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Walt Disney World Vacation Information and Advice

How To Plan Your Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World

Posted on May 8, 2014 by waltdisneyworldblog

Hello friends! As promised from my post earlier this week, I am sharing my dining reservation strategy with you. I’ve been using this method for many years now, and I find it to be the best, most efficient way to plan my time at WDW.

Here are the two firm truths about planning a WDW vacation – short or long. 1.) Walt Disney World is expensive. 2.) Walt Disney World is gigantic, with hundreds of options for things to do. If you don’t at least spend a little time planning your trip before you go – you will end up wasting precious time. Using the WDW Blog Disney Vacationing Theorem we know that Truth 1 + Truth 2 = THE ULTIMATE TRUTH. See below:

WDW is Expensive + Nearly Infinite Ways to Spend Your Time =
TIME IS MONEY!!

Like my lesson for the day? It’s true. I promise. But here’s the deal – I’m not saying you have to pre-plan every minute of your trip. In fact, I frown upon that. Over-planning is a great way to be miserable during your vacation. You can’t control everything at Disney World. Buses run on loops. Attraction queue line times fluctuate. It’s all about balance. Your planning should have structure – but not be overly full. And your plans should be FLEXIBLE.

When I start to plan my WDW vacation I start with my Table Service dining reservations. Why? Disney World restaurants are not like regular restaurants. Availability is limited, reservations do fill up and a stand-by wait time can be hours. MAKE RESERVATIONS. And make them early. You had better believe I am online or on the phone 180 days out from my vacation to make dining reservations. If you do that, you can usually have any restaurant you want at any time you want.

As you know from my last post, my upcoming trip was short notice. As soon as we had booked our room we got working on planning and making said dining reservations. Here’s how I go about it.

First, I make a chart for the number of days I am going to be on vacation, and I include a bisection for each of the four main theme parks: Below the WDW Vacation 2014 block I have 7 spaces down the left side of the paper, one block for each of the days on my vacation. Across, to the right of the WDW Vacation 2014 block I have 4 large blocks for the 4 main theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.

Once I have the grid in, I start to fill in the blocks across for the 4 parks and the blocks down with the specific dates of my trip.Once all the dates are filled in, I visit Disney’s official website to find out what hours each of the 4 parks are open every day. AND most importantly, what the Extra Magic Hours are for the days of my vacation. Extra Magic Hours are extra times, either before a park opens or after it closes that are available ONLY to guests staying at a Disney Resort Hotel. EMHs (Extra Magic Hours) are a great way to visit your favorite attractions with lightened wait times. I place morning EMHs above the parks regular hours, and night EMHs below. I also highlight the EMHs so I can see them apart from the regular park hours. I do this because I almost always take advantage of the EMHs when they are offered. You’ll also notice Epcot is divided into two. That’s because Future World (FW) and World Showcase (WS) have different hours. Once everything is filled in, I take a look at the chart with a PENCIL (so you can make changes) and circle what park I think I’ll visit on what day. This is almost always dictated by the EMHs. Above you can see that on Friday, May 9 the park hours aren’t filled in. This is the theoretical day I arrive at WDW. I won’t go into the parks that day. Instead I’ll hang by the pool, go shopping at Downtown Disney, visit Disney’s Boardwalk, or buy tickets to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach.For me, this all comes down to what parks I love and the EMHs. On Saturday, May 10 I circled Disney’s Hollywood Studios because it has morning EMHs. I then drew an arrow over to Epcot because I’ll probably finish my day there. Same thing happened on Wednesday, May 14. I chose to take advantage of the morning EMHs at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but have myself jumping to Animal Kingdom that afternoon.

Once I have this tentative plan sketched out in pencil I consider my dining reservations. Typically my family will eat at one Table Service Restaurant a day, and eat at Quick Service spots for the rest of the day. Usually our Table Service picks are for dinner, but now and again we’ll go for breakfast or lunch. This is where the WDW Blog Vacationing Theorem comes into effect. To make the most out of your time you want plan your Table Service dining reservations to be in the park you’re visiting that day. If you’re in Animal Kingdom for the entire day, but you have dining reservations at Epcot, you will lose time traveling to Epcot, which could take up to an hour. If you had dinner at Animal Kingdom you could spend that hour visiting an attraction or two.

