Thoughts on my timetable. Updated with confirmed ADRs

[WanderlustNZ]

The main thing I'm happy about is that no one has looked at my itinerary and commented that we are trying to do way too much. It's really important to me that we strike a healthy between seeing as much as possible but also allowing time for rests and slower paced activities each day.

So now that I have a rough plan, I'd love some help deciding on where to dine. All and any advice is very much appreciated. Even if you've never been to WDW but have been doing some research into the restaurants, I'm interested in your thoughts.

I'm just as interested in QS as TS restaurants. There's no way we can afford to eat every meal Table Service, so it would be good to go prepared with a selection of more desirable QS's to pick from. I'm particularly interested in the ones that sell options other than just pizza and burgers (e.g sandwiches, ethnic food etc).

I'm also really interested in restaurants with great atmosphere. I'm prepared to sacrifice a bit on food quality for interesting surroundings. In saying that, I think my family are a bit take it or leave it on character meals. I could be convinced to book one, but definitely no princess meals.

Places like Boma and Ohana are pretty much our budget maximum. No Victoria and Alberts for us unfortunately.

So here's what I have so far.

EPCOT
Will be there for at least 4 meals - 2 lunches and 2 dinners
One of these meals will be made up of F&W Festival snacks
Really struggling with Epcot; everywhere looks delicious, even most of the Quick Service. If possible, I might try to fix it so that we eat here more than 4 times.
Biergarten looks like it has a great atmosphere - it'll bring back memories for DH and I of Munich beer halls.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
One lunch, one dinner
Really like the look of the atmosphere at the 50's diner. Otherwise, I have no idea where else to eat.

ANIMAL KINGDOM
Two lunches
Perhaps Yak and Yeti?

MAGIC KINGDOM
2 dinners, 1 lunch and probably at least one more QS meal if my son picks the MK for his birthday visit.
I have no idea where to eat in this park. The restaurants don't excite me like Epcot's do.

DTD
2 dinners
One might be takeaway from Earl of Sandwich

WATERPARKS
2 lunches
Any nice QS's?
We might just take some snacks in with us?

HOME RESORTS
I think I'm mostly sorted on this one.
Will get at least one takeaway meal from the Boardwalk Bakery - the desserts look delicious.
For a treat (and due to convenience) we'll book one dinner at Boma.
Will probably also eat a meal at Mara.

TREAT MEALS
I have left the last two days free of plans on purpose, but I'd love to organise a special family dinner for the 7th and a special family breakfast for the 8th.
For the dinner I'm thinking Ohana at the Poly, the Whispering Canyon at the WIlderness Lodge, or another Epcot restaurant. Thoughts?
For breakfast, no idea. Preferably not somewhere that's too much of a hike from the AKL.

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[alicia1506]

At epcot i have heard (and plan to try myself on our trip) sunshine seasons is great for qs and morocco is also great. I have heard there is a cart oitside of china that does iced tea and icecream and pot stickers/dumplings/spring rolls. That might be a good qs option especially if you have had a big lunch or planning a big dinner.

I have also heard that rose and crown is great, especially for illuminations (which lisa confirmed in her tr!! Yay).

In ak, there are carts selling spring rolls in asia and smaller snack portions of food, another good qs option if you are full or plan on riding coasters/whirling rides.

I have heard good things about hollywood brown derby and starring rolls in hs.

In mk for different fare you could try be our guest or columbia harbour house or pecos bills.

In dtd i have only heard rave reviews of earl of sandwich and house of blues and the irish place (name escapes me for a moment) but you might want to think about resort locations like beaches and cream or california grill, maya grill or todds english bluezoo... They offer different foods to the standard (well not beaches and cream but they offer the experience of an old school malt shop experience).

...

Those are places on my list anyway, in addition to places like boma and jiko and cape may and ohana and so forth..

 

[WanderlustNZ]

At epcot i have heard (and plan to try myself on our trip) sunshine seasons is great for qs and morocco is also great. I have heard there is a cart oitside of china that does iced tea and icecream and pot stickers/dumplings/spring rolls. That might be a good qs option especially if you have had a big lunch or planning a big dinner.

