Tip Tuesday: When to eat

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

In previous posts, I've talked about the need to make Advanced Dining Reservations (or ADR's) as part of your planning when taking a trip to Walt Disney World.

One part of the ADR process I haven't discussed as much is what time you should make your ADRs for.

The time of your reservation can have a significant impact on not only what you eat, but how much it might cost.

To start off, let's review a bit of background knowledge when it comes to table-service restaurants at Walt Disney World.

• Breakfast generally is cheaper than lunch.
• Lunch generally is cheaper than dinner.
• For buffets, lunch usually starts around 11 a.m.
• Lunch and dinner usually have similar (if not the same) menus.

With these basic thoughts in mind, let's examine how the time of your ADR can affect your dining experience.

If you happen to be an early riser, an early (pre-park opening) ADR at an in-park restaurant offers you a wonderful opportunity to have a few moments to stroll into a park before the rest of the crowd. I've done this at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. It's a nice, relaxing stroll. No attractions are open, but it does make a great opportunity for unobstructed photos. If you happen to get a very early ADR (like 7:30 a.m. or so), you might be the first at the buffet, meaning the entrees will be fresh.

If you're a brunch kind of person, then you want to think about a 10:30 or 10:45 a.m. ADR at a buffet restaurant like Crystal Palace or Chef Mickeys. There are two benefits. First, you are paying the breakfast rate. Second, you stand a good chance of having "breakfast" choices for your first trip and "lunch" choices for your second (or third, or fourth...) trip.

If you're a late night person, but don't want to pay those dinner prices, then try to get an ADR at the very end of the lunch period. Restaurants vary a bit on the lunch to dinner switch, so it's a good idea to check some online menus, or check the restaurant page on the Disneyworld.com Web site. If you plan it right, you will get an early dinner at the cheaper lunch price, even though the lunch and dinner menus are similar or the same. This works very well when taking advantage of those late Extra Magic Hours or during special party nights (MNSSHP or MVMCP). Why waste "party" time eating? Get a late lunch and then enjoy a snack later that night.

A quick note -- Disney Dining Plan members are still charged a table-service credit, no matter whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, so there really isn't any cost savings by choosing breakfast over lunch or lunch over dinner. I still recommend thinking about your ADR times, though.

So before you start making those ADRs, give a little thought to when you want to eat. Depending on what time you choose, you may be giving yourself a little extra treat!

Tip Tuesday: Making online ADR's and more

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday! Last week, Disney launched the new online Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) system. Now guests can make dining reservations from their own computer and find alternative options if the booking they are looking for isn't available.

The system is fairly flexible, though it could stand a few improvements, which I'll get to.

I managed to catch a late ADR for Chef Mickey's at 7:20 a.m. with less than a week until my own WDW trip. It took a bit of work to find open options, but it is possible.

Here's how the system works: First go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/restaurants/ and search for the restaurant you would like to make an ADR. It's a bit cumbersome to search, but once you get the hang of the system, it's not too difficult to find restaurants. Once you find the restaurant you would like to make an ADR, simply click on the "Book A Reservation" link (see image above). You will go to a page to enter the day and time (in 15 minute increments) you wish to search.

One of the best benefits of the system is that you can search for a single time (say, 8 a.m.) over a range of dates. To do so, just check the "date range" box and select the starting and ending dates to search. The downside is that you can't do the same thing with times. Instead of searching a particular time over a series of dates, it would be helpful to search a range of times over a single day -- better yet, a range of dates and times. I found I had to keep running searches for different 15-minute increments (7:30 a.m., then 8 a.m., then 8:15 a.m., and so on). This became a bit annoying, but it's better than waiting on the phone at 407-WDW-DINE.

Another benefit is that the system will make alternate suggestions if the booking you're looking for isn't available. This is how I managed to find an opening for breakfast at Chef Mickey's less than a week in advance. It took a little time and patience to find the opening, but it can be done.

Some Do's and Don'ts:
Do keep working with the system to see if there are some options that work for you. It does require some patience.
Do try to be flexible when making reservations. It may be that you can get an ADR for a different time and/or day.
Do make sure you print or otherwise keep your reservation confirmation number.
Do call 407-WDW-DINE if you have to cancel or modify a reservation. The system isn't set up for modifications (at least, not yet).
Do have your credit card ready when making online ADRs as some require a credit card.
Do be ready to book once you find and select an open slot. You only have that temporary holding for two minutes until you complete the ADR.
Don't make reservations for two restaurants at the same time (protective booking). This just takes up room for other bookings. Be polite and pick one.
Don't cancel reservations at the last minute, if at all possible. As soon as you know you have to cancel a reservation, do so, in order for someone else to get that time slot. You never know when you might just benefit from someone else's cancellation.

