Dining Plans For Our Son's First Trip To The World Of Princesses and Pirates

[DisneyBabies]

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to see if I could get a few thoughts about the dining schedule I am planning for our trip next year. I have changed things around more times than I can count :D but I have fun doing it!

A couple of things to note:
We will have the deluxe dining plan.
DH and DS are picky eaters and don't usually enjoy 'fancy' foods :)
All times and days are tentative since we can't make our ADR's until the freeze is over.

Here we go. . .
Fri Arrival Day & Epcot:
Lunch @ CBR 12p
Dinner @ Teppan Edo in Japan 7p

Sat Hollywood Studios:
Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's 7:30a
Dinner @1900 Park Fare 6p

Sun Magic Kingdom (DS 5th b-day :party:):
Breakfast @ Cinderella's Royal Table 8a
Dinner @ Chef Mickey's 6p

Mon Animal Kingdom:
Breakfast @ Grand Floridian Cafe 9:45a (DS will be on Pirate Adventure @ Grand Floridian)
Dinner @ Yachtsman Steakhouse 7:30p

Tues Epcot:
Breakfast @ Beach Club 7:30a
Behind the Seeds Tour
Dinner @ O'Hana 7:30p

Wed Animal Kingdom:
Breakfast @ Tusker House 8a
Wonderland Tea Party @ Grand Floridian
Dinner @ Hoop Dee Doo 7:15p

Thursday Magic Kingdom:
Breakfast @ 1900 Park Fare 8a
Lunch @ CBR 12:30p (followed by a nap)
Dinner @ Mickey's Backyard BBQ 6p
Mickey's Pirate & Princess Party (going by 2008 dates)

Fri Hollywood Studios:
Breakfast @ Play 'n Dine 8a
Lunch @ 50's Prime Time Cafe 12:30p

We are obviously doing a lot of character meals since we are bringing our son and this is his first trip (and probably only one for quite a while). Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated :).

Thanks!

[ElenitaB]

The one thing I would suggest changing would be the Wonderland Tea Party. I see that you already have him enrolled in the Pirate Cruise. We first went when my DS was 5 and he loved the Pirate Cruise. I don't know if the GF still offers "Adventures in Cooking." It was a great program which my DS did when he was 5 and again when he was 6. It took place in the kids' club and they would tell a story and then make a cupcake, muffin or cookie that had to do with that story. They also made aprons and chef's hats. My DS is now 12 and it's a memory that has stuck with him.

My other suggestion would be to change out one of your meals at Chef Mickey's for meeting Pooh and friends at Crystal Palace. If your DS is anything like mine, he expected Mickey and the other characters to remember him from the day before (including Mickey at other restaurants, Mickey at parades, Mickey at character meet and greats), which is very logical, right? Because Mickey is Mickey! However, the CM Mickey you see in dinner might have a different set of memories from the CM Mickey you met at breakfast the day before. Plus, Crystal Palace really is a nice restaurant (very pretty) and the characters are fun.

Last but not least... many people here rave about the Grand Floridian Cafe. It might be a nicer (and slightly quieter place) for you and your DH to eat while your son is on the Pirate Adventure. While my DS was away plundering and finding treasure, his godmother and I went to the spa! :secret:

[DisneyBabies]

ElenitaB -
Thanks so much for your suggestions! I too thought the Adventures in Cooking sounded like more fun, but DS LOVES the Mad Hatter and Alice and refuses to change his mind about the tea party :). I am going to keep trying to change his mind, but he can be very stubborn so I'm not sure if I will be successful :(. And I loved Crystal Palace when DH and I went last year (the Pooh group is really big in our house!) but DH didn't like it and refuses to go again :bang:. And , of course, since he and DS share tastes in food (and almost everything else) he swears that DS won't like it and he won't make him go somewhere to eat just to be able to see certain characters :pout:. But I am going to check out the Grand Floridian Cafe. We originally chose 1900 because we had been there last year and really loved the environment AND the food, so we knew we'd be happy with that choice. I'll update if I change that breakfast.
Thanks so much!

[Natazu]

Here's my two cents:
When you said Deluxe Dining, I figured I'd see some great signature service places like California Grill, Citricos, Flying Fish, Narcoossee's... even with picky eaters, they have the best steaks going. Are you sure you're getting the value out of the deluxe plan?

