What ADR would you add, drop, or run far far away from??

[Momager]

So I'm having a day of obsessing over our dining reservations! We're on the deluxe dining plan for our first night staying at the Boardwalk and on the regular dining plan for the rest of the trip, and staying at the Beach Club. 7 nights, 8 days.


Background -

Me (38) Will eat pretty much anything
Hubs (45) Not as adventurous, but eats some fish now... Can't take spicy food
Daughter #1 (14) Likes spicy food, not a big steak or fish eater but will eat some.
Daughter #2 (13) Avoids spicy food like the plague. Will eat some fish. Loves sushi.
Daughter #3 (4) Average toddler I guess lol Not overly picky, but best with mac n cheese, grilled cheese - Cheese in general is her friend.
My father (old) If he comes, he eats anything and everything. All spices, all ethnicities.
His wife (older) No sushi, not sure about spice. More of a meat and potato kinda person.


Here are our ADRs....
The Boathouse (just my family)
Jungle Navigation
Chef Mickeys
La Hacienda
Sci-Fi (for my oldest... I'm really not feeling it...)
Tusker House
Bon Voyage Breakfast
CRT


We're probably not going back to Disney for many years (if at all) after this trip so I really want to make it a good one. My older girls have been many times, but this will be the first trip for the baby.
What would you take away or add for our trip?? I feel like we may be missing something not doing a 1900 PF dinner or HDDR, but everyone keeps vetoing it! Thoughts??



TIA!!!!

 

[rangerxenos]

People seem to love Tusker House, but our one experience there was not a good one. If you're looking for a buffet with an African flair, I'd try Boma at AKL instead.

 

[Momager]

People seem to love Tusker House, but our one experience there was not a good one. If you're looking for a buffet with an African flair, I'd try Boma at AKL instead.

Yeah I would love to try Boma, but its more for the character experience than the food. We're doing lunch this time, but enjoyed our breakfast there a few years ago!

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We usually stay at AKL and eat at Boma often, as we find it the best buffet on property. Tuskerhouse has something for everyone (The adventurous and none adventurous alike.) and we consider it to be by far the best Character/Food experience in WDW.
Chef Mickeys, is very standard buffet food.
Boathouse is great.
Jungle Navigation... That may enter some dicey waters for the non-adventurous among you. The Steak is good and the chicken and pork on the menu is very good. (Check the menu on that one.)
If Skipper Canteen Jungle Navigation looks like something you may want to switch up, check out Liberty Tree. It's family style Thanksgiving diner that is very good! This coming from a person who is not overly impressed with most restaurant Thanksgiving style meals.
La Hacienda has good food IMO.
HDDr, it's a cute show the food is good IMO, We love fried chicken and it meets our standards well. Another option is Trails End, it's a buffet at Fort Wilderness, we sometimes leave MK for a late lunch around 2:30 or so, jump on the boat in front of MK, ride over to Ft. Wilderness, eat lunch for a little break and then ride back over to MK for the rest of the evening. One of the best value buffets in WDW if you are paying out of pocket and it's the same food that you get at HDDr. Chicken, Ribs, Carving station... Southern style comfort food.
Most of the Princess driven meals are pretty low on the food quality list. ha 1900 Park doesn't even have a good atmosphere, think banquet hall with Princess'. Ha
Stick with Chef Mickey's and Tusker House for the Characters and let her meet and greet Princess' in the parks. I also heard good things from trusted sources about the Breakfast at Bon Voyage.

 

[CartyGirls]

WE loved Bon Voyage breakfast and would keep that IMO. It was the highlight of our last trip (maybe b/c it was new) but we thought the food was really good and nice size portions. My girls are 12 and 13 and requested it again for our trip in October.

La Haceinda is new to us this coming trip and I am super excited to try it.

Skipping Chef Mickey this trip and doing Garden Grill in Epcot.

Tusker House we enjoyed too.

 

[CartyGirls]

I forgot to add Liberty Tree Tavern is my mom and youngest daughters favorite and we went in February and it was delicious IMO. It's the first meal we booked (after BOG) for our upcoming trip.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

So I'm having a day of obsessing over our dining reservations! We're on the deluxe dining plan for our first night staying at the Boardwalk and on the regular dining plan for the rest of the trip, and staying at the Beach Club. 7 nights, 8 days.


Background -

Me (38) Will eat pretty much anything
Hubs (45) Not as adventurous, but eats some fish now... Can't take spicy food
Daughter #1 (14) Likes spicy food, not a big steak or fish eater but will eat some.
Daughter #2 (13) Avoids spicy food like the plague. Will eat some fish. Loves sushi.
Daughter #3 (4) Average toddler I guess lol Not overly picky, but best with mac n cheese, grilled cheese - Cheese in general is her friend.
My father (old) If he comes, he eats anything and everything. All spices, all ethnicities.
His wife (older) No sushi, not sure about spice. More of a meat and potato kinda person.


Here are our ADRs....
The Boathouse (just my family)
Jungle Navigation
Chef Mickeys
La Hacienda
Sci-Fi (for my oldest... I'm really not feeling it...)
Tusker House
Bon Voyage Breakfast
CRT


We're probably not going back to Disney for many years (if at all) after this trip so I really want to make it a good one. My older girls have been many times, but this will be the first trip for the baby.
What would you take away or add for our trip?? I feel like we may be missing something not doing a 1900 PF dinner or HDDR, but everyone keeps vetoing it! Thoughts??



TIA!!!!

I have eaten at only two of these so I'll provide my two cents on those only, Sci Fi, it's basic diner food with a fun atmosphere. We usually go every other DHS trip since it is fun. Definitely make sure you keep your phone charged for the flash so you can read the menu. Everyone will find something to eat there since it's pretty standard american food. It will please the pickier eaters IMO.

Same can be said for Chef Mickeys except I don't think the food is as good. It has basic american fare but the characters enhance the experience and provide a nice distraction from the the fact that the food isn't that great. It's really for the characters and if you go into the meal with that in mind, it will be a nice experience.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I think that Jungle Navigation should be fine now that the food there has been de-adventurized.

 

[sponica]

I think that Jungle Navigation should be fine now that the food there has been de-adventurized.

Man I regret not going there when it was interesting. Is it too hard to have a handful of restaurants with non standard fare?


OP: The only meal I would add (because it's a must do for us) is Garden Grill breakfast. Character interaction is a blast and while the food is pretty standard, they make some salsas there that the more adventurous will like.

 

[Micca]

I think that Jungle Navigation should be fine now that the food there has been de-adventurized.

In Adventureland no less!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Unless you are staying at the Contemporary, I would drop Chef Mickeys and pick up Minnie's Seasonal Dine (dinner only) at H&V in DHS. The characters are the same except you get Goofy instead of Pluto, and they are in cute costumes. The food is better, IMHO, but your mileage may vary on that. Plus, if you are on the DDP, you can get the Fantasmic package for the same table service credit. We hate Fantasmic so we don't get it but a lot of people love that show.

 

[Imamom2]

Unless you are staying at the Contemporary, I would drop Chef Mickeys and pick up Minnie's Seasonal Dine (dinner only) at H&V in DHS. The characters are the same except you get Goofy instead of Pluto, and they are in cute costumes. The food is better, IMHO, but your mileage may vary on that. Plus, if you are on the DDP, you can get the Fantasmic package for the same table service credit. We hate Fantasmic so we don't get it but a lot of people love that show.

I second this one - Chef Mickey's is a good choice if your doing MK that day but if not go for a character meal in whatever park you're in. I would not go out of the way for Chef Mickey's.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I agree with the comments to drop Chef Mickey's.

I don't know when you're going, but Topolino's Terrace breakfast could be another option for meeting the main characters, if it's open by then.

