DDP, CRT and other silly questions (long)

[Suzibell1968]

We have been to WDW several times, but never on DDP. We are ones to eat at table service restaurants and character meals, so I know we made a good choice going with the DDP.

We have an 8 day park hopper for late August so we have 8 TS credits each if I am understanding correctly. Here is what I have reservations for so far...

Chef Mickey for dinner (love this, won't be changing it!)
Liberty Tree for one lunch and one dinner (kids love the mac and cheese)
Hoop Dee Doo (questioning)
Mama Melrose Fantasmic dinner package (questioning)
Cinderella's Royal table for lunch (questioning)
50s Prime Time Cafe for lunch (questioning)

So, currently I have reservations that use 9 credits. I have one day with no resservations.

So here are some of my concerns/issues/questions....

I think one of my children (maybe two) will starve at Hoop Dee Doo. There is nothing on the menu he eats...regardless of DDP or OOP it may be a huge waste of money to do this.....I personally love Hoop Dee Doo, but my kids may or may not ....boys ages 4, 7 & 9...thoughts and opinions appreciated.

Fantasmic.....I keep going back and forth on this. I am worried my two little ones will get scared. I know kids much younger than mine love it, but as we all know, kids are all different. To go to a movie at the theatre, we have to put ear phones on our two little ones so they don't cry from the loud sounds. The movies Tarzan and Nemo scare them......the scene in Cars where the big combine tractors chase Lightening McQueen....terrifies them, had to leave the theater. Thoughts and opinions on this please...

50s Prime Time verses Hollywood and Vine. My kids love Little Einsteins....which has a better kids menu? My kids are not hamburger kids, but they do like hot dogs, fries and ice cream. Thoughts? Opinions?

Cinderella's Royal Table....I have read countless times that this is not worth 2 TS credits, but I don't think I am willing to pay OOP for it either. I have never been in the castle, I have never met Cinderella. This meal is for mommy, not my boys really. Is the experience fun for boys? I don't want to drag them there, eat poor quality food and have slow service and a boring character intereaction for 2 TS credits. Thoughts and opinions on this please!

If I cancel any of the above, I am considering...
Garden Grill at Epcot...thoughts?

Ohana breakfast....love it, but not sure I want to give up a morning to a breakfast.

Other ideas that you think should not be missed? If I cancel Hoop Dee Doo and/or CRT, I will need some good choices.

Thanks for any and all opinions, thoughts, stories etc to help me make some final decisions!

[Kairi_7378]

I can't really help you with the dining choices but I wanted to tell you that Fantasmic is LOUD! (And I work on construction sites in the day and play in a marching band for fun.) I would take some earphones or some ear plugs for the younger ones because most of the Disney shows are loud. I think that is what scares the kids more than anything else. I would keep the ressie for Mama Melrose's and make using the Fantasmic package a game time decision. the nice thing about the package is that you don't have to wait in line for 2 hours to get into the stadium, so if you have to leave you are not wasting that long investment.

(If you are afraid about the kids getting scared I would avoid Tough to Be a Bug. I also had a strange child jump in my lap during Philharmagic because of the noise level!)

If you are having second thoughts about Hoop De Doo, I would skip it. I wouldn't want to spend all of that money and then have to feed the kids later. If you want to see the inside of the Castle, Cindy's is probably the best way to do it. (Maybe the boys will be excited to see Mommy happy to Cinderella?) If you are worried about the kids not liking the Castle, have you thought about Crystal Palace? The younger ones might like to see Pooh. Garden Grill has a good reputation and could be a fun choice for Epcot.

[tinksmom02]

Let me see if I can help...

the DDP is for the number of nights of stay, it's not according to your park passes (I was under the same impression, at first). So if you're staying for eight nights, then you get 8 TS, 8 CS and 8 snacks.

I obviously can't (and won't) speak for your kids, or anyone else's, but our DD was 4 last trip and will be 5 in Sept and I have no intention of taking her to Fantasmic. She is very scared of the villians characters (with the exception of Capt. Hook) and won't even watch The Little Mermaid on DVD. From what I've heard Fantasmic can be very loud, and somewhat scary. For me, that's an experience we can skip.

I haven't done Hoop-Dee-Doo, but if you really think your kids won't enjoy the food, I would reconsider going.

If your kids are Little Einstein fans, H&V is the way to go! It's a buffet, so they can pick out what they want...they have kids stuff, but the kids can get anything they want off the entire buffet. As opposed to picking one of 3 or 4 things off a menu...