I have also heard that rose and crown is great, especially for illuminations (which lisa confirmed in her tr!! Yay).

In ak, there are carts selling spring rolls in asia and smaller snack portions of food, another good qs option if you are full or plan on riding coasters/whirling rides.

I have heard good things about hollywood brown derby and starring rolls in hs.

In mk for different fare you could try be our guest or columbia harbour house or pecos bills.

In dtd i have only heard rave reviews of earl of sandwich and house of blues and the irish place (name escapes me for a moment) but you might want to think about resort locations like beaches and cream or california grill, maya grill or todds english bluezoo... They offer different foods to the standard (well not beaches and cream but they offer the experience of an old school malt shop experience).

...

Those are places on my list anyway, in addition to places like boma and jiko and cape may and ohana and so forth..

Thanks Alicia.

I haven't heard of some of those places you've mentioned, so I've got some fun researching ahead of me.

 

[Minniemum]

No real issues with your itinerary WanderlustNZ. You've got a great attitude regarding balance although you may find that with an almost 6yo you'll need to be flexible. Sometimes even my best laid plans have flown out the window.

My recommendations are based on no characters (ok only 1!), great atmosphere, no fine dining and an almost 6yo boy.

EPCOT or foodies paradise

TS

Teppan Edo - This is my children's favourite restaurant so we make an ADR everytime we go. Great theatrics kids style in true Disney style. (Lunch or dinner)

Coral Reef - Dining with a fish tank. Kids love this too. Reviews are hit and miss with meals but we've always been really happy. (Lunch or dinner)

Chefs de France - Remy visits Monday to Saturday 12.30pm, 1.40pm, 2.50pm, 5.20pm. The animatronics are fantastic. You'll need to book about 30 mins prior. Great food. I'd choose the dinner sitting at 5.20pm. Dinner is much better value as lunch has a lot of baguettes on the menu.

We've yet to try
Biergarten - reviews suggest great entertainment or
Rose & Crown - great spot for Illuminations as Ms. Shuttergirl mentioned in her TR.

F&W Festival - bring it on!

QS- Sunshine Seasons, Cantina de San Angel & Yorkshire County Fish are all good.


HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

TS

Sci-Fi - all the way for us. Our kids enjoy sitting in the cars at the drive-in watching the old Sci-fi clips. More wonderful theming. Burgers are your best meal option here. We prefer this to 50's Prime Time.

QS - no suggestions.


ANIMAL KINGDOM

TS

Tusker House - One of the better character meals (Lunch). Children can grab some bells, rattles and form a conga line behind the characters and dance around the room. This a good way to save time lining up for photos with Mickey etc.

Haven't tried Yak & Yeti TS.

QS - Flame Tree Barbeque or Yak & Yeti.


MAGIC KINGDOM

TS

Liberty Tree Tavern - just a lovely homely meal. No gimmicks here. Lunch is off a menu, Dinner is buffet so we always go with lunch.

Looking forward to trying Be Our Guest.

QS- Columbia Harbor House or Tortuga Tavern. Again we haven't tried Be Our Guest but it could be an option for you.


DTD

TS

T-Rex - another firm favourite with our children. Super theming. Prefer this to Rainforest but both are good. Don't be concerned if you miss out on an ADR as there is the option to ring them direct for a booking or get a walk-up.

Raglan Road - Another one on our list to try.

QS - Wolfgang Puck Express (my best value for money QS tip, great for dinner) and Earl of Sandwich.

WATERPARKS

QS - They have some lighter meals like wraps. Special of the day is usually ok.

HOME RESORTS

TS

Boma - We weren't overly rapt. I think it had more to do with our ADR being towards the end of our stay - too much rich food and overeating by that time. A buffet was the last thing we needed.

Sanaa - on our must try list.

TREAT MEALS

'Ohana - wait times even with an ADR can be long. Book an earlier time to avoid this. Much prefer here to Wilderness Lodge. Only tried both at dinner so can't comment on brekkie.

Another meal on my "to do list" is Trail's End. ColinA a fellow ANZ poster lists it as his favourite and he's been going for years. That's a good enough recommendation for me! Maybe a breakfast option?

