Daughters who are 6/8, first time to Disney, not terribly pick eater. I have booked several ADR’s, trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of or what to book instead. They enjoy princesses, but they aren’t die hard(not sure of a better way to word this). I have a CM-6:40, Aker-12:05,BOG-9am,HBD-545pm, Boma-9:20am,WCC-7:25, & CP-1:30. Hoping for an Ohana and a 1900…any others to try for?
TIA!
One of my favorite character meals on property is the Garden Grill at Epcot. Dinner there was delicious, especially the mashed potatoes. The kids menu looked good, thought I do not have experience with it. I highly recommend it, both for food and character interaction.
I personally don’t care for Chef Mickey’s. You can meet those characters elsewhere, and the food just isn’t so hot, especially for the price. I might try to switch that out for 'Ohana or 1900 Park Fare. The stepsisters from Cinderella are at dinner at Park Fare, and interaction with them is always hysterical.
I was not impressed with HBD on my last trip. I would do Citricos at the Grand Floridian over that, if you’re looking for a signature meal. The vibe there is a little more kid-friendly earlier in the dinner service, but it’s Disney; kids are always welcome almost everywhere.
I don’t think I would do Boma for breakfast unless you’re staying there. Getting to the parks at rope drop is just so beneficial, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice that park time.
Hope this helps!!
BOG, Sanaa and Boma, all for dinner, were all really good. Breakfast at BOG pre-opening was ok. I would only go again if it was pre-opening.
We liked Sanaa as much as Boma for dinner. Sanaa was about $50 less expensive for 2 adults and 2 children and we had plenty to eat. I agree that Boma for breakfast is probably unnecessary. We didn’t do it and we stayed at AKL.
We did the fantasmic dinning at Hollywood and Vine. The food was pretty bad even considering the characters for our 4&7 year old girls. I would pay the $180 again just to get the fantasmic seats. If you are doing Brown Derby can you get an earlier time to get fantasmic FP tickets? The cost is a bit more but was worth it to us. We arrived 1 hour pre-opening and got seats right in the middle in the front row.
We had breakfast at Sci-Fi pre-opening and it was decent. Breakfast at CRT was good but without the 4 year old liking princesses I don’t think we would do it. We ate at Akershus for lunch but that was 5 years ago. We thought it was ok and haven’t gone back.
My personal opinion is that we aim for a bare minimum of ADRs. Far more than touring plans, having a bunch of ADRs makes us feel too scheduled. We have ended canceling nearly all of our ADRs during our trips. For example, we were there in late June, and it was insanely hot out. We were so miserable killing time in HS until our Sci Fi ADR, but hated to eat the no-show fee and still have to pay to eat somewhere else. Having that reservation was a significant point of friction with DH, and DS5 was done and ready to go back to the hotel to swim and eat a burger or something.
Also, my son was resistant to a lot of sitting and eating, and would far rather hit counter services and graze around and have more fun with food. Even with character meals, sitting an eating for an hour or more doesn’t feel like “fun” for a kiddo, in my experience.
My favorite places to eat, therefore, include lots of counter service places. Sunshine Seasons, Gaston’s Tavern, Yak & Yeti counter, Restaurantosaurus, pretzel carts, popcorn carts, almost any CS in Epcot WS.
Rather than looking to book one or two ADRs per day, I would look to book maybe 2 for an entire trip, and make them be special events. Maybe characters, maybe showy food prep, maybe something fun like WCC or O’hana. But I personally think that more than 2-3 ADRs in a trip is counterproductive to fun with kids.
I second cancelling CM - the food really isn’t great, and it’s very loud and chaotic. Garden Grill is awesome for lunch and dinner - I haven’t tried breakfast yet but that sounds pretty good, too. 'Ohana breakfast is fun with Lilo, Stitch, and Mickey. We also like it being family style so you’re not running back and forth to a buffet and afraid of missing characters while you’re gone.
Can I ask where you are staying and if you are relying on Disney transportation? I agree with the comments about CM. I also think I would look for an earlier or later BOG unless it is an 8:00 opening. Your Boma will also use most of your morning time. I must say I love HBD- what a special meal for your daughters!
@marentette7, we are debating whether we keep our 8 am breakfast at Sci fi. It is EMH, but we are staying offsite. Do you think that we would have any advantage by being in the park before everyone else was let in?
Sorry to hijack this thread. I was trying to maybe do Reply as Linked topic, but that didn’t work, and I’m not even sure what it does
I have heard it is a quick breakfast and it will get you in the park earlier.
I don’t think your 8am reservation is worth it if you are talking about the park opening at 8am for EMH.
Our reservation was 8am and we where second in line to get in. Park opened at 9am. We got out of Sci Fi around 8:50 a.m. and walked to the main area toward TT and Rocking Roller Coaster. People were streaming in. Looked like they started letting them in around 8:45. We did not rush our breakfast and could have beaten rope drop if we did. No advantage for rides for us.
It is possible that you may not even be let in to get to Sci Fi before rope drop for EMH. So possibly no advantage for an empty park for pictures. I seem to recall that they will wait until early hours ends to let people in but you better double check that. If accurate you will have some minor advantage of beating the 9am crowd. You could probably get to Rocking Roller Coaster before 9am. Toy Story would likely already be packed. When we went to EMH I don’t think they scanned our bands once we were in the park. It was just the Evening hours that they did. Although I suspect HS is not a preferred park on a EMH day. Too many people staying in Disney go on those days.
If you have a car - and more for you than the kids (but our kids loved it too) JIKO. It is at Animal Kingdom Lodge - so a bit of trek to get too (unless you have a car) - or not too bad if you were in AK for the day. Food was outstanding and the service was great. Also if you enjoy wine - the wine cellar is the largest of S African wines outside of Africa. The food is decidedly upscale -but casual. If you are looking for something different and bit of a break from royal visitors - it is great.
We did also do Akrasus (at Norway) - that was very enjoyable for the kids especially. Laid back, not rushed and a bit more civilized. We went for lunch and the food was good - and the characters were great. Unlike CM - they really stayed at the table as long / short as you liked.