddaughter. I am sure you will be able to get into some great places calling the day of. You also might get lucky and when you get there tomorrow be able to get set for the whole week. I would keep a list of places you are interested handy because the CM does have to look-up each resturant individually. That is how Hubby and I finally got reservations at MK for CRT. Also, believe it or not MK on Father's Day wasn't too crowded and we were able to walk-up to the castle and get into CRT for late breakfast because of no shows. A CM stands out near the shops, in Fantasyland looking for people.

[Tink77]

Well, most of them. :confused:
PLEASE correct me if I have misunderstood our limitations.
(Would like to have time to re-think things if I'm confused) Will admit, despite the obvious, this is the first time we've taken part in a dining plan.
We've chosen the Platinum Plan so as I understand it we're allowed 1BF, 1L, 1D, 1S per day, provided the pro-rated timing of our check-in/check-out times.



Which meals do you plan on using your Table Service credits on?

[pirateship]

Tink77: You are doing what Hubby and I did in November. I am more of a Disney fanatic then Hubby, but he enjoys the character meals. It is a good time to get photos. Plus, you have picked some good ones. I too was going to comment on doing three resturants in one day. You might want to switch your Bomba breakfast to Day 4. Also, if you run short on credits, and too many places to choose from I would give-up the Spirit of Aloha. Hubby and I did that one and decided for us that it definitely wasn't worth it and would have rathered used the 2 credits for a fancy resturant liked Citrco's (Poly). It was so romantic and very, very good food and service. The food was good at Spirit, but it was a long evening and the good entertainment doesn't come until the very end. During dinner, it is very kid orienented. Plus, you would want to make certain you had good seats.

[Drince88]

We've chosen the Platinum Plan so as I understand it we're allowed 1BF, 1L, 1D, 1S per day, provided the pro-rated timing of our check-in/check-out times.
That's my understanding from reading, too. Most people just do the 'regular' dining plan which is one counter service, one table service, and one snack per day, based on the number of nights at the resort, which I'm pretty sure is why GusMan asked the question.

[GusMan]

We've chosen the Platinum Plan so as I understand it we're allowed 1BF, 1L, 1D, 1S per day, provided the pro-rated timing of our check-in/check-out times.
Ok... I dont know if I saw that you were on the Platinum Plan. (If I missed that - my bad.) I was going to say that if it were on the standard dining plan you were quite over committed to TS eateries. :)

[scoobydooby]

As for the character meals - we've never taken part but I was thinking that it might be one of the better ways to get some good pics of the characters who are seen less frequently in the parks. Good or Bad idea? :confused:

:D

Hi - I took my 8 year old son at Easter and a number of character meals were, without question, some of his highlights. From a child's perspective this is as much fun as lots of the rides, even if they (and possibly you) don't eat your 'moneys worth'. Take off the money goggles and stand in a child's shoes. Character meals are truly magic. ENJOY!

[pirateship]

Tink77: You are correct. You get 1B, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, and 1 snack for every night of your reservation. You didn't count in your Cirq du Soiliel, did you?

[Tink77]

Yup - DID take that into account! :) Thx for the reminder though! I'm a newbie to these packages.
We've never seen Cirque!
On day 4 we'll be having BF at Boma (great advice & perfect fit!), the Aloha dinner at 5:15, then heading to DTD for Cirque @ 9:00)
SO excited! Have heard wonderful things about the show!



You didn't count in your Cirq du Soiliel, did you?

[dahunter1129]

What are your favorite counter service dining choices? We are on the "regular" dining plan, (hey, it's free in September!) and we had the same deal last year. We wound up at The Electric Umbrella in Epcot and Roaring Forks at WL (thats where we stay) quite a bit. For table service, we have:
9/8 Mama Melrose (Fantasmic)
9/9 Tony's Town Square
9/10 1900 Park Fare
9/11 Coral Reef
9/12 Ohana
9/13 Crystal Palace (my fave, gotta love Tigger...this is for my 40th birthday, I figure I can't be depressed with Pooh and pals!)
9/14 Teppanyaki
9/15 Sci Fi and Dine (my hubby's choice...I want to drop this, he insists)

Other than the 2 italian places, (we did the Play and Dine last year, not real impressed and we wanted Fantasmic reserved seating, and the Brown Derby didn't look real 5 yo friendly) any other glaring errors? I wanted to avoid the "counts as two" TS places, but our little guy just begged for the Ohana show.

[pirateship]

dahunter, looks great! I agree with you about Sci-Fi. When we do it we just do it for a milkshake or dessert. Opinions vary greatly about the food at Sci-Fi. I think Ohana counts only as 1. Crystal Palace is a great place for a Birthday party. Don't forget to get your birthday button at Guest Services.

Tink77, We always wanted to do Cirque, but never could fit it in.

[disneygirl17]

Dahunter - well it looks good to me... Just a heads up ...I had reservations for Tony's in mine but after several bad reviews I changed my mind. I have been there before and they had us out in 40 minutes. I always want to sit and enjoy my meal.

Oh and Ohana is 1 TS according to my DDP chart.

[disneygirl17]

Any thoughts on my plans...here we go -

08/17 - Whispering Canyon breakfast (not using DP credit)
Hoop-Dee-Doo review dinner (not using DP credit)

08/18 - Mama Melrose's (Fantasmic)

08/19 - Crystal Palace breakfast
Liberty Tree Tavern dinner

08/20 - Ohana's Dinner

08/21 - LeCellier dinner
Dolphin Encounter (EPCOT)

08/22 - Garden Grill dinner
Cirque that evening

08/23 - Check out of resort and heading for the Wonder :)

Any suggestions - am I missing something I should be doing.

[Drince88]

disneygirl17 - who is in your party?

What time are you arriving to hit Whispering Canyons on your first morning? If you're flying, make sure you leave in some time for flight delays (though in the morning, I think they're a little less of a problem this time of year)

I assume you're big into characters - with 2 meals in one day plus another, maybe (I don't recall if Garden Grill has characters for dinner)- and I'd make sure your Garden Grill time leaves you plenty of time to get to Cirque -- you can't get a bus directly from Epcot to DTD!

[disneygirl17]

For Whispering Canyon it will be just me and my husband. I really want to see the Wilderness Lodge, I have never been there. We are driving down on the 8/16 the rest of our party will be arriving around noon that day.

I really like character dining... to me the children's reaction and just the overall feel of dining in those places makes the trip for me. I love to see kids reaction at Disney. I don't have any of my own yet but I can't wait to bring my "future" children to Disney.

I think the Garden Grill has characters too I am not sure. I just have always wanted to eat there because the restaurant moves in a circle. I just think it is going to be fun and I heard the food was good.

[littlej]

Hi dahunter,
My DH and I love the dining plan. Here's our favorite CS:
Epcot: Sunshine Seasons. Very wide variety, from sushi to take and go sandwiches (not just your ordinary selections, too) to cook to order. Fantastic value for your CS.
Magic Kingdom: El Pirata y el Perico. Open seasonally, but they have big yummy tacos and taco salads. Otherwise, Pecos Bill has a good burger and a decent chicken wrap.
MGM: not crazy about any of the counter service places, but we love Hollywood & Vine (buffet). Lots of interesting selections.
Animal Kingdom: Tusker House, but it'll be closed for rehab (into a buffet-style table service) while you're there. When the new Yak & Yeti restaurant opens, it will have both table and counter service available (open Summer 2007, official date not published yet).

I'll post with my favorites at the resorts tomorrow!

littlej