List of Dining questions

[ncrohrs]

Ok, so we are pretty much going to book our Feb 2011 trip this week! I am so excited! But it has been since Feb 2008 since we've been so my planning skills are a little rusty. Not to mention I am sure there have been changes since then. (Like I think I saw you can now do ADR's online!) We will be on the dining plan too.

So if I can get answers to these, as far as dining goes!

1. How far out can you make ADR's? Back in 2008 it was 180 days then I thought I heard 90 days. Which is it?

2. What up with the online thing. Is it easier? Are your chances the same by calling to make the adr's?

3. This time around we are going as a family of 6. (we were only 5 in 2008). My hubbie and I loved the Flying Fish and Fulton's Crab House when we went alone in '99. Would either of these be kid appropriate for 4 kiddos ages 2.5, 5, 7, and 9?

4. What character meals do you HIGHLY recommend? We'll do breakfast at Poly for sure (where we will be staying), Chef Mickey's too. Never been to Crystal Palace...thinking of that one too. Your thoughts?

5. Do you still have to tip OOP for the TS meals while on the dining plan?

6. My youngest will be under 3. (so she won't be on our dining plan right?) So does this mean she can eat at buffets? How about other TS meals? Will we need to buy her her own kid meals if we feel she needs one?

Thanks! i am in that giddy, can't wait to plan mode, sorry for all the questions at once!!!!! Any other recommendations including good counter service for young kids is greatly appreciated!

Nicole
Poly '99
GF '06
Poly '08
Poly '11 soon!!!!
:mickey:

[AgentP]

I can answer a couple of those questions:mickey:

Yes, you still have to pay OOP for tips on the dining plan.


My youngest will be under 3. (so she won't be on our dining plan right?) So does this mean she can eat at buffets? How about other TS meals? Will we need to buy her her own kid meals if we feel she needs one? She won't be on the dining plan, but can share food. I went with my two year old last year and there was always enough food to share with him from our plates (myself, DH and DD). At the buffets, we could get him his own plate. At the family style restaurants, he was also given his own plates (CRT, Ohana). We never felt the need to buy him his own meals because there was so much food. We did buy him his own snacks though.

You will have such a great time staying at the Polynesian with your family. Have a great trip!

[jenperich]

I can answer a few of your questions. My answers are in blue. Good luck and have a great time!

1. How far out can you make ADR's? Back in 2008 it was 180 days then I thought I heard 90 days. Which is it? Well, it's 180 days for most of them. 90 days for some things, and even 45/30 days for some other things.

2. What up with the online thing. Is it easier? Are your chances the same by calling to make the adr's? I thought it was actually very easy doing it online, especially now that they've made it a little better in the past couple of months. I'm not sure about your chances of calling vs. online.

4. What character meals do you HIGHLY recommend? We'll do breakfast at Poly for sure (where we will be staying), Chef Mickey's too. Never been to Crystal Palace...thinking of that one too. Your thoughts? Crystal Palace is my most favorite character meal. The character interaction is great and the food is really good.

5. Do you still have to tip OOP for the TS meals while on the dining plan? Yes, you still have to pay OOP for tips, which kinda stinks...but it is what it is.

[emacek]

Just one headsup....Fulton's is not on the DDP.

emacek

[Pop Centurion]

4. What character meals do you HIGHLY recommend? We'll do breakfast at Poly for sure (where we will be staying), Chef Mickey's too. Never been to Crystal Palace...thinking of that one too. Your thoughts?
For Breakfast I would highly recommend both Donald's Safari Breakfast at the Tusker House in AK and 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. Both have great character interaction & a great selection at the buffet. I haven't done Crystal Palace for Breakfast yet so I can't comment on that. Chef Mickey's is fun but the buffet is limited with choices.

For character dinners I like Crystal Palace. We also did 1900 Park Fare for dinner and found the food was good but we only eat chicken & fish & the selection was a little limited as far as that. The character interaction was great though. Drizella & Anastasia were absolutely hilarious and Cinderella & Prince Charming dance with the young one's at times. Real nice experience IMO.

[TheDuckRocks]

