Disney - What to Know Before You Go, Part 2

Ok, so we do have a part 2!!!!  These are in no particular order, just in the order they pop up in my mind.  In this post, I'll discuss FOOD!!!  I love the rides and the atmosphere at the Disney parks, but I also really like the food.  Just like the rides, you can walk up and wait in line at a theme park restaurant, or, you can plan ahead and minimize your wait.  Also, there are times when restaurants are full, meaning there are no available tables, or not enough staff to take on more customers.  In those situations, if you have not made reservations, you may not be able to enjoy the experience you are looking for.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, sometimes, and in some locations, you have some wonderful company during your meal!

So let's think about what you are looking for.  If you want a fine dining experience, you can find it.  Yes, your wallet will become significantly thinner, but that's the way of things with our favorite mouse!!!  If you are looking for character dining, you can find that as well.  If you are looking to do a buffet, quick service, adventurous, or commonplace, you can find what you are looking for.

If you are unsure what you want, go to disney.com and search under "dining".  You can narrow your search to a specific park, resort, or Downtown Disney.  You can also narrow your search to include an "all you care to eat" or "character dining".  You can even search for specific dining events.

One thing that you need to know before you go is that you can make a reservation at the sit-down restaurant of your choice up to 180 days in advance.  Think about that a minute.  6 full months in advance Disney thinks you know where you want to eat.  That may sound insane, but in order to secure the most favorable times at the most favorable restaurants, you will need to plan ahead, way ahead.

You can make reservations online at the disney.com site or you can call 407.WDW.DINE and speak with someone.  If you don't get what you want at first, check again.  Disney opens up more reservations and people drop out, so don't give up if you really want something.

Everyone's palate is different and for the most part, Disney caters to that by offering relatively bland food.  This is not a dig at Disney.  Most children would prefer a hot dog and fries from Casey's to a lobster roll from the Columbia Harbor House.


I mentioned special event dining.  Some of these events include the Tomorrow Land Terrace dessert party, the Fantasmic Dining package, or most holiday meals, such as Thanksgiving.  Certain restaurants offer significantly different menu items for certain holiday meals.  For example, the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom offers a full Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings served family style.  It is an amazing feast, and as a guest, you are not stuck doing the dishes.

The cost of the meals at Disney varies greatly.  A quick service restaurant usually has offerings around $9-$15, but the fine dining location like Le Cellier in the Canada pavillion will have entrees in the $45-$55 dollar range.  It depends on the experience you are looking for.

Also, another thing to consider is soda.  There are just a couple of locations where you have the ability to fill and refill your own sodas.  Those locations are pretty high on my list.

Here are my unofficial favorite locations at each park, Downtown Disney, and the resorts.

Magic Kingdon:
1. Be Our Guest - refillable sodas!
2. Columbia Harbor House - great seafood, very few lines
3. Friar's Nook - awesome waffle sandwiches

Epcot:
1. All the countries - truly love to walk and eat all day!
2. France - the bakery is awesome, Creme Brulee!!!
3. England - Fish and Chips!
4. Sunshine Seasons - refillable sodas and incredible selection!

Hollywood Studios:
1. Studio Backlot - refillable sodas!
2. Sci-Fi Diner - burger with a hot-dog on it?  C'mon, kids tear that stuff up!
3. Mama Melrose - great Italian

Animal Kingdom:
1. Tusker House - incredible, my overall favorite Disney dining experience!
2. Yak and Yeti - great oriental food and a Kobe beef burger too!
3. Rainforest Cafe - actually not in the park, but attached

Downtown Disney:
1. Cookes of Dublin - awesome fish
2. Earl of Sandwich - best pricing you are likely to find

Resorts:
1. 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian) - awesome breakfast and character dining
2. Ohana' (Polynesian) - wonderful and all you care to eat
3. Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge) - another all you care to eat


There are other wonderful locations and meals to suit nearly any palate, and don't forget to save room for dessert!  Try the grey stuff, it's delicious (Master's Cupcake at Be our Guest!).

Disney - What to Know Before You Go, Part 1

I'm headed to Disney World in 30 days.  What do I need to do?  What should I be doing.  I'm going to outline what I'm doing right now to prepare.  This is part 1.  Not sure how many "parts" there will be, but I hope for more than 1.

First thing you should know is that at 30 days you can start booking your Fastpass+ selections.  What does that mean?  You need to create a My Disney Experience log in on the disney.com website.  You need to have purchased your tickets.  If you have purchased them, then you can sync your account with your ticket information.  When you get to the park, you will get finger scanned to officially sync the tickets to your Fastpass selections.

This is what you'll see from the My Disney Experience once you have logged in.  For the first time selection, choose the icon on the left, the FP+ icon.  From the next screen, choose "select all" to get everyone from your part together.

Then, after clicking "Next" you will get a screen with a calendar and a list of the theme parks.  Select a theme park by clicking on it, and then click on the date on the calendar.  If you are 30 days out, the date on the calendar will be the last highlighted date.  After that date, after 30 days, you will not be able to select the day.

Ok, so now it gets interesting or exciting, depending on how you feel.  I love this part!  It is where you get some control!!!!  You get to choose the attractions you want from Tier 1 and Tier 2.  Tier 1 attractions are usually the "big" rides, the most popular ones in the park.  For example, in Holywood Studios the Tier 1 attractions include Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Beauty and Beast on stage.  You can select one of those, then two Tier 2 attractions.  Those are most of the other attractions in the park.

As an example, in Epcot I might choose Soarin' or Test Track (both Tier 1, and I usually choose Soarin'....ask me and I'll explain why, or maybe use an additional blog!), and then Meet and Greet with Mickey and Friends and Spaceship Earth. The Disney site then tries to fit these selections into a schedule for you.

Now, these times are not the most appealing for me, so I go to the next screen and select "modify".  At that point you can select a "new time" for each of your selections as long as there are still Fastpasses available for that attraction.  I just found this out!  It made me feel like I'd won the lottery.  I don't have to use the times Disney found for me, I can set my own schedule.  As long as those time slots are not full with other excited visitors, then I can book the attractions according to my plan!!!

This concludes part 1 of what to know before you go.