I'm SURE that you have tons of stuff planned for all of your boys, just sit them down and tell them that CRT is the ONE thing that Mommy wants to do! LOL I explained to DD last trip that there were some things that were Grandp-things (driving at WDW speedway, eg), and they might not be too exciting for her, but there's plenty of Jenna fun on the trip so she needs to let Grandpa have his moment.

It's not really a girly meal, the girls get wands, I think the boys get swords? (don't have a boy, don't know for sure) and everyone gets a wishing star. They do a wishing ceremony midway through the meal (although, this was our breakfast experience, lunch may differ!).

There aren't that many boy-oriented character meals at WDW, and I think Ohanas might be as close as any others, with Stitch. We were there in 2004, pre-stitch, but I remember the food was excellent! And you might want to have a late-start day, sleep in, head over for a leisurely breakfast, explore the Poly a little, and then head to the park...

We haven't tried it yet, but in Sept we're trying Boma at AKL. Have heard really good things about it, interesting menu, but they still have traditional foods, for picky eaters, and again, a buffet, bigger selection. We have 5pm ADRs and are planning on exploring the resort after dinner. Would something like that interest your family at all???

Hope that helps!! :mickey:

[melcha]

We have been to WDW several times, but never on DDP. We are ones to eat at table service restaurants and character meals, so I know we made a good choice going with the DDP.

We have an 8 day park hopper for late August so we have 8 TS credits each if I am understanding correctly. Here is what I have reservations for so far...

Chef Mickey for dinner (love this, won't be changing it!)
Liberty Tree for one lunch and one dinner (kids love the mac and cheese)
Hoop Dee Doo (questioning)
Mama Melrose Fantasmic dinner package (questioning)
Cinderella's Royal table for lunch (questioning)
50s Prime Time Cafe for lunch (questioning)

So, currently I have reservations that use 9 credits. I have one day with no resservations.

So here are some of my concerns/issues/questions....

I think one of my children (maybe two) will starve at Hoop Dee Doo. There is nothing on the menu he eats...regardless of DDP or OOP it may be a huge waste of money to do this.....I personally love Hoop Dee Doo, but my kids may or may not ....boys ages 4, 7 & 9...thoughts and opinions appreciated.

Fantasmic.....I keep going back and forth on this. I am worried my two little ones will get scared. I know kids much younger than mine love it, but as we all know, kids are all different. To go to a movie at the theatre, we have to put ear phones on our two little ones so they don't cry from the loud sounds. The movies Tarzan and Nemo scare them......the scene in Cars where the big combine tractors chase Lightening McQueen....terrifies them, had to leave the theater. Thoughts and opinions on this please...

50s Prime Time verses Hollywood and Vine. My kids love Little Einsteins....which has a better kids menu? My kids are not hamburger kids, but they do like hot dogs, fries and ice cream. Thoughts? Opinions?

Cinderella's Royal Table....I have read countless times that this is not worth 2 TS credits, but I don't think I am willing to pay OOP for it either. I have never been in the castle, I have never met Cinderella. This meal is for mommy, not my boys really. Is the experience fun for boys? I don't want to drag them there, eat poor quality food and have slow service and a boring character intereaction for 2 TS credits. Thoughts and opinions on this please!

If I cancel any of the above, I am considering...
Garden Grill at Epcot...thoughts?

Ohana breakfast....love it, but not sure I want to give up a morning to a breakfast.

Other ideas that you think should not be missed? If I cancel Hoop Dee Doo and/or CRT, I will need some good choices.

Thanks for any and all opinions, thoughts, stories etc to help me make some final decisions!

I would definately keep Garden Grill. One of my kids favorite. TIP: make sure you sit on bottom level

CRT is worth it ask for table by the window you can overlook Fantasyland.

Fantasmic is best seen from a distance with scared little ones so i would not use dinner package for that one.

Instead of Hoop Dee Doo, I would do Whispering Canyon at wilderness Lodge.The seating for Hoop Dee Doo on dining plan is not that great and they do have obscene gestures for little ones in my experince.

Instead of lunch at LTT how about dinner at Ohana.

At the Grand Floridean they have a pirate adventure for boys for about $28. a child. They also have a Cinderella Gala Feast with Prince Charming. Get a Late Ressie and you can see them dancing in the lobby.:cloud9:

The food at Hollywood n Vine was not to my likeing, so i would choose 50's prime time

My kids love lilo and stich this is a really cute breakfast they even do a line dance like at Chef Mickeys.
Hope this helps:mickey:

[DisneyBarb]

To get the most worth of the dining plan, you may want to use it for your dinners rather than lunch... just a thought!

:mickey: