Meal times

[nikia456]

About how many hours between meals? I would like the meals to also serve as break times since I think it would be a hassle returning back to the hotel during Christmas time. TIA

 

[MagnoliaBend12]

That's hard to say not knowing your group, ages that are going, and personal preferences. The main advice I can give you is to plan your meals at "off" times due to the crowds at Christmas time. For instance, an early lunch when the restaurant opens or wait and get a 2 p.m. lunch. Same for dinner. Either early or late but avoid 6:00-7:30. We don't do many sit down breakfasts because too much valuable park time is wasted. If you do want a sit down breakfast I'd do rope drop and get the most important attractions out of the way, then have a late breakfast, then you'd be ready for a 5 p.m. dinner. We rarely do 3 full meals a day since there are so many wonderful snack options we like to try.

 

[DisneyHardin]

This is what we usually do:

Breakfast about 7 at the hotel.
Lunch QS between 12-1 (I've found the places to be so well staffed and efficient that going during "prime" lunchtime isn't a huge deal"
Dinner at a TS around 7.

 

[nikia456]

Thank you

 

[ChasingLeslie]

We tried to stick to our normal meal times (8am, noon, 5-5:30pm) and found that we really weren't hungry enough. Next time, I'll space our meals out more.

 

[joannamet]

We don't do ADRs so we eat when we get hungry but everyone is different. If you have young children you want to stick to their regular schedule as much as possible for meals, naps, bedtimes, etc. Otherwise, most people seem to find that servings at Disney restaurants are too big for 3 meals a day at regular 4 or 5 hour intervals. You'll probably have to figure out what works for your group.

 

[Shanti]

About how many hours between meals? I would like the meals to also serve as break times since I think it would be a hassle returning back to the hotel during Christmas time. TIA

We like to have an early (around 8am) breakfast, followed by a small snack later on, then an early dinner around 4pm. Two meals, along with small snacks, always are enough for us at Disney.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Most days, we have one ADR. And other than that we eat when we are hungry.

 

[nikia456]

I think part of the issue is there are so many restaurants I want to try, so it's figuring out where and when. I thought I had it pretty much altogether, but then with the addition of Homecoming then Beaches & Cream keeps getting suggested, I am a little flustered. I'll be with my husband and son, who'll be turning 10 on the trip, and my sister, who will be using a motorized wheelchair due to MS, and my nephew, 18.

 

[Shanti]

I think part of the issue is there are so many restaurants I want to try, so it's figuring out where and when. I thought I had it pretty much altogether, but then with the addition of Homecoming then Beaches & Cream keeps getting suggested, I am a little flustered. I'll be with my husband and son, who'll be turning 10 on the trip, and my sister, who will be using a motorized wheelchair due to MS, and my nephew, 18.

A few nice things about early dinners are that they give you something to do while the crowds are still peak, they're easier to book than evening dinners, and you'll have mealtime well out of the way when it's time to find spots for evening shows and parades.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I put my "wants" in order. Top of the list is where we "have to eat." Bottom, is where we want to.

I make plans from that. I make ADRs for those that need it, and go from there.

With your crew, I am betting you can eat when you want. If it is counter service, try to stay away from prime meal times. And if there are two places, order just a few things and share. That way you will want something else later. That will give you more chances to try different places.

 

[nikia456]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Epcotgal8]

We usually do 2 meals a day. At certain times of the year it isn't a big deal to eat at busy times but Christmas is very busy and even as fast as they try to get people in and out you're best off not going at peak times. Not just because of the wait you may have but also the hectic environment.

 

[Tigger's ally]

We usually do 2 meals a day. At certain times of the year it isn't a big deal to eat at busy times but Christmas is very busy and even as fast as they try to get people in and out you're best off not going at peak times. Not just because of the wait you may have but also the hectic environment.

Yeah, we usually do the two meal thing as well. Either a late breakfast and early dinner or a late lunch and late dinner. We rope drop all the time and stay up late as well (not a big fan of wasting Distime in bed). On days with late lunch and late dinner, we use a snack credit about mid morning. On days with early dinner, we might have Ice Cream after our after dinner drinks. There also are getting to be some really good combination thingy's that combine ice cream and after dinner drinks! A happy Arggghhhhh to the wonderful person that developed those combinations.

 

[Alice777]

We have planned 2 ADR a day for our 8 day trip. I think one day we have 3 ADR due to wanting to try Kona's tonga toast.

When we were at WDW in April, we did not take any breaks, did CS plan and because we were so tired, nothing tasted good eventhough we spaced out our meals. But thanks to no break, we did get 80%-90% of the rides done for each park.

