How often do you eat table service meals?

[MyOtherSS]

I can understand why people don't do ADR's and avoid TS all together because it can be difficult and stressful planning your day around eating. We think its worth it, the food and overall atmosphere can not be found anywhere else. It's also nice to relax and sit down for a meal after running around the parks all day.

 

[44Majestic]

We do TS for dinner every day we are at Disney World. Sometimes we'll do a lunch or two at TS, but we do not make ADRs for lunch. We make our ADRs for dinner. We have our favorites and then usually add one or two different places for variety.

 

[mfd25wife]

Usually, we do one per day. I don't eat as much as my DH or DD, but I like eating off the appetizer menu. Sometimes, DD & I share. We try out new restaurants every time as wellas our favorites so that's why we like to have one daily.

 

[Uncleromulus]

No kids and we do TS each and every meal!!

 

[MolonLabe]

Last two trips we've done DDxP (after upgrading from free DP).

DD's were 4 and 6 the first time and 6 and 8 this last trip, last month.

Usually 2 TS a day and the third meal was covered by snack credits.

If you have brats, doing TS can be difficult. If you have well behaved children who don't always want to eat nasty nuggets every meal, it can be a wonderful thing.

We usually hit the parks from open to close, even last time when staying at CR made it easier to come back to the resort for awhile. Being able to sit down and rest, in air conditioning (and yes there are some CS locations with AC) is usually a welcomed break.

Our next trip will be in about 2 years and DD's will be pushing the age 10 limit. No way I'm buying a dining plan for them at that age. We'll do OOP and probably come out spending about the same as the last trip.

Hopefully snag a 35-40% room discount this time around instead of the dining.

Dining is a lot of food but by doing 2 TS a day (one of which is a 2 credit meal), you can make the most of each meal.

 

[Baliezer]

I have four children, 11, 9, 4 and 2, and I do 1 table service meal a day. It gives me time to get off my feet and recuperate. It is also a nice break from the heat/cold. I always have a reservation and try to keep the flow going at a quick pace, as I am usually the only adult.

Dinner is usually quick serve and eaten at whatever show we are waiting for. Fantasmic/ the parade/ WOC.

 

[Bob NC]

We used to have ADR's for TS meals 3 times a day.

After a few years we realized that ADR's were dictating our entire vacation.

EVERY.BIT. of planning revolved around those all important ADR's.

It might be different if all the dining was gourmet, but being an ADR slave is not worth it for us anymore.

We still eat a lot of TS, but we never have ADR's.

The NEED for ADR's is highly overrated by the folks who just like to "plan".

 

[eliza61]

How often do you eat table service meals and how old are your kids (if you have kids)? I'm assuming families with younger kids eat at counter service places more. Do you think table-service restaurants are worth it considering they cost more and take longer?

We personally love taking our time, relaxing and talking when we eat. For us meal times are more then a time to feed, it's our break in the day to laugh and rewind the day.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We have a DD9 and DD11 and we always do 2 TS meals per day, even when the girls were little. We love to sit down and really enjoy our meal, makes for a nice break from the hot sun and really talk about what we want to do next. Usually our TS meals consists of a character breakfast then either a signature meal or a 1-credit meal for dinner. For lunch we either do QS or we just snack around.

 

[Dizzytime]

No kids. Approximately 1 TS meal per day on average, usually lunch or dinner, but occasionally breakfast.

That's us, also.

 

[vatali]

Our DD are 9 and 3. In the past it has been 2 a day. A character meal for lunch and a nice sit down dinner. We are not rope drop folks, so when we get up its usually something quick for breakfast (like donuts) as a snack as we mosey to the parks for our lunch ADR. Then we play around for a while or go nap then go out for the dinner ADR and stay for EMH. We then close out the park and ride things when everyone else has gone home.

We have much more difficulty burning off our snacks because we dont usually eat 3 meals a day. We end up using them on bottled water or Dole Whip

 

[pixarmom]

We have three kids, ages 5, 12 and 13. We've been taking kids to Disney since our oldest was a year old. We usually have ADRs for lunch and dinner every day, and breakfast is either club lounge or CS with a very occasional character meal. CS is just too stressful, especially with kids. TS never takes more than an hour unless we are intentionally stretching it out by ordering one course at a time and staying for coffee.

 

[TwoCortWort]

We didn't in the past but now doing so. We want to sit down and enjoy some time with family and not rush to get done. We did this with my niece, but she is all about quick lets get out of here.

 

[WillAustin]

Our kids are 9, 7, and 7. On most of our park days, we are at the park before rope drop. Our past 2 trips we used the DxDP very successfully. We plan TS for a late breakfast/early lunch and a signature TS dinner. Our children really enjoy the restaurants, and with some advance planning, they don't feel like we're missing any park time. That said, we try to have more than one day in each park so we aren't as rushed to get everything done.

 

[tlkscott]

For our next trip we are planning on doing the deluxe plan and doing CM in the parks before open and then dinner. Our four year old is used to eating out as we are major foodies.

 

[chamonix]

How often do you eat table service meals and how old are your kids (if you have kids)? I'm assuming families with younger kids eat at counter service places more. Do you think table-service restaurants are worth it considering they cost more and take longer?

Every night. Sometimes a late lunch instead of dinner (depending on our plans for parades, fireworks etc). We've been doing this since we've been going to WDW when dd was about 3--4yo. She's almost 16yo now.

Kids don't learn unless you take them and teach them. That being said, some kids just aren't ready to sit in a restaurant for an hour+. You know your kids best. For us, we enjoy the time sitting down as a family to eat together and it's always been a wonderful part of our vacations.

I also think, yes, they are worth it. Taking longer is a nice break from the chaos of the parks and costing more just means better food to me, lol. YMMV, of course.

 

[Hopefully]

We are all adults and we always do 1TS meal per day. We buy groceries and do a quick breakfast in the room, then usually CS lunch and a TS dinner. We enjoy the Disney restaurants and they are part of the total Disney vacation experience.

 

[2manypets]

We do 2TS a day, lunch and dinner. I only make ADR's for the most important ones ( which is about 3 - 4 ADR's) and just do walk ups for the rest. I don't like being tied down to ressies either.

 

[meredith1]

My children will be 5, 3 & 3 when we go to the world next time. We do the deluxe dining plan and do a character meal on most morning before the park opens and a TS (usually a signature) restaurant in the evening w/ a snack credit somewhere during the day.

Since we are early risers and have our breakfast before the park opens I don't feel like we take to much time out. Our evening meal generally takes an hour or so...

 

[mickeynut1]

We started going to Disney when our boys were 6 & 8 (they are now 17 & 19) and we always do (and have always done) a TS for dinner every night, with a TS breakfast on our checkout day as well as 1 or 2 others throughout the week.