There are so many options but so little time.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Minniemumu, you're awesome!

I have to stop mucking around now and researching holiday stuff. I've been doing it most the morning So, I'm off to do something productive. But when I come back to my computer this evening, I'm going to look through the menus of all the places you and Alicia have suggested.

All this thought about food is making me hungry...

 

[craxyfox]

Your itinerary looks very organised and fun, you'll definitely have an amazing time

It's incredible how long you can get caught up with researching wdw plans, make sure you eat a nice meal before checking out the menus, I found my stomach growling with anger/desperation after looking at just 3

 

[cola]

I found Yak & Yeti foodwise to be very much your suburban Chinese place, pretty ordinary - honey chicken, sweet and sour pork, and then to some more exotic sounding options that aren't - orange duck, ribs with fried rice, etc. It's run by the Rainforest Cafe people, who do amazing ribs, not sure why they thought they should do a Chinese restaurant.
Nice Chinese restaurant themeing, 2 storey open 2nd floor as seen in many Chinese movie fight scenes where they spring from one level to the next.
Sooooo, as long as you don't go expecting some authentic Tibeten dining experience, you are prepared for the food to be expensive very ordinary Chinese, and the themeing done well, it's ok.
(The Chinese CS in China at Epcot (Lotus Blossom Cafe?) is even lower standard, makes your average Aussie food court Chinese seem like 5 star dining)

When in doubt, go for the Americana options, burger or ribs.

DTD
----
T-Rex is a must, great themeing, avoid sitting in the Ice Age section, makes food look grey. Great ribs

I'm also very fond of the House of Blues at DTD, great ribs, great cornbread, great gumbo. Note that for someone that is really into gumbo, etc they will probably say the exact same comments I made about Yak & Yeti about House of Blues - not as authentic as it could be, but coming from Australia without Southern food readily available, House of Blues Southern fare is great I find most people resist HoB and I have to throw a mini tantrum that we need to go to Hob and then all have been pleasantly surprised. I don't know why people are anti-HoB, I don't know what they think will be behind the dilapidated porch.......

babycakesNYC is dairy-free gluten-free bakery, a MUST visit. Have a look at http://www.babycakesnyc.com/babycakes-at-downtown-disney-menu.html

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Your itinerary looks very organised and fun, you'll definitely have an amazing time

It's incredible how long you can get caught up with researching wdw plans, make sure you eat a nice meal before checking out the menus, I found my stomach growling with anger/desperation after looking at just 3

Too true. I hate that I'm so excited about weeks worth of eating, but the restaurants and menus all look so enticing.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I found Yak & Yeti foodwise to be very much your suburban Chinese place, pretty ordinary - honey chicken, sweet and sour pork, and then to some more exotic sounding options that aren't - orange duck, ribs with fried rice, etc. It's run by the Rainforest Cafe people, who do amazing ribs, not sure why they thought they should do a Chinese restaurant.
Nice Chinese restaurant themeing, 2 storey open 2nd floor as seen in many Chinese movie fight scenes where they spring from one level to the next.
Sooooo, as long as you don't go expecting some authentic Tibeten dining experience, you are prepared for the food to be expensive very ordinary Chinese, and the themeing done well, it's ok.
(The Chinese CS in China at Epcot (Lotus Blossom Cafe?) is even lower standard, makes your average Aussie food court Chinese seem like 5 star dining)

When in doubt, go for the Americana options, burger or ribs.

DTD
----
T-Rex is a must, great themeing, avoid sitting in the Ice Age section, makes food look grey. Great ribs

I'm also very fond of the House of Blues at DTD, great ribs, great cornbread, great gumbo. Note that for someone that is really into gumbo, etc they will probably say the exact same comments I made about Yak & Yeti about House of Blues - not as authentic as it could be, but coming from Australia without Southern food readily available, House of Blues Southern fare is great I find most people resist HoB and I have to throw a mini tantrum that we need to go to Hob and then all have been pleasantly surprised. I don't know why people are anti-HoB, I don't know what they think will be behind the dilapidated porch.......

babycakesNYC is dairy-free gluten-free bakery, a MUST visit. Have a look at http://www.babycakesnyc.com/babycakes-at-downtown-disney-menu.html

Thanks Cola

HOB does look great. I'm having a hard time picking between it, Raglan Road and T-Rex. I think HOB would be my slight preference because I too love Southern Food. I explained the three to my husband and he said "Go with the dinosaur one. [DS] will like it the best". Poor DH doesn't seem to think his own personal opinion matters. Either that, or he couldn't care less about what we're going to eat in a whole 9 months time. He probably has a point.