While you're searching for restaurants, you might want to take a minute and check out menus from the restaurants. That's right! Disney has FINALLY put restaurant menus online (sadly, not for all restaurants, but it's a start). So far, menus are available only for sit-down non-buffet restaurants. I didn't find any quick-service or buffet-related menus. For menus from these restaurants, be sure to check out AllEars.net or wdwinfo.com.

Good luck and I hope you have success in getting some of those hard-to-get ADRs!

Restaurant Review: Tony's Town Square Restaurant

It's been a while since I gave you another restaurant review, so I thought I'd share my thoughts about Tony's Town Square Restaurant located in the Exposition Hall on Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom.

Tony's is located right next to the main PhotoPass station in the Exposition hall and (as the name suggests) is themed after the Disney film, Lady and the Tramp. There is a nice fountain in the center of the restaurant depicting Lady and the Tramp (see above). This is a participating Disney Dining Plan restaurant, requiring one table service credit per person. My family and I were using the dining plan for this meal.

Just like the restaurant in the movie, Tony's Town Square features Italian cuisine. This is not a character dining experience, nor is it a buffet. Guests order plated meals off a menu. I happened to order the chicken parmigiana, which is one of my favorite Italian dishes. My wife had the grilled salmon while the kids had cheese pita pizza and spaghetti and meatballs.

The atmosphere is a bit dark. The lighting was mean to evoke more of a candlelight affair, but I felt the lighting could be a bit brighter. The photo above was taken with a longer exposure to allow more light, so don't be fooled by the photo. For adults, this darker atmosphere could create a more romantic experience, so I image it depends on your preferences. I wouldn't recommend against dining at Tony's just because of the lighting.

This hidden Mickey made of bread sits towards the back of the restaurant.

OK, now for the food.

In short it was good. It wasn't the best Italian I've ever had, but it was quite tasty, hot and well prepared. Best of all, the portions were quite large, if not huge. I can handle a large plate and I had a hard time finishing a large breaded chicken breast and the big side of pasta and sauce I was served. My wife couldn't finish the salmon and the kids' meals were plenty. For dessert, my wife got the tiramisu while I had the chef's signature cheesecake. The tiramisu was light and well-portioned. My cheesecake was very rich and also well-portioned. This wasn't your basic run of the mill cheesecake

The service was up to the usual Disney standard, which meant outstanding. Our server was very pleasant and frequently checked on us to see if we needed anything.

All-in-all, I'd recommend Tony's to guests at the Magic Kingdom who feel like some Italian food for lunch or dinner. It's not at the top of my list for restaurants at the Magic Kingdom, but it's a restaurant you can expect good food (and a lot of it) and good service. As for price... well if you're on the Disney Dining Plan, price is irrelevant. If not, you can expect prices to be a bit high (you are eating inside a Disney park after all), but they're not insane. My chicken parmigiana was about $17.00.

(insert bad Italian accent here) So if you're-a a-lookin' for some-a good Italiano food-a, give a-Tony's a try. You'll-a be happy with-a your meal-a.

Tip Tuesday: Kids' dining at WDW

For most adults, eating at Walt Disney World is a true culinary delight. The same, however, can't always be said for kids, especially special needs kids who are picky eaters.

Case in point is my son who has a mild form of autism. He is very unwilling to try new foods - because he is very uncertain about new things. While I may push him to try new things at home, Walt Disney World is not the place to try new foods and risk a tough night.

Here's the problem: the folks at WDW are jumping more and more onto the "healthy" bandwagon. While I don't have a problem with offering healthy options, I don't want that choice made FOR me. The end result is that many of my son's favorite foods (chicken nuggets being the top of the list) are slowing going away in favor of baked chicken, which he is less then enthusaistic about.

Here's the tip: If you have a picky eater - it's a good idea to check out restaurant menus ahead of time to plan where you want to eat, especially if you're on the Disney Dining Plan and need to make those ADR's. I have used these sites for my past three trips and, for the most part, I've been pretty successful.

Here are a couple of sites to check out restaurant menus:
WDWinfo.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28194763/
AllEars.net: http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

Take these menus with a grain of salt - Disney changes their menus without notice. These two sites do a good job of trying to keep up with the changes. A great example of this would be at the Cape May Cafe. Both sites listed chicken strips on the dinner menu as of October -- yet when I was there last week, the chicken strips were gone and baked chicken leg was there in it's place.

So parents, do your homework ahead of time and you stand a good chance of a good dining experience.

Tip Tuesday: Disney Dining Plan Secrets

In last week's Tip Tuesday, I talked about how to make the best out of those Advance Dining Reservations, or ADR's. That tip goes hand-in-hand with this week's topic -- the Disney Dining Plan.

First of all, just what is the Disney Dining Plan, or DDP? The DDP is an add-on to a Magic Your Way Package in which you can pre-pay for dining options at a considerable savings.

There are several versions of the Disney Dining Plan (these are 2008 prices):
Quick Service Dining Plan ($30 per adult/$9 per child ages 3-9): This option gives guests two quick-service meals and two snacks per day, plus a resort refillable mug.

