Good morning. First post on these boards, long time reader and successful user of Touring Plans.
I just changed our flights to arrive Monday evening Jan 26th vs Tuesday afternoon. All of our touring planes and ADRs were done and now we have an additional 1/2 day and another ADR to make. We will be spending the morning leisurely in AK, recharging from a late night flight.
Question is should we make a breakfast ADR at Tusker house for 9:15 or 9:30 or possible a dinner ADR at MK for that evening? We did CP in Feb and wouldn’t be opposed to going again, but would like to hear thoughts on other options at MK?
Possible plans for the day:
Arrive AK around 9:00 (first time not being at front of line for rope drop)
Maybe breakfast at Tusker
Safari and Lion King walk around and enjoy the park a bit
If time head to HS on way back to hotel as DD wants an Elsa MB (go figure)
MK around 4pm -possible dinner here. FP for 7D, PP, ETwB and hopefully buying an Elsa dress.
I personally loved Tusker House - but what about doing it closer to brunch time? That way you can get some touring in first, then sit down and relax for a bit. When we went at 10:45, we got the breakfast buffet but it slowly switched to lunch so we got to try that as well. Both were excellent - far better than CP in terms of quality of food.
The table service options at MK do not excite me, but LTT gets good reviews on here sometimes. Better options are available at the nearby resorts, so consider those as well.
I would definitely consider one of the monorail resorts before going into MK. Depending on your Party makeup you could do something fun like WCC or Kona. The Wave and GF Cafe also get good reviews.
We love the food at Animal Kingdom. Tusker House lunch or Y&Y lunch are a nice change from the ordinary. I really like the African flavors at lunch at TH, Y&Y is just yummy, standard Asian food - excellent crispy honey chicken.
Where are you staying?
I would Table Service a later lunch at AK, then plan a counter service at MK. Better food at AK. If a monorail resort is an option, the new Captain Cooks at Poly is an excellent counter service location - very good food, and you can get Dole Whips for dessert.
Your DD4 will love the characters at Tusker House. Daisy especially was hilarious on our last trip there. And they do a really fun little parade.
Bus to MK and then monorail is likely the only way to get to those resorts using Disney transportation, but I would encourage you to consider a cab for one direction or the other. It’s about $20 and so easy and relaxing. I budget in at least two cab rides per trip and use them when Disney transport is either very busy or when trying to get to a resort. It’s way cheaper than renting a car even if you do several cab rides.
MK Dinner ADR choices are amongst my least favorites. I love LTT for lunch, but not so much for dinner. Tony’s is acceptable, but Olive Garden is probably better “Italian” food. CP and CRT are both CMs; haven’t done either. I ate at the Plaza MANY years ago; I remember an OK sandwitch, but I couldn’t tell you what kind.
The seared ahi salad at Y&Y in AK is one of my favorite meals in WDW. The seafood curry is also very good (and very heavy). Apps are excellent. Other entrees are hit or miss. Haven’t been to TH yet, but the lunch menu looks great and I’m looking forward to trying it for the first time in about 24 days.
Bottom line: I would do a lunch TS at AK and either CS or snack at MK.
Alternate thoughts: IF you do stop at DHS - 50s, SciFi, MM, and HBD are all very good TS options for lunch…
Another vote for eating TS at AK. We loved Y&Y, and find their food superior to TS in MK. We like to eat about 3 hours after arriving- don’t like to spend the best touring time in a restaurant so breakfast/brunch is kind of out. But it’s personal preference. Lots of good food choices out there!
I seem to be in the minority, but I always enjoy eating at Tony’s in MK. I try to get reservations for about 30 minutes before the night parade, get there really early (60-90 minutes depending on how busy it is) and ask for patio seating when I check in. They cannot guarantee it, but they will try, especially if you are willing to wait. I’ve done it 4 times thus far, and managed to get patio seating 3 out of the 4 times, with window seats the other time. The view of the parade is really good, and it’s a relaxing way to watch it. The food is pretty good (nothing spectacular, but still good). We go there more for the ambiance than the food, but have never had complaints about the food.