Disney Trip is Shaping Up!

Last weekend I finally got to make all of my Disney ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations) and I got every single one that I wanted at the time that I wanted. Whoo hoo! You have to make sure to place them 180 days out from your trip start date or you could possibly not get into the restaurants that you want. I believe that they will offer free dining again this year which will make the restaurants dang near impossible to get into without an ADR. I am really hoping that they don't offer it this year but the buzz is that it will offered from mid-August until September 22nd. Even if you check in on the 22nd, you can get the free dining the whole vacation that you have booked. We aren't using free dining because we got 40% off the room and you can only do one discount per your hotel reservation.

I also added a day onto the beginning of our trip. We will now be there on the 21st and we will be staying at POP Century that first night. I didn't want to pay another $329 at the Polynesian (plus another day of dining plan and park hopper tickets) just to sleep in the room. We should be getting there kinda late on the 21st so that would be a complete waste. Our options were to stay outside the gates for around $70 or stay on-grounds for $103.50 ($82 POP room + tax). Since we are staying on grounds, they will move our luggage over for us the next morning to the Poly. Cool huh? That made staying on-grounds totally worth it. What a bargain!

Here's the restaurants that I have ressies for:

-Kona Cafe (Poly)
This place is conveniently at our hotel and has super yummy food.

-'Ohana (Poly)
This place is also at our hotel. They cook all the meats on a huge fire pit and the servers bring it all on skewers to your table. The have limbo contests and hula hoop challenges for the kiddos. There is entertainment provided. 'Ohana means family so it caters to kids.

-Le Cellier (Canada-Epcot)
This place is known for steak. I will definitely be having one there!

-Coral Reef (Epcot)
The walls in the center of the restaurant are big aquarium 'windows' with lots of fish and an occasional diver in the tank. They have excellent steak and seafood.

-Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge)
The Wilderness Lodge is one of my favorite hotels so I want to eat there to show it to my Mom. She will love it too. This restaurant is known for having silly waitstaff with nicknames like Lazy Susan. The food is really yummy and there are lots of things for the kids to do. They have pony races on stick horses during dinner. If you ask for drink refills, they bring you a cup the size of a bucket. If you ask for catsup, they bring MANY bottles (think 20+, lol) to your table. It's all in fun.

-Chef Mickey's (Contemporary)
We will be doing a character breakfast on our "free" morning. I have no plans for doing a park on that particular day so there will be no rushing. The food looks good (who wouldn't like waffles that are shaped like Mickey heads?) and the kids will love the character interaction.

-50's Prime Time Cafe (MGM)
Oh yum! This place is all about home-cooked meals. Your waitress will be playing the part of "Mom" and she will treat you like family. The tables are in what looks like a individual 1950's sitcom kitchens. It's all very retro. "Mom" may tell the kids to eat all their peas or no dessert. It will be alot of fun.

-Rainforest Cafe (Animal Kingdom)
I really like this restaurant. It is super fun and the food is pretty good. The kids will love seeing the fake animals and the occcasional thunderstorms are pretty cool.

-Sci-Fi Dine In (MGM)
This is my all-time favorite fun place to eat at WDW. You sit in a car and watch clips of old movies while eating. Kid plates are served on frisbees and drinks have glow cubes in them. LOVE this place!

-Garden Grill (Epcot)
I have wanted to eat here since my first trip back in the early 80's. You sit in a booth the revolves around the restaurant. It looks really neat. From what I have read, the food went from good--bad--back to good. I will just have to take my chances. This a character meal so the kids are really going to have a fun time.

We are still debating on doing the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It will be offered on both the 21st and 28th of our trip. We shall see.