We have a package booked for March 4-12 with the regular Disney Dining Plan, so we have a total of 8 nights and my understanding is that =8 TS credits. We don’t want to do a TS meal on our arrival & departure days (the 4th and 12th) because we’re driving and will be arriving late and leaving early.
So, in reality that leaves me 6 days to use up 8 TS credits.
Here are the meals we have our heart set on:
Hoop De Do Revue (2 credits)
Boma - 1 credit
Biergarten - 1 credit
Coral Reef- 1 credit
So that still leaves me 3 TS credits that we’d need to figure out. 2 Questions:
What are your favorite TS restaurants that we should consider- 2 adults, a 9 year old & a 7 year old. (NOT in HS because we aren’t going there, but MK, AK, EP or resorts are good)
Personally I’m not even a fan of sit-down meals, I prefer QS so I don’t even really WANT to use up the other 3 credits for sit down meals. (We looked at doing the QS meal plan instead, but cost wise we wouldn’t come out much ahead paying out of pocket for the TS meals above- mainly because Hoop De Doo is so flipping expensive!) Is there anything you could suggest to get some value out of those 3 remaining credits, if we choose not to do 3 more TS meals?
How about a character breakfast? What characters would your kids be into? Depending on how early you leave on departure day even, you could do one of the hotel ones as a last hurrah.
Check my math again, but I think you have 7 days to use 8 TS credits.
We (me, DH, DS10 and DS5) all love Tusker House for breakfast. It’s a buffet with Mickey, Donald, Daisy. It’s in Animal Kingdom. We also love it for lunch, but we mostly like to schedule the pre-RD breakfast to get us inside the park before its open.
Oh! And if you like Mexican food, we all also liked San Angel Inn Restaurante, inside the Mexico pavilion. It feels like it’s always dusk in there, and the tables are near the water with the boat ride and the erupting volcano. That was a fun dinner!
You’re right! 7 days does make things a bit easier, doesn’t it?? We didn’t try Tusker House on our last visit, so that sounds like a good option. And we haven’t done a TS breakfast before, so that might be fun to try.
We have about a 10-11 hour drive, so last time we just grabbed a QS breakfast and ate in the car! We’ll probably do that again this time.
I don’t know what to do about character meals… last time (2014) we did a bunch of them, but this time they seem to be more interested in the rides and not much in the characters.
If you’re going to use it on a breakfast then I’d definitely suggest Tusker House or Garden Grill… we usually do both of those just because A. we lobf the safari characters and the location at Tusker House and B. we LOVE the food at Garden Grill, plus Mickey, Chip & Dale and Pluto are there… There’s also the option of switching your Biergarten to a signature restaurant in the WS, unless you absolutely HAVE to have German food.
I think my kids would love the music and my husband would love the beer! We thought about doing a date night at the signature restaurant at Yacht Club and putting the kids in child care (did a date last time at Sana’a) but we’d really only be doing it to “use up” 2 credits so I’m not sure whether it’s worth the time or not.
LOL, do you not like each other enough for another date night? If the kids enjoyed the child care and you would enjoy a little break then that seems like it could be a nice way to “use up” the credits… I think most of us tend to get focused on making the most of our time at WDW, because it’s always limited and we sometimes forget to relax a bit!
Is Cali Grill OK for kids? I read a review that said it was a bit more of a nice atmosphere for adults/older kids. I wasn’t sure about taking my kids there.
We took our DS 6 and DD 11 to California Grill last year during Easter week and loved it! Really enjoyed seeing Wishes from the balcony/outdoor space there!
Assuming that they are not the kind of kids that run around the restaurant or throw food, CG should be OK. Some of the signatures (such as Jiko or Citrico’s) not as much so, but CG should be fine. It also happens to be my favorite restaurant in WDW…
Raglan Road in DS might be another good option. Lots going on, NOT quiet, fun music and dance, and excellent food; one of my favorite non-signatures in WDW.
VN has what is hands down the best pizza in WDW (and some of the best I’ve had anywhere). Very kid-friendly.
Sanaa (at AKL Kidani) is another favorite of mine. If you go during daylight hours, you can watch the animals on the Savannah as you eat.
My kids (and us parents!) loved Ohana dinner. It’s only one TS credit but SO MUCH FOOD and has always been delicious. The kids can also participate in a parade around the restaurant with the sweet singing, ukulele player followed by coconut races. We also love the idea of exploring other resorts so using a TS credit at a resort is a good idea.
Tusker House lunch at AK was also one of our faves - although I’m always a bit hesitant to take too much time out of park touring hours for a sit-down meal. (It worked for us because we had plenty of spare time at AK.)
We are doing Tusker House breakfast for the first time at AK this November, comes highly recommended and you get characters that come to you vs. waiting in line for them (always a plus to me!). My kids have always enjoyed Crystal Palace in MK, it’s right off Main Street and you get Winnie the Pooh and those characters that visit your table. Great food as far as buffets go and a really nice environment, actually one of our must-do TS every trip. Chef Mickey breakfast or Ohana breakfast is good too. I would also highly recommend Whispering Canyon Cafe for breakfast, lunch or dinner, GREAT place in the Wilderness Lodge resort.
We thought about doing a date night at the signature restaurant at Yacht Club and putting the kids in child care (did a date last time at Sana’a) but we’d really only be doing it to “use up” 2 credits so I’m not sure whether it’s worth the time or not.
If the kids enjoyed the child care and you would enjoy a little break then that seems like it could be a nice way to “use up” the credits… I think most of us tend to get focused on making the most of our time at WDW, because it’s always limited and we sometimes forget to relax a bit!