[DisneyBabies]

Natazu-
I would love to go to California Grill (I would love to see WISHES! from there) and Narcoossee's, but this trip is for my DS's 5th birthday and is his first trip to WDW so we are trying to pick places that he will enjoy. It is doubtful that we will be able to bring him back while he is still a child, so we want him to enjoy all the kid stuff while he is a kid. We already picked Yachtsman Steakhouse (which DS said he wasn't really interested in until we read him a description of the puzzle dessert :D) since DH and I loved it last year when we were there.
I just hesitate to take him somewhere that I'm not sure if he will like the food only to have him decide he (or DH) doesn't want it and then have to pay OOP to get him something somewhere else. We would get more value out of the deluxe plan if it were just DH and I; but, alas, it isn't to be this time around (although we are still saving at least $250 on the dining plan instead of OOP with the restaurants we have chosen so far :)).
But thanks so much for the suggestions! If DH and I ever get there by ourselves again, we will try more signature restaurants.

[disney100%]

You are going to have so much fun! You have some places we really enjoy. Our son's first trip was 2006 - he was 14 months. We ate at the Cape May Character Breakfast and absolutely loved it! We still talk about it now. The food was great, the characters were so good to Joey and our server was probably one of the best cast member we have met at Disney. We are returning in October for my son's second trip but my 2 daughters' first trip and we have already scheduled the breakfast for our second morning there.

Hoop Dee Doo is one of our must do dinners every trip. We always go our last night - we love it! My son was pretty cute on the last trip dancing to the music, which the table next to us thought was the funniest thing.

Well, I hope that you have a wonderful time. I have been to Disney 11 times and I will tell you the first trip with my son has to be absolutely the most memorable of all of them (besides my very first trip as an 8th grader in 1986). We didn't do half the things we usually do (to my husband's delight, as I usually race him around the parks from dawn to dusk), but it had to be our best trip ever!

[Natazu]

It's all good Cassandra. What you have are great choices. I just don't want you to miss out on using any credits. Here's something that may or may not help:

Jym's Top-7 Best Restaurants for pre-teens:
7. Coral Reef
6. Hoop-Dee-Do (2ts)
5. Whispering Canyon Cafe
4. Garden Grill
3. Spirit of Aloha (2ts)
2. Teppanwhateverthey'recallingitnow
1. 'Ohana

[ElenitaB]

I took DS to California Grille for his fifth birthday, and he really enjoyed it. The view did a lot to keep him engaged. Unfortunately, they no longer have the "interactive" desserts they used to have (a paint-your-own cookie and a DIY sundae).

[DisneyBabies]

Thank you all so much for the stories and suggestions! I am so excited about this trip I can't stand it! I just want it to be as magical for DS as I can make it without overloading him. He seems to love the idea of the character meals, but we have to keep reminding him that they don't actually sit at our table and eat with us :D. So we've tried to pick things that he seems drawn to when we talk about them and we threw in Teppan Edo (DS LOVES the Teppan restaurant here at home) and Yachtsman Steakhouse (DH was really impressed with it last year) as a change of pace.
I am really excited about Mickey's BBQ, but I've heard that if you take the picture with the character at the beginning, you will loose your spot in line to get a table. Is that right? If so, should I really get DS's picture done for the package they sell you?
Thanks again for all your help.

[DisneyBabies]

Well, the ADR freeze is over for me! I got up at 6:45am this morning to be ready to call for my ressies at 7am. I got a CM on the phone immediately and was able to get everything I wanted (except Mickey's BBQ because avaliability hadn't opened up yet) at pretty much the times I wanted.
About a month ago we had made some changes to the dates we will be in the world, so we had to redo some of our ressie choices. We are still pretty happy with what we picked so here we go:

Saturday
Lunch @ food court (only DS)
Dinner @ O'Hana 7:00pm

Sunday DS's 5th B-day
Breakfast @ CRT 8:05am
Dinner @ Chef Mickey's 6:15pm

Monday
Breakfast @ Grand Floridian Cafe 9:40am (only DH and I)
Dinner @ Yachtsman Steakhouse 8:50pm

Tuesday
Breakfast @ 1900 Park Fare 8:00am
Dinner @ Teppan Edo 7:00pm

Wednesday
Breakfast @ Goofy's Beach Club Breakfast 7:40am
Dinner @ 1900 Park Fare 7:55pm

Thursday
Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's 7:30am
Dinner @ Hoop Dee Doo 7:15pm

Friday
Breakfast @ Play 'n Dine @ Hollywood 'n Vine 8:00am
Lunch @ Whispering Canyon Cafe 12:30pm

Dh and I can usually go with two meals and one snack a day, but DS almost always has to have 3 meals and at least one snack, so we will play lunch by ear for him. We will have a couple of credits left over, so we will use those to get quick lunches when we feel like we can't wait until dinner to eat and I have heard that some places let you use your snack credits for real food, not just regular snacks, so I think we will be good food wise.