Either way, I think if the choice was entirely his, my guess is that he'd go for Raglan Road. Decisions, decisions....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks like it's time for you to start working out what you're going to eat!

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Looks like it's time for you to start working out what you're going to eat!

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

OMG, I'm going to sound absolutely insane right now, but once I've pretty much decided where I'm going to book our ADRs, then I am roughly going to work out what we'll eat.

However, not because I'd ever expect us to stick to these choices. But, rather because I'm trying to crunch numbers and work out whether or not the dining plan would save us money. My gut is saying that it won't, but the math's nerd in me is quite interested in finding out whether or not I'm right. I'll share my findings once I've worked them out. I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats right now.

 

[PrincessInOz]

OMG, I'm going to sound absolutely insane right now, but once I've pretty much decided where I'm going to book our ADRs, then I am roughly going to work out what we'll eat.

However, not because I'd ever expect us to stick to these choices. But, rather because I'm trying to crunch numbers and work out whether or not the dining plan would save us money. My gut is saying that it won't, but the math's nerd in me is quite interested in finding out whether or not I'm right. I'll share my findings once I've worked them out. I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats right now.

But.....how are you going to work out where to book your ADRs if you don't know what is on the menu?





Seriously - If you are crunching numbers, definitely check out the menus. Figure out what you might eat off the menu and build your crunching from that. Don't forget to add tax to the menu costs.
And if you haven't already found it, cafeen has a spreadsheet that he shares on the Dis. It is the nerd-lovers heaven for Disney food number crunching.

Let me know if you want me to try and locate it for you.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

But.....how are you going to work out where to book your ADRs if you don't know what is on the menu?

Lol. Embarrassingly, over the last few days, I have been looking at menus... and googling pictures of the food... and watching You Tube videos of the actual restaurants....

I just haven't been quite so obsessive yet as to pick out what we'd like to eat. That's the next stage

In all seriousness, this will probably be our most expensive holiday to date. If I'm to convince my DH that costly trips like this are worth it, then I really want everything to be as close to wonderful as possible. Hence all the extra planning. That and the fact that I find planning fun. While some woman find shopping for clothes therapeutic, my weakness is shopping for holidays. Am I alone in this obsession?

Thanks for the reminder of that spreadsheet. I saw it mentioned in another thread so searched it and tried to open it up. My iPad wasn't allowing it however, so I forgot about it. Will have to look it up again on the PC. As long as you don't need to be an excel whiz. My Excel knowledge extends to making pretty graphs (no hard-to-remember formulae for me).

 

[Dean1972]

Lol. Embarrassingly, over the last few days, I have been looking at menus... and googling pictures of the food... and watching You Tube videos of the actual restaurants....

I just haven't been quite so obsessive yet as to pick out what we'd like to eat. That's the next stage

In all seriousness, this will probably be our most expensive holiday to date. If I'm to convince my DH that costly trips like this are worth it, then I really want everything to be as close to wonderful as possible. Hence all the extra planning. That and the fact that I find planning fun. While some woman find shopping for clothes therapeutic, my weakness is shopping for holidays. Am I alone in this obsession?

Thanks for the reminder of that spreadsheet. I saw it mentioned in another thread so searched it and tried to open it up. My iPad wasn't allowing it however, so I forgot about it. Will have to look it up again on the PC. As long as you don't need to be an excel whiz. My Excel knowledge extends to making pretty graphs (no hard-to-remember formulae for me).

Lol - understand you completely Wanderlust - I too have been looking & obsessing over food blogs (BOG - just today !)
Thanks for all the info on renting DVC points. I am also looking at a resale OKW points.

