Somebody Help Please

[big6six]

Ok hear it is im not lazy and dont mind the work but I just dont have a clue. This is our first trip to disney ariveing about 4:00 pm on june 25 checking out on june 29 I did purchace the dinning plan and truthfully I have no idea how to use it I mean this is way to confusing for me ts, cs snack or whatever if you have never been to disney before and from all the reading it is almost impossible to get a sitdown meal without adr then the dinning plan would be a total waste for me and my family of 4 two adults and 2 children age 8 and 15. So what Im asking if someone with experience with disney and the plan could plan our meals for us at whatever restaurant we will eat I will call and make all the adrs its just that I dont have a clue where to start or how many credits this meal cost and you cant do this you can do that . Im going disney crazy and i havent even really got started yet. I would just like to use all of our credits and without having to pay more money and most of all enjoy our visit at disney without running from park to park trying to eat we do have hopper passes so if anyone can make a recomendation of what our meals should be please help thank you in advance

confused
DD

 

[tabrizia]

First off what kind of food do you like? Do you want to do any character meals, if so do you want princesses, winnie the pooh or general mickey mouse type characters? Also do you know what parks you are doing and what days, or even how many days you plan to do each park?

There are a ton of options so knowing likes and dislikes can help people make suggestions for where you might want to eat.

 

[gigi1313]

i agree w/the previous poster's list of questions...
start by planning what days you'll be in which parks... then decide if you want to stay in the park (maximize your time) or leave to eat at a resort near or far...

once you've narrowed that down, look over the menus (can be found on the dis home page under dining) and decide which restaurants will appeal to your family...

also keep in mind there are various "ways" to eat table service in wdw (i.e. buffet, all-you-care-to-eat which is either pre-plated food or platters brought to your table family style, or sit-down where you get a menu and choose an appetizer, entree/side, dessert and drink) and each family has a preference (we like all three and tend to 'mix it up')

in addition, decide whether or not characters are important to you...

after that , it's easy

good luck and i'll be glad to help

 

[imlazar]

It's hard to answer your question without knowing where you are staying, many of the resorts have table service restaurants that don't require advanced reservations, but may offer long waits.

Otherwise, you should plan your dinners in advance and make all reservations before you arrive. If you tell us what parks you are visiting and what you like, we could offer some suggestions. Also, do you plan to do a character meal?

 

[big6six]

Thanks for all the great replys but we are overwelmed here we are staying at the pop ariving on the 25 and checking out on the 29 its we have hopper tickets but you ask what park you will be visiting on what day good questions i really dont think it matters its our first trip it will all be intresting the downfall to firstimes are you dont know the tips and tricks and so-on so i will build our stay around our dinning. as far as i am concerned its all new to us so wherever we are it should be great. and yes I would love to do a character meal.

 

[Belle23]

So when I first started planning I printed all of the park hours and when EMH were at which parks. Then I went ahead and put a park for which ever day I wanted. (Example: on Monday May 15 they are having EMH in the PM at MGM so I am going to Animal Kingdom in the AM so I made my ADR for Sci Fi that night.) I did this for everyday and I am planned my meals at the park I am at that day. With the exception of Ohana's, but I am at MK that day so I can just take the monorail over and then hop back over to MK for the PM. Also I looked at pratically every menu to see which places sounded the best to me and I even made up mock meals for the day just to make sure it would all work and fit together. Anyways sorry if this is confusing the way I wrote this but, I just wanted to share how I planned my days. Have fun planning and don't get to stressed. Also have a great time and make wonderful memories!!!!

 

[gigi1313]

Sunday, June 25, 2006 Best Park: AK Parks to Avoid: MK EP
Monday, June 26, 2006 Best Park: EP Parks to Avoid: DS AK
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Best Park: DS Parks to Avoid: MK EP AK
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Best Park: MK Parks to Avoid: DS AK
Thursday, June 29, 2006 Best Park: AK Parks to Avoid: MK EP

okay... based on the above best parks recommendation from www.touringplans.com i would say do it this way...

first day, animal kingdom... make adrs for late breakfast w/the characters and call it "brunch;" have dinner at everything pop/around the pool... or head to magic kingdom in the evening for a little taste of the magic to come and have dinner at columbia harbor house (counter service) and stay for the fireworks if you're not too exhausted (personally, i recommend taking it easy the first day to rest up for the hectic pace of the next few days!)

second day, epcot... have breakfast at the food court (consider splitting meals as you may want to use an extra counter service meal along the way) or in your room if you are not big breakfast eaters... a lot of people bring pop tarts and nutrigrain type bars to supplement for breakfast... and then head to epcot... have lunch at whatever counter service you happen to be near when you get hungry or skip lunch and have an early dinner, using some of those snack credits for something to munch along the way... enjoy dinner at one of the amazing restaurants in epcot (what kind of food do you like? and we'll guide you to help you choose)

third day, mgm/disney studios... again breakfast on the run... lunch at pizza planet (pizza and salad deal are enough to share, or at least our family thought so)... book the Fantasmic Dinner Package at Hollywood & Vine if you like buffets or Mama Melrose if you prefer Italian... stay to see Fantasmic show! (it's the BEST!)

fourth day, MAGIC KINGDOM!! breakfast on the run yet again, or grab some pastries in the main street bakery (yummy!)... lunch at a counter service nearest to wherever you are when you're hungry... dinner at liberty tree tavern if you don't want to leave the park to go to a resort to eat... if you do want to ride the monorail and check out some of the other resorts, consider dinner at chef mickey's (at the contemporary) or 'ohana (at the polynesian) or 1900 park fair (at the grand floridian)... all are very good! be sure not to miss Wishes, the fireworks show!

last day... you're out of table service meals if you eat one per day the other days... you may or may not have counter service meals left, depending on whether you shared meals... you may have some snack credits left, be sure to get some mickey rice krispie treats for the trip home!

if you want further elaboration on the above plan, feel free to ask... it's just a rough outline

 

[tabrizia]

25th:

Okay getting in on the 25th, looks like the Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours in the evening which means the park is open till 2am. I'm not sure how late you plan to stay out (or how early you plan to leave each morning) one suggestion is to make a 7pm ADR for Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom have dinner and do the Magic Kingdom after that, until you are tired.

