Pre park opening meal dilemma

[HouCuseChickie]

So, we are toying with ADR plans for breakfast on our MK day. We've done CP and CRT and we also enjoy both. We will have my parents with us and they've done neither. We may also have my brother's family join us, but they are still up in the air....and have also done neither.

I would prefer to do CRT. I love the new menu, love the castle, it would be our only princess meal, and our girls would prefer to do it since we should be getting Tigger and Pooh at 1900 PF the morning before... a must for DD4. I think my parents would also find the castle to be a neat experience.

On the flipside, since this is a meal I'll have to pay for up front... This is an issue since we dont know if my brother's family is joining us. I just dont want to pay for possible no shows. Sure I can probably get a refund If I modify the ADR, but it feels like it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome.

What would you do?????

 

[bsiev1977]

So, we are toying with ADR plans for breakfast on our MK day. We've done CP and CRT and we also enjoy both. We will have my parents with us and they've done neither. We may also have my brother's family join us, but they are still up in the air....and have also done neither.

I would prefer to do CRT. I love the new menu, love the castle, it would be our only princess meal, and our girls would prefer to do it since we should be getting Tigger and Pooh at 1900 PF the morning before... a must for DD4. I think my parents would also find the castle to be a neat experience.

On the flipside, since this is a meal I'll have to pay for up front... This is an issue since we dont know if my brother's family is joining us. I just dont want to pay for possible no shows. Sure I can probably get a refund If I modify the ADR, but it feels like it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome.

What would you do?????

Make sure you can get a refund on cancellations, and find out what the cutoff date would be to do so. If it comes out in your favor, book the castle meal.

 

[epcotisbest]

I think you answered your own question with this statement - "it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome."
Easier, cheaper and still awesome...we have a winner!

 

[Figgy1]

You have the best problem in the world! Book CRT and just make sure you can rearrange the ADR and get a refund if needed! I know how much you love the castle so go for it!

 

[bsiev1977]

I think you answered your own question with this statement - "it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome."
Easier, cheaper and still awesome...we have a winner!

I agree with this, but OP said they'd be seeing a lot of the same characters at 1900 previously. Plus I think the castle would be nice for a big family group. If cost isn't a disqualifying factor, I say again to do CRT if all other factors fit OPs situation.

 

[epcotisbest]

I agree with this, but OP said they'd be seeing a lot of the same characters at 1900 previously. Plus I think the castle would be nice for a big family group. If coat isn't a disqualifying factor, I say again to do CRT if all other factors fit OPs situation.

Easier and cheaper are two words that describe me to a tee...guess I was just thinking about myself!

 

[bsiev1977]

Easier and cheaper are two words that describe me to a tee...guess I was just thinking about myself!

I understand. I'll be doing CP on my trip in December.

 

[RedDad]

We're doing CP pre-rope drop during our stay in June and really looking forward to it. We did CRT during our first trip with the oldest DD, and it was fun, but if you have undecideds I would avoid it.

By the way, this is our first time doing a pre-park opening meal in MK. We're going to try and check in as early as possible, and then eat quickly to head straight to ETWB. Can anyone who's done this before tell me how it works out time wise - is it possible to get this meal done quickly enough to beat rope drop, or at least the crowds? If you finish before park opening, where do they hold the crowds already inside MK?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We're doing CP pre-rope drop during our stay in June and really looking forward to it. We did CRT during our first trip with the oldest DD, and it was fun, but if you have undecideds I would avoid it.

By the way, this is our first time doing a pre-park opening meal in MK. We're going to try and check in as early as possible, and then eat quickly to head straight to ETWB. Can anyone who's done this before tell me how it works out time wise - is it possible to get this meal done quickly enough to beat rope drop, or at least the crowds? If you finish before park opening, where do they hold the crowds already inside MK?

Rope drop is done at the front of the park. Once the park opens, guests are free to go where they choose. They don't "corral" them in the park once they get past the gates. The earlier your ADR time, the better. We have had ADR's at CP at 8:25am and have not finished until the park had already opened. They say usually allow an hour at the least for character meals if you want to see all the characters. We have an 8:05am ADR at CRT in May so we are hoping to finish right at park opening.

 

[bsiev1977]

We're doing CP pre-rope drop during our stay in June and really looking forward to it. We did CRT during our first trip with the oldest DD, and it was fun, but if you have undecideds I would avoid it.