Karen - your two cruises in between sounds awesome - good on you.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Lol - understand you completely Wanderlust - I too have been looking & obsessing over food blogs (BOG - just today !)
Thanks for all the info on renting DVC points. I am also looking at a resale OKW points.

Karen - your two cruises in between sounds awesome - good on you.

So pleased I'm not the only one

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I've been crunching some numbers today and I thought I'd share my findings incase anyone is interested.
As suspected, it'll work out cheaper for my family to eat off-plan. However the savings won't be as big as I had first thought.

I sat for quite a while deciding where we will eat, and with help from previous posters, I settled on 8 table service ADRs. While these obviously could change, at present they are as follows:

- Biergarten (Buffet lunch)
- Sci Fi Diner (dinner)
- 50's Prime Time Diner (lunch)
- Boma (Buffet Dinner)
- Raglan Road (dinner)
- Liberty Tree Tavern (Family-style dinner) - I'm not sure about this restaurant, but it looks like one my DH will love.
- Ohana (Family-style dinner)
- Tusker house (character breakfast on my son's birthday)

We'll also be eating 2 meals at the F&W Festival. I've budgeted as much for these meals as I would for TS meals, as the snacks here look like they might add up quite quickly.

For the 3 of us (2 adults and 1 child), figuring out what 11 nights of meals on the dining plan would cost, was obviously quite easy. The hardest part was figuring out what the tips would be. Obviously being on the dining plan encourages you to eat bigger meals and pick more expensive items. The gratuities, therefore, add up.

I then worked out the cost of meals off-plan. I figured that if we weren't on the DP, we would eat differently. It's highly unlikely we would eat a dessert with all of our meals (too much food all at once, and too much time sitting down). What I can see us doing instead is eating a dessert an hour or so after a meal e.g. a dole whip or a creme brulee (my favourite) from one of the many bakeries. So I budgeted on only having a main and drink at the restaurants (both quick and table service), but I also budgeted on 2 snacks per day instead of the dining plan's one. (Or 1 snack on the days when we are eating at a buffet).

I was quite liberal with my calculations, slightly over-estimating the cost of off-plan food items, and after factoring in tax and 20% gratuities, I worked out that we will save approx $160 ($14.50 p/n) by eating off-plan. Not as much as I thought given that we will be eating less food, picking some cheaper menu items, and eating a few less TS meals.

Also, this price difference doesn't account for the possibility that menu items might increase in price by the time we leave, something I'm expecting will happen. The DP is going up next year, so it makes sense that food prices probably will to.

It is however possible we could save a bit more money in other ways. We'll have snacks from the supermarket, and snacks from MNSSHP, so 2 snacks p/p p/n is probably a bit presumptuous. Also my DH likes a beer with his meals. On the DP he would probably get a beer AND a non-specialty drink. If we're paying off-plan and the non-specialty drink isn't included in the cost, he'd probably just get a beer. Likewise, I will probably just get a glass of water with my lunches and then treat myself to a specialty drink with dinner. It's nice to have that flexibility.

So in conclusion, at this stage I think we will be eating off-plan. However, I will be watching menu prices carefully. A food price hike could quite easily make the DP the better option.

 

[australiankaren]

Lol - understand you completely Wanderlust - I too have been looking & obsessing over food blogs (BOG - just today !)
Thanks for all the info on renting DVC points. I am also looking at a resale OKW points.

Karen - your two cruises in between sounds awesome - good on you.

yep...we are excited....14 days just lying by the pool and then only having to put on shoes to eat...my idea of a holiday

DH will do about 4-5 dives so that'll keep him occupied

 

[ColinA]

The main thing I'm happy about is that no one has looked at my itinerary and commented that we are trying to do way too much. It's really important to me that we strike a healthy between seeing as much as possible but also allowing time for rests and slower paced activities each day.

So now that I have a rough plan, I'd love some help deciding on where to dine. All and any advice is very much appreciated. Even if you've never been to WDW but have been doing some research into the restaurants, I'm interested in your thoughts.

I'm just as interested in QS as TS restaurants. There's no way we can afford to eat every meal Table Service, so it would be good to go prepared with a selection of more desirable QS's to pick from. I'm particularly interested in the ones that sell options other than just pizza and burgers (e.g sandwiches, ethnic food etc).

