Tried and true? Or something new?

[Neverbeast]

Planning a multi-generation, multi-family trip and trying to wrap my head around ways to dining. I know we’ll split up for different tastes, budgets, and interests but also want to share a TS together several of the days. I’m also the planner and most of the group is new to WDW so they don’t know what they like or want...

Big picture, my first trip I researched all the restaurants and made careful choices and LOVED almost every experience. That makes it really hard not to want to recreate that itinerary for my own family and also to lean toward things I believe my extended fam will like. But I also know my tastes aren’t always the same and wonder if I’d be missing out not to do mostly the same places...

How do you approach planning dining for first trip friends and family? Stick to your own tried and true? Or try something new and hope you really understand their tastes and preferences?

 

[Pumbaa_]

A mix of both. We tend to add one new restaurant and a mix of favorites usually

 

[Neverbeast]

FWIW, my first trip we were DDP and I didn't feel any pressure to like anything or get “value”.

This time we’ll all be OOP so it also feels like more pressure to pick meals that are worth that bill...

 

[kiramay]

I’ve picked mostly tried and true restaurants for our upcoming multi-family trip. CRT will be the only new one for us. A lot of buffets, characters, and shows. We’ll try to branch out more for CS.

 

[kaybird]

We always wind up doing a mix. We also generally have each person make a pick. Makes for a great trip for everyone!!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My family goes to WDW quite often, but I have planned 3 trips with "newbies". Prior to traveling, I've always asked what types of food they like, what kind of experiences they like and what their budget is. I also ask if they have any "must-do's" in mind - character dining, signature dining, fireworks parties, etc. It's always kind of fun, actually, to hear from people who have seen images of WDW all their lives but have never been there - what sticks out to them, what their impressions are, etc. We recently traveled with one of my best friends and her 11-year old son. In asking her my questions, I discovered her son is a picky eater (mac and cheese, chicken tenders), they were more interested in experience over food quality and she wasn't interested in spending an arm and a leg on meals she knew her son wouldn't eat. So, on that trip, we did Sci-Fi, lots of QS and two dessert parties. It was perfect! When we took my sister, I knew she wanted some iconic WDW experiences, so we did CRT, a "Mickey" meal (Tusker) and Cali Grill. I think if you garner a little info from each family, you might get a better sense of what might work for your group. I do find, when we travel with others, we tend to go to places we don't go to regularly as a family anymore. We hadn't been to Sci-Fi for years when we took our friends - it was kind of fun to revisit the oldies but goodies!

 

[KenHutch]

Another mixture group here. With 20+ meals to schedule every trip the girls have a list of must do's but I insist that they add 4 to 5 new restaurants to the list. Some work well like when we tried Boma (huge success made the must do list) and some are disasters like B0G ( never never never again)

 

[DISNEY1975]

As a huge Disney fan, with many trips under my belt I have learned to understand not everyone is the same as me and to not get saddened when others dont have the same reaction as I do to all things Disney. I once planned a 10 day trip with my family, my Mom and my sister + her family of 5. My Mom, sister and I lived in the same house for many many years, with the same foods, so I thought it would be easy to choose restaurants. Nooooo. My sister has become picky picky picky! She literally would not even walk into LTT when she learned MK did not serve alcohol! She needed her wine at dinner. She hated the character meals, even though I chose them for her 3 kids! They werent impressed by Le Cellier.....ok I agree, but that should have been something she liked. Brown Derby turned out to be her favorite..I didnt like it. Her kids were tired/hungry and different times than mine. Disaster. I wont plan another trip for others ever. Our next trip together, I called a group meeting and printed out menus and options and everyone got their pick. If I really wanted something and she really wanted something else, we would plan to split apart for dinner, though get reservations at the same time, and join later after dinner. My kids are flexible, so I went with her plans/times for breaks and meals.

I strongly suggest meeting with your group and discussing all options. The guilt you will feel trying to do it solo and it not turning out how you hoped will put a damper on your vacation. If you all decide together, then you are all to blame if something isnt what you thought it would be! It wot go perfectly, but the burden will not be on your shoulders.

