Seconds thoughts and like quadruple guessing myself...

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JMed's picture
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Seconds thoughts and like quadruple guessing myself...

Hi Kids! As I am sitting here reading other threads and reviews and going over ADR's for like the 100th time, I am having some second and even third thoughts laugh

Here are my choices so far (we have the dining plan and it is during F&W) We have 2 probably 3 full days in Epcot so I do have TS ADRs for a couple of the nights

Saturday arrival day Raglan Road dinner
Sunday Kona breakfast
Whispering Canyon dinner
Mon Tokyo Dining dinner
Tues Kona dinner
Wed Yak and Yeti lunch
Sanaa dinner
Thurs Via Napoli dinner
Fri 50's Prime Time

I REALLY (really really) want to eat at BOG but I hear so-so things about it... (I still at this point do not have an ADR) I was thinking arrive early for lunch and take our chances or just keep trying for that ADR up until we get there. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast, it's my all time favorite but I don't want to be disappointed because the food isn't outstanding or the restaurant is too noisy. Should I keep trying for the ADR, take my chance with lunch or skip it all together??? Will they let me inside just to poke around and see it???? I do have Pinocchio Village Haus on my radar if this falls thru. Waffle anyone???

Raglan Rd - all I hear is wonderful things - but DTD on a Saturday night? This is the only time we would utilize the bus... How is bus transport from Pop to DTD??? How early should we leave? Should we brave DTD on a Sat night?

50's Prime Time - Reading the recent thread on here I wonder if it's worth it.... Should I go? What if it's not the experience I am hoping for? Would it still be worth it to go? Same with Whispering Canyon... Is it more dependable for a good time???

Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated! mickey

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Sounds like a great plan!! I think you should keep trying for a BOG ADR; they prepare the food differently for dinner so I think it would be better than lunch. That bring sad, if you don't get an ADR, I still think you should go for lunch. The atmosphere is worth it, IMO!! mickey And unfortunately they won't let you in just to look around

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Spook's picture
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If you really want BOG I say go for it! Maybe even try and get a fast pass for lunch? Maybe you won't be disappointed. Since you've read it's noisy and the food can be meh, than at least you won't be too surprised. I haven't been there yet but I plan on doing lunch (the lunch menu looks better to me than the dinner) sometime. I'm the type of person who has to see for myself. Chef Mickey's gets bad reviews but I plan on going there sometime too mickey

I went to 50's Prime Time a couple years ago. Our server was good but there weren't much antics. However, we really loved the food and I would return.

The Colonel's picture
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You have to eat at BOG at least once, especially if you are a B&B fan. So you may as well just do it. I found the food disappointing and probably wont go back.

Yak and yeti and Sanaa the same day - loosen your belt time! Two of my faves.

I'm a huge fan of Kona. I find it one of the best restaurants in WDW.

I've been to 50s PTC many times. It's fun and it's ok but it can definitely be skipped. I love the Brown Derby Lounge in DHS, but then again, I'm pretty much an alcoholic.

I have the same issue with Raglan Road. Just can't seem to find time for it. I always seem to wind up in EOS then get the shopping done and get out of there. DTD on a Saturday night does not sound appealing.

Never been to Whispering Canyon either.

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JMed's picture
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Oh Colonel, I plan on out doing myself on this trip!!! LOL I still have restaurants I want to add. We are huge foodies and most of our vacations/adventures revolve around food. I can't NOT do it!

The 50's PT thread has me skeptical at this point. I don't want to go and get a dud so to speak but FRIED CHICKEN well, those 2 words alone make the heart of this southern belle skip a beat yeah

I was thinking Brown Derby but I don't want to use 2 credits when I can try 2 places for those 2. I love drinking too, I would drink at work if they would let me. rolling

Thanks ladies, I wish I wasn't a menu studier/review reader. I know everyone has their own tastes and opinions about what is awesome but I can't help myself... I still have 138 days left and I will change my mind a couple more times.

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We did BOG for lunch last Fall and we really enjoyed it. The food and the ambiance were well worth the wait for us. We have a FP this time and are looking forward to trying the Grey Stuff . mickey I say try it at least once! awesome

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If Beauty & the Beast is your thing, keep trying to BOG dinner. Word on the street is that the Beast is currently appearing during dinner. I've seen day-of ADR's for BOG, so it's not a lost cause yet! We've only bee for lunch and the menu is completely different. The quality of what we've had has been good, but not so super fabulous that I must eat there every trip. I like the French ham & cheese sandwich--Croque something or other (I took four years of Spanish. I only know about 10 words in French and I don't think I can spell a single one correctly), but they have basically the same sandwich at Les Halles in EPCOT.
As far as getting into the castle, the line used to be that you had to eat there to go inside, but in May, the doors were open until around 10-10:15 am for people to walk into the lobby and take pictures. You can't see the West Wing or the Library, but you can basically see the whole rest of the restaurant.

