Reservation Help...

[MaXXimus]

Going to WL in June 2007 and we have the meal plan that ya get the 1 table service, 1 counter service and 1 snack... Im very confused as to when I should be making the reservations... should I be worrying about that now or wait till about 90 days before and then do it?

 

[Monty]

If you are staying on-site, you can book ADRs 180 days prior to your arrival date for up to 10 days' stay. If you're off-site or haven't booked your resort yet, you can book 180 days in advance for each reservation.

June is pretty busy, I'd book as soon as you can...

 

[Master Yoda]

You can make dinning reservations as much as 180 days out. I would always recommend making dinning reservations as soon as you can especially if you are going during peak season. This will avoid you not being able to eat at the places you want or having to settle for really odd meal times. You can always cancel or modify them at a later date if you change your mind.

 

[Nemo14]

I'd go ahead and make your reservations as soon as possible. As others have said, you can always cancel them later, but if there are places that are must-do's for you, the sooner you reserve the better your chances of getting exactly what you want.

 

[MaXXimus]

Im not sure where to start... 1st time was when I was young so everything was handled by my parents, 2nd time was with a friend for 3 days so we winged it the whole way and the 3rd and last time 9 yrs ago was all planned out by my sister in law. How do I descide when, where and all that.... man 7 months away and I am already gettin uptight... as you can see I never had to do all of this on my own and considering my wife has never been there, she wont be any help and this is a first actually for my stepkids as well and want to be sure it goes without any hitches... or at least minimul.

 

[Nemo14]

Im not sure where to start... 1st time was when I was young so everything was handled by my parents, 2nd time was with a friend for 3 days so we winged it the whole way and the 3rd and last time 9 yrs ago was all planned out by my sister in law. How do I descide when, where and all that.... man 7 months away and I am already gettin uptight... as you can see I never had to do all of this on my own and considering my wife has never been there, she wont be any help and this is a first actually for my stepkids as well and want to be sure it goes without any hitches... or at least minimul.

First of all....deep breaths.
What kinds of food do you like - are you adventuresome?
Are you thinking about a character breakfast with the kids, or maybe a dinner show like Hoop-Dee-Do Revue?

Take a look at the various menus on here and on AllEarsNet - that will give you a good idea about what's available where. Feel free to post questions about others' dining experiences, you'll get lots of help here. :xmas:

 

[Master Yoda]

Im not sure where to start... 1st time was when I was young so everything was handled by my parents, 2nd time was with a friend for 3 days so we winged it the whole way and the 3rd and last time 9 yrs ago was all planned out by my sister in law. How do I descide when, where and all that.... man 7 months away and I am already gettin uptight... as you can see I never had to do all of this on my own and considering my wife has never been there, she wont be any help and this is a first actually for my stepkids as well and want to be sure it goes without any hitches... or at least minimul.

The first thing I would do is decide what parks you are going to do and on which days you are going to do them. Touringplans.com has a great crowd indicator calender that I have found to be pretty accurate. Simply look at the days you will be there and try to shoot for the park with the lowest attendance. Once you have that you can start selecting your dinning choices. Start with the restaurants at the parks you are at. This will cut down on travel time. If nothing at that particular park appeals to you start looking at the resorts that are close by. The deluxe resorts have some really incredible dinning choices. WDWmagic has a great listing of menus as does allears.net.

Some personal recommendations....
Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness lodge for breakfast
Boatwrights at Port Orleans Riverside for breakfast.
50's Prime time at MGM for lunch or dinner.
Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast or dinner.

If expense is not an concern California Grill at the Contemporary, Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian and Jiko's at Animal Kingdom Lodge are fantastic.

For character dinning you really cant go wrong with Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary.

 

[slappy magoo]

Dude, there are BOUND to be hitches. The sooner you realize that, the better.

DON'T stress out to the point where you can't enjoy it. Everyone picks up on that vibe and then nobody's having any fun.

You can find sample menus for most resturants here. You can find menus for ALL restaurants in Walt Disney World over at allearsnet.com. I'd also suggest buying Ehrlinger's Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. The book describes the atmosphere and motif of each restaurant, PLUS critiques of the food not only from the writers, but written in from previous guests.

Finally, if your stepkids know about the trip and if they're excited about the trip, you may want to include them in the plans. I mean, you can guess about what they want, or you can let them tall you, ya know? Find out the types of foods they want. Find out if being around characters is important to them.

 

[MaXXimus]

Right now I have Birnbaum's WDW 2007 and just picked up The Unofficial Guide to WDW 2007 as well as I have purchased RideMax but of course cannot get a plan from that till a month or so before my trip.