 

[gharter]

We go about twice a year. So we have our favorites that we do most trips, but always add 1-2 new restaurants each trip. Some are one and done, others become new favorites.

 

[Neverbeast]

Our next trip together, I called a group meeting and printed out menus and options and everyone got their pick.

I strongly suggest meeting with your group and discussing all options. The guilt you will feel trying to do it solo and it not turning out how you hoped will put a damper on your vacation. If you all decide together, then you are all to blame if something isnt what you thought it would be! It wot go perfectly, but the burden will not be on your shoulders.

Ugh this is what I was afraid of! I don’t want them to get the check for a Disney price meal they don’t like and feel like that’s MY fault!

Can you tell me more how you walked them through the options and menus and helped them decide? I just feel like the huge big list of ALL the options is so overwhelming and no one else really enjoys that kind of intense planning but me. I don’t want to make it seem like a chore and have that hard work feeling hanging over it either.

I can imagine if I just gave them all the menus my grumpy brother would just throw his hands up and insist on eating whatever QS they happen to be standing next to when they get hungry. And then will be mad that they don’t have any down time in A/C and that they end up with some crappy theme park food instead of the awesome meals I’ve been raving about.

Any ideas for helping them pick without making it so intense?

 

[tortoni]

We go very often because my son works for Disney. We always try to include someplace new or where we have not been in a while and include our favorites too.

 

[mkla2015]

I would ask your group for input- allears.net is great for menus and watch some dining reviews on youtube. Most WDW restaurants have a decent variety of foods where most people can find something to eat. I've planned a few trips with extended family- 12-14 people ranging in ages from 65 to 4. We get together as a group and discuss what reservations to make.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Ugh this is what I was afraid of! I don’t want them to get the check for a Disney price meal they don’t like and feel like that’s MY fault!

Can you tell me more how you walked them through the options and menus and helped them decide? I just feel like the huge big list of ALL the options is so overwhelming and no one else really enjoys that kind of intense planning but me. I don’t want to make it seem like a chore and have that hard work feeling hanging over it either.

I can imagine if I just gave them all the menus my grumpy brother would just throw his hands up and insist on eating whatever QS they happen to be standing next to when they get hungry. And then will be mad that they don’t have any down time in A/C and that they end up with some crappy theme park food instead of the awesome meals I’ve been raving about.

Any ideas for helping them pick without making it so intense?

I invited them over for dinner. My sister had been to Disney before, so I didnt have to start from scratch explaining the different parks/hotels etc... I did let her know we needed to make a plan of parks and restaurant reservations 180 prior. I literally had a Post-It poster pad! I drew the calendar of days and we all decided on which parks we wanted to be at on which days. Epcot was easy..quickly went down the list of countries, narrowed it down to type of cusine and showed them the menus (IPAD and print outs) of the restaurants that made the list. (They wanted Ms Paul, I San Angel Inn, but we both agreed on Teppan Edo, so we went back another night)

AK was easy...only 2 to choose from one buffet and other a la cart (This was pre Tiffins)
MK, do you want buffet/character or a la cart? (She always pick a la cart).. easy, only a few to choose from.
HS..She loved Brown Derby from previous trip, so we went back...but again, buffet or a la cart and go from there.

For resorts, run down the theme verbally, then look over the menus of what they choose. Will it take 20 minutes, no, but we were mostly done in about an 1.5 hours and eating during it (Though I was talking most of the time!)

On late nights out, I suggested water parks the next day / resort dining, she was fine with that. We compromised, but at least it didnt fall on me when she didnt like something. I always had Brown Derby to throw in her face!!

 

[Neverbeast]

I invited them over for dinner. My sister had been to Disney before, so I didnt have to start from scratch explaining the different parks/hotels etc... I did let her know we needed to make a plan of parks and restaurant reservations 180 prior. I literally had a Post-It poster pad! I drew the calendar of days and we all decided on which parks we wanted to be at on which days. Epcot was easy..quickly went down the list of countries, narrowed it down to type of cusine and showed them the menus (IPAD and print outs) of the restaurants that made the list. (They wanted Ms Paul, I San Angel Inn, but we both agreed on Teppan Edo, so we went back another night)

AK was easy...only 2 to choose from one buffet and other a la cart (This was pre Tiffins)
MK, do you want buffet/character or a la cart? (She always pick a la cart).. easy, only a few to choose from.
HS..She loved Brown Derby from previous trip, so we went back...but again, buffet or a la cart and go from there.