Is your Boathouse a lunch, or dinner? I've done one lunch there and it was OK but I was not impressed. Maybe it's better at dinner; I haven't tried that yet.

I think the rest of your list is pretty good. CRT would be more for the experience than the food, according to most reviews I've read. (I haven't dined there since it was King Stefan's Banquet Hall).

I liked Tusker House better back when it had more specialty items. It's been toned way down and is now more like standard food rather than exotic. This may be just fine for your family. I've found myself doing more Boma dinners and fewer Tusker House meals because I enjoy food that's a little different (without being overly spicy).

Jungle Navigation Co. Skipper Canteen and Sci Fi Dine-In are among my favorites.

I haven't tried Hacienda or Bon Voyage breakfast yet, but the reviews look good for both.

I think you're in pretty good shape and IMHO just need to replace Chef Mickey's.

 

[Momager]

Unless you are staying at the Contemporary, I would drop Chef Mickeys and pick up Minnie's Seasonal Dine (dinner only) at H&V in DHS. The characters are the same except you get Goofy instead of Pluto, and they are in cute costumes. The food is better, IMHO, but your mileage may vary on that. Plus, if you are on the DDP, you can get the Fantasmic package for the same table service credit. We hate Fantasmic so we don't get it but a lot of people love that show.

I originally had Minnies on my schedule, but everyone just HAD to go to CMs... Even though we were there this past Feb! LOL

 

[Jacq7414]

We did CRT breakfast last trip and really enjoyed it. But mostly for the experience and seeing just the wow on my almost 3 year old’s face. It was really cute. I also really enjoyed the quiche.

 

[linny172]

WE loved Bon Voyage breakfast and would keep that IMO. It was the highlight of our last trip (maybe b/c it was new) but we thought the food was really good and nice size portions. My girls are 12 and 13 and requested it again for our trip in October.

La Haceinda is new to us this coming trip and I am super excited to try it.

Skipping Chef Mickey this trip and doing Garden Grill in Epcot.

Tusker House we enjoyed too.

Can I ask about the Bon Voyage breakfast, where is it at? Haven’t heard if this one. Thank you

 

[Jacq7414]

Can I ask about the Bon Voyage breakfast, where is it at? Haven’t heard if this one. Thank you

The boardwalk

 

[lovethesun12]

Based on the information you gave I’d definitely drop La Hacienda. Not even a question.

 

[Alicefan]

I think that Jungle Navigation should be fine now that the food there has been de-adventurized.

Funny, someone on here condescendingly told me that the menu had been adventurous for a long time and they were NOT going to dumb it down for the masses because it was successful. Hey whoever you were!!!! hahaha I told you so!!! lol It's inevitable. They have dumbed down every restaurant with any kind of uniqueness to appeal to the masses and I'm convinced that 99% of the population has baby mouth or something. And THIS is why theme park food is not worth the price tag and fair quality at best....but hey it's themed and fun so we fork over our cash because we're a captive audience. It's funny because you stick around the boards long enough and you realize that we all have our favorite meals picked out and we've learned exactly what to stick with to get the most out of our money and not go on a rager because we just spent $43 on a shoe leather steak lol.

 

[Alicefan]

Based on the information you gave I’d definitely drop La Hacienda. Not even a question.

I agree 100% with this! We went just for the queso and chips and dessert for Illuminations one night and we were treated like crap and ignored because we weren't going to make the server any money. On top of that, the queso is a big blob of greasy cooling down stretchy cheese that you have to cut with a knife and glop it onto a chip if you possibly can. It is NOT a dip by any stretch of the imagination. We were treated so badly that we complained and our server didn't bother to come back so we left without paying and I'm telling you, it has to be pretty bad for me to do that! I mean it's not like we sat there and ate the food up or anything. It was inedible. I'd go for San Angel Inn for better atmosphere and better food. Not going to be as good as your local Mexican but best atmosphere on property if you ask me.