I read that doing Animal Kingdom is a good start for our first day since there is less to do there then other parks and we wont arrive at the airport till about 10:30 AM, so I guess thats a good a start as any and should be able to get there if lucky sometime around 1:00 PM and would have dinner there our 1st night. In AK we have a choice of Flame Tree BBQ, Pizzafari, Restaurantosaurus and Tusker House Restaurant because of the meal plan that comes with package.

 

[Master Yoda]

Right now I have Birnbaum's WDW 2007 and just picked up The Unofficial Guide to WDW 2007 as well as I have purchased RideMax but of course cannot get a plan from that till a month or so before my trip.

I read that doing Animal Kingdom is a good start for our first day since there is less to do there then other parks and we wont arrive at the airport till about 10:30 AM, so I guess thats a good a start as any and should be able to get there if lucky sometime around 1:00 PM and would have dinner there our 1st night. In AK we have a choice of Flame Tree BBQ, Pizzafari, Restaurantosaurus and Tusker House Restaurant because of the meal plan that comes with package.

AK is the last place you want to go if you are going to arrive late especially in June. The animals are most active very early in the day before the Florida heat kicks in.

You can do the non-wildlife attractions such as E:E, Dinosaur, Nemo, FOTLK and Kali but the exploration trails and the safari will be completely devoid of wildlife.

If you are staying long enough to go to AK again it could work but if it is the only day you have there I would save it for a day you can get there before park opening.

 

[MaXXimus]

Honestly I dont know in reality what I can see if I try and keep a steady plan, I have 6 1/2 days to work with so.

 

[Master Yoda]

Honestly I dont know in reality what I can see if I try and keep a steady plan, I have 6 1/2 days to work with so.

You might want to spend that 1/2 day at MK. MK has more to do than any other park and will be opened considerably later than AK. Depending in if it is an EMH night you could easily squeeze in 8 or more hours at MK if you get there by 1:00 PM. You can hit quite a few things in that 8 hours and finish up what you don't get to on another one of your 6 days left.

 

[MaXXimus]

I shouldnt need reservations for any lunches should I?

 

[Monty]

I shouldnt need reservations for any lunches should I?

It's a good idea to get ADRs for any Table Service meals, Breakfast, Lunch and/or Dinner. I usually do Counter Service for either Breakfast or Lunch and Table Service for Dinner.

 

[slappy magoo]

I shouldnt need reservations for any lunches should I?

Just because you make reservations, doesn't mean you have to keep them. Better to have them than not. You are going in June, it WILL be busy, even if you intend on eating at odd hours (really late lunches, and really early or late dinners). But if you made reservations in one park and you find youself in another, then them's the breaks (but if you know you won't make a reservation, try to cancel, so you might make another reservation-less family happy)

 

[oldshovelhead]

What I do...

This is what I do when planning our vacation. The first thing is to have fun doing the planning...I have a blast. After we know where in the World we will be staying, I look at the Extra Magic Hours for the days we will be there. Then I try to schedule the park that is open for those EMH on our itinerary. Then I look at what kind of places there are to eat in that park, as well as the resorts that are close by. When I have that list, I give each person in the family a chance to pick one sit down meal for the family...this is a great way to get everyone involved in the planning. I call around the 180 day mark so that we won't be angry for not getting one of our picks. WDW Dine is in my cell phone. I usually pick the extra sit down meals at places we have not explored yet. This is a great way to visit resorts we have not stayed at...yet...I make a list of all of our eating places with the confirmation numbers, the dates, and the time and shrink in on a copy machine. Then I laminate each copy (they are wallet size) and each person gets one to carry in the event we get separated or there is a question from a CM about our reservations. This works well for us...have fun doing this planning stuff though...:king:

 

[Nemo14]

...I make a list of all of our eating places with the confirmation numbers, the dates, and the time and shrink in on a copy machine. Then I laminate each copy (they are wallet size) and each person gets one to carry in the event we get separated or there is a question from a CM about our reservations.:

That's a great idea! Takes the pressure off of just one person having all that information! I'll definitely keepthat in mind!

 

[MaXXimus]

So say I get to MK when it opens and around 12:30PM everyone is hungry... getting counter service would be rough without a reservation? I have the meal plan so I get the 1 snack, 1 counter and 1 sitdown meal per person per day.

 

[Monty]

So say I get to MK when it opens and around 12:30PM everyone is hungry... getting counter service would be rough without a reservation? I have the meal plan so I get the 1 snack, 1 counter and 1 sitdown meal per person per day.

Only Table Service is an issue for ADRs. In June, whichever TS you want will likely require them.. You can't get reservations for Counter Service, it's walk up, order, wait, get food, pay, find table and eat.

EDIT: You won't need reservations for snacks either...

 

[MaXXimus]

No res for snacks???? Oh My... how will I ever get that box of popcorn without one then? Maybe I should consider staying home and just go to movies? LOL

Anyone know what to expect as for cost of a BDay cake?

EDIT: Monty, where did ya get that cool next trip sig?