I'm working on our itinerary for a November 2008 trip. I can make our ADR's in May...but I'm hoping to fine tune our plans before then. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions. I don't have EMH days yet, so I can't plug in specific days but we'll be there Sat. 11/8 - Sat. 11/15. Our group consists of Myself, Husband, Son (7), Daughter (5), Son (3) and a set of grandparents. Any advice is appreciated! :)



Whispering Canyon for dinner


Cape May at Beach Club for character breakfast


Kona Cafe at Polynesian for dinner


Rose and Crown at Epcot for dinner


Cinderella’s Castle for lunch


Le Cellier at Epcot for dinner


The Crystal Palace for breakfast

By the way, we will be on the Basic Dining Plan. :)

Those sound like nice choices for your family mix!

Where are you staying? I just ask because if you're not at Beach/Yacht/Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin, you're going to need to probably take a taxi to Cape May (if you don't have a car). It's not a big deal, but wanted you to keep that in mind.

We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I was wondering how we would get to the Beach Club in the morning. Is a taxi our only option? I ask because we won't all fit in a standard size taxi - and we aren't bringing car seats with us (no rental car - Magical Express from the airport).

On the same transportation topic... which park should we plan on heading to after the Beach Club breakfast? Epcot or Hollywood Studios? It looks like we may be able to walk or take a boat from one of these?

Thanks for advice and info!:)

Aside from taxi, the only way to get from the Wilderness lodge to the Beach Club, is to go through a park. You can take the bus either to the Studios, and then take the boat to Beach Club (no need to enter the park and minimal walking from the bus stop to the boat dock) - or take a bus to Epcot, walk through Epcot to the International Gateway and on to the Beach Club. You have to enter the park and it's a bit of a hike.

You'd have to wait for Epcot to open for the Epcot option, and the Studios option will take some time to do, since you'll likely have wait time at the dock, plus the travel time.

Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary might be easier for you guys to get to. Or even easier, do Tusker House inside Animal Kingdom for a character breakfast.

Ohana is a great restaurant for a group. We have to eat there every time we go. Also LeCellier books up quick so don't forget to book that one first. Also Chef Mickeys is a great Character dinner the food is ok but lots of fun! Also Fantasmic package is a goo idea for a group. Have a wonderful trip!

...or take a bus to Epcot, walk through Epcot to the International Gateway and on to the Beach Club. You have to enter the park and it's a bit of a hike. You'd have to wait for Epcot to open for the Epcot option...

Since the busses run an hour before park opening, could they not take a bus from WL to Epcot, and then hop on the bus going to the Y&B?

Since the busses run an hour before park opening, could they not take a bus from WL to Epcot, and then hop on the bus going to the Y&B?

I'm not sure there IS a bus to Y&B, since they have the International Gateway. But if there is, it could work.

In that case, take a bus to either the MK or DAK, and then bus to Y&B (although that might take a bit of time).

Yikes..it sounds like Beach Club might be a bit more difficult to scoot over to first thing in the morning. In light of these transportations issues, we may change the Beach Club breakfast for the Animal Kingdom character breakfast or, possibly Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary.

We ate dinner at Chef Mickey's years ago and it was...not good. :eek:Everyone seems to say great things about it on these forums. Maybe we were just on an off day? Is breakfast good there? The kids really want to try Mickey waffles..and they love breakfast foods!

Thanks again for all the practical advice. I'm loving this site for my planning :)

During our last trip, we did the Storybook Princess Breakfast at Akershus in Epcot. We have 2 sons and a 5 year old daughter too. The whole family loved it, including my nine year old son. The breakfast was delicious, but they didn't serve the Mickey waffles that you're interested in. I think we took pictures with 6 princesses.

