How do you divide your must dos with trying new places?

[remy1014]

I am planning our ADR's for May and all together we will be doing 11 TS meals. Only 5 are new places. I was hoping to squeeze in a few more new places but the favorites from last trip keep making their way back on the list.

We have only tried maybe 10 TS places so we have a lot left to try. Just curious how others divide it.

[SBETigg]

We only have one absolute must per trip- California Grill. And I think we've been there enough that we're ready to put it on rotation-- which is what we do with most of our favorites, rotate them out per trip. We like to try about half new, half familiar favorites per trip, but it doesn't always average out neatly. If there are more new places we want to try, we'll sacrifice some old favorites until next time. Plus, it depends on location and where people want to go. Last trip, we repeated some familiar favorites (5), tried some new (5), and there were still a few favorites we had to leave off the list- but we found new favorites to add.

So the quick answer is half new, half favorites.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I think half and half sounds like a good plan...we did almost all new last trip and found a few new favorites like LeCellier and Kona...also a couple we didn't really care for at all Marakesh and Tony's...so if you have some old favorites at least you know there will be some you like....

[gerald72]

I like to try new places. My kids prefer the old favorites.
We also tend to be about 50/ 50 with new and favorites on each trip.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Browse the menus pages to try to find what hits you.
Keep reading Intercot to find out what others like/dislike.
Make sure you get your ADRs EARLY to avoid disappointment.
We do not dine in the hotels often, that cuts into our park time too much.

[Goofeygal]

Always love to do Kona.

[KylesMom]

You're making a nice dent this next trip if you're trying five new locations!

We have our absolute must do's such as Mama Melrose, Sci-Fi, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, LeCellier, Crystal Palace & Whispering Canyon(tradition, don'tcha know) then there are the "new dining experiences", usually which equal two or three each trip. Since our absolute must do's are family favorites, we're never comfortable ditching them for possible disappointments, of which we've had more than a few! However, we always make it a point to add at least two new experiences each trip. Two of our newest eateries, Cape May Seafood Buffet & TRex, are making it back onto the list this year!

[2MuchWDFun]

This is a great question! I usually go through this every trip--however, this year we are doing the deluxe ddp (I'm celebrating my graduation from college!) with all those TS credit we'll be trying out a lot of new restaurants. Have ADRs for 3 specialty dining restaurants (Cali Grill, Narcoosees, & Citricos), plus CRT for breakfast and Hoop de Do. Other new restaurants for this trip include-La Hacienda (dinner and illuminations), Nine Dragons (lunch), and Kona for breakfast (finally going to have the Tonga Toast).
For this trip we'll be eating at our favs for lunch such as Yak and Yeti, Le Cellier, Sci-Fi Diner, and Coral Reef. So lunch may be an option for you--that way you can squeeze in a couple more favorites!
There are many of our favorite restaurants that did not make the list...we'll have to save them for another trip. It really can be hard to decide!
Can you tell that food will be a b-i-g focus this December? Wherever you choose to dine will be delicious!

[mickeymousedabomb]

Well one thing we do is upgrade to the dlx plan. Although some may feel it's to much food, we tend to have TS for breakfast and dinner and a CS for lunch making it possible to do favs and try new places. We have our breakfast by 8am every morning, lunch around 1 and a late dinner. It seems to work out for us this way and we just LOVE all the places we get to try and redo!!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

You're making a nice dent this next trip if you're trying five new locations!

We have our absolute must do's such as Mama Melrose, Sci-Fi, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, LeCellier, Crystal Palace & Whispering Canyon(tradition, don'tcha know) then there are the "new dining experiences", usually which equal two or three each trip. Since our absolute must do's are family favorites, we're never comfortable ditching them for possible disappointments, of which we've had more than a few! However, we always make it a point to add at least two new experiences each trip. Two of our newest eateries, Cape May Seafood Buffet & TRex, are making it back onto the list this year!

Just curious, what are your must do dishes at mama melrose's?

[buzznwoodysmom]

We only have two must dos for each trip, Ohana's for dinner and a character breakfast. We have other favorites that we rotate from trip to trip, but we try to keep it 50/50. We have a trip coming up in March and my boys, 10 and 8, told me that we don't have to do a character meal this trip, so that'll leave open some room for something else new unless I decide that "I" have to have a character meal. LOL.

[Gator]

That's really hard, and I had to face that when I made ADRs for my upcoming trip. I've been going to Akershus for the last 4 trips. I love the food, LOVE IT, and my DD really like the princesses. But we decided to try 1900 Park Faire for dinner, in addition to lunch at the Castle. We decided we didn't need 3 princess meals, so we're trying Garden Grill this time. The kids get Mickey and the gang, plus we get to try some new food. I'm SURE it' won't be as good as Akershus, but sometimes change has to happen.

[LandFan]

If we are paying OOP, we tend to do maybe 30% or so per trip as we want to make sure there are enough places that we feel are of good quality for the $$.

If we are getting free dining (as we have lucked out with on 4 of our last 7 trips!) we tend to do more new places - maybe half and half - since it doesn't really matter if it isn't our favorite - it's all good when it is free, lol!

Free dining has definitely allowed us to try a whole slew of new restaurants and for that we are very grateful!

In 10 days we will be trying 5 new restuarants... Sanaa, Kouzzina, Tutto Italia, Biergarten and Hollywood & Vine. Can't wait!!

[MOJoe]

I struggled with this issue a few years ago. On one trip, my desire to try out some of the places everyone raves about led me to make ADR's exclusively for signature dining that i had not tried yet. I stayed at a value resort to help support this dining adventure.

I really enjoyed it. But my family was less enthusiastic. They missed the fun and "comfort" of our favorite places. And i must say that trying something new every night was a little over the top. So now, while i still enjoy trying something new, i reserve over half my ressies for our old favorites.

[Captain_Nemo]

I do every other day a new one, with a new place the first day to add to the excitement. It also matters on the location of all the new places you want to try, for example, you want to try 4 new countries for dinner, your not going to always want to end your nights at Epcot.