My family of 4 is travelling to WDW with my best friend’s family of 5 during the last week of March. My family was there in Feb 2020 however this will be their first trip. Kids wills be 11,10,9,8,7. We are staying on site (Carribean) and will not have hopper tickets.
This is my tentative dining plan:
Day 1: MK Day - O’hana
Day 2: HS Day - Sci Fi
Day 3: Sleep in/Pool/evening at Epcot - Biergarten
Day 4: AK - Tusker House
Day 5: Epcot- Teppan Edo
Day 6: Part day @ HS then DS - TREX
Day 7: MK - Go to Hoop De doo for 4pm show then back to MK for fireworks.
We do want one character meal with some of the Fab 5. I have also heard Yak and Yeti is good as well as Garden Grill and Topilinos.
I am wondering if you would change Tusker house for Yak and Yeti and then change one of my Epcot choices to either Topilinos or Garden Grill.
PS I would prefer to do Chef Art Smiths (we were there last time and loved it) or try boathouse Over TREX however we though the kids would enjoy TREX. Although I am still tempted to change…there is enough for the kids LOL!
PPS I know some of these will be difficult to get however I was successful in 2020 securing for our group of 10 by choosing some “off” times and using the reservation finder tools.
We had kids 9, 8 and 5 at Tusker House. Big hit with the kids. I don’t think it hurt that they’d had face painting just before TH as well.
These same kids enjoyed Garden Grill tho seating is a little tight there.
We’ve had kids aged 2, 3, 10 and 14 at Teppan Edo. They enjoyed the meal. If the kids in your two families are fish tank fans, Coral Reef might be a choice. Tho the kids we’ve had at Biergarten have enjoyed themselves.
I love your plan. Except for Biergarten, I have been to all the other onesies You have a great line-up.
I love Yak and Yeti, but it’s not for everyone. I don’t like that at GG you don’t get to see the characters dancing around in an open room like in other character meals.
GG is my favorite character meal (sad to hear that it’s not getting the rave reviews I would expect recently - I’m going in Feb and will report back). The restaurant also rotates and overlooks my husband’s favorite ride, Living on the Land. It’s served family style, and so I’ve found it to be a quicker meal (maybe an hour). I’ve typically had the characters rotate twice or more through the restaurant while seated, so lots of character interaction.
I haven’t been to Tusker House since the pandemic, but have always had tough experiences there for lunch. I’ve never waited less than 1/2 hour once I checked in for my reservation (the wait area is outside) and found the characters rotated very slowly, so the entire experience was 2 - 2.5 hours.
Wow! That is a long time (much longer than I would want). We did do Tusker house last trip for breakfast (when you could do PPO breaky). This time I think I will aim for a 4ish pm reservation! Hopefully it won’t be 2-2.5 hours like you experienced!
Tough choice, but I would choose Boathouse. I happen to love seafood and the quality just isn’t there here in Indiana. I love their outdoor space as well.
Homecomin and even though Boathouse is great this is not even close
Oh but disclaimer: just as @TheSafetyLady is from Indiana where seafood isn’t great, I’m from New England where it is (and when I was at Boathouse the oysters were from back home here!)
I still think I would pick Homecomin but that detail might matter for you
Yes! We LOVE Chef Art Smiths (have only been there once in 2020 so I am itching to go back). We are from Nova Scotia where seafood is fresh and amazing! Chances are the lobster would be from here lol! I think I will go with Chef Art Smiths!
We had not done Tusker House since covid. Before covid we did TH several years in a row for breakfast. Both before official park opening and for a late - 10:30 ish - breakfast. With at least 6 people, usually more. Two hours seems a lot to me. Maybe we’re quick eaters. We’re usually in and out in 60 to 90 minutes, in the mornings. Evenings can be much slower, depending on wait staff, also.
@cbalusek , we enjoyed our Garden Grill lunch in 2019 tho the kids were getting a bit restless before we got sprung. We got all the character interaction anyone could want. And plenty of good food. We were a group of 5 tho. The way the tables are set up, I wouldn’t consider GG for a larger group. I think in 2001 we did have 6 at a meal. Not recalling now which meal tho!
My kids did not enjoy Biergarten. They loved Coral Reef for the fish tank. The food is just ok to me but the kids loved it. We have never done Garden Grill but people are reporting it isn’t as good as it used to be. Teppan Edo sounds fun but I would make sure they can squeeze an additional kid in for a 9 top. Topolinos seems to be a hit with everyone. Haven’t been myself yet. I would stick with Tusker House over Yak & Yeti with kids in tow. I would do Y&Y over TH with an adults only group but the TH has characters.
