Should I keep these PPO ADRs?

[westminster]

Hi there - we are making our first Disney trip Presidents Week with kids 7 and 9 and are so excited! A couple of questions for all you pros:

We plan to spend one day at Epcot. I have a PPO ADR for GG with the hope of walking on to Soarin’. We already have FP for FEA and TT is closed. Do you think it’s worth keeping the PPO? We could just RD Soarin but I’m assuming lines will be longer than usual due to TT being closed?

Secondly: we are doing two days at MK, first day focusing on the left side, second day on the right side. We have a PPO for BOG for second day. It is EMM so we won’t be able to ride anything until park opens at 9, plus we already have FP for SDMT and PPF for later that day. Should I just cancel the PPO or is it still worth being ahead of RD crowd?

What would you do? Thanks so much!

 

[yulilin3]

I would eat at the places I want to eat for the food. If you don't want to eat at GG or BoG then I would cancel, restaurants are not meant for advantage in queues and they are not offered that way. I know a lot of people use this PPO advantage scenario but that's not why you should go spend money on a certain dining venue. Just my opinion, I'm sure you will hear many others, have a fun trip

 

[lucky978]

I agree with the above poster.

By the way, I don't think I've ever seen so many acronyms in one post! Dis-speak is like another language!

 

[wrestler72]

Garden Grill PPO is something we do every time during our annual trip. Sometimes twice. And we do BOG PPO on our MK days unless there is EMM, in which case we do EMM. I think food is good in both (Garden Grill in particular) and BOG is a really nice place to visit. And you get an advantage to getting to Soarin and Seven Dwarfs without any waiting time (and you can ask for the best sits when you get to Soarin).
So, I would certainly keep Garden Grill but I would swap BOG for EMM (but would keep it if I could not do EMM)

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Hi there - we are making our first Disney trip Presidents Week with kids 7 and 9 and are so excited! A couple of questions for all you pros:

We plan to spend one day at Epcot. I have a PPO ADR for GG with the hope of walking on to Soarin’. We already have FP for FEA and TT is closed. Do you think it’s worth keeping the PPO? We could just RD Soarin but I’m assuming lines will be longer than usual due to TT being closed?

Secondly: we are doing two days at MK, first day focusing on the left side, second day on the right side. We have a PPO for BOG for second day. It is EMM so we won’t be able to ride anything until park opens at 9, plus we already have FP for SDMT and PPF for later that day. Should I just cancel the PPO or is it still worth being ahead of RD crowd?

What would you do? Thanks so much!

When do you have your FP's? I agree with others that it's better to just eat based on what you want to eat and not the PPO advantage. Since you know this is an EMM day your RD should remain unaffected.

However, IF your FPs are later in the day it's worthwhile considering that you may still want to ride one or both at Rope drop. You do run the risk of the rides being down during your FP time (when I went on an EMM day, with EMM admission, SDMT was down later on that day. Was glad I got to ride it during that hour). Rope dropping them avoids this risk (though not the risk that they're down at park open - it happens).

If they are down during your FP time, then you would've gotten to ride them during that first hour. And your FP's will be replaced with anytime FP's (make sure to replace your original with new FP times though as the anytimes are considered bonuses). If not, you can either switch your FP's out or ride them again. There's something satisfying about getting to ride the most popular rides with relatively little wait twice in one day.

 

[SaintsManiac]

PPO GG is well worth it. The food is great, service great, characters great! Getting to walk through an empty Epcot and Land are wonderful. Last time we did it we go to ride Soarin 2 times before the rope drop crowd came in.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Breakfast at Garden Grill is wonderful-even without the obvious advantage of being first in line for Soarin'. Character interaction is also some of the best on property , in addition to the really good food served family style. Keep in mind the meal will take about 45 minutes. If you have a reservation time before 830 they will let you in shortly before 8, and seating is done usually by who arrives first to the restaurant. Being inside the Beast's castle is also worth the experience, although the food there is only average. Breakfast and lunch are better options than the expensive dinner, though. You would be ahead of rope drop crowd headed to Fantasyland or Frontierland, but not the other two lands. If you don't want to eat at these places, I agree with PP's that I wouldn't do it.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I’ve never done garden grill. We don’t typically eat breakfast at restaurants (get groceries delivered). But we’ve done BOG PPO twice for the total experience. It was worth the money to us to have a more relaxed entrance to MK, seeing the areas behind the castle completely deserted, eating at &BOG, and getting to ride 7DMT without dealing with the RD crowds. Both times we also had 7DMT FPs later in the day but we like to ride more than once. I wouldHave only done it once but the kids wanted to do it a second time. We are not doing it this year because we’re staying in the Epcot area so it takes more time to get to MK and we value sleep too. It was worth it to us once. The whole experience was nice and more relaxed (other than getting the kids up in the morning). You do have to keep in mind that the ride can go down or start late and there is no compensation or recourse for that (like there would be for FPs). If you’re willing to accept that I’d keep it.

 

[westminster]

Thanks for all the responses - extremely helpful. And sorry for all the abbreviations - I used to think they were very confusing and obnoxious but now I can't help myself!

