Forum advice is good, but not all of it

[beskeptical]

Just returned from 4 days at Disney, 1 day at the beach and 2 days at Universal. Really glad I didn't buy into everything I read here, but glad I followed the forums none the less.

Worst advice
Make priority seatings - Bad idea! If you want to make one or two for something special or something you feel you can not live without go for it. Keep it to a minimum though. Not only would I have scheduled all of our meals at a time of day when we were not interested in eating. I am certain it would have taken away from a great vacation by adding structure and more of a commando approach to meet some foregone schedule that was unrealistic. That and we never waited longer then 10 minutes for a table any where we went so why bother? Why add the schedule and stress? And if you run into a long wait, go to the next place. We had excellent service and food everywhere we went.

Best advice
Stay on site - We would hit each park around opening and not see our room again until 10:30 or 11:00 at night. After driving to Universal and back a couple nights I have not doubt that Disney transportation is the way to go. No $8 to park, no traffic jam, no walking across a hot parking lot, etc... Again just one less thing to worry about. Doesn't cost any extra buy the time you add in all of the additional costs of staying off site.

Relax have fun, use fast passes, don't be afraid to pass up an attraction and go back later. Our average wait time had to be less then 20 minutes at Disney.

Universal vs Disney
Disney wins, better parks, cleaner, and they keep they you cooler. If you want more thrill on your thrill ride visit Islands of Adventure. Wear a swimsuit and don't expect it to be Disney. Don't get me wrong it is a nice park. Crowd is different, not as clean, more of a carnival feel, very little shade and AC.

Overall just don't think about it too much. Go with the flow and have fun. Limit the structure and fixed planning.

[beskeptical]

And one more thing. Unless you have special needs leave that back pack in the room!

[DisFam95]

Amen on the no Priority Seating. We've been to Disney numerous times and during all seasons and just made our 1st PS this last time w/ our DS for Crystal Palace Breakfast. We've always gotten right in (within 20 minutes or so), we eat at nice sit-downs frequently. Just go a little 'off-schedule' (usually early is better) and you should be fine.

OK for a character meal or special occassion meal but otherwise I just laugh at the lists of 12 days of scheduled meals I see people posting..."How do my PS's look?" Good lord I don't know what I'm having for dinner tonight I sure don't know what I want 60 days from now. We've only been turned away 1 time at Le Cellier in December but we went way too late...we were too busy having fun!!!

[disneyjunkie]

Since I will not take my son out of school for a trip to disney, we're only there during very crowded times. When we were there this Easter, many places were turning people away if they didn't have PS.

I like to have one PS for each day. If we don't need it, we can always call and cancel.

We HAVE to have a backpack with us. I'd be lost without it. When it gets to be a bit much to carry around, I just toss it into a locker.

You'll find tips for all types of vacationers here. There are plenty of tips for those that enjoy a relaxed, "winging it" vacation and those commando types who MUST have a plan.

[Julia M]

I'm going to have to disagree about the PS's also, if you attend at a busy time. We were also there over Easter, and would have had a hard time getting table service without our PS's.

Of course, we could have done counter, but I found that our break away from the crowds really helped us alot.

But that is the good thing about PS's.....it's not the end of the world if you don't show up!

Julia

[DisneyMomx7]

I'm one of those people who has lots of PSs. We have three small children and we go in July. I don't want to be searching for somewhere to eat with hot and hungry kids when its so much easier to have a plan. That's not to say that plans can't change and you can always cancel your PSs. ALso in regards to Universal, the same as Disney I wouldn't go if I wasn't staying onsite. With onsite US/IOA you get FOTL access, so maybe your experience would have been different if you had that. When at Disney I stay at Disney, when at US I stay at US. I do and plan whatever makes our life easier with three kids 6, 5 and 3.

[Daisy64]

PS are so important with young children in my opinion. Nothing worse than standing in line at a counter restaurant with me and my two hungry kids, ack. Time gets away from you at DW and if we have a PS it makes us take a break even though we might not think we all need one at the time. Best advice I've gotten from these boards is about PS's!!

If we didn't have the children I don't think we'd make too many of them though.

Daisy:sunny:

[hokiefan33]

Absolutely agree with the original post in its entirety! Throw your PS out the window - unless you're trying to get one for one of the impossible (like Cinderella's). All others you should be able to get if you time it right (i.e. don't try to eat dinner at 6 w/o a reservation, or lunch at 12:30 without one, either. But if you eat lunch at 11 or 1:30, and dinner at 4:30 or 7:30, no problem). Some people enjoy the "commando" style, but I'm not one of them. I go on vacation to do away with schedules. We leave the room after we're all awake and ready, and we come back to the room at night when everyone is ready to go. A Disney room, mind you, b/c staying onsight is much better, if only for the ease of transportation.