By the way, this is our first time doing a pre-park opening meal in MK. We're going to try and check in as early as possible, and then eat quickly to head straight to ETWB. Can anyone who's done this before tell me how it works out time wise - is it possible to get this meal done quickly enough to beat rope drop, or at least the crowds? If you finish before park opening, where do they hold the crowds already inside MK?

This is exactly what I'm going to do. Use a CP breakfast to get in early.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So, we are toying with ADR plans for breakfast on our MK day. We've done CP and CRT and we also enjoy both. We will have my parents with us and they've done neither. We may also have my brother's family join us, but they are still up in the air....and have also done neither.

I would prefer to do CRT. I love the new menu, love the castle, it would be our only princess meal, and our girls would prefer to do it since we should be getting Tigger and Pooh at 1900 PF the morning before... a must for DD4. I think my parents would also find the castle to be a neat experience.

On the flipside, since this is a meal I'll have to pay for up front... This is an issue since we dont know if my brother's family is joining us. I just dont want to pay for possible no shows. Sure I can probably get a refund If I modify the ADR, but it feels like it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome.

What would you do?????

Where you have so undecided's maybe you should do the one that isn't pay up front. I know the girls will be seeing Tigger and Pooh at 1900 PF the day before so have you cosidered changing that to maybe Chef Mickey's or Ohana that way they would get a variety of characters? Then you could do CP and they wouldn't see the same characters two days in a row. Just a thought. No matter where you go you will have a great time! BTW, when is the trip?

 

[Lightning McQueen]

Have you considered Chef Mickey's, not far from MK and a lot of fun!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Make sure you can get a refund on cancellations, and find out what the cutoff date would be to do so. If it comes out in your favor, book the castle meal.

Pretty sure it's in that 24-48 hr range, but due to the pre-payment CRT can be one of those (unlike a CC hold) where they might have issues if you needed to go from a party of 9 to a party of 6.

I think you answered your own question with this statement - "it would be soooooooo much easier to do Crystal Palace... And it's cheaper yet still awesome."
Easier, cheaper and still awesome...we have a winner!

CP is definitely a great meal and even better now that the breakfast lasagna has supposedly returned. Sooooo, a really good possibility. Still a hard choice though b/c the castle is special for us and I've never run from the cost when it's just been us as a party of 4.

You have the best problem in the world! Book CRT and just make sure you can rearrange the ADR and get a refund if needed! I know how much you love the castle so go for it!

I know - right! I do adore the Castle - as do my girlies. It might also be a better time to do a small cake for my mom since my dad might get kind of bummed if he feels like odd man out ordering a dessert at Citrico's when the rest of us are eating cake (he's big on fun desserts).

I agree with this, but OP said they'd be seeing a lot of the same characters at 1900 previously. Plus I think the castle would be nice for a big family group. If cost isn't a disqualifying factor, I say again to do CRT if all other factors fit OPs situation.

Easier and cheaper are two words that describe me to a tee...guess I was just thinking about myself!

This is exactly what I'm going to do. Use a CP breakfast to get in early.

Both are very valid points and big parts of this dilemma. It's just so hard when we love both and both are great ways to get in early and get out just before park opening. CRT even has a slight advantage with that...since you pay in full and gratuity is included...you can pretty much get up and leave when you're done. So, no waiting on the check and copies.

We're doing CP pre-rope drop during our stay in June and really looking forward to it. We did CRT during our first trip with the oldest DD, and it was fun, but if you have undecideds I would avoid it.

By the way, this is our first time doing a pre-park opening meal in MK. We're going to try and check in as early as possible, and then eat quickly to head straight to ETWB. Can anyone who's done this before tell me how it works out time wise - is it possible to get this meal done quickly enough to beat rope drop, or at least the crowds? If you finish before park opening, where do they hold the crowds already inside MK?

I'm sure it'll be great. We've done CP pre-rope drop several times and it's been wonderful. Now I haven't done your plan with CP, but we did it with CRT back in Nov and we got into ETWB fairly quickly. The line is deceptively long, but I think there were only 2 groups ahead of us so it wasn't too bad. And the only reason we were running a bit behind was b/c we had a potty emergency in our group which put us behind by about 5 min.

Where you have so undecided's maybe you should do the one that isn't pay up front. I know the girls will be seeing Tigger and Pooh at 1900 PF the day before so have you cosidered changing that to maybe Chef Mickey's or Ohana that way they would get a variety of characters? Then you could do CP and they wouldn't see the same characters two days in a row. Just a thought. No matter where you go you will have a great time! BTW, when is the trip?