I like the food at 50's, but our interactive experience the first time was awful and the second time was just so-so. One thing that I really like at 50's is that they have a sampler platter that is big enough to share and then everyone has room for milkshakes!

The only other place I've been to on your list is Via Napoli and we just had pizza and it was delicious. The servers that we had were awesome and they really did a great job of making us feel special.

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BOG- is a strange one but day of adrs come up all the time because families cancel adrs 24 hrs before, I think this is went first timers realise how big the park is and how far the resturant is from the main gates. We spoke to a family last May who had book it for 7:30 but were going to be in Epcot that day and then go back to Epcot for the fireworks. We were talking to them on their first night at the hotel, they hadn't been to any of the parks yet and had 2 small children, you could just tell they were going to change plans after seeing everything.

We had lunch their, the way we did it was by going to enchanted tales with belle at about 10am we waited in line for 30mins and then went straight to BOG and got in line at 10:55 doing this we were really in the beauty and the beast mood and the half an hour wait for the resturant to open was nothing. I loved lunch the roast beef sandwich was amazing. Also as a cs on the dinning plan it's great because of refills and cupcakes. I am not sure I would want to use a TS credit for it just to meet the beast.... As you are staying on site though you can use the fast pass plus link for lunch, we plan on doing this during our October trip, in march though for our honeymoon we will be there for dinner, because we have the delux dinning plan.

Now as for 50s I love love love the theme and the resturant as I'm a retro kind of guy. The server we had was a hoot and we talk about him and his singing happy birthday to my fiance all the time, in fact we watch the video almost every week. We even made friends with the two ladies on the table next to us, I live the bar, the sundaes, the milkshakes......... But...... I hated the fried chicken, contraversal I know but in October we won't be returning there just because the food was average, sorry. Also I don't think you really need an ADR for there... If you go a night you aren't planning on seeing fantasmic it's a walk up during the show.

JMed's picture
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Thanks for the input everyone. I just tend to set high expectations... I need to let myself relax and enjoy and if it doesn't work out, well, it doesn't. I still have plenty of time and wiggle room and I just know that everyone on here is super with their opinions and thoughts!!!!

yay

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The Colonel's picture
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The Brown Derby Lounge may not be on the dining plan. It's small plates and no ADRs

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The Colonel wrote:
The Brown Derby Lounge may not be on the dining plan. It's small plates and no ADRs

When we were there in May, The Brown Derby Lounge was not open. They were directing people to the Tune In Lounge, so you may want to check before hand if you want to go there to see if it is open.

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I think you really need to try BOG. I love the details inside. Dinner is good but, do not expect signature dining. I have never noticed the noise but the seating is very close. I was not crazy about lunch and probably will not do it again.

We have always enjoyed our meal at 50's. I guess we have been lucky and have always had a great server. We have only tried Whispering Canyon once and that was for breakfast. The food was good enough and our server was really fun. We would not go out of our way to do that one again though.

Even the thought of DTD on a Saturday night scares me. I can not help you with bus info though. I have only tried a bus one time and once was enough for me. The only bus ride I did was from DTD to the Poly. That took an hour. I will say, the bus may be better on a Sat night than driving though simply due to the parking issues. It will be packed as far as trying to walk around and the stores will be too.

But...I do think you should try any of these things if they are something you really want to try. Everyone is different and has different likes and dislikes. I am finding that I enjoy lots of things that I did not think I would once I give them a try. And if I do not like it, well, at least I tried it.

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I agree with trying restaurants or experiences that others may not have enjoyed too. Things vary a bit based on server, etc, and as hard as Disney tries to always deliver near perfect, it does not always happen. I approach new restaurants with the attitude that I am buying an experience, decor, etc, and the food is a part of the wole thing. And we all like different things too!

That being said though, if the food was not too great I will try something else next time. awesome

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I say keep on trying for BOG and I really don't think you will be disappointed. The atmosphere and food is so different from the lunch time. So hang in there and keep trying is what I suggest.

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Ill put my little input in aswell!

BOG - we experienced both last September and in my opinion i much preferred the food at lunch to dinner we had the braised pork and I can say I'm still dreaming of it now in my opinion it was out of this world!!! I had extremely high expectations of dinner and had some sort of pork meal hoping it would be better than lunch and it disappointed me the only plus side I can find is meeting the beast at dinner (also for a quieter feel we sat in the rose gallery rather than the ballroom much better!!!)

50's - we also did this last year and although we didn't necessarily have an entertaining meal as we were eating the CM's made little comments such as "caring is sharing" etc and I really liked it that way plus its a fun place to sit for a meal with theming etc we are heading back this year so I wasn't put off and I have to say the pork chop and dads electric lemonade were amazing!!!!!

hope this helps!!!