For resorts, run down the theme verbally, then look over the menus of what they choose. Will it take 20 minutes, no, but we were mostly done in about an 1.5 hours and eating during it (Though I was talking most of the time!)

On late nights out, I suggested water parks the next day / resort dining, she was fine with that. We compromised, but at least it didnt fall on me when she didnt like something. I always had Brown Derby to throw in her face!!

That’s a helpful way to immediately narrow the field- buffet or ala carte. Thanks! Luckily we have some time to figure it out.

I think the only thing all 11 of us will agree on is Space 220 as the entire family is obsessed with space. And I might insist on Ohana’ because I love it and it means family.

 

[DISNEY1975]

That’s a helpful way to immediately narrow the field- buffet or ala carte. Thanks! Luckily we have some time to figure it out.

I think the only thing all 11 of us will agree on is Space 220 as the entire family is obsessed with space. And I might insist on Ohana’ because I love it and it means family.

I insisted on a few character meals for my kids. I know she doesnt like them, but she did go to a couple for breakfast. One night we went to 1900 PF while she went to Citricos. We met up after and rode the monorail to MK for the fireworks. Same With Epcot and Ms. Paul vs San Angel Inn. After dinner, we all watched Illuminations. One morning my family got up early for breakfast at Akershus. She had breakfast at the hotel and met us at Epcot late morning. Although the cousins never wanted to be apart, sometimes it was good for the adults to take a break from each other!!! If there is something you really want to do and they dont, offer to take their kids, if they have any, and let them enjoy a "date night".

 

[Neverbeast]

Although the cousins never wanted to be apart, sometimes it was good for the adults to take a break from each other!!! If there is something you really want to do and they dont, offer to take their kids, if they have any, and let them enjoy a "date night".

Now this is really genius. Especially for me getting the kids to either Tusker house or garden grill, neither of which is going to appeal to my brother but would be so fun with all the cousins! Maybe I’ll suggest they sleep in one morning so I can take the kids to a PPO breakfast.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We usually do half new restaurants and half of our favourites.

We almost always go on multi-family, multi-generation trips and one huge hit every year is the Biergarten...so much fun for kids and adults alike!

 

[Neverbeast]

We usually do half new restaurants and half of our favourites.

We almost always go on multi-family, multi-generation trips and one huge hit every year is the Biergarten...so much fun for kids and adults alike!

@Minniemoo15 that seems like a good balance. Can you tell me more about how you help your group decide which new ones to visit? Or how you know which ones to return to? And what you all like about Biergarten?

 

[Minniemoo15]

@Minniemoo15 that seems like a good balance. Can you tell me more about how you help your group decide which new ones to visit? Or how you know which ones to return to? And what you all like about Biergarten?

Every year there are about 20-30 of my extended family members who go the same week. We decide 1 or 2 meals that we want to do together (usually Biergarten and Ohana), and then everyone plans their own family meals from there. We share schedules and plans so others can join in or coordinate as they want.

Of those 30 though, about 12 are my immediate extended family and we do every meal together. I make all the bookings so I start by asking everyone to pick their one "must do". Usually there are some similar requests. From there I fill in new restaurants that look interesting that I think others would like. Luckily everyone is very easy going and usually trusts my judgement. A week before our 180 days I send out what I will be booking just to make sure everyone is OK with it.

Some restaurants are more conducive to a big group than others. We love Biergarten for that very reason. They will section off an entire area for us. The food is good and because it's a buffet there is something for everyone. You also aren't trying to time 30 meals coming out of the kitchen at once.

The band is really wonderful and entertains everyone from the babies to the grandparents. Adults love the beer. Kids love the music and it keeps them entertained. When all 30 of us hop on the dance floor it makes for some really special memories. Everyone is happy at the Biergarten!

 

[Neverbeast]

These are all such helpful tips. Thank you! Any other advice for planning this kind of big trip while I’ve got your ear?