Early BOG dinner ADR

[MrsTski]

After two trips, I was finally able to get a dinner ADR at BOG... except it's at 4:40! Which will be like 3:40 for my kids since we are in the Central time zone. I'm nervous that they won't be ready to eat dinner that early. Are you allowed to order 2 kids entrees for 3 kids? And 1 adult entrée for 2 adults. I'm not trying to be cheap; just trying to not be wasteful (since no doubt they will be hungry again at 6pm!). Anyone else ever had a super early dinner ADR? How did you handle it? Thanks!

 

[dosekies]

For early dinners like that we usually tend to skip lunch, only have a snack for lunch, or do a late breakfast/early lunch type of thing. That way we are hungry by the time of our dinner reservation and then we can justify having a snack or light meal later in the evening.

 

[MrsTski]

Good idea! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

 

[hllb]

I too would just plan a snack in the evening. I mean, there are some great snacks in the parks.

 

[Jessirip]

We have the same dilemma... 4:30 reservation and used to central time. We did that on purpose though as we have a 3 year old who is not good waiting at a table restaurant after 6ish, and figure a long park day will make it worse. We may just get apps and desserts, then have to snack again later on the go.

 

[disneyvoice]

If we have an early dinner reservation we try to eat as little as possible during the day. We aren't breakfast eaters so we skip breakfast and then at around 11:00 will get a small snack or split a smaller QS meal. We are usually hungry by our dinner ADR using that strategy.

 

[sponica]

I have a 4 PM BOG (it was the only time available), granted I'm at least working in my own time zone. We're doing Garden Grill first thing in the AM (I don't care I'm wasting Epcot AM EMH), hopefully stuff ourselves with breakfast so we won't need a huge lunch.

 

[kniquy]

For a 4:40 dinner reservation i would plan for an early lunch say 11:00 so by the time dinner rolls around you and the kids will be hungry. You will be walking a lot and probably more active than you would be at home, so you will likely be hungry earlier than you think. I wouldn't worry about the hour time difference -- with it only being an hour you guys will adjust without it being to much of a change. It isn't like you are coming from the west coast or Europe and have a significant time change to adjust to. You and the kids will be fine after your first sleep.

Kids are always hungry so you pretty much need to plan for them eating something every few hours so with a 4:40 dinner you might get done by 6:00 so by 8 or 9 they might need a little something.

As for ordering i think restaurants pretty much let you do what you want - especially because it is at Disney. I am doubt full that they will charge for plate sharing. So you could likely order 2 kids meals for the 3 kids. So for the adults you should be able to order 1 meal for 2 adults, but what my husband and i love to do is order 2 different entrees and share what we get. I think you can make a dining reservation and go in an order apps and dessert if you really wanted to. I think the only thing you couldn't do would be to "share a meal" at a buffet because it is a per person price.

 

[goofygal531]

I have a 4 PM BOG (it was the only time available), granted I'm at least working in my own time zone. We're doing Garden Grill first thing in the AM (I don't care I'm wasting Epcot AM EMH), hopefully stuff ourselves with breakfast so we won't need a huge lunch.

Same here. I was able to modify my 4pm BOG to 4:30 pm. We're attending EMM which includes a buffet breakfast. We plan on having breakfast around 9:30-9:45. Have a midday snack to hold us over until dinner.

OP: Also keep in mind, you will not be seated immediately at 4:40pm. You check in at the gate then they hand you a pager while you wait on the bridge. They do this regardless what time your reservation is. We expected to walk right in at 4pm and had to wait to be paged. By the time we were seated, ordered, got our drinks, and our meals came out it was maybe 30-40 mins after our reservation time.

 

[Lisa F]

haven't any of you ever had an early sunday dinner? We do this every once in a while and my son, who lives by routine, has no problem being hungry for dinner at 3 in the afternoon rather than the typical 6pm. I just give him a snack rather than lunch (or nothing if we have a big enough breakfast) and it's absolutely no problem. He IS looking for a snack about 4 hours later but is not looking for a whole meal.

If you're going to have dinner at 4 and you want to do only two large meals, I'd do a 10am breakfast. I found that 6 hours between TS (esp if one was a breakfast buffet) was ideal... that's 6 hours between ADR times. If the kids are up super early they can have a small snack when they get up and then tour the parks a couple of hours then do breakfast. Or like I said, do a snack around noon rather than a full lunch and they'll be ready to eat 4 hours later.

My son is on the spectrum and has a strong preference for routine and a schedule but we don't maintain it on vacation and he does fine. if he's hungry outside of planned mealtimes I give him a small snack, but he does fine with oddly planned mealtimes too. I think kids are more resilient than people give them credit for. For sure don't let them get to the point of being HANGRY but with the excitement of WDW I think you can slide around the schedule pretty effectively as long as you fill in with snacks when needed.

 

[MrsTski]

Same here. I was able to modify my 4pm BOG to 4:30 pm. We're attending EMM which includes a buffet breakfast. We plan on having breakfast around 9:30-9:45. Have a midday snack to hold us over until dinner.

OP: Also keep in mind, you will not be seated immediately at 4:40pm. You check in at the gate then they hand you a pager while you wait on the bridge. They do this regardless what time your reservation is. We expected to walk right in at 4pm and had to wait to be paged. By the time we were seated, ordered, got our drinks, and our meals came out it was maybe 30-40 mins after our reservation time.

I didn't even think about the additional time to be paged and then seated! We've never been to dinner at BOG before. Thanks for pointing that out! Do they allow you to pre order your food? Thanks again!

 

[Aela]

I didn't even think about the additional time to be paged and then seated! We've never been to dinner at BOG before. Thanks for pointing that out! Do they allow you to pre order your food? Thanks again!

BoG doesn’t do preordering at dinner. Only breakfast and lunch.

 

[goofygal531]

If you're unhappy with your time, keep checking! Also sign up for Touring Plans reservation finder. I was able to switch my BOG ADR three times. I went from 4pm to 4:30 pm and just now (thanks to the reservation finder) got 6:30 pm.

Last summer I was able to find a good time two days prior to our ADR. Many people change their plans once on site. With the 24 hour cancellation policy, you can usually grab something if you keep searching. I remember I was on a Disney park bus hoping I wouldn't lose my wifi connection before the confirmation

 

[MrsTski]

Thanks everyone! One last question: do you line up to meet Beast once you finish your dinner?

 

[Aela]

Yes, Beast is after dinner

 

[goofygal531]

Thanks everyone! One last question: do you line up to meet Beast once you finish your dinner?

Yes. It's a pleasant meet and greet experience. No need to rush. The line is never long. Nothing to stress about (because I did the first time not knowing). They only ask that you line up after you have completed your meal and have settled the check. It's on your way out. The restrooms are also on your way out, next to the beautiful stained glass mural of belle & the beast.

The beast does do a walk thru of the restaurant while you dine. They will announce him and he will wave into each side room from the main ball room. Have your camera ready if you want a picture. I though he'd step into the music box room where we were dining, walk and wave through the entire restaurant. He didn't. Just a quick wave into the room.