I'm also really interested in restaurants with great atmosphere. I'm prepared to sacrifice a bit on food quality for interesting surroundings. In saying that, I think my family are a bit take it or leave it on character meals. I could be convinced to book one, but definitely no princess meals.

Places like Boma and Ohana are pretty much our budget maximum. No Victoria and Alberts for us unfortunately.

So here's what I have so far.

EPCOT
Will be there for at least 4 meals - 2 lunches and 2 dinners
One of these meals will be made up of F&W Festival snacks
Really struggling with Epcot; everywhere looks delicious, even most of the Quick Service. If possible, I might try to fix it so that we eat here more than 4 times.
Biergarten looks like it has a great atmosphere - it'll bring back memories for DH and I of Munich beer halls.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
One lunch, one dinner
Really like the look of the atmosphere at the 50's diner. Otherwise, I have no idea where else to eat.

ANIMAL KINGDOM
Two lunches
Perhaps Yak and Yeti?

MAGIC KINGDOM
2 dinners, 1 lunch and probably at least one more QS meal if my son picks the MK for his birthday visit.
I have no idea where to eat in this park. The restaurants don't excite me like Epcot's do.

DTD
2 dinners
One might be takeaway from Earl of Sandwich

WATERPARKS
2 lunches
Any nice QS's?
We might just take some snacks in with us?

HOME RESORTS
I think I'm mostly sorted on this one.
Will get at least one takeaway meal from the Boardwalk Bakery - the desserts look delicious.
For a treat (and due to convenience) we'll book one dinner at Boma.
Will probably also eat a meal at Mara.

TREAT MEALS
I have left the last two days free of plans on purpose, but I'd love to organise a special family dinner for the 7th and a special family breakfast for the 8th.
For the dinner I'm thinking Ohana at the Poly, the Whispering Canyon at the WIlderness Lodge, or another Epcot restaurant. Thoughts?
For breakfast, no idea. Preferably not somewhere that's too much of a hike from the AKL.

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to your thoughts.

I would make some suggestions to keep within your budget.

Epcot: Biergarten has good range of food.

AK: Tusker house similar to Boma but better. Open for breakfast lunch and dinner. I would go for lunch or dinner.

BW: Captains Grille for the buffet in the YC, Kouzzina on the BW maybe on the dearer side.

HS: Mama Melrose

MK: Liberty Tree Tavern, maybe more expensive than you want. Pecos Bill an dmake what you want. Catch the boat across to Fort Wilderness and go to Trails End, best food you will get anywhere.

 

[ColinA]

Another meal on my "to do list" is Trail's End. ColinA a fellow ANZ poster lists it as his favourite and he's been going for years. That's a good enough recommendation for me! Maybe a breakfast option?

I would suggest not breakfast or lunch at Trails End, only dinner. The server we know from Boma who now works Breakfast and lunch at Trails End says he would not eat there for either of those.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I would make some suggestions to keep within your budget.

Epcot: Biergarten has good range of food.

AK: Tusker house similar to Boma but better. Open for breakfast lunch and dinner. I would go for lunch or dinner.

BW: Captains Grille for the buffet in the YC, Kouzzina on the BW maybe on the dearer side.

HS: Mama Melrose

MK: Liberty Tree Tavern, maybe more expensive than you want. Pecos Bill an dmake what you want. Catch the boat across to Fort Wilderness and go to Trails End, best food you will get anywhere.

Thanks Colin

Trails End does look like it'll be a good substitute to Liberty Tree Tavern for my meat-loving husband. It also looks like it's pretty good value for money. The pay-off I guess will be with time? From the front gate of MK and back, how long do think I'd need to factor to go across to Trails End for a meal?

Kouzzina does look great and it's convenient for the first half our stay. It's just finding the time and money to fit everything in.

I think that's the second time I've heard Tusker House mentioned as a lunch option as opposed to breakfast (which is what I was going to do). Maybe I should change my son's birthday breakfast to somewhere else (Crystal Palace, Kona??) so we can visit Tusker House at lunch instead.