[beattyfamily]

I LOVE making PS! At least one a day!:teeth:

[mickeymousefan]

I could never skip making PS's!!!!

I get soooo much joy out of making my PS's at the 90 day mark!!!

[minnie56]

make priority seating reservations. Ever..

I have yet (going 3x a year minimum since the opening of the MK) to not get into a restaurant of my choosing on the night/day and time I want.That includes Christmas and New Years. You may have to wait a bit at times...but never an inordinant amount of time and it takes away the pressure of having to get anywhere by a certain time. I clock watch at home...don't want to do that on vacation!

[Strawberry Lemonade]

I think all the advice given on these boards is fantastic. However, whether it is useful to you or not is, of course, completely personal. That doesn't make it bad advice, just not for you. Make your PSs if you want to be sure of your meals or don't bother if you like to fly by the seat of your pants. Do whatever makes you happy - it's Disney World!

[beskeptical]

Oh I understand why many people think the need to make priority seatings. And you should if there is a certain place or special event that is really important to you. I really don't think you need them, but a little insurance never hurts. But I challenge you to go a day or two with out them on your next trip. You may find things you have been missing. We ate a lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern less then 5 minute wait. Dinners at Portobello Yacht Club no wait and in Italy at Epcot between 6:30 and 7 with less then a 10 minute wait. All three were excellent. If I had made priority seatings I would have never selected the three of them. Sure I probably missed excellent food at the places I would have selected. But it would have been more rushed and lessed relaxing I am certain.

I fully agree with a previous post to avoid counter service. Unless you are planning a break after lunch, or watching the clock to meet your dinner PS ;->. The sit down service is a nice cool break with plenty of great food and unlimited water. It really broke up the day and we never felt as though an additional break was needed. It would have been nice to find simplier smaller meals for lunch in the parks though. Just don't get rid of the existing meals in the process!

[Disney_1derland]

for each day in the early afternoon. Of course, we've only gone at Peak times. November may be different for us but you can bet I'll be on the phone making my PS's at the beginning of August! We make a VERY tentative touring plan and make 1 PS per day. If our plans change or we decide to eat elsewhere then fine, I get on the cell and cancel it. But, at least we have it and know that I can get there with two hungry children and be seated in about 10 minutes or less.

I don't think that's *commando* at all, I think it's the right thing to do for my family and I've never felt rushed or pushed to get anywhere while at WDW, we just do what feels right. PS's are just there to fall back on if they are convenient and we need them. And....in 4 trips we have only ever cancelled one PS. So, this works out for us well.

:wave:

[Kae]

I do not think it should be call the "worst" advice, advice that on your next trip you would not do. But you also did not say how many were in your party or where you ate. That can make a big difference. I like to have one a day. but i have also added & changed once I got to WDW.

Kae

[gigi1313]

we're split down the middle... as a family of four, going to the world for eight days, i have made three ps' and will make one more (garden grille) when the calendar of park hours is released for our travel dates...

we have ps for cindy's royal table, mickey's backyard bbq and boma (while kids are in kids' club)... we want to eat at the biergarten, hollywood & vine, donald's breakfastosaurus and possibly the sit-down in china, but those we'll wing as we are there during an off peak time, so it should not be a problem...

i understand some people's need for them, and i understand the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants travellers and i find we fall somewhere in the middle...

i think all the advice on the boards is great... some i take some i leave... there's no right recipe for everyone

:earsgirl:

[goofy4tink]

We all use a fanny pack. In it we keep our passes, snacks, camera, lip balm, and money. No way would I do the parks without it. Did use a back-pack once but found it to be hard on my back/shoulders.

As far as PSs go, I make one for each day. Usually a late lunch/early dinner. After several trips to WDW I know when my family likes to eat. If, for some reason, we decide not to eat there, we just stop by and cancel it. Or at Guest SErvices at the park entrance. We have been seated many times while others have been told it will be an hour wait. If it gets rainy around dinner-time in the summer, then everyone wants to get out of the rain and eat. We found this to be true almost every night during our August trip last summer.

So, what works for one person isn't going to work for someone else. Just take what you see here and decide if it sounds right for your family.