If you don't want to deal with the extra crowds and late night for the extra magic hours an second suggestion is to go to MGM that first night (it is open till 10pm) and do either the Sci Fi drive in or Prime Time Cafe for a 6/7pm ADR. SciFi is the one where you sit in car tables and watch various clips from movies. Prime Time Cafe is a 50s era diner where the servers will make you eat all your veggies etc. MGM is open till 10pm so you'll have time to go on some of the rides after you finish eating.

The third option is to just settle into the hotel and eat at the food court (since you are there for such a short time I'm not sure I would suggest this one).


26th:

I suggest going to Epcot, you can explore the areas and do CS either at the Sunshines Seasons or at one of the various options in the World Showcase. Then do dinner around 5:30 at Le Cellier (canadian steak house) or Biergarten (german buffet with a show) or Coral Reef (seafood restaraunt with huge aquariums where divers swim by occationally) and be out in plenty of time for Illuminations.

27th:

I'm going to suggest either Animal Kingdom or MGM this day (MGM if you either didn't do it the first night or if you really enjoyed it the first night). For counter server I suggest just chosing there are really good choices in Animal Kingdom and MGM has pretty standard fare at most of the counter service areas. For dinner if you do Animal Kingdom I suggest heading over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and doing dinner at Boma and exploring the hotel a bit and watching the animals there. If you do MGM and you didn't do it the first night then I suggest either of the restaraunts suggested before. If you did do MGM before then maybe head to Wilderness Lodge and do Whispering Canyon Cafe or do the Fantasmic package at either Mama Melrose (Italian) or Hollywood and Vine (american buffet).

A lot of people also think Animal Kingdom is a halfday park so you maybe able to do the morning till about 1pm at the Animal Kingdom then head over to MGM as well.

28th:

I'm going to suggest doing the Magic Kingdom again (or for the first time if you don't do it the first night). I'm going to suggest Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh character meal) again for dinner. If you did it the first night then I suggest going to the Contemporary (on the monorail) and doing Chef Mickey's (Mickey Mouse character meal) for dinner. The park is open till 11pm so you have plenty of time to go to dinner and get back to do the rest of the park. The other suggestion for dinner here is Wilderness Canyon Cafe if you didn't do it the other time, since you can take the boat to the Wilderness Lodge from the Magic Kingdom.

29th:

Head to Downtown Disney before you leave and do some shopping, or visit your favorite park again. Earl of Sandwich gets great reviews in Downtown Disney for counter service.



My suggestion to you would be to do Magic Kingdom the first night (it just brings the whole Disney theme home), then do Epcot your second day, Do Animal Kingdom in the morning and MGM in the afternoon of your third day, and do Magic Kingdom again for the fourth day, then go shopping and go back and visit your favorite park before you leave on your last day (depending on what time you are heading out at).

Foodwise for sit down meals I would do:

Crystal Palace dinner on the 25th
Le Cellier Steakhouse on the 26th
Prime Time Cafe on the 27th
Chef Mickey's on the 28th

 

[Katy Belle]

Welcome to the Dis! You will have a great trip!

I totally remember how overwhelming it was to plan our first trip and with the Dining Plan it is more so. I would reccomend buying a book..I like The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, 2006 - Bob Sehlinger. Your library may even have it. It really explains everything. These boards are so great for questions, but it can be confusing without any background knowledge.

Good luck and have a fabulous trip!
Katy

 

[big6six]

I just want to say thank you so very much for that information. That is exactly what I was looking for. For all of you who take the time to help others please for one moment dont think its not appreciated, because it is very much so. It can be very confuseing for first timers and im sure you can remember thank you and GOD BLESS.

Not too confused
DD

 

[gigi1313]

you're welcomed

as you work thru the process, continue to post on this thread and we'll continue to help guide you along... if i cannot be planning my own trip, i can at least have the thrill of planning someone else's!

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

Allearsnet.com has a guide with all the restaurants on Disney property and menus. I'd post the link, but I'm at lunch right now and the link is at home, so I'll post it later. In choosing a character meal, it all depends on which characters you want to meet. Different places offer different characters. We looked at Crystal Palace, but since we're not big Winnie the Pooh fans, we're doing character meals with characters that we love like Mickey, Goofy, etc. Second, while the meal planning can get overwhelming, it will be a huge relief to have the meals planned out. With your first trip, and limited days, I would do your TS meals in the parks, or nearby(Grand Floridian & Contemporary are on the monorail). And it also helps to know what sort of food you like or want to try. There is a tremendous variety, especially in World Showcase at EPCOT. Take a look at the menus and see what places sound good to you. Reviews are helpful, but can also muddy the waters. And make backup plans. We did, and it paid off. We were unable to get our first choice on the nights in question, but we were able to get every restaurant we wanted to with some juggling. That's where the backup plans paid off. It was chaotic and stressful, but a huge relief when it was done.