Standard Dining Plan ($40 per adult/$11 per child ages 3-9): This option gives guests one table service meal, one quick service meal and one snack per day.

Deluxe Dining Plan ($72 per adult/$21 per child ages 3-9): This option gives guests three table service or quick-service meals and two snacks per day.

First I'll explain what each option is.

A quick-service meal can be used at any counter-service restaurant (such as Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square). These meals come with an entree, side, drink and dessert.

A table service meal can be used at any full-service restaurant (such as Le Cellier in Epcot). These meals come with entree, drink and dessert. Note that tips are not included.

A snack can be any single item from a counter-service restaurant (not including entrees), snack stand or resort store. Things like drinks, ice cream, pretzels, dole whips, etc. are snacks.

The Disney Dining Plan is a must, especially for families. You would spend that much ($40 per adult/$11 per child) at one table service meal alone. I haven't tried the counter-service plan, but it's also worth considering. Personally, I like having the option to sit down at a nice restaurant.

Now for a few secrets
As I mentioned earlier, those table service meals generally require an ADR. Also, when you dine, especially with children, the kids HAVE to order from the children's menu (adults may order from the kids menu, but not the reverse). That's not the case with counter-service meals.

Let's say you're dining at Cosmic Ray's. There are two adults and two children in your family. One child wants something from the kids menu, one from the regular menu. If all four go up and order at once, the clerks will allow two adult and two kids meals to be ordered. However, if you only order the two adult meals and a kids meal and then GO BACK and order the adult meal in a separate order, you will be able to get an adult item for a child. The dining plan doens't keep track of adult vs. child counter service meal credits. They are all lumped into one category, like the snacks. I've used this trick several times when my 9 year old son was at WDW and the kids meal was too small (or too kiddie in nature). Again, this will not work for table service credits -- those ARE tracked separately.

Now for the next secret. With all these credits -- that a LOT of food for one day. It's not unusual to not use counter service credits, especially if you have table-service dinners. What are you to do with some of those unused counter service credits? Well they're worth two snacks. That's right, you can exchange a counter-service credit for two snacks.

Understand you're not getting the same value, but if you're on the last day of your trip and you still have a few counter-service credits left over, you can hop over to your resort store and grab some snacks to take home. I used this trick on the last day of our visit in March and wound up bringing ten Mickey Rice Krispy treats home for friends and family. Those credits would have been wasted otherwise.

And for the last secret -- many of the character dining experiences only require ONE table service credit. Only a handful of restaurants require two -- Cinderella's Royal Table is one of those that takes two credits. In my opinion, Akershus is a better option and it's only one credit. The famous Le Cellier at Epcot is only one credit as well. One of these days I'll actually get an ADR there.

For a complete list of participating restaurants and which ones require two credits, see the 2008 Disney Dining Plan brochure.

Happy eating everyone!

Tip Tuesday: How to get the most out of your ADR's

Anyone planning a Disney trip probably knows this bit already: book your ADR's ASAP. (Translation for those who have no idea what an ADR is: ADR stands for Advance Dining Reservation).

In most cases, ADR's can be booked up to 180 days in advance. This most especially applies for those very popular restaurants, such as the California Grill and Cinderella's Royal Table. If you're planning to dine at one of these (and other signature) restaurants, you need to be ready to call 407-WDW-DINE right at 7 a.m. exactly 180 days in advance of when you want to dine.

That is, if you're staying OFF property. For guests staying at a Disney resort, you get a bit of a perk. Your 180 window is based on the FIRST day of your visit. I believe there is a ten-day maximum window here - check with your travel agent on this, sometimes the rules do change.

Here's an example of how this works:

Two families are going to Walt Disney World for the Fourth of July. They will arrive on July 2nd and will stay for 4 days. Each wants to book breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT) for the morning of July 4th. One is staying on property, the other is staying off-property.

The off-property family can book for CRT around January 5 (exactly 180 days out from the date of the CRT dining).
The on-property family can book for CRT around January 3 (180 days out from the first day of their visit).

So guests staying at a Disney resort book several days in advance of non-Disney resort guests.

So how can this advantage help you get a booking for those hard-to-get places? Plan to go to those special dining events a few days into your trip, not right at the beginning -- to allow that advance window to work for you. Perhaps make that special event for the final day of the trip, so that you conclude your visit with a big moment.

Not sure when your 180 day window opens? Call Disney at 407-WDW-DINE and they'll tell you. Also, there are some events that have a shorter booking window. WDWinfo.com has a booking calendar that also can help you determine when to book, although it sometimes isn't precisely accurate -- it told me my 180 window started two days earlier than Disney would allow - so keep that in mind. Also, some special events aren't subject to the early window -- so it really is a good idea to call Disney ahead of time so you know when you can book what.

This is especially useful if you're on one of the Disney Dining Plans. I'll have more on the DDP in a future post.

Happy booking!