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jade123
LIF Infant
Member since 9/13 168 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
I know there are so many posts about this. Any thoughts on our choices? We have no meal plan and staying at S/D. Haven't been to disney in over 20 years! Have 3 kids 5 and younger. Both genders:
- arrival day- dinner at Bluezoo in hotel (celebratory birthday dinner for DH)
- Day 1: MK: Crystal Palace lunch & Marrakesh dinner in Epcot
- Day 2: AK: Saana lunch & Tusker House dinner
- Day 3- Kennedy Space Center (renting a car). Dinner on Boardwalk or tentative plans at California grill if we choose to venture out somewhere nice)
- Day 4: Hollywood & Vine (HS)
and La Hacienda dinner (Epcot)
-Day 5: Be Our Guest lunch and deciding on a dinner in Epcot between Tokyo Teppan Eddo and Biergarten. Biergarten food doesn't sound very appetizing to me but supposedly it's awesome?! Read eh about coral reef. Hate French.
- Day 6: Depart. Tentative chef Mickey but will probably cancel and just enjoy hotel. No Park If we really want a last character meal Cape May close by too....
I have no princess meals. Not spending an morning in Epcot to do Akershus and don't want to do that for dinner. 1900 doesn't have princesses she likes for breakfast and logistically makes no sense for us for dinner. Royal Table all booked  ughh. Canceled T-Rex b/c doubt we are making it downtown.
Please help!! Especially on Biergarten or a better option? Thanks!!!!!!
Eta made changes based on your comments thank you!!
Message edited 2/26/2016 12:06:00 PM.
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Posted 2/24/16 11:05 PM  |
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ml110
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 5435 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
the only thing i can think is that it seems like a lot of hopping around. if you'll have a rental car the whole trip, it might not be bad... but taking Disney buses, etc it can sometimes take an hour to get from place to place... so thats a good chunk of time everyday. like on day 2- you're going to AK in the morning, then leaving to go to the lodge for lunch, then heading back to the park for dinner? just sounds like it might be a lot of bouncing around with 3 kids  When we went in august, we had park hoppers... but we used them mostly like spur of the moment-- "ok, DS (who was 4) is hanging in there ok, lets hop over to magic kingdom for a little bit...." we didn't feel like we HAD to hop over to another park by a certain time..... especially for your kid's first trip-- you'll probably want a full day in each park to take your time and see everything you can....
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| Posted 2/25/16 8:16 AM |
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BargainMama
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 15660 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
I think you are wasting a lot of time sitting down with all of these meals for lunch and dinner. Table service meals take about 1.5 hours, not to mention the time you wait. That's valuable park time. Two in a day is a lot. I would personally nix the lunches and do dinners. Or vice versa. There are A LOT of great counter service meals that you can choose from.
Message edited 2/25/2016 8:36:41 AM.
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| Posted 2/25/16 8:35 AM |
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Pumpkin1
LIF Adult
Member since 12/05 3715 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Posted by BargainMama
I think you are wasting a lot of time sitting down with all of these meals for lunch and dinner. Table service meals take about 1.5 hours, not to mention the time you wait. That's valuable park time. Two in a day is a lot. I would personally nix the lunches and do dinners. Or vice versa. There are A LOT of great counter service meals that you can choose from.
I agree completely. The parks (especially Epcot) have great counter-service meals, more than just chicken fingers and crappy pizza (although, that is primarily the choice for kids meals). We did one trip where we booked table services for both lunch and dinner, and it was overwhelming. In fact, later in trip, we started canceling reservations because the table service was so time consuming.
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| Posted 2/25/16 8:40 AM |
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Pumpkin1
LIF Adult
Member since 12/05 3715 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Posted by jade123
Biergarten. Biergarten food doesn't sound very appetizing to me but supposedly it's awesome?!
I love the Biergarten. The food is OK, its a buffet that is replenished frequently with standard German food (sauerbraten, bratwurst, etc.) but the apple streudel with vanilla sauce is super yummy! More importantly, the entertainment and the big beers are awesome. We are planning a trip for October and this is a definite stop on our trip!
Message edited 2/25/2016 8:47:09 AM.
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| Posted 2/25/16 8:43 AM |
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Aries14
Can't plan life...
Member since 8/08 2860 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
I agree that it is a lot of hoping around. Especially since you are doing all lunch and dinners. If we are going to be going to two places in a day we always do an early breakfast than dinner so there is time in between. It is also a lot of food at disney so I never plan two meals in row for that too.
