Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by BaseballWidow

Posted by NervousNell



It's a shame because I would have liked to have taken my daughter but stuff like this just ruins it for me.

But you don't have to do all the nonsense you see people talking about. We went last year without a dining reservation, plan or fast pass and had a great time. And we didn't starve! This year I did a few reservations for DD for Cinderella's table and something at Hollywood studio just b/c I know she will be thrilled. BUT you can see princesses in the Hall of fame (or something like that) so if I didn't book or tell her about the lunch she'd be none the wiser. I wouldn't let DD miss out just b/c I don't buy into the hype. She is my one and only and I want her to have the magic...because it really is magical for them. When she saw Tiana last time, she looked over at me, awe struck and said "She's real?" it was a moment I will never forget!

I know.
I know I need to suck it up and do it.
I am dreading it more than a root canal.
I get so little vacation time, the last thing I want to be doing is spending it in the cult of Disney.
And the money.
To me it's a sin what they charge for this magic.

However, since i chose to have a kid, I feel like I have to go.
It's one of the unpleasant things that come with parenthood, like hemorrhoids in pregnancy, and sleepless nights.
You do it for the kids.

When I do find the strength to finally go, I will make sure we stay offsite in a nice resort like the Waldorf and hopefully only eat off site.
I refuse to make reservations 6 months in advance like it's Per Se in NYC

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Message edited 2/25/2015 10:20:09 AM.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by JME78

Posted by alli3131


Also know that my parents never took us to Disney as a kid. First time I went I was in my 20s and I'm not sure my sister has even been and she is in her 40s. We are perfectly normal adults and growing up it was something we wanted to do but I do not feel anything was left out of my childhood.

Going to Disney is not a requirement. I had never been to Disney until we went for a wedding last year. I had a great childhood.

I hated Disney. We will not be going back, I am sure my children will not be scarred for life by missing out.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by JME78

Posted by alli3131


Also know that my parents never took us to Disney as a kid. First time I went I was in my 20s and I'm not sure my sister has even been and she is in her 40s. We are perfectly normal adults and growing up it was something we wanted to do but I do not feel anything was left out of my childhood.

Going to Disney is not a requirement. I had never been to Disney until we went for a wedding last year. I had a great childhood.

I hated Disney. We will not be going back, I am sure my children will not be scarred for life by missing out.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by BunnyWife

Posted by JME78

Posted by alli3131


Also know that my parents never took us to Disney as a kid. First time I went I was in my 20s and I'm not sure my sister has even been and she is in her 40s. We are perfectly normal adults and growing up it was something we wanted to do but I do not feel anything was left out of my childhood.

Going to Disney is not a requirement. I had never been to Disney until we went for a wedding last year. I had a great childhood.

I hated Disney. We will not be going back, I am sure my children will not be scarred for life by missing out.

I went as a kid and didn't like it! People spend so much money to bring their kids to this manufactured experience. I really don't get it.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

I don't think it's a "manufactured" experience at all. We go to Hershey, Dutch, Great Wolf Lodge, etc. which are all "amusement" attractions, and that is exactly what Disney is. An amusement park. Entirely different than going to Europe, or even just spending the week at the beach.

I wouldn't go somewhere that would stress me out thinking about it. We have been to Disney numerous times, and the first time we went, I was nervous about the planning, etc. but now we don't make dinner reservations, and we wing it most of the time. It's a super easy vacation for us that my kids love.

Message edited 2/25/2015 12:26:34 PM.

Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Right also I would never ever chose to go Xmas week or 100% capacity time. That's NOT my thing now ever we love going and just plan according to lower crowd times. I happen to love the resorts they are amazing!! Beautiful and manicured and everything is so clean. Plus ,h daughter is princess obsessed. We are disney people but I agree not everyone may like that

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by BunnyWife

Posted by JME78

Posted by alli3131


Also know that my parents never took us to Disney as a kid. First time I went I was in my 20s and I'm not sure my sister has even been and she is in her 40s. We are perfectly normal adults and growing up it was something we wanted to do but I do not feel anything was left out of my childhood.

Going to Disney is not a requirement. I had never been to Disney until we went for a wedding last year. I had a great childhood.

I hated Disney. We will not be going back, I am sure my children will not be scarred for life by missing out.

I went as a kid and didn't like it! People spend so much money to bring their kids to this manufactured experience. I really don't get it.

See that's the thing! a friend of mine keeps telling me to not do it and just take her to real places. Like Europe. Have her experience real life instead of made up fantasy.
I don't know.
I am so torn.
I know for a fact that I have NO desire to go. Zero.
At least other kiddie vacations- like Dutch Wonderland- I enjoyed a little myself.
This I get stress just thinking about.

Maybe one day. Maybe the cruise like some posters mentioned.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by Chatham-Chick

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by BunnyWife

Posted by JME78

Posted by alli3131


Also know that my parents never took us to Disney as a kid. First time I went I was in my 20s and I'm not sure my sister has even been and she is in her 40s. We are perfectly normal adults and growing up it was something we wanted to do but I do not feel anything was left out of my childhood.

Going to Disney is not a requirement. I had never been to Disney until we went for a wedding last year. I had a great childhood.

I hated Disney. We will not be going back, I am sure my children will not be scarred for life by missing out.

I went as a kid and didn't like it! People spend so much money to bring their kids to this manufactured experience. I really don't get it.

