Unable to book character meals...any restaurant recc's

[SASM]

DH and I missed the boat on the character meals (sooo bummed as I was really looking forward to Akershuz)...I know this is crazy "general" but any recc's for restaurants with kids?? The books are not helping us at this point. Has anyone been to Artist's Point with kids? We were able to get this restaurant reservation at a reasonable time on the night we are planning on going to Chip and Dale's movie & campfire. Other than that, we just have the luau. Any other recc's...please? Gosh...this is not supposed to be stressful...it's Disney!! And...definitely NOT stress-free. :(

Thanks in advance!

[fivi2]

just FYI, Artist's point is at the Wilderness Lodge and Chip and Dale's is at Fort Wilderness. They are fairly close to each other, but there will be some travel time involved (either boat or bus. I *think* there is a bus between the two, but it is hard to figure out, and then you need to take a FT.Wilderness internal bus to the campfire). (eta: double check my info, but I think this is correct!)

But I have not eaten at Artist's Point. The only non-character meals we have done are Grand Floridian Cafe (pretty good food for WDW, but nothing exciting about the restaurant) and Tutto Italia in Epcot (one of our worst meals).

What days do you need to fill in? Will you be at certain parks or at a particular resort?

Good luck!

[SASM]

just FYI, Artist's point is at the Wilderness Lodge and Chip and Dale's is at Fort Wilderness. They are fairly close to each other, but there will be some travel time involved (either boat or bus. I *think* there is a bus between the two, but it is hard to figure out, and then you need to take a FT.Wilderness internal bus to the campfire). (eta: double check my info, but I think this is correct!)
Thank you!! I am such a researcher when it comes to things like this but life has just been soooo chaotic lately that I haven't been able to look into simple things like this! UGH!! TY sooo much for the dining input!!



What days do you need to fill in? Will you be at certain parks or at a particular resort?
Pretty much every night except the 2 nights stated above. We are thinking of having pizza in the room one night, fish and chips from the UK cart in Epcot another night, and possibly head to Earl of Sandwich another night. Sadly, we are still without dinner plans for 2 nights. I do not even want to think about lunch plans. :(

DH didn't want me to make any reservations, and plan out our trip down to the second, 180+ days in advance and now we are stuck. IMO, there is NO DIFFERENCE between planning things out months vs weeks in advance...now we are just stressing...UGH!!!

Thank you for the input!!

[egoldber]

Do you have to get the dining plan? Just drop it and eat counter service. We typically only have 1-2 sit down meals planned and otherwise just wing it with counter service or eat at a restaurant off site.

[Momof3Labs]

Are you on the dining plan? Can you drop it? I'd keep on trying as there will be last-minute availability, though not necessarily at your top choices.

When are you going? We're going soon, too, but I only booked 3 ADRs (and will probably only keep 1-2, given how much $$ they will cost).

[TwinFoxes]

If I were you, I wouldn't just start grabbing ADRs just so you have something. You will be able to find food in the parks, whether it's quick service, or walk in to the sit downs. We had ADRs for each day we were there, but it fit with our style of touring, and we picked places we wanted to go.

We thought Biergarten (Epcot) was a pleasant surprise. Boma (AKL) was really good. Brown Derby was eh. The worst meal we had though was at a quick service in DHS, I think it's called Backlot or something. It's been less than a month, and I can't remember much about the food! So don't stress too much :)

[SASM]

Thank you, ladies!

A few hours on the computer and now I am not stressing as much. We do not have the DDP, so no need to cancel. ;) I just remember the counter food as being very "meh", so I was hoping to get some interesting sit-down dining into the week, as we currently live in a culinary wasteland and miss interesting food. Seems as though the sit-down dining options available to us now might not be fab, though, so I am not stressing. The times are not optimal, either, and timing is key for our kidlets...as you know! :) We'll eat somehow... hopefully it'll be decent and somewhat healthy. Still keeping my fingers crossed for Akershuz... Wish us luck!! :) :)

Thank you!!!

[cheri]

Keep trying the reservations website for Akershus. I was able to get a Crystal Palace breakfast reservation for 8:05 on the day before we ate--we had 10:10 reservations, but I was hoping for earlier. I kept checking the website every few hours and one popped up!

Hang in there, all hope isn't lost :)

[lhafer]

And you can get lucky! When you are there, just try walking up and asking if they have any availabilities!! You will be suprised. Lots of people are no shows, or cancel that day, etc which can open up a spot for you!

[lhafer]

Thank you, ladies!

