PrincipalTinker - No plan. I may have one family get a deluxe dining plan and use the credits on the most expensive adult dinners, but not sure yet. I know that isn’t how the plan is supposed to work, but based on responses to another thread - it seems like we could do that with the deluxe plan.
SStottlemyer - I agree that 2, sometimes 3, sit downs seems like a lot. . . but our crew likes to start early and stay late. The sit downs serve as a good breaks in the day. My thinking in making this plan was that we will do a sit down dinner each night - so picked those first: CM, Tiffins, HBD or HDDR, and CRT. Then, I looked for Pre-RD reservations. I love the idea of getting into MK before it opens with BOG reservation; and GG reservation will allow us to use our FP in Epcot on FEA. After that, I added in lunch at 50’s, VN and TH. Both 50’s and VN seemed like casual TS restaurants that we could order light, if we wanted. Assuming service is decently quick, I think casual table service is actual easier and more relaxing for a group of 8 than fast food. As for TH, that doesn’t fit the bill for casual lunch, but I picked it because it comes highly recommended. Maybe I should flip that to something non-buffet? Yak & Yeti?
The lateness of HDDR is a very good point. I was thinking I might take the 6 yo back to the resort to rest late afternoon. We are only planning Epcot that day and starting early, so I’d think by late afternoon, she’d be willing to take a break… . but I will have to think about it. We are planning an EMH start at AK the next morning so it might be too much for her.
bswan26 - I have a feeling the adult choices may be more in line with your choices (my husband doesn’t like character buffets). . . but we do have 4 kids in our group. I’m interested to hear what restaurants you would pick.
Last year, we did not hop on our 3 day trip (Epcot, MK, HS). We found that we liked using EMH, but did not like being stuck at the EMH park all day. This year, we decided we will try hopping to see if that works better for us. I don’t mind using Uber if it helps us get around faster. Here is some additional info:
Day 1 - MK has evening EMH. We were planning to go to MK, have dinner in or around MK, then go back to MK for evening EMH. For this, I thought a monorail resort restaurant would be a good idea and picked CM. . . but CM is the restaurant in our plan that I’m the least excited about. Any other suggestions? CA Grill? Wave? BOG? It would be nice to be able to get a drink with dinner. Is BOG the only MK restaurant that serves alcohol?
Day 3 - If we went to HBD instead of HDDR, would it make a difference to know that HS has EMH that night? I think if we did that, I’d cancel VN and do an early HBD reservation so we could do Fantasmic and take advantage of EMH. I’m totally on the fence on this one. There are some who love HDDR.
I’m seeing the other family tonight, so will have to see if they have any thoughts. Thanks all for weighing in. I really appreciate the perspectives. There aren’t that many people willing to talk Disney restaurants to this detail.