This time in November, although I promised myself we'll be taking break in midway by going back to resort, because there's so many TS I missed out in April, I decided instead of going back to resort, sitting down twice a day for meals will be our break. I tried to do lunch ADR around 11:30 am (most restaurant seem to open at 11:30 am for lunch) and dinner ADR after 6 pm. Probably no snacks in between. AND most importantly, I'm planning to order appetizer and one meal to share with my son. I think having meal for each person is too much food. I don't want to waste food like I did in April. Sharing meals help because we would not be on meal plan this time.

 

[CynBeth]

About how many hours between meals? I would like the meals to also serve as break times since I think it would be a hassle returning back to the hotel during Christmas time. TIA

A few family members have food allergies so we mostly do all TS and find that the lunches and dinners make nice breaks. We tend to eat meals earlier than most people. Breakfast is usually at 7:30 or 8 depending on when the restaurant opens. Then we usually have lunch at 11:30 or 12 but we tend to have a smaller meal such as a salad or sandwich. Dinner is usually at 4:30 or 5.

 

[LFSMom]

This time we go we plan on having light breakfast in the room around 7am (our room at Poly has a kitchenette) and getting to the parks at rope drop. I then booked ADRs for just 5 meals (Akershus, Crystal Palace, Biergarten, BOG and Hollywood and Vine) and and are going to wing it on our last day there. Booked four early lunches, times fall between 11:20 and 11:45 and one early dinner another day at 4:45. That way we can just have counter service for dinner most nights or just snack since 4 of our 5 ADRs are buffets..
We don't take out of the park breaks. We start early and the kids can usually make it to early evening and that is fine it's me. We usually start a little later on our second days in Epcot and MK so the kids will last long enough to see the fireworks twice on the trip.
There are so many attractions that can double as "break time" - hall of presidents, wedway people mover, various shows..and of course a number of air conditioned QS spots to relax.
We are going light on the ADRs this time since on our last trip we had free dining and found our day revolved around getting to the ADRs and the kids did not want to stop for a sit down, esp later in the day. Will there be TS restaurants I will be sad to miss..like San Angel Inn and O'hana, yes but with little ones who want to explore and only eat chicken nuggets it's just a waste!
Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[ArmyVet80]

We normally only eat two TS meals a day and take nutri grain bars with us in our checked bag. We normally schedule lunch for between 11-1130 am and then dinners are between 1945 and 2100 depending on the restaurant. An example is that we'll try and get an ADR at 1945 for Rose & Crown since it usually take about 10-15 minutes to be seated we'll get our drink and appetizer orders in by 2000 and be on our dessert after dinner drinks by the time Illuminations starts. For 2100 meals (usually California Grill) we'll check-in at 2030 and head up to the bar and grab a drink and watch Wishes (or any holiday version of) from the observation deck.

Other dinner meals are set 7-8 hours after the lunch meals. We always do the DlxDP though so when we eat we eat... lol. Plus if we get hungry at some point we have snack points for some fresh fruit or a Mickey bar.
Another thing to consider is that if we are there for the Food & Wine Festival (most of our trips) we'll plan more signature dinners and/or dinner shows and graze around the different food kiosks/booths for lunches.

 

[Nancyg56]

Holidays are busy so I would plan on eating at off times as much as possible if you are going to have lunch at CS restaurants. In the MK, I would book an ADR at BOG if you can find one so you know that you all have a space at a designated place at a designated time.

We tend to be sure we have two meals per day in Disney. WE like a late lunch and a late dinner so we have snacks in the morning unless we book a PPO breakfast. I do nto book meals less thatn 5 hours apart.

We always have a list of restaurants that we want, and match them to the park days we plan. I never try to work parks to fit dining, it seems like a backwards plan for me. Once my park days and times are in place I look for restaurants that are convenient so we are not traipsing all over the World and back for lunch and dinner. With the family dynamic you are considering, I would not discount TS meals at lunchtime for some days, especially in the MK. I think that there is a lot to be said about an ADR when the parks and therefore the restaurants are crowded, and you have one member who needs to navigate those crowded in a motorized chair. You do not need to order full meals for all of you, but can easily share a meal or have an appetizer as lunch. I think that LTT or Tony's may be good choices because they are not a buffet that includes a set cost for everyone.

For CS, I think that Columbia Harbor House has great seating options so without an ADR I would head there.

We will be there in December as well, and I have booked lunches in just about every park. My oldest son is coming this time, and crowds make him incredibly claustrophobic. I know that we can navigate the crowds in the parks for most things, but lunch can be a madhouse. I am hoping this strategy will mitigate how much he will wish he was anywhere else! LOL!