[jann1033]

sorry but i think your worst advice is worst advice ( just kidding, to each his own);)
personally i always make ps for the places I really want to go which is usually one for every day! but i plan our activities so we are close by where we have the ps for ( we go off season so that is easier due to minimal if any waits for attractions) sometimes there isn't a wait, sometimes people are getting turned away( Ohana's ,according to the manager is always booked full no matter what the season) so if you don't care where you eat PS aren't important, if you do they are.

[LYNSUE]

Several times we have visited WDW in peak season (spring break) with two hungry teenage boys in tow. PS were a must for us. In November 2004, just DH and I will be at WDW. Since its off-season and only two adults, I'm thinking the PS are not very important. We are looking forward to just winging some of this trip. However, when I look at my itinerary and see those gaps of no scheduled restaurants and times, it makes the "planner in me kinda nervous.

[BevS97]

I guess we are just polar opposites.....

I like my PS's, cause I love walking past that long queue and being seated straight away :) Whenever we have tried to eat sit-down without one we have always been turned away.

but - contrary too nearly all the advice on these boards - I think that offsite is an option that should be considered. I do like to stay onsite sometimes, don't get me wrong, but if you are a large party, have small children, or are on a budget then a condo or villa offsite can make a lot more sense, both financially and in terms of space.
We always drive to the parks anyway - we like the flexibility to move from park to offsite for shopping to water park, to downtown disney etc etc without worrying about buses - so the Disney transportation' isn't a huge benefit anyway (other than at MK)

Bev

[jmminarik]

Whether to make a PS is also dependent upon your viewpoint on Disney Food. We've made 1 PS since buying into DVC and that was for the princess breakfast at Akherhaus. Other than that, we wing it, even when we have kids (nieces, nephews, etc) in tow.

Things that help: 1) We usually go in December when crowds are low and 2) we eat many meals in our rooms...I cook better than most disney restaurants and what I don't cook better we have in better restaurants in Philadelphia. :)

We went with friends in November of 2000. Two things I'll remember about that trip: Pregnant chads and running from one park to another to make a PS reservation. The worst was going to the French Pavillion to do dinner when we weren't doing anything else in Epcot that day.

And while we do have a general strategic plan for our WDW trips, the tactical planning happens once we get into a park and see how things are going...again, very easy to do when you're there in early December.

-Joe

[beskeptical]

What I fnd amusing is just about every reason listed for having every meal planned before you even leave town applied to my group of 6. Yet the longest we waited for a table was for the one meal where we had priority seatings for a character meal. Release, you're on vacation. Pay more attention to you group and less attention to the clock.

[Amirah95]

I have come into this a little late but our family live by the commando approach because we feel that we are spending a lot of money and we're going to take advantage.

I would only stay onsite if they had reasonable priced villas. I know our pary is small (3) but we need a lot space. When we go to the parks we plan to stay all day.

What I wouldn't do is make all my meals priority (I agree with the poster) and I never thought to do this. We only schedule one character for our daughter and one for ourselves and treat it as an attraction whether we feel like eating or not.

I think it is up to the family to decide what they want to do and then add in what you learn from the forum that will benefit the group as a whole. I put a lot of work into my itinerary and I try to imagine doing it before we actually go. Since we've been we know what we could have done better and what we will not do next time.

[deevku]

I guess I think of a PS as a kind of fast pass for the unique Disney themed restaurants that for us, are an important part of the whole experience of being there. I plan our entire day so one event seamlessly goes into the next, from morning to bedtime. There's always room for the little surprises here and there, but waiting for something we really want (whether its breakfast with princesses, lunch with Pooh, dining at SCI-FI, or at an exotic Epcot restaurant) is a non-issue. Gotta love it!

[melanie18]

We don't fill up our day with PS's, but we may make 2 or 3 over the course of a week (usually new places we have not been able to try yet because we never felt like waiting).

Just curious...what's your beef with backpacks? Were people whacking you with them or something? :p

[disneyjunkie]

QUOTE]Originally posted by beskeptical
What I fnd amusing is just about every reason listed for having every meal planned before you even leave town applied to my group of 6. Yet the longest we waited for a table was for the one meal where we had priority seatings for a character meal. Release, you're on vacation. Pay more attention to you group and less attention to the clock. [/QUOTE]

Why do you assume that people that make PSings aren't relaxing while on vacation? I for one would not be able to relax without having a plan. Making PS in advance is part of the plan.

Taking care of all the details before the trip allows me to relax, kick back and enjoy the time with my son.

Everyone is different; we all do what works best for us. There isn't a right or wrong way to do Disney. You find what works for your family and stick with it.