DxDDP for one night stay

FeetOffTheTable

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Hi everyone

We are going on a very short (1 night) trip in December and are booked at POFQ with the regular DDP currently. Our plan is actually to get there Sunday night and stay offsite near Disney springs, so that we are right there to get to Epcot on our first park day right at rope drop. I was originally planning to do Garden Grill for dinner as my only table service meal, and then the quick service is the next day at magic kingdom.

However I got to thinking and now I’m considering switching to deluxe to get 3 table service that we can use over the 2 park day period. It will be my husband and I, plus our two year old son. If you had this short, 2 day trip, what restaurants at these 2 parks would you pick to get the most “bang for your buck”. I tend to lean towards character meals as I think they would be the better interaction for my son rather than waiting in line to meet someone.

So I’m thinking:
Epcot (day 1)
Akershus breakfast
Garden grill dinner
Or
Tokyo dinning (lunch or dinner)
Garden grill (breakfast lunch or dinner)

Magic kingdom (day 2)
Crystal palace breakfast

It might also be worth noting that we will be at MK on a party day and not staying for the party. We plan to get there at rope drop and stay til 6 PM, and think that will be plenty of time to do the rides we want with our son. However we likely don’t want to spend time doing two sit down meals at MK that day, unless it’s possible to get a ADR for say 5:45. Do they allow that?

We obviously have some time before we need to make ADR but I’d love some thoughts from more seasoned Disney vets.
 
I'd wait until you've made your ADRs to upgrade so you know for sure you want the plan.

As for your MK day, yes they will allow non-party goers to make ADRs up until around 6:00, so I'd shoot for as late as you can get to maximize your time that day and just grab breakfast elsewhere.
 
Hi everyone

We are going on a very short (1 night) trip in December and are booked at POFQ with the regular DDP currently. Our plan is actually to get there Sunday night and stay offsite near Disney springs, so that we are right there to get to Epcot on our first park day right at rope drop. I was originally planning to do Garden Grill for dinner as my only table service meal, and then the quick service is the next day at magic kingdom.

However I got to thinking and now I’m considering switching to deluxe to get 3 table service that we can use over the 2 park day period. It will be my husband and I, plus our two year old son. If you had this short, 2 day trip, what restaurants at these 2 parks would you pick to get the most “bang for your buck”. I tend to lean towards character meals as I think they would be the better interaction for my son rather than waiting in line to meet someone.

So I’m thinking:
Epcot (day 1)
Akershus breakfast
Garden grill dinner
Or
Tokyo dinning (lunch or dinner)
Garden grill (breakfast lunch or dinner)

Magic kingdom (day 2)
Crystal palace breakfast

It might also be worth noting that we will be at MK on a party day and not staying for the party. We plan to get there at rope drop and stay til 6 PM, and think that will be plenty of time to do the rides we want with our son. However we likely don’t want to spend time doing two sit down meals at MK that day, unless it’s possible to get a ADR for say 5:45. Do they allow that?

We obviously have some time before we need to make ADR but I’d love some thoughts from more seasoned Disney vets.

Sounds like a nice trip. POFQ is a beautifull resort. Your decision to go to MK on a party day is a good choice, it has usually been less crowded on party days. I think Garden Grill and Crystal Palace are great choices for your son too. I love Crystal Palace and the Pooh characters. It is a beautiful restaurant, and I like the food and the variety of choices. And Tigger and Piglet ------need I say more, haha. I would do Crystal Palace for lunch or dinner though, not breakfast, just for more food choices and bang for your buck. And a break from the crowds.
I'm curious about your Tokyo Dining choice. Does the menu particularly appeal to you and your husband? Akershus could be nice for your son. You mentioned being there for rope drop and I am wondering if you are wanting to do rides first, then breakfast later. It is quite a walk from the front of the park back to Akershus, if you are wanting an early one. Have you considered trying for one of the first lunch reservations at San Angel Inn and requesting a waterside table? Watching the volcano rumble and the boats drifting by is lovely and romantic, and I think your son would enjoy it. Or an early lunch at Garden Grill, and later dinner at San Angel. Do you think you will stay until Illuminations (or its replacement)? If so, it would be nice to be back there around the World Showcase, vs. having to walk more after a long day. Be sure to notice the sparkly lights and patterns in the sidewalks in Future World on your way out. If your son is not too tired after such a long day, he may enjoy running around and chasing or playing with the lights. Have a wonderful trip.:-)
 
I'd wait until you've made your ADRs to upgrade so you know for sure you want the plan.

