Our ADRs for this year's December trip are as follows.
Tony's Town Square (Magic Kingdom): - Dinner Day #1:
Ok so this is the one that I am most nervous about and from what I have read it gets more negative reviews then positive. I chose it for a variety of reasons. One being that I don't consider myself a food snob. What I mean is, I am fairly easy to please when it comes to restaurants. I mean it has to be cold, not cooked, or extremely disgusting/unclean for me to really do much complaining to the staff. Do I think it is going to be as good as The California Grill? Absolutely not, so I think I understand that I shouldn't have these high hopes coming in to the experience. The second reason is, I snagged a really great ADR time that puts us in the restaurant before the Main Street Electrical parade begins and we should be eating during the parade. I've been told it isn't always for sure that you will be near a window or able to see the parade, but I am hoping we can get lucky. And really to be honest, we are not going to be too upset if we miss the parade all together. We've seen it several times and isn't a must do this time. This at least will get us out of the crazy crowds and enjoying a meal during the parade. Then we can walk out after dinner and catch Wishes. I think the timing will be perfect. The third reason for choosing Tony's is that I have never eaten a sit down meal on Main Street and I have always wanted to go inside Tony's. It just seems like this location could be really magical. I am hoping and praying we at least have a somewhat enjoyable time at Tony's Town Square Restaurant!
Sanaa (Kidani Village) - Dinner Day #2:
I am not worried about this one at all. In fact I couldn't be more excited for it. It will fulfill the fact that I have yet to step foot into Kidani Village so that in itself is a great reason to choose Sanaa. I do have some concerns however. One is I forgot that we are going in December and it will be dark after 6pm. I am really hoping it doesn't ruin our experience of viewing the animals. We may think about going over to Kidani much earlier to hang out, grab a drink, and have a look around in the daylight. Second concern is the weird food offerings. The menu looks pretty out there and probably scary to a person who doesn't want to go out of their comfort zone when it comes to food. I am really hoping my group can find something they like. But overall, I plan on this being amazing and no one is going to change my mind on that fact!
Kona Cafe (Polynesian) - Breakfast Day #3:
This is one of my two repeats, however I didn't cheat too badly. I have only ever been to Kona Cafe for dinner. I have never experienced it for breakfast although I have heard loads of reviews just raving about the Tonga Toast. To be honest with you, I may not even order the Tonga Toast. I am not a huge fan of banana flavor unless I am flat out just eating a banana. I don't know, you may have to convince me. But the fact we are eating here for breakfast makes this experience new to me and can be counted as something we've never done before. I am pretty excited to start the day out at one of my favorite restaurants.
Mama Melrose (Disney's Hollywood Studios) - Dinner Day #3:
So I know what you are thinking, another Italian joint? Not only another Italian joint but another Italian joint that doesn't get great reviews? I know...I hear ya... This one was tricky. I wanted to eat at the Studios because the rest of my party has never experienced the Osborne Lights. I wanted to close our night in the Studios and I didn't want to book at a resort where we would have to rush out of there to get to dinner or rush back to the Studios after dinner. This may be our only day at the Studios because honestly I just don't find myself wanting to spend much time there. So in the event of going to the Studios and staying there with no rushing, it was Mama Melrose. Before you ask, yes, I've eaten at Sci-Fi and 50's Prime Time so those were out. I didn't want to spend two credits on Brown Derby and I am extremely uninterested in Hollywood & Vine. I'm going to give Mama Melrose a chance. I'm a little intrigued to give this a try.
Biergarten (Epcot) - Lunch Day #4:
This is my other repeat and also a favorite restaurant of mine. I think we have eaten at Biergarten on every trip since our first experience there, so this is one tradition we are keeping. But it wasn't originally planned that way. Well after making my ADRs I decided I wanted to see the Candlelight Processional for the first time. I did some research and asked some questions on popular Disney forums regarding how to see the show without paying for the lunch or dinner package. It seemed up in the air and not guaranteed that we would get in unless we lined up aggressively early. I didn't really want to waste my day that way so I decided we would try for a lunch package. Biergarten was mainly chosen because it is the least expensive but I was also thrilled to learn of that fact since we do love it there so much. So as you can see it is sort of a new experience as it is part of the Candlelight Processional package which I have yet to see the show. This whole plan is also a surprise for my mother. The only drawback to this plan is that I had to cancel my previously scheduled dinner reservation this day at The Wave. It just did not work out with the timing of the show. I am pretty bummed about this one as I was really looking forward to eating there.
Olivia's (Old Key West) - Dinner Day #5:
This one seems a little off the radar. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have yet to visit Old Key West resort so that is one of the main reasons I chose it. I haven't heard much about Olivia's to be honest. A little bit of good and a little bit of "meh." There wasn't really much more thought put into this decision other then I've never been there. I'm looking forward to checking it out.
Turf Club (Saratoga Springs) - Dinner Day #6:
This is the last night of our vacation. I've been interested in this restaurant for quite awhile now. Mainly because I hear very little about it so it makes it all the more mysterious. However lately I have been hearing wonderful reviews about it and people are calling it a hidden gem. Ummmm....yes please! It's possible we will end the night in Downtown Disney or if it is a complete mess down there like I've been hearing, we might head over to Port Orleans Riverside (my love) to hang out at the bar. Should be a relaxing end to our vacation and we will probably have to unbutton the top button of our pants in order to breathe!
Your thoughts are appreciated and I don't even mind if you call me crazy on a few of these. I can't wait to actually experience them and come back to the blog with my own personal experiences. Thanks for reading!