Hi Nicole,
Here's some answers to your questions and a couple of other things that you might need to know.
1) The ADRs are 180+10 for Disney resort guests at this time. What that means for you is you can book 180 days from the first night of your resort reservation date plus the next 10 nights you are staying. As you are going in February you may already be able to get the ADRs now. As the popular places book up early I would suggest you start ASAP.
2) Using the online system is easy, just go onto the Disney website and go over to where it says "Where To Eat" on the top bar and click. Have your reservation number, the name and phone number you used for making the reservation and you're in business.
3) I have seen kids at Flying Fish and although the time having dinner there was long most of them handled it fairly well.
4) Other suggestion for a character buffet is Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club (easy walk out the International gateway from Epcot). Smaller but less crowded than some of the other character meals we have been to, and the food was really good, and Donald was there so I was happy. Another place the kiki might like is Ohana at the Poly for dinner, even without the characters they have things for them to do.
5) Being you are a party of 6 there will be an automatic 18% tip added to your bill. This is one of those Disney policies that you will find heated discussions about all the time. It is what it is and I'm just giving you an advanced warning that they do count the little one.
6) I can't think there will be many times you would have to get something OOP for the toddler. My granddaughter is soon going to be 13 and we still split meals at Disney because the servings are so large.
Final thought - the 2011 DDP listing for participating restaurants is incomplete at this time, contracts still need to be finalized. Don't panic! Look at the 2010 list and you will probably not see much difference for 2011. You will be told that a restaurant is not on the list but I have found that if I make my ADRs from the previous year's list, I'm OK. They will release the final list right after the first of Jan. and sometimes even a little earlier. If you find that someone had dropped out of the plan you can then change your ADR.
Best luck, and have fun both getting your ADRs planned and on your trip.

[lighteningqueen]

Tusker is really good best breakfast food we think. Characters are Mickey,Pluto Goofy, Daisy, Donald and they are great about visiting with the kids. You really should consider this one first and also Crystal and 1900 are the best you will get for food.

[PopPhan]

1. How far out can you make ADR's? Back in 2008 it was 180 days then I thought I heard 90 days. Which is it? Currently, 180 + 10 days following if you are staying in a Disney Resort.

2. What up with the online thing. Is it easier? Are your chances the same by calling to make the adr's? Onlilne reservations are available at 6am Eastern, whereas phone reservations don't open up until 7am. An hour can make a lot of difference. Also, with the update of the online system, there are options given if your date and time are not available at the particular restaurant you want.

5. Do you still have to tip OOP for the TS meals while on the dining plan? Yes. They no longer include tips as part of the DDP. However, you do not have to carry cash, as you can have the tips put on your KTTW card (if you have charging privileges.)

6. My youngest will be under 3. (so she won't be on our dining plan right?) So does this mean she can eat at buffets? How about other TS meals? Will we need to buy her her own kid meals if we feel she needs one? Under 3, she can eat off your plate at buffets. You do not need to pay for a meal for her.

[spoiledraf]

I highly recomend Cape May Cafe (Beach
Club) character breakfast, altough it's a hop from your hotel. Characters are Minnie, Goofy, Donald and I believe Pluto??? But good food and great interaction. Bus to DHS and boat to BC would be simple. Then your choice of Epcot or DHS after breackfast.

[emmatink]

Not sure if you have all girls or not but we really enjoyed the Princess breakfast in Norway. The hot foods are served family style and the cold foods (bagels, doughnuts, fruit, yogurt, etc.) are served buffet style. We enjoyed the meal and got to visit with 5 princesses. Chef Mickey's has also been our favorite too.

I love using the online system to make ADR's. I was actually on the phone with a cast member the other night trying to make a ressie for our anniversary dinner and he told me there was nothing available for dinner at the restaurant I wanted. I tried to find something online and was able to get a table that was not available to him. Kind of strange but I was happy!

[beksy]

I also really like the online system for ressies. That extra hour can make a difference. I would suggest getting on and being familliar with it before you actually need to book anything though so you aren't stressing over options and how to work the system. Our favorites character meals are Tusker House (we found we had more time with Mickey there than at Chef Mickey's) and CRT (my sister loves eating there but its 2 TS). I would say determine what characters are most important and then use that to determine where you want to eat. As a pp mentioned Ohanas is great for kids at dinner too with games and stuff. Whispering Canyon is the same way. Either of these may be good options for your kiddos. Have fun planning!

[disneymom2000]

I highly recomend Cape May Cafe (Beach
Club) character breakfast, altough it's a hop from your hotel. Characters are Minnie, Goofy, Donald and I believe Pluto??? But good food and great interaction. Bus to DHS and boat to BC would be simple. Then your choice of Epcot or DHS after breackfast.

Actually the characters at Cape May are Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale. And they are in beachwear. So cute.

[TheDuckRocks]

Actually the characters at Cape May are Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale. And they are in beachwear. So cute.

We dined with Minnie, Mickey, Goofy and Donald this past April when there.

[2MuchWDFun]

3. This time around we are going as a family of 6. (we were only 5 in 2008). My hubbie and I loved the Flying Fish and Fulton's Crab House when we went alone in '99. Would either of these be kid appropriate for 4 kiddos ages 2.5, 5, 7, and 9?
Not sure if you are on the regular or deluxe dining...be aware that the Flying Fish is a 2 TS restaurant.

[snowflakegirl]

I tried the Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House this past trip and was quite happy both with the food and with the character interactions. I would definitely recommend this one.