Well, we decided to do Chef Mickey's for a breakfast in place of the Cape May character breakfast. They have Mickey waffles that we're looking for and the characters are similiar at each place. :)

One more question :D

What princesses can we expect to see at Cinderella's Castle for lunch? We decided not to do the Norway Princess Dinner becuase I thought we were covering the princesses at the castle. If that isn't the case, I may add this one as well. My daughter loves princesses and my 2 year old son also loves "prinnesses" as well! LOL Any advice is appreciated!

there is an early bus that runs between resorts for pre-park ADRs - they share several resorts, we used one from the WL to get to AKL for an early ADR. it was not very quick (it went to all the deluxe MK resorts) but it got us there in time. we asked at concierge when we got to WL.

Last time we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, we ran into the same problem of transportation in the early a.m. and late p.m.. Check with the concierge when you get there. They may be willing to drive you to the Beach Club in the a.m. The places where you plan to eat are excellent! Have a great trip.

I'm working on our itinerary for a November 2008 trip. I can make our ADR's in May...but I'm hoping to fine tune our plans before then. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions. I don't have EMH days yet, so I can't plug in specific days but we'll be there Sat. 11/8 - Sat. 11/15. Our group consists of Myself, Husband, Son (7), Daughter (5), Son (3) and a set of grandparents. Any advice is appreciated! :)



Whispering Canyon for dinner


Cape May at Beach Club for character breakfast


Kona Cafe at Polynesian for dinner


Rose and Crown at Epcot for dinner


Cinderella’s Castle for lunch


Le Cellier at Epcot for dinner


The Crystal Palace for breakfast

By the way, we will be on the Basic Dining Plan. :)

I've only been to a few:

Kona Cafe: Soooooo very wonderful!!!

Cinderella's Castle: We did dinner, the food was mediocre, but the service was really fabulous and the experience of dining in the castle was really a treat, I think everyone should do it at least once.

Le Cellier: One of my worst meals ever, very, very bad service, bland salmon, bleh... I don't want to go back.

Crystal Palace: We went for lunch and the food was pretty good, character interaction was just basic, and service was horrible.

I'm working on our itinerary for a November 2008 trip. I can make our ADR's in May...but I'm hoping to fine tune our plans before then. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions. I don't have EMH days yet, so I can't plug in specific days but we'll be there Sat. 11/8 - Sat. 11/15. Our group consists of Myself, Husband, Son (7), Daughter (5), Son (3) and a set of grandparents. Any advice is appreciated! :)



Whispering Canyon for dinner


Cape May at Beach Club for character breakfast


Kona Cafe at Polynesian for dinner


Rose and Crown at Epcot for dinner


Cinderella’s Castle for lunch


Le Cellier at Epcot for dinner


The Crystal Palace for breakfast

By the way, we will be on the Basic Dining Plan. :)

Whispering Canyon Cafe
We've been to this restaurant many times, and have had excellent meals with only one exception. Dinner has been consistently good; the skillet meals are huge, and enough for two people to share. Service was excellent with only one exception. The "antics" at this restaurant are really fun.

Kona Cafe
This is one of my favorite restaurants in WDW. Even though I prefer eating breakfast at the Kona Cafe, dinner is excellent and if you have the opportunity I would definitely dine there. In the past I have had the grilled chicken Caesar salad, and pulled BBQ pork sandwich. I enjoyed both, but the fries with the pulled BBQ pork sandwich were very dry. Next time I will ask for a substitution; a fruit cup or something along those lines. :)

Le Cellier
We've been here once for lunch. While it is a good restaurant, I wouldn't stress about not being able to get ADR's or having to cancel them for some reason; there are far better places to eat in Epcot with a lower price. I had the 5 oz. filet mignon with Parmesan mashed potatoes, and Canadian cheddar cheese soup. The steak was excellent, but the portions were very small and the soup was too salty. We had a waiter who kept forcing wine on us and charging it to our bill without asking first...

Crystal Palace
Not having been to breakfast at the Crystal Palace, I can only rate dinner. The two times we've eaten here were very good; the food is excellent for a buffet, especially in WDW. The service was horrible on our first trip, but was super-excellent on our most recent one. If you want good character interaction, this is not the place to go; it takes forever for the characters to make it around the restaurant, and when they arrive at your table, they pretty much wave and leave. Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore were nice to us in 2004, but it was obvious the person inside was sick of his/her job most recently. :(

One more question before I make my ADR's (May 12th!)....