So for example, on Sunday, May 11, I circled Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom has evening EMHs, so I would plan to be at MK all day and night. So logically I want to make dining reservations for a Magic Kingdom restaurant. On Wednesday May 14th, I have morning EMHs at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and then plan to hop over to Animal Kingdom to finish the evening. I should plan to make Table Service reservations for breakfast at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or dinner at Animal Kingdom. Lunch reservations could be made at either park, depending on when I want to hop from one to the other. Since Animal Kingdom closes early (6 PM), another choice would be to have dinnerat my Resort Hotel after Animal Kingdom is closed.

Once I have planned what meal I want to eat in what park, I start looking for reservations. If you’re calling 180 days in advance, you shouldn’t have any problems snagging what you want. If you’re like us this year, planning a short notice trip, you just need to be a little flexible with your times and restaurants. We had no trouble making satisfactory reservations for our upcoming trip in June. Once I have my dining reservations made, I like to highlight the block where they occur, and write the place and time off to the side (PINK). I also marked my park visiting plan in purple. This paper becomes my go-to physical reference for what’s going on, before I leave for my vacation. The My Disney Experience Application on my phone (or on Disney’s website) is my digital copy. The My Disney Experience App really makes it easy to see what you have going on each day. Love it.

Here’s a recap of my Table Service Dining Tips:

Reserve Early! – You should be prepared to make your reservations 180 days out from your vacation, or as soon as you can if you’re planning a last minute trip. This will grant you the most choices.
Plan to eat where you’re playing! This is where my chart is useful. If you’re going to be in Epcot – eat in Epcot. This will save you the most time. (Again referencing the WDW Blog Vacationing Theorem stated above.)
Keep your times consistent! If you make reservations for dinner every night, make them for about the same time. This will keep your body from going haywire.

One last word: the strategy listed today is really all about time and making the most of it. It doesn’t factor in other dining considerations such as character dining. If you have kids who would love Mickey & Friends character dining – find a place that does that! But be logical about it. If you’re at Magic Kingdom, make a reservation for Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary. Yes,The Contemporary is outside of Magic Kingdom, but it’s right next door just a short walk or Monorail ride away. You won’t waste much time in transit.

ABOVE ALL, be prepared AND be flexible. Have a game plan going in, but be prepared to change. On my last trip to WDW I probably changed or canceled at least 2 of our dining reservations. Maybe you wind up wanting to spend more time at one park over the other, or you decide you want to just cut your day short and go back to the hotel for a pizza and a swim. Go with it!

P. S. Just so you know, the chart I made up for this post was just an example chart. It was much prettier than my charts usually end up looking when in process. See below for my working draft of our upcoming trip… Needless to say, I made a nicer draft in the end.

M. M. – Sunshine Seasons at Epcot

Posted on September 9, 2013 by waltdisneyworldblog

Hello hungry people! For MUNCHY MONDAY this week we are visiting one of the best Quick Service spots in Walt Disney World – Sunshine Seasons at Epcot.

If you’re in Future World in Epcot and your stomach starts to rumble, head to The Land Pavilion and make your way downstairs to quiet your hunger in this delicious eatery.

Part of what makes Sunshine Seasons so charming is it’s bright decor. Vibrant greens, warm yellows, and oranges are the focus of the color scheme, making you automatically imagine warm sunshine and lush grass. The Land is designed with an open floor plan, so that the seating area of Sunshine Seasons has a view of the ceiling overhead. Suspended above are whimsically painted hot air balloon sculptures and draped ribbons. The globes of the hot air balloon sculptures each represent one of the 4 seasons, centered around one that is painted as the earth.

Sunshine Seasons serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As far as breakfast is concerned, Sunshine Seasons is one of the few spots in Epcot that offers this meal. The menu is minimal, but you’ll find the basics such as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, fruit, bagels, yogurt, and even french toast for kids.

Lunch and Dinner offer much more extensive and variant menus. But here’s what is really great about it – Sunshine Seasons offers yummy, flavorful, HEALTHY food. Let’s be real. When you’re at WDW, you’re on vacation and for many of us that means indulgence. We tend to eat less carefully and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I find I get to a point where I really want something more than a burger and french fries. Sunshine Seasons is a fantastic spot to grab something tasty and healthy to give your body some much needed fuel. (Epcot is huge – you do a lot of walking!!)