Have you considered Chef Mickey's, not far from MK and a lot of fun!

Great minds think alike We are actually looking at Chef Mickey's at 7am on our Epcot day. We're iffy on 'Ohana...mixed experience there + since we'll be seeing Pluto and Mickey at Chef Mickey's- we'll have some overlap. DH suggested I reserve it for our departure day actually since 'Ohana seems to make a really good farewell to Mickey meal...i.e. a little more relaxed. I on the other hand was hoping for Kona for that meal. We shall see.

 

[bethymouse]

Happy choosing! Anything is good when you can be there before everyone else!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Happy choosing! Anything is good when you can be there before everyone else!

So true! I remember planning our girls' first trip back in 2010 and being blissfully unaware about pre-park opening ADRs until about 2 months after my 180 day mark (just assumed everything coincided with park opening time). I stalked hard, but I got an 8:10a at CP after about a month and an 8:10a at Tusker after about 3 months. It was maddening at times, but worth it

 

[armyfamilyof5]

I would definately do CRT, the one time we ate at CP they were very late seating us, 45 minutes past our ADR and the food was not good. If you plan on going to ETWB being there as early as possible is a must. We arrived at the park at 8:50 this morning, our line was so slow getting in by the time we got to ETWB we had to wait 40 minutes for our turn. It was adorable and well worth the wait, I would make sure to bring my camera, Belle interacts with each child indivdually and poses for pictures so it's a not to be missed experience!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I would definately do CRT, the one time we ate at CP they were very late seating us, 45 minutes past our ADR and the food was not good. If you plan on going to ETWB being there as early as possible is a must. We arrived at the park at 8:50 this morning, our line was so slow getting in by the time we got to ETWB we had to wait 40 minutes for our turn. It was adorable and well worth the wait, I would make sure to bring my camera, Belle interacts with each child indivdually and poses for pictures so it's a not to be missed experience!

That's too bad that you had such a long wait to be seated at CP. It's never happened to us at breakfast there, but man did we wait forever to be seated for dinner there back in Nov. It was frustrating with dinner, but it would really upset me with breakfast since that whole pre-park opening spot is all about timing. ETWB is at least fun...my kids want to do it again, but I'm hoping this time we're not left having them battle over the same set of cutlery. I also think I'll sit back and watch vs. being in the show w/them (I got to play the Wardrobe ).

 

[RedDad]

Rope drop is done at the front of the park. Once the park opens, guests are free to go where they choose. They don't "corral" them in the park once they get past the gates. The earlier your ADR time, the better. We have had ADR's at CP at 8:25am and have not finished until the park had already opened. They say usually allow an hour at the least for character meals if you want to see all the characters. We have an 8:05am ADR at CRT in May so we are hoping to finish right at park opening.

Our ADR is at 8:10, but we're going to try and check in as early as possible, sit down and ask for our check early, so we're hoping to get done as close to opening as we can. We've done CP before, so we won't feel like we have to wait for every character to visit, and if it starts getting too late we'll just take off. We'll see how it goes!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Our ADR is at 8:10, but we're going to try and check in as early as possible, sit down and ask for our check early, so we're hoping to get done as close to opening as we can. We've done CP before, so we won't feel like we have to wait for every character to visit, and if it starts getting too late we'll just take off. We'll see how it goes!

That's the way to do it. You're early enough so that you're not waiting for the table in front of you to be finished, which is always a good thing. That's why we try to schedule our meals as close to the beginning of breakfast hours or lunch hours or dinner hours as possible. The later into those hours you get, the more chance that you'll have to wait a little bit. When you dine at the earliest possible time for those meal hours, you're not waiting for people sitting at your table to finish!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great minds think alike We are actually looking at Chef Mickey's at 7am on our Epcot day. We're iffy on 'Ohana...mixed experience there + since we'll be seeing Pluto and Mickey at Chef Mickey's- we'll have some overlap. DH suggested I reserve it for our departure day actually since 'Ohana seems to make a really good farewell to Mickey meal...i.e. a little more relaxed. I on the other hand was hoping for Kona for that meal. We shall see.

We went to Ohana for the first time in September and loved it!! The character interations were pretty good and the breakfast potatoes were DELICIOUS!!! And if I'm thinking correctly, it's one of the cheaper character meals. (I think Ohana and 1900 PF are both the same price. Listed as $22 online but who knows if those are accurate.) I know CP and CM are both more expensive than those two.