We have never been to Rose & Crown, San Angel, or Coral Reef in Epcot. Any advice and/or thoughts on these? Which one would you choose and why? Thanks again for all of the input!:)

We frequently plan a meal at the San Angel just because it is so pretty. I am a fan of Mexican food---really any Mexican food, I'll eat anything but Taco Bell--- but the atmosphere and lighting at the San Angel restaurant are what make it a really special place.

We have been to the Coral Reef and it is quite fascinating to view the fish. Sometimes, there are even divers in the tank. However, the food is nothing special at all. If you want a great view of many gorgeous fish, Coral Reef is a good place to eat, especially if you are seated close to the fish tanks. But, if you think you will be irked paying gourmet prices for dull food, don't bother.

We have never been to Rose & Crown, San Angel, or Coral Reef in Epcot. Any advice and/or thoughts on these? Which one would you choose and why? Thanks again for all of the input!:)

The Rose & Crown is my favorite pub for drinking, but the inside is pretty crowded and noisy. Good solid food, though - great fish & chips. I like to eat there for lunch, when I can sit outside on the patio and watch the boats go by.

If you've ever been to the Blue Bayou in DL, the San Angel Inn is similar in atmosphere - dining in a simulated night while inside the building. Not bad Mexican food, but their chips are standard Tostitos, and their salsa is just totally bland. Very nice for the atmosphere, though.

The Coral Reef has been one of my favorite restaurants anywhere for many years. This past December I had my first so-so meal there. The menu has been dumbed down quite a bit (thanks, Disney Dining Plan), to the point where there were only 7 entrees on the menu, and only 3 of them were seafood. What I had was OK, but nothing special. In the past they've been terrific, so I'm hoping they can find a way to return to their past glory. But as far as atmosphere, it can't be beat. One whole wall is glass looking out into the Living Seas aquarium. Ask for a seat down by the glass. You may have to wait a few more minutes for one to open up, but it's totally worth it!

I called yesterday to make my Dining Reservations and I got everything I wanted! Here's what I ended up with:

Sat. 11/8 Arrive (we're staying at Wilderness Lodge)
Dinner at Whispering Canyon

Sun. 11/9 Animal Kingdom (counter service)

Mon. 11/10 Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
Dinner at Coral Reef

Tues. 11/11 Lunch at Cinderella's Castle

Wed. 11/12 Hollywood Studios (counter service)

Thurs. 11/13 Dinner at Kona Cafe

Fri. 11/14 Dinner at Le Cellier

Sat. 11/15 Breakfast at Crystal Palace

We may pay out of pocket for the castle and add one more...the princess one in Norway? Or, we may keep it as is and just pay out of pocket for a character breakfast. Any thoughts from the pros?

I was disappointed that the November hours weren't posted by the time I was able to make the ADR's. I followed the Unofficial Guide site to predict which parks on which days and did the best I could (for example, the Sat. breakfast at Crystal Palace is the first one that morning at 8:05...I'm hoping it's not EMH that day!)

We were just there and two of the ones you have we did - Coral Reef - I was a little dissappointed. We got there a little early and had to wait a while. Didn't have a great view, we were all the way to one side and te 4th set of tables up. I heard GREAT things about their steak and it was nowhere ear the best I've ever had. It was dry and tough:( Th atmosphere was nice and we had a good server. If you are looking for great food, I say keep looking. If you are after atmosphere, go for it!

Chef Mickey's - I looooved it!!! I think it was my favorite:) Food was pretty good, service was good, characters were good. We missed Donald, he hadn't come by the time we left, and we were stuffed and ready to go, so we left without him, but it was wonderful!!!

We also did Akershus in Epcot and I was not impressed with the food for the money, the size or taste. The princesses were GREAT! It was worth it for them. We saw Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty. My daughte got everyone's autographs and picture. The cost includes photos, so that was nice.