A few hours on the computer and now I am not stressing as much. We do not have the DDP, so no need to cancel. ;) I just remember the counter food as being very "meh", so I was hoping to get some interesting sit-down dining into the week, as we currently live in a culinary wasteland and miss interesting food. Seems as though the sit-down dining options available to us now might not be fab, though, so I am not stressing. The times are not optimal, either, and timing is key for our kidlets...as you know! :) We'll eat somehow... hopefully it'll be decent and somewhat healthy. Still keeping my fingers crossed for Akershuz... Wish us luck!! :)

Hi Lori! We are going the week after Thankgiving. You? :)

Thank you!!!

That's when we are going! See you there!! :jammin:

[egoldber]

as we currently live in a culinary wasteland and miss interesting food.

Honestly, WDW is not really the place for that. The food is truly mediocre. It has gotten significantly worse in the last couple years, especially at character meals IMO. With the advent of the DDP they have also reduced many of the higher end entree choices at several of the character meals.

I think that the CS food, in general, is a better value and high quality than most of the TS meals.

And havign fewer planned meals means you can be more spontaneous about where you want to be and when. Especially with older kids who are able to be on the go longer, and don't need to nap and have less of a set "schedule", being able to be flexble at WDW is great!

ETA: I agree to keep checking. Even call while you are there because places like Akershus have a 48 hour cancellation policy. People will cancel up to that point. I know I have!

[liz]

I agree with egoldber. The CS meals were usually way better than any TS we went to. Head over to allears.net to take a look at CS menus. This way you will know what restaurants will be the most appealling to you and your family. This helped us sooo much. Don't worry, you won't be eating cheeseburgers at every meal- there are stir fry options, wraps, 1/2 chicken w/ mashed potatoes etc. GL!

[Sillygirl]

We stayed at Animal Kingdom last month and thought the buffet at Boma was really good. We also live in an ethnic food desert, so my standards are a lot lower than they were when I lived in NYC. But it was enjoyable and there was a lot there for the kids as well.

[SASM]

Thank you soo much, again!! I REALLY appreciate the input!! Also, I didn't realize that Akershuz's cancellation policy was 48 hours...wow! That is promising. That must be how we scored so many last-minute reservations the last time that we went during this time period. I was just chalking it up to the DDP deal that they have this year...more people going to the character meals now, perhaps.

THANK YOU!!!

[MissyAg94]

It is CS but we enjoyed the Tangierine Cafe in Morocco at EPCOT.

[Tinkerbell313]

We just came back from our trip in Sept. We ate TS at California Grill, Jikos, Tusker House (breakfast), CRT (breakfast), Biergarten, Le Cellier, Ohanas, Boma.

Boma and Jiko are both over at AKL. Jiko (as is Cali. Grill) is considered a signature dining experience. We loved both Boma and Jiko. Boma is a buffet and one of the best in DW and they have something for everyone. It is not over powered with spices but some of the dishes do have an african flair to them. Although kids can eat from anywhere on the buffet, they did have the standard Mac and Cheese, Chicken nuggets, pasta and red sauce, etc.

Normally we won't do buffets (we often think Golden Corral...yuck). But Boma does it right.

After you eat dinner, you can walk around the lodge and go out and use the night vision goggles to view the animals in the dark.

Biergarten is over in Epcot in Germany. It is another buffet. Again, something for everyone. While the food was just OK...they do have the entertainment down on the center stage. The kids love the Oompah band. They can go down and dance on stage...you can go with them...or you can stay in your seat and just eat...you can see the stage from anywhere in the restaurant.

Ohanas was our least favorite of the restuarants we ate at. But that is because we ate at much better restuarants this trip.
If you can get a dinner there, your kids may enjoy it. There was just too much going on for us between the hula dancing, the coconut races, and the kids running around like crazy. The food was just ok. Unfortunantely, the salad, lo mein and chicken wings, and the meats all arrived at our table at the same time.

I would just keep looking on line and trying for reservations. We are going at the end of January...a girls trip. And the restaurants are pretty well booked...I think its home school days then. But, I have been able to snag ressies here and there. I just randomly check on line.

[egoldber]

It is CS but we enjoyed the Tangierine Cafe in Morocco at EPCOT.

This is probably our fav place to eat in WDW. :)

[SASM]

Wow...the great feedback keeps coming!! THANK YOU!!!! Loving the idea of the Morocco TS restaurant. I remember reading excellent reviews re: Boma. All booked while we are there...right now. Another to add to the list! Thank you, all!!!!