Tusker house breakfast is awesome so I would personally do that over dinner there.
I would not go back to Biergarten
I also dont think I would eat at Teppan Eddo but that is really bc we eat at those places all the time here.
I am not sure why you dont want Akerhus but we loved the dinner food there.
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| Posted 2/25/16 8:45 AM |
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JP826
=)
Member since 9/06 10903 total posts
Name:
Me!! All about ME!
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Posted by BargainMama
I think you are wasting a lot of time sitting down with all of these meals for lunch and dinner. Table service meals take about 1.5 hours, not to mention the time you wait. That's valuable park time. Two in a day is a lot. I would personally nix the lunches and do dinners. Or vice versa. There are A LOT of great counter service meals that you can choose from.
Agreed!!!!!
I would do dinner only after having a nice breakfast at your resort.
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| Posted 2/25/16 9:11 AM |
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luvmykids8
LIF Adult
Member since 9/15 2050 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Posted by JP826
Posted by BargainMama
I think you are wasting a lot of time sitting down with all of these meals for lunch and dinner. Table service meals take about 1.5 hours, not to mention the time you wait. That's valuable park time. Two in a day is a lot. I would personally nix the lunches and do dinners. Or vice versa. There are A LOT of great counter service meals that you can choose from.
Agreed!!!!!
I would do dinner only after having a nice breakfast at your resort.
Agree as well!!
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| Posted 2/25/16 9:26 AM |
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ali120206
2 Boys
Member since 7/06 17795 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
That's a lot of sitting and bouncing - especially with young kids.
We only did one sit down meal a day - that was more than enough for them.
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| Posted 2/25/16 9:33 AM |
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snowprincess
My happy babies
Member since 3/06 3428 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
We prefer sit down meals over counter service - I actually feel it is less stressful and sometimes faster
We did early breakfasts usually before opening and then an earlier dinner - we usually went back to hotel for nap - I had 3 under 5.
I would change your lunches to breakfast and while I did not eat as nice as I wanted my kids loved seeing the characters
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| Posted 2/25/16 10:18 AM |
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luvmykids8
LIF Adult
Member since 9/15 2050 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
My thoughts:
If you want to do Crystal Palace at MK and Tusker House at Ak (which I love) I would do breakfast. That way you have early access to the parks. Then I would do counter service for lunch and a nice dinner. There are a lot of awesome CS restaurants at Epcot!
If your kids are into princesses, I would def do Akershus at Epcot!
I also LOVE Via Napoli for Italian. Pizza is awesome!
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| Posted 2/25/16 10:23 AM |
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Salason
♥
Member since 6/05 9878 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Good call on Akershus dinner. It was disgusting.
Loved the Cape May character breakfast!
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| Posted 2/25/16 10:24 AM |
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pumpkinmom
LIF Adult
Member since 5/12 2912 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
For me, it's too many meals. Mostly because I like to be flexible in what we're doing. Last time, we did Hollywood & Vine (breakfast), Crystal Palace (lunch), and Akershus (dinner). I thought Akershus was the best meal we had, but I've heard bad reviews too. I would go, especially if you aren't doing another princess meal. I didn't love Crystal Palace - DD didn't know the characters and the food was awful. I would only go back for breakfast.
One thing I noticed - you don't seem to be in MK late any nights. You might want to see the firework show and castle lit up there or the night parade. There are some special night time shows at other parks too (maybe not scheduled for every night, I am not expert on this), so you might consider where you want to be at night too and have dinner in that park.
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| Posted 2/25/16 4:22 PM |
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jade123
LIF Infant
Member since 9/13 168 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Thank you all SO much made so many changes!!!
- first MK day- canceled dinner. We can eat wherever we are which makes it all so flexible and can stay at park until whenever we want
- made 2 lunches into breakfasts
- canceled out another dinner.
Seriously we wont go hungry! Food is everywhwhere!!! Just wish I could snag a res for royal table!
My 2 epcot meals are now La Hacienda and Marrakesh.
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| Posted 2/25/16 7:58 PM |
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luvmykids8
LIF Adult
Member since 9/15 2050 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
Keep trying to get the CRT res...don't give up! I've snagged some last minute hard to get res!
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| Posted 2/25/16 9:51 PM |
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ml110
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 5435 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
yay! i think you'll like doing the breakfasts! especially with younger kids who are up early anyway-- its a good way to get to the parks early and get a little bit of a head start on the rides and stuff! and the quick services places really are starting to have some good options- so you're right- you won't go hungry! and definitely keep trying for CRT--- people cancel and change stuff around all the time!
