Which reservation would you keep

[mariza]

We are on the Dining Plus Plan and I was able to secure some really popular reservations. DS likes Princesses, DD does not (except maybe Rapunzel from Tangled) but I got a lunch res for 2:45 at Akershaus. I wonder if we skip it if DS would miss it? I got dinner res at California Grill same day at 5:30 (no other times available for either restaurant for the week we will be there).
I'm inclined to cancel Akershaus since we are also doing Hollywood & Vine with characters, Chef Mickey, and Crystal Palace other days. I just wonder if DC's might enjoy the princess lunch even though they aren't necessarily into princesses?
We got free dining so I want to make sure I take advantage of good meals and good experiences since I don't know when we'll go back. And if we do, I will not pay OOP for all these sit down meals. Thoughts?

[cckwmh]

we were in askerhaus for about 1 hr 45 minutes - it took a long time. it would be like you were going from one meal to the next. i would cancel it and keep california grill. you can see the princesses other places.

[mariza]

it would be like you were going from one meal to the next. i would cancel it and keep california grill.

I definitely plan to cancel one for this reason, but DH and I are having a disagreement on which one. He thinks that even though DD is not a "princessy" girl, she would still enjoy it. I know DS would love it, but *I* want to try CA Grill. DH thinks CA Grill is too adult oriented for the kids and we should wait a few years. He is also about making things easy and figures that since we are going to be in Epcot that day we should just eat there :(

[alien_host]

We have not done Akershaus but the California Grill is really great. We took DD who was 5 and she loved it. That was probably the best meal we had there.

For me I would be concerned that my DD would not wait until 2:45 to eat and we'd end up having snacks and she wouldn't be hungry.

Where are you staying and will you be at your resort just before dinner? B/C you will have to allow a bit of time to get to the CR from Epcot or a different resort. Totally worth it though at CA Grill....

[mariza]

We are staying at Pop, relying on Disney transportation. I guess I haven't really thought about the logistics of getting back and forth. I'm not too worried about the 2:45 lunch. Sometime at home things get hectic and they have late lunches. Doesn't happen all the time, but enough to know they can handle it. OTOH, we could sleep in and hang out at the pool, hit the park in the afternoon and go to CA Grill right from Epcot. Maybe I can sell DH on this idea.

[veronica]

Personally, I'd keep Arkeshus. I had similar dining reservations and we opted to cancel california grill. it wasn't so much the "adult" aspect of the restaurant but the fact that we'd have to "travel" to it. It was the tail end of our stay and we just wanted to be closer to the parks. Being able to dine and go immediately to play became more appealing than hoping on and off any mode of transport, just for food......

And the princesses there are quite nice and talkative!

[alien_host]

If you don't do Akershaus that day, do you have to go to Epcot or could you go to MK? You can easily walk from MK to California Grill if you have your own strollers...although that can be a long day at the park.

[JTsMom]

I'd keep Akershaus.

[mariza]

Thanks everyone :) I cancelled CA Grill, you brought up good points about getting from point A to point B, DH will be happy! (our neighbors went to Disney a few weeks ago and I heard the 16yo telling DH how hot the princesses are- I'm sure this skewed his opinion somewhat!). But, I can see the logic in staying in the same place. We didnt get Park Hoopers and since my kids get up at 6am no matter what time they get to bed I really want to get them back to the hotel early every night. I'm hoping we can get to each park early, stay through lunch and then go back to the hotel about 4-5pm to swim, eat, then bed. Staying for lunch at Akershaus just makes more sense given this "touring plan".
We kept the Thursday of of our week long trip pretty open, so I will just keep checking to see if anything opens up that day at CA Grill.