As for your MK day, yes they will allow non-party goers to make ADRs up until around 6:00, so I'd shoot for as late as you can get to maximize your time that day and just grab breakfast elsewhere.


Good idea! I’ll definitely wait to upgrade after I’ve made ADRs

And that’s good to know about MK reservations. That might be one thing to be flexible about; maybe we do crystal palace for dinner instead and something else for breakfast (or vice versa) and have the two table service meals that day
 


Sounds like a nice trip. POFQ is a beautifull resort. Your decision to go to MK on a party day is a good choice, it has usually been less crowded on party days. I think Garden Grill and Crystal Palace are great choices for your son too. I love Crystal Palace and the Pooh characters. It is a beautiful restaurant, and I like the food and the variety of choices. And Tigger and Piglet ------need I say more, haha. I would do Crystal Palace for lunch or dinner though, not breakfast, just for more food choices and bang for your buck. And a break from the crowds.
I'm curious about your Tokyo Dining choice. Does the menu particularly appeal to you and your husband? Akershus could be nice for your son. You mentioned being there for rope drop and I am wondering if you are wanting to do rides first, then breakfast later. It is quite a walk from the front of the park back to Akershus, if you are wanting an early one. Have you considered trying for one of the first lunch reservations at San Angel Inn and requesting a waterside table? Watching the volcano rumble and the boats drifting by is lovely and romantic, and I think your son would enjoy it. Or an early lunch at Garden Grill, and later dinner at San Angel. Do you think you will stay until Illuminations (or its replacement)? If so, it would be nice to be back there around the World Showcase, vs. having to walk more after a long day. Be sure to notice the sparkly lights and patterns in the sidewalks in Future World on your way out. If your son is not too tired after such a long day, he may enjoy running around and chasing or playing with the lights. Have a wonderful trip.:-)

Thanks so much for the insight! I actually had never considered San angel, but I do recall the scenery in Mexico being quite pretty and I’m sure that would keep my sons attention as you said. I need to peruse the menu more carefully; I typically don’t like Mexican food as there is usually a lot of beans utilized which I do not like. I took a quick peak at the menu and many of the foods I don’t know what they are! So I might have to google a bit before we decide there haha.

The reason for Tokyo dining is that my husband is part Japanese and enjoyed it when we went on a couples trip about 5 years ago. We skipped it last time and while I don’t think he would be super upset if we skipped it again this time, I also think he would be happy to go there again too. The kid is a wild card though. DH isn’t going to enjoy any meal if the kid is unhappy so it might work in our favor to pick things more based on atmosphere for him.

I haven’t totally planned out whether to do breakfast first or rides first. Might depend on what reservation times I get I suppose! I just got into planning mode suddenly last night and wanted to start thinking of where to eat. Maybe I was hungry haha.

One last thing to consider is that our offsite hotel (hampton inn) has breakfast. So on our Epcot day we could eat there before we check out for free, head to Epcot and enjoy the day there doing a snack credit lunch and garden grill for dinner. Then could do two meals at magic kingdom the next day... but other than crystal palace I don’t know what to do for the other one. I love breakfast food but don’t have to do breakfast meal there. But we could and maybe chef mickeys after park closes? I don’t know how hard reservations are to get at any of these places.

Oh and we’re not huge fireworks/parade people. I enjoy them but it’s not a priority. So while we likely will be at Epcot for illuminations, I won’t be upset to miss it either. I expect we will go back to the hotel midday to relax/check in/nap and then come back in the evening for dinner and more fun.

Does that help at all or make it more complicated?
 

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