Again.
I know, Dad, I know – we go there every 18 months. (Totes not true, btw, we haven’t been there since October 2010, so it’ll be 20 months by the time we get there. But it’ll have been three years since the kids have been there so we’re not completely out of control. No we’re not!)
Well if that wasn’t a little glimpse into my psyche.
Anyway.
I’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for Disney to release their fall free dining dates, and yesterday they finally did. If you’re traveling between August 25 and September… oh, just go here if you want to read about it. But the short version of the story is that we’re going to Disney and we’re going to eat for free.
If you like eating as much as Andy and I do, that’s a very big deal.
So, as soon as I booked the trip, the race was on to get our ADRs (advanced dining reservations for you non-Disney freaks). Planning our meals is one of my very favorite things about planning Disney trips (see above, re: like to eat). This time around, we’re going with a few old favorites and trying a few new places too, and I couldn’t be more excited.
We have ADRs for…
— Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios. Breakfast with Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. This one is mainly for Sam, but who doesn’t love Mickey waffles?
— Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios. The main reason I booked this one is for the Fantasmic package – dinner guests get special reserved seats at Hollywood Studios’ end-of-the-night show. Fantasmic is one of the few major Disney World attractions I’ve never experienced, and I’m very excited!
— Liberty Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom. This is another new one for us. I’ve read good things about it and I hope it lives up to the hype. I generally think the Magic Kingdom food leaves much to be desired, but hopefully this will surprise me!
— San Angel Inn in Epcot. We ate there a couple years ago the day after we ran the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, and it was about the best meal I’d ever had in my life. The wide selection of margaritas didn’t hurt anything.
— Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom. This is also a character breakfast – Donald and his friends decked out in their safari gear. This serves two purposes – it fulfills the required Mickey et al character meal and also gets us into the Animal Kingdom before the park opens, so we can go straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris, which is supposed to be amazing first thing in the morning.
— ‘Ohana at the Polynesian Resort. This is a new one for us too, and it’s a Hawaiian-themed dinner show.
Sounds great, don’t ya think? Those are our “table service” meals. Our free dining plan also comes with one “quick service” meal per day. Some of our favorite quick service stops include Cantina San Angel in Epcot and Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney.
Needless to say, I am geeking out about all the planning involved in getting ready for our trip (not just the food, I swear! That was just the most pressing matter). I’ve renewed my subscription to TouringPlans.com, and I’ve got a spreadsheet detailing the best and worst parks for each day and which day we’ll follow which touring plan of attack. They even have an iPhone app that shows current wait times! I think my iPhone might replace my trusty little notebook that contained all my spreadsheets the last time we went. Ah, technology. An OCD nerd’s best friend.
Wooooohoooooooooo!!!!
(You can find my Top 10 Disney Planning Tips here. At least those were my best tips before we actually went – here’s what I learned while we were actually there!)