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yea, the thought of DTD on a Saturday night frightens me lol but It's the one night we will have free... (maybe Sunday would be better???) The last time we went it took us about an hour JUST TO PARK and that was last February and I don't think they had the lots closed yet. I know it can be a nightmare but I really want to go. We NEVER do the buses. I like having my car there. Just a thing with me. I drive everywhere, all the time.

I am going to keep trying for BOG... If I get it great, if not, we will try the lunch if the wait isn't crazy

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The thought of Downtown Disney on a Saturday night literally makes me want to curl up in a ball and die, so I would probably opt for a resort restaurant on arrival night.

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You've gotten a ton of opinions already but I'll throw my 2 cents in, too.

Yak & Yeti and Kona are not to be missed! Hands down my two favorite restaurants we ate at last trip.

Pinnochio Village Haus doesn't have waffles, does it? I think you're thinking of Sleeping Hollow which is AWESOME. Those Nutella and Fruit waffle sandwiches are to die for and the chicken and waffle one is on my list to try this time.

50's Prime Time is a lot of fun (if you get a good server) but I thought the food was just ok. It was my DH's favorite restaurant though so if that's your type of eating you may love it!

Brown Derby Lounge I'm pretty sure doesn't take the dining plan. Inside is the 2 credit meals, the lounge is more small plates.

I had the same dilemma over BOG for our September trip and finally settled on just doing lunch. I figured that if the food reviews were just so-so, I'd rather waste a CS vs. a TS credit on it and that way we still get to see everything. We're big B&tB fans but a TS credit just to see the Beast was not worth it for us in the end.

Whispering Canyon we're trying for dinner on Aug 31 so I'll come back with a review for you!

MrHub wrote:
The Colonel wrote:
The Brown Derby Lounge may not be on the dining plan. It's small plates and no ADRs

When we were there in May, The Brown Derby Lounge was not open. They were directing people to the Tune In Lounge, so you may want to check before hand if you want to go there to see if it is open.

Oh no! I'm really looking forward to that for our September trip! Hope it was just a fluke that it wasn't open sad

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Allie wrote:

MrHub wrote:
The Colonel wrote:
The Brown Derby Lounge may not be on the dining plan. It's small plates and no ADRs

When we were there in May, The Brown Derby Lounge was not open. They were directing people to the Tune In Lounge, so you may want to check before hand if you want to go there to see if it is open.

Oh no! I'm really looking forward to that for our September trip! Hope it was just a fluke that it wasn't open sad

Yeah me too Allie, I was really looking forward to that.

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Here's my opinion! As far as I could tell the lounge was open last week. We didn't have a dinner ADR for BOG but managed to get one on the day and for an hour and a half after we enquired at guest services! The CM said he had never had an ADR like that come up. Had the slow cooked pork and it was gorgeous, and the French onion soup is totally devine. We ate there last October and enjoyed it too then. The Master is meeting guests in the library after your meal. We had an ADR for lunch which was good, I didn't feel too great all trip but really enjoyed the tuna nicose but couldnt manage anything else. G had the soup and the tuna also. I do remember thinking that the soup I had at dinner was considerably smaller in size than the lunch portion. But if you love cheese then you will love the soup.

We also had an ADR at 50s and I had the chicken (well I ate the breast) it is good but the portion size was ginormous and sadly I couldn't do it justice and the mash was yum. If you order the onion rings as a starter they would probably do two people.

With all the walls up at DTD I found it horrible, you cannot see where anything is to get your bearings and it is crowded. We actually don't like it much. I did try to go back one night to go to the new Coop but the boat wasn't sailing from SSR and I was too tired to walk it so I didn't get there, we will go there briefly next trip but it is always brief! I want to get to Ghiradelli's but have failed on 2 occasions now!

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BD Lounge is about to open today. Bartender is setting up. I'm happy to hear that

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Pinnochio Village Haus doesn't have waffles, does it? I think you're thinking of Sleeping Hollow which is AWESOME. Those Nutella and Fruit waffle sandwiches are to die for and the chicken and waffle one is on my list to try this time.

oh my!!! I thought it was PVH THANK YOU!!!!!!!! WHEW I would have been mad after searching for it and standing in line for no waffles! LOL laugh

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The Colonel wrote:
BD Lounge is about to open today. Bartender is setting up. I'm happy to hear that

yay clapping yay

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However, if you do end up at Pinnochio Haus for a Quick Service Meal, I highly recommend the BBQ Chicken Flatbread!

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Magic Mirror's picture
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(and...the Tomato Basil Soup,,, and Chocolate Gelato... and....) cool

JMed's picture
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and... and... and... I adore gelato!!! muchlove

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"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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IMO, You won't be disappointed with any of the waffle sandwiches from Sleepy Hollow. They are by far the best waffle sandwiches we've ever had at any of the parks in WDW!