So we actually do want to eat at both restaurants (more for the characters at GG, and the setting at BOG, than the food) - it's just that we have several other character reservations (Crystal, Cinderella, and Tusker) so trying to figure out where best to spend our money/time/appetites, and the PPO advantage weighs into that heavily.

Our FPs for that MK day are PPF at 10:10, Space at 11:10, and SDMT at 1:50 (also CRT at 11:50). And I don't think EMM is in the budget. So putting aside the dining experience itself, would BOG only be worth the ride advantage if we wanted to ride SDMT first thing? Or is it still helpful for getting through Pooh, Little Mermaid, etc (and then down to Buzz) before the crowds descend?

Based on the responses sounds like we'll definitely keep Garden Grill PPO!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Thanks for all the responses - extremely helpful. And sorry for all the abbreviations - I used to think they were very confusing and obnoxious but now I can't help myself!

So we actually do want to eat at both restaurants (more for the characters at GG, and the setting at BOG, than the food) - it's just that we have several other character reservations (Crystal, Cinderella, and Tusker) so trying to figure out where best to spend our money/time/appetites, and the PPO advantage weighs into that heavily.

Our FPs for that MK day are PPF at 10:10, Space at 11:10, and SDMT at 1:50 (also CRT at 11:50). And I don't think EMM is in the budget. So putting aside the dining experience itself, would BOG only be worth the ride advantage if we wanted to ride SDMT first thing? Or is it still helpful for getting through Pooh, Little Mermaid, etc (and then down to Buzz) before the crowds descend?

Based on the responses sounds like we'll definitely keep Garden Grill PPO!

You don’t need it for any of those rides. Yo can just go on those rides with the RD crowd. Most people are not going to them. It’s helpful for PPF as well as 7DMT. If you’re not doing either of those rides BOG lunch is a better value. Breakfast is very expensive for what you get.

 

[loves to dive]

As others have said, you should eat where you want to eat regardless of PPO. Disney has been known to change their park opening hours, many times, so what is now a PPO might not be when you actually go.

 

[Karl66]

Since you don't seem to care about dining at the restaurants you mentioned and are only concerned about early access to certain attractions, I would dump the ADRs and save the money/dining credits and eat somewhere else that I really want to dine.

 

[LSUfan4444]

There is no scenario when I have ever thought a PPO breakfast was worth it, unless of course it was free.

 

[sharonabe]

Our FPs for that MK day are PPF at 10:10, Space at 11:10, and SDMT at 1:50 (also CRT at 11:50). And I don't think EMM is in the budget. So putting aside the dining experience itself, would BOG only be worth the ride advantage if we wanted to ride SDMT first thing? Or is it still helpful for getting through Pooh, Little Mermaid, etc (and then down to Buzz) before the crowds descend?

With a CRT ressie at 11:50, I would skip the BoG breakfast unless you're planning to share. You don't want to be too full, but you do need to eat a little something. If eating at BoG is more convenient than eating at your resort or grabbing a snack elsewhere, then keep the ADR. You'll still be a step or two ahead of rope drop crowds even though you are planning to hit up less popular attractions.

 

[brockash]

Hi there - we are making our first Disney trip Presidents Week with kids 7 and 9 and are so excited! A couple of questions for all you pros:

We plan to spend one day at Epcot. I have a PPO ADR for GG with the hope of walking on to Soarin’. We already have FP for FEA and TT is closed. Do you think it’s worth keeping the PPO? We could just RD Soarin but I’m assuming lines will be longer than usual due to TT being closed?

Secondly: we are doing two days at MK, first day focusing on the left side, second day on the right side. We have a PPO for BOG for second day. It is EMM so we won’t be able to ride anything until park opens at 9, plus we already have FP for SDMT and PPF for later that day. Should I just cancel the PPO or is it still worth being ahead of RD crowd?

What would you do? Thanks so much!

If you're asking if you'll still have an advantage; the answer is yes to both. I'd probably keep the BOG for sure just because it's a much more pleasant walk back there (as opposed to with the rope drop crowd) and you can take some pics,and just order a couple things to share if you don't all want a separate meal. -You won't be able to ride SDMT early but you should be already through the que and on the ride by 903ish, without having to deal with the crowd.
We like Garden Grill breakfast and you should be able to eat and ride Soarin before the rope drop crowd gets to the land, but it is pricey, so it'd depend if I wanted to spend the money on that food/characters.

Having said this; if Disney changes their hours to 8am openings then I'd djmp the 8am ADR, as it'll put you at a disadvantage.

 

[texasgingerbread]

I prefer BOG on a non EMM day. This allows you to eat breakfast rather than stand in line at rope drop being pushed and crowded. Much better way to start your day at MK and 7DMT is a huge plus!

 

[westminster]

Based on all the great advice, we'll keep the BOG PPO in addition to GG - our intent was to order kids meals and/or share so it won't be super expensive, and also won't fill us up too much before Cinderella lunch. It is also the only time we will have to see the BOG castle (don't have time to fit in lunch or dinner there) and will need breakfast anyway so it seems like it's a win-win. We can then decide when we're there whether to ride SDMT at 9 (probably) or just get a head-start on some of the lesser rides. Thanks again!