The lunch & dinner food choices all fall into categories: Sandwiches, Asian Flavors, Soup and Salad, and Wood-fired Entrees. Each category has it’s own station, where you order what you like. In the sandwiches station you can expect to find something such as a turkey sandwich with monterery jack cheese and chipotle mayo on ciabatta bread, served with potato salad. I have that delicious sandwich for lunch more than once. Salads offer classics like chicken cesear, or try one with roasted beets and goat cheese.The grill features oak-grilled chicken and fish entrees served with veggies. If you want something with Asian flair, try the Mongolian Beef with veggie fried rice, or the Spicy Cashew Chicken with vegetable stir-fry noodles. Kids have a range of choices such as a chicken leg with mashed potatoes or rice and grapes. Or perhaps they’d macaroni & cheese with carrots and grapes. And let me tell you – that mac n’ cheese is darn good.

If your sweet tooth happens to strike, fear not. Just because there are healthy choices here doesn’t mean dessert isn’t at hand. A big, beautiful case displays a myriad of dessert choices so you can find just about anything you’d like. (Think cheesecake slices, mini fruit tarts, cookies, strawberry shortcake, brownies, and plenty of cupcake choices.)

After you finish eating, don’t leave The Land right away! Soarin’, Living With The Land, and The Circle of Life attractions are also in this pavilion. The Garden Grill restaurant calls The Land home as well, but that’s another yummy story for another MUNCHY MONDAY.

Just like anywhere in WDW, the menu may change with the seasons. But overall, Sunshine Seasons is focused on offering healthy choices with some Asian flavors. I know you’ll find something there that will make you smile.

M.M. – Chef Mickey’s

Posted on August 19, 2013 by waltdisneyworldblog

Welcome back to MUNCHY MONDAY! I must admit I had a hard time deciding what to write about this morning – there are just too many delectable choices at WDW. Fortunately, my very wise momma suggested one of her favorite dining spots – Chef Mickey’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Hotel. Though I wouldn’t admit it to her, Mum knows best and she proved it with her perfect pick. Chef Mickey’s has it all: great food, a breath-taking setting, and lots of VIP treatment from Mickey Mouse and his pals.

Located inside Disney’s Contemporary, this restaurant is just a short stroll or Monorail ride from the Magic Kingdom. The restaurant is open and bright, with striking views of the Monorail coming and going. The many windows of the Contemporary let in plenty of light and offer picturesque views of Bay Lake and the Magic Kingdom. You can also glimpse the beautiful mosaic mural by the legendary American artist Mary Blair. Don’t be surprised if the mural looks familiar, especially if you’ve just come from the Magic Kingdom. Mary Blair was instrumental in creating designs for Magic Kingdom’s classic attraction It’s A Small World. She also created designs for the boat ride El Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase, as well as concept art for Disney classic films such as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Song of the South.

Window view from Chef Mickey’s

This spot is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and all three meals are hosted by Mickey and friends. Personally I think this is one of the best ways to meet the VIP characters. Dressed in their kitchen finest, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto (sometimes Chip n’ Dale too!) come to visit you right at your table one by one. You have time for pictures, autographs, and plenty of hugs. A lot of special interaction can happen with character dining that doesn’t always happen at the parks. And the best part – no waiting in line! How special to be a kid (or kid-at-heart like me) and start your day having breakfast with Mickey Mouse and his pals before hitting the parks. Or in turn, take a break and have lunch with the gang, or see them at dinner as the perfect end to the day.

My brother (a chef himself) & Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey’s is a buffet restaurant, so help yourself to as much as you like. Breakfast includes items such as scrambled eggs, quiche, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits, bagels, croissants, french toast, breakfast potatoes, cereals, yogurt, fresh fruit, and my favorite- Mickey Waffles! And if you’re like me, you’ll be pairing your eats with lots of coffee and fresh juice. Lunch and dinner buffets are host to American fare such as soup & salad, pastas, roasted turkey, fresh fish, roasted chicken, carved beef, and various veggie sides. Kid’s can have all of their favorites too – such as macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, and pizza. Dessert can be found at the ice cream sundae bar. Yes please.

A meal with favorite characters is a great way to celebrate your day and this table service spot is well worth taking some time out of your schedule for. Chef Mickey’s is popular with guests so reservations are a must. I suggest you make them as soon as you are able to after booking your vacation. The characters and cuisine are subject to change, but for the most part it’s a pretty steady scene with lots of smiles and laughs.

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WDW is Expensive + Nearly Infinite Ways to Spend Your Time = TIME IS MONEY!!

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WDW is Expensive + Nearly Infinite Ways to Spend Your Time =
TIME IS MONEY!!