See that's the thing! a friend of mine keeps telling me to not do it and just take her to real places. Like Europe. Have her experience real life instead of made up fantasy.
I don't know.
I am so torn.
I know for a fact that I have NO desire to go. Zero.
At least other kiddie vacations- like Dutch Wonderland- I enjoyed a little myself.
This I get stress just thinking about.

Maybe one day. Maybe the cruise like some posters mentioned.

Our kids have been begging for China (they want to "go to work" with daddy ) and France and lot of other places that we talk about. But they also ask for DisneyWorld. They hear other kids talk about it, they see commercials/tv.

My DH and I hate crowds and over touristy places. We kind of accept the fact that with Orlando, it's unavoidable. I wanted to get my oldest down there while she still believes. I know it will all blow their mind (in a good way), which is why I'm mostly winging it. My kids will be pumped just to fly on a plane and stay at a hotel.

Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

We are going in May also! I made a few ADR's and now awaiting the date for our fastpass reservations.

We are foodies and although the Disney food probably won't be up to par we still want to experience a few of their restaurants and theming. We picked based on what our kids would enjoy and I made one for us at Jiko ( the kids will be dining with us)

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Posted by Chatham-Chick

Posted by NervousNell

This whole thing really amazes me.

I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in NYC, Miami etc and never needed a reservation so far in advance.

But to eat in Disney, land of the mouse and Elsa, you better book a year in advance or you will eat super early or super late. Or they will turn you away.


Seriously?


And THIS is why we are not going to Disney.

I have never heard of such ridiculousness as I have with Disney....

It's a shame because I would have liked to have taken my daughter but stuff like this just ruins it for me.

You ain't kidding! And it's not like we can pay anybody off to get a table! LOL Disney's no joke...they run a tight ship.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Europe is amazing, I love a Europe and have been many times. I also love cruising. But I feel like Europe is better when they are older and can appreciate more. Disney is more for the kids. My favorite is watching them. How excited they were. How a year later they are still talking about every detail. We have made adjustments over our trips so that it is relaxing for us to. I like the FP+ bands now. I no longer have to be in every park at rope drop. I can sleep in, still see what I want.

If you like dutch wonderland you should enjoy disney. Choose a quiet time of the year, less crowds, more time to wing it.

You cannot compare a disney trip and Europe. They are like night and day. I think a variety of trips is best. I know we will do many Europe trips as the kids get older but for now we have done disney, Bermuda cruises, and next month a Celebrity Caribbean cruise. For me the thought of Europe with kids this age is much more stressful than disney. I am an art history major and while my kids love museums, it would be way too stressful.

I do know several who swore they hated disney, they took their kids bc they felt they "had" to. They ended up loving the trip, and while they still cruise to other places they work in short trips frequently. With any trip it is what you make of it. Positive attitude and open mind you might not become a disney person, but it is hard to see your kids faces light up and not enjoy that moment. And you can do that without character dining, sit down meals etc.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Message edited 2/26/2015 7:36:18 AM.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

The first time we went to Disney, we had no reservations, stayed off site and did 1 park per day for about 4 hrs per day. We had a wonderful time but the food we ate was terrible. I had done zero restaurant research and we would just eat anything that was convenient. Mostly hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and similar. We had a great time regardless. I had done a little research and brought the Unofficial Guide to WDW that I borrowed from the library. I followed their itinerary and rode most everything age appropriate for my then 3 year old.

The second time we went, we traveled with a friend who used to work at Disney. We stayed on site at Polynesian. We had 1 character breakfast at Ohana and it was wonderful. My friend also introduced us to pineapple dole whip. My friend knew the better quick serve restaurants and we actually ate very well on that trip. We park hopped 2-3 parks a day and it was so easy because we were on the monorail. We walked around the Epcot world and ate something at almost every country. My friend knew the special treats that were very tasty.

I would recommend doing 1 character meal and just have a handful of quick serve restaurants at each park so that you have options. When we just winged it at any restaurant, the food we ate was terrible. If you continue to check the website, times do open up as people are always cancelling.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

Message edited 2/26/2015 10:06:07 AM.

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

I would recommend reservations if there is something special you want to too. We never ate at the reservation only restaurants in park because our trips have been last minute by Disney standards. We tried walk in and that was a no go. My older kids weren't interested in character dinners/breakfasts and we never even tried. My youngest, who will be going for the first time later this year, is ALLABOUTMICKEYPRINCESSESOMG and I want to take her to everything. Which means I better get on the horn... like last year.

We had called about TRex in Downtown Disney the day before we left (in Oct) and they had a few reservations for the days we were there but they were late/early. When we got there and the kids just had to go in to check it out, we ended up getting seated much earlier so it all worked out.

I'd definitely have a plan or you'll be stuck with the same fare for days on end. Park food wasn't terrible but after one or two meals of it, I had enough. I'm more of a foodie though. Animal Kingdom did have more variety - we ate Asian there near the Yeti ride.

Have a great time!

Re: Disney - Restaurant Reservations...are they necessary/worth it?

As many before me have said, it depends on your family and your eating habits. For me, when I'm on vacation, I want to sit down and enjoy a meal. I make ADR for practically every dinner. We always end our trip by having a character breakfast, so I always make that reservation. I'm not a fan a the vast majority of quick service meals available at the parks. Very often I eat breakfast and then skip lunch as a result.