[Kahri79]

I absolutely love this board, you all have helped me so much already. I will be visiting in May for 7 days with DH, DD-6, and DS-4. It is the first time for all of us! We will be staying at POFQ with DDP. I will be making my ADR next week and wanted some advice. This is my plan so far...

Dinner @ Chef Mickey's
Lunch @ Tusker House
Breakfast @ Akershus
Breakfast @ Crystal Palace
Dinner @ Biergarten
Dinner @ Rose and Crown
Dinner @ Boatwrights

Does anyone have any suggestions for changes? I feel like we're heavy on the character meals, but with a 6 and 4 yr old...

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[MickeyEars]

Welcome to MB!

Your selections looks great, your kids will love Chef Mickeys (it's our families favorite). We tried Biergarten in December and we all enjoyed it, the food and the entertainment were both really good. Crystal Palace is a good choice also.

Have a great time on your trip.

[tinkfans]

As a mommy of a 5 year old, I dont think you are overloaded with character meals. You seem to have them so they have different characters at each meal....micky, goofy ets at chef mickeys...princesses at norway, pooh & friends at crystal palace etc...we did all of them plus dinner @ 1900 park faire with Cinderella, the Prince, stepsisters & Lady Tremaine. seems like you have a good mix though, biergarten is a fav of my husbands, which DD had a great time dancing too.

[hanwill]

They look good, but if you are doubting yourself on the food.. you can look at allearsnet.com for menus. You will have a great trip!

[lovemysons]

I was going to suggest allearsnet as well, its a great resource.

I think you can never have too many character meals, the interaction can't be beat.
I hesitate to give my opinions on some of the meals, because you really have to judge for yourself. Sometimes the atmosphere makes up for the food, if you know what I mean. :)

Also, at Biergarten, be forewarned, that you may be seated with another family. This can be fun or it can go over like a lead balloon.

[llama]

I gotta tell ya', we were at Biergarten last night and all the kids were having a ball dancing to the band. And the food was delicious (especially the pork schnitzel).

[LittleMissMagic]

I don't think you've overloaded on character meals - especially with two young children. I do recommend that you spread them throughout the week, if possible - try to put the non-character meals in-between. A character meal every-other day.

I've eaten at and enjoyed Crystal Palace, Donald's back when it was at Restaurantosaurus, and Rose and Crown. (I've eaten at Biergarten, but I was very young - remember nothing about it except that we were seated with strangers. I was a shy kid and didn't like that.) Most of the character meals are popular because of the characters - not the food.

Let me know how you like Akershus - I'm considering booking it for an upcoming trip.

Have fun at WDW!!!

[mousemom]

Welcome to MB and i love all of your choices. CP is our favorite character breakfast. We have been to Chef Mickey's and love that one as well. CM seems to be alittle more on the high activity than CP but both are great!!

[PrincessJill]

Great choices!

It's been a while since I've done a character meal, so I can't really comment on those (except to say your kids will love them!). But Rose & Crown and Biergarten are two of my favorite restaurants. Biergarten is great for kids too because it's buffet style and in addition to the yummy German food there are quite a few "familiar" options up there - salad, bread & rolls, mac & cheese, chicken, etc.

Have a great trip and welcome to MB!

[Kahri79]

Thank you all so much! I'm happy to know my choices sound good. I've been a little (okay, a lot) stressed about them because trying to plan where to eat three months in advance at a place I've never been is hard! Since it is my entire family's first trip (I went to DL once as a child, but never WDW), I want to be sure I plan it right. I've been playing the "what if" game in my head. "What if we get their and DD wants CRT instead of Akershus," "What if we're so tired we can't make it to our dinner res" "What if I've scheduled too many buffets," etc... Having reassurance from those who have been there means a lot! I'll let you know how we like them!

[leslieh]

I think you might also want to work some afternoon breaks from the park into your plan. It can have a big impact on how the kids (and adults!) enjoy a WDW trip. There's a lot to see, and an afternoon nap or swim in the pool is a good idea.

Welcome to MB, by the way!

[llama]

I have just a little advice. Don't push yourselves to do it all. If you are all exhausted, cancel the reservation - I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids crying and acting up in restaurants because the poor little things are exhausted. And it's no fun for the parents either. So, if you run into that one night, stay at the resort, have daddy bring back some take-out, get the kids into bed to watch a Disney movie. You'll all be happier for it. That being said - Akershus or Cindy's Castle - your dd will love either of them.

[staceyheis]

My DD5 told me tonight that Crystal Palace was her favorite. We did 1 character dining almost every day and then canceled our final ones on our last day - we were just worn out! Don't be afraid to cancel if it looks like your family can't make it or you just need a break. I finally stopped stressing about trying to do it all in one trip. You just can't but you can do alot!!

Welcome to MB!

[jimbo]

Welcome to MouseBuzz

your list looks good to me, all our family love CP and Chef Mickey's it's just so much fun

you could concider 1900 park fare
hollywood and vine

and you can't get enough character meals with little ones and such a good way of seeing them up close

enjoy your holiday

[disfreak2]

I think your plan sounds terrific for a trip with young children. We are trying Biergarten ourselves in a few weeks. It gets great reviews. We also really like Crystal Palace.