How does this sound??

[reneeandmark]

Traveling with my DH, DD - 15, DS - 14 and my 3 neices 13, 9, 6 - my sis and her hubby in July...

We are staying at POR-Riverside. Hope this is a good choice as we have never stayed there.

Arrive on 7/14 - dinner at O'hana and firewords at MK afterwards.
7/15 DHS with Fantasmic Dinner at Hollywood and Vine
7/16 EPCOT with Akershus Dinner
7/17 AK with dinner at Chef Mickey - Contemporary
7/18 MK with dinner at Be Our Guest
7/19 MK with dinner at The Crystal Palace (for my DD 15 - Pooh is her favorite and my sis's birthday!!)
7/20 EPCOT with dinner at Coral Reef
7/21 AK with diiner at Rain Forest

Anyone see things they would change?? Suggestions for improvement??
We will be celebrating my sis's birthday, my BIL's birthday and it is the anniversary of all our adoptions (my children 11 years, oldest neice 12 years and little ones 5 years - and YES, ALL of our children are adopted - just like GOD adopted us!!!)

[Pop Centurion]

Sounds like a nice trip.

I'm guessing you went with Hollywood & Vine due to the children but if you're not that set on a character meal, I'd see if you can switch to Mama Melrose as the food is much better IMO.

Also, if you have a Rainforest Cafe' near you at home I'd opt for the Yak & Yeti instead for the same reason above.

Finally I'd like to say that's a great thing you've done by adopting. It's sad to think of all the kids out there waiting for a family that probably feel unwanted. Sounds like your children couldn't have found a better family. (Not just because of the Disney trip)

[sugarlily]

I´m still to have my first trip to WDW, so I can´t help you with that.
I´ve been lurking the boards only collecting ideas and tips for my first trip planning, but when I saw your message, I had to register and log in just to congratulate you. I´m 27 and was adopted as a little baby and I have so much respect for parents like you and like mine! There´s nothing more beautiful than giving a child the chance to have a family and be loved. I hope one day I can return this act of love and have a few adopted children too.

[#1donaldfan]

You have a great looking line up, but the last one !! Every eatery you have is great and not typical of anywhere but Disney, so I'd take Rainforest out and go to Yak n Yeti at AK. Either way, looks as though you have it all planned out and just waiting to arrive !!

[Ms. Mode]

Now see, this is where I'm different! We ate at Rain Forest Cafe for the first time ever on our first trip to WDW and it has become a tradition of sort. Of course, we don't live any where near a RFC, but there is something about that restaurant at AK...all those animals just go together.

[thejens]

It all looks good to me! Coral Reef has had less than great reviews for food, but the atmosphere sounds good. My kids loved Rainforest for the atmosphere, but the food was sort of Applebees-ish. We like Hollywood and Vine, Ohana, Akershus, and Cystal Palace. They are all really fun for the characters. I liked Chef Mickey's for breakfast, but never did dinner. The restaurants you chose are great for atmosphere and fun, fine for food.

I hope you post later and let us know how it went with your teens. I have never been with a teen before and we are planning a trip for this September.

[reneeandmark]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments!! We tried to choose places for ALL ages and food preferences. We do not have a RFC near us and the "little ones" have never been. I look forward to seeing their faces when everything starts happening.

SugarLily - thanks for the wonderful post about your appreciation of your parents. As the parent of two teens, it is nice to know that as they grow they WILL appreciate all we went through (and go through) for them. It has been a long road but one I would not change for the WORLD... (and YES, not even DISNEY WORLD!!)

Now, one more question..... BEST place to eat in each park for counter service meal????

[snowflakegirl]

Sounds like a great trip!

As far as best counter services in each park, here are some of our favorites:

MK - Cosmic Ray's. They have a great "fixins" bar and decent options (although pretty standard counter service fare). Mostly I love it because I have fond memories of the very corny audioanimatronic "lounge singer" Sonny Eclipse from when I was a child with my family. We also really enjoy Columbia Harbor House.

Epcot - There are SO many good choices here depending on what you like. We usually make a point of checking out Sunshine Seasons and though we haven't been to the revamped Katsura Grill, we always used to get a meal from the quick service in Japan.

AK - Flame Tree BBQ

DHS - We're not a huge fan of any of the counter service options here, but when we do have a counter service meal it's usually at the Studio Catering Company.

Wherever you end up, have fun!!

[#1donaldfan]

...Have you looked at T-REX at DtD ??? It's a little better than Rain Forest....IMHO...

MK = Tortuga, Columbia Harbor House, Casey's
AK = Flametree BBQ, Pizzafari
EC= Sunshine Seasons, Yorkshire Fishe Shoppe
HS = Pizza Planet !!

[Aurora]

I don't have any suggestions for eateries, but I will say as one having traveled with various family members in the past -- that is A LOT of together time. And I'm extremely close with my family.

I would strongly suggest having an "off" day for your families to split up and do whatever each wants, preferably in the middle of the week. I know you feel like you're not going down there to be apart, but sometimes you just need a little breather, especially since you'll also be staying at the same hotel (which I think is a great choice for your group).

Also, I don't know how you feel about the teens going off by themselves for a bit of time, but Disney World is a great place for them to have a little independence. On our last trip with my sister's family, our teens split up from the parents and younger siblings for a couple of hours and had a great time together before meeting back up with the rest of us.

All that said, I do love traveling to WDW with extended family. It makes it that much more fun. Have a wonderful trip!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I would also change my Fantasmic meal to Mama's...

[LVT]

Looking good. My family did say too much table service, so I cut back this year. I have to second the " apart in the park time." Some adults may even want to tour the monorail hotels/ shops.

[dkmwong]

Everything sounds great. I would opt out of Coral Reef. We were not impressed with it at all and found it to be over rated. Seeing as you will have the kids with you. Have you thought about Japan and doing the teppanyaki and having them cook and put on a show for you