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| Posted 2/26/16 7:52 AM |
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Bridex100
Two Under Two Mommy
Member since 3/08 10420 total posts
Name:
Momx100
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
I would swap Sanaa and Tusker House. Unlike other parks, AK should be done during daylight so I would want to be in the parks during the day more. We had the latest seating at Tusker House breakfast and it was great. Sanaa is more like Indian food, which our kids enjoy but not all kids do.
I also agree that you are hopping around a lot. I am not sure how old your kids were but we often planned to go to Epcot for dinner and we were just plain too tired to do it more than once. Epcot is fun to walk and munch. I would have less dinner reservations there. Epcot is always huge and not so easy to get to specific locations. I would hate to be so restricted. I was surprised my children loved the food at Morocco. we also like walking and eating at various countries - fish n chips, Japanese udon noodles and snacks, potstickers in china, churros in Mexico, caramel popcorn in Germany and many others.
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| Posted 2/26/16 9:00 AM |
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Michellec
LIF Infant
Member since 8/05 146 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
I agree with the above. The first year we had park hoppers and we tried once to do magic kingdom during the day and Epcot in the evening. It was a disaster. My kids melted down, we were exhausted, Epcot is huge...it felt like an eternity getting back to the resort. That was the only time we used the hoppers on an 8 day trip, and we didn't even get them last year. But that was a longer trip so we had time to hit each park.
I also agree with Tusker house vs Sanaa. Sanaa was delicious, but kids might enjoy Tusker house more. (Although at Sanaa the animals walk up to the windows of the restaurant, which is really cool, so be sure to ask for a window seat!)
Also, kids might enjoy San Angel Inn more at Epcot. You can sit near the "volcano" and the atmosphere is a lot of fun.
Message edited 2/26/2016 9:52:13 AM.
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| Posted 2/26/16 9:50 AM |
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BargainMama
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 15660 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Posted by Michellec
I agree with the above. The first year we had park hoppers and we tried once to do magic kingdom during the day and Epcot in the evening. It was a disaster. My kids melted down, we were exhausted, Epcot is huge...it felt like an eternity getting back to the resort. That was the only time we used the hoppers on an 8 day trip, and we didn't even get them last year. But that was a longer trip so we had time to hit each park.
I also agree with Tusker house vs Sanaa. Sanaa was delicious, but kids might enjoy Tusker house more. (Although at Sanaa the animals walk up to the windows of the restaurant, which is really cool, so be sure to ask for a window seat!)
Also, kids might enjoy San Angel Inn more at Epcot. You can sit near the "volcano" and the atmosphere is a lot of fun.
Yes, I would definitely book San Angel Inn instead of La Hacienda. The atmosphere is SO much nicer. You can ride the Mexico boat ride with Donald right before you eat, and hopefully get a table by the water and see the people pass by in their boats. La Hacienda is on the actual lake in Epcot, but is just blah to me. It's actually a counter service seating place during the day (and the counter service has really great food! love the nachos!)
Message edited 2/26/2016 10:06:25 AM.
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| Posted 2/26/16 10:05 AM |
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jade123
LIF Infant
Member since 9/13 168 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
you guys rock! I switched tusker to lunch (couldn't get bkfst) and Saana for early dinner so we can still see animals but then leave right from the lodge. This is only day I have lunch and dinner booked but we wanted to do both. Will look into san angel instead of la hacienda!!
Random other q- how strict are they with height requirements on rides? Seems like most are 40 or 44 and my 5 and 4 year olds are about 41 and 39 respectively. i think? I have to measure them. I guess stick to 40 and under? They wont like anything too scary anyway but thought splash mountain, fronter in AK and some others werent too scary and could be fun
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| Posted 2/26/16 10:43 AM |
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BargainMama
LIF Adult
Member since 5/09 15660 total posts
Name:
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
They are very strict about the height!
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| Posted 2/26/16 11:22 AM |
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Michellec
LIF Infant
Member since 8/05 146 total posts
Name:
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Re: Disney Dining- thoughts?
Very strict with the height restrictions, agreed.
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| Posted 2/26/16 1:42 PM |
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LIRascal
drama. daily.
Member since 3/11 7287 total posts
Name:
Michelle
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Disney Dining- thoughts?
The height thing is so important. I used to tell my clients to wait before booking any Disney trip until their kids were taller!
And yay to Marrakesh! My favorite restaurant 
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| Posted 2/28/16 1:41 AM |
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