Advice needed - TS vs CS

[traci]

For 3 years we have done the DDP. 2 of them have been *Free*. This year we are not doing it. Infact, I am planning on only scheduling 3 TS meals during our trip.

With that said has anyone done primarily CS meals? My family isn't real picky on vacation (they don't expect filet every night)! Just looking for any feedback. I hope I don't regret not having a big sit down TS meal every day!

 

[POOHDRMR]

I am doing the same this year too after 2 yrs of free dining.I have mixed feelings about it-I like that my days won't revolve around eating and where we have to be when but I am also going to miss some of the good food I have gotten used to.I don't want to eat a burger and fries everyday at counterservice so I need to make sure we have variety.Also this year we are renting a car and I feel like we could go to more restaurants in resorts that are more of a pain to get th well I guess we will see and if we don't like it we will have to go back with table services!We did book dinner and breakfast for my dd's 7th birthday but they are character meals and these are not really my favorite but I know my dd will like.

 

[joenan88]

Hey Traci~ I see you are staying at The Grand Floridian and you stated you did have the meal plan in the past...it would be helpful to know where you ate in the past..maybe you want to try somewhere different~ I am on the DxDDP this August, mainly because I am doing a lot of 2 TS credit meals..here are my ADR's maybe it will help you..

8/15- Friday..day of Arrival..Hoop Dee Doo Review..this is one of the only shows/restaurants that consistantly has good reviews.

8/16-Sat..my son's 8th birthday,,Whispering Canyon for Breakfast and CRT for Dinner..we are spending the day in the MK

8/17-Sun..Epcot day...Chef Mickey's for breakfast..Le Cellier for lunch and Teppon Edo's for a later dinner..my kids like hibachi they are 10, 7 and 6.

8/18-Mon...MGM/HS day...O'Hana's for breakfast...Sci-Fi for lunch and Brown Derby for Dinner

8/19-Tues..AK day..Tusker house breakfast..1900 park for dinner

We choose TS with either family style or buffet because my kids do not like to wait..they are to busy..but they do not miss a meal.

We have eaten at some of these restaurants last November but most are a new venture...I hope this helps.. ~ Nancy

 

[traci]

Thanks for the response - I see I'm not alone! I wonder if the CS places offer a good variety. I am honestly clueless. In the past we managed to pass right by them because we always had a big TS planned! I do look forward to not planning every day around the meal ADR though. I think I may have to start another thread about CS

 

[DisneyFan83]

I don't think you'll have much of a problem with mostly CS. We did the DDP last trip and while it was nice, it's also great to not have everything revolve around your ADR's. Also, since gratuity & appetizer are no longer included on DDP, I just don't think it's quite worth it as much as in the past. I think you'll be fine, we're doing mostly CS meals, but we have a few sit down meals too. Our TS meals are: Luau at the Poly, Mother's Day Brunch, and Le Cellier, the rest will be CS. Just do a few TS like you said and see how you like it! Enjoy

 

[tigger536]

I see you are going in October, which is during the food and wine festival. I would take advantage of the food booths while you are at Epcot. F&WF booths are a great way to snack around the world showcase! Yum out!

 

[traci]

Hey Traci~ I see you are staying at The Grand Floridian and you stated you did have the meal plan in the past...it would be helpful to know where you ate in the past..maybe you want to try somewhere different~ I am on the DxDDP this August, mainly because I am doing a lot of 2 TS credit meals..here are my ADR's maybe it will help you..

8/15- Friday..day of Arrival..Hoop Dee Doo Review..this is one of the only shows/restaurants that consistantly has good reviews.

8/16-Sat..my son's 8th birthday,,Whispering Canyon for Breakfast and CRT for Dinner..we are spending the day in the MK

8/17-Sun..Epcot day...Chef Mickey's for breakfast..Le Cellier for lunch and Teppon Edo's for a later dinner..my kids like hibachi they are 10, 7 and 6.

8/18-Mon...MGM/HS day...O'Hana's for breakfast...Sci-Fi for lunch and Brown Derby for Dinner

8/19-Tues..AK day..Tusker house breakfast..1900 park for dinner

We choose TS with either family style or buffet because my kids do not like to wait..they are to busy..but they do not miss a meal.

We have eaten at some of these restaurants last November but most are a new venture...I hope this helps.. ~ Nancy

Hi Nancy!
Our dining TS dining choices are rather boring compared to most! We have traveled the last 3 years very young kids -- they were still babies the first 2 trips! So we tend to pick lots of character meals and restaurants that have a lot of stimulation. Mainly so we can get through a meal and it helps with the kids distracted! Let's see we have done CRT (breakfast and Lunch), CM (breakfast and Lunch), CP (breakfast), Coral Reef (lunch), Kona (breakfast, lunch and dinner), 1900 PF (dinner) and Sci-fi (lunch).

I just hope the CS will have more than just burgers and fries.

Thanks for the help!

 

[traci]

I see you are going in October, which is during the food and wine festival. I would take advantage of the food booths while you are at Epcot. F&WF booths are a great way to snack around the world showcase! Yum out!

Can you school me on how the F&W thing works? Thanks!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Prior to using the DDP last summer (free!) we always did mostly counter service meals on our trip. The primary reason being budget concerns. I do love the Disney restaurants however, and will likely use DDP on our next trip.
All that aside, if you do your homework, you can get by quite nicely on CS meals. If you don't know what is at each place, you could end up with a lot of burger type food which can grow old quickly. But, if you throw in some places like Tangierine (Spelling?) Cafe, Sunshine Seasons, Columbia Harbour House etc... you can get a decent variety of food. Also, we like to share things a lot when we are not on DDP. Partly to save $ because we don't all necessarily need a whole CS meal each time and also because you can try a bigger variety that way.

 

[traci]

Where is Tangerine and Columbia Harbor House located? See, I told you I was clueless....

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I used to do only 1 or 2 TS during our trip and the rest was all CS places and it was great. We would eat breakfast at the resort, usually value or mod and the food was awesome. There is so much to eat besides burgers and chicken fingers, especially at MK and Epcot.

 

[joenan88]

Can you school me on how the F&W thing works? Thanks!

Hey Traci~ I was at The F&W festival in November..it is really cool..just crowded..my kids didn't want to walk the countries but they had all kinds of stands set up in each country with different foods from that particular country...you can do that as a lunch or dinner..the prices are reasonable for the food..the alcohol was expensive..$4.00 for a little shot glass sample of a wine from that country...Of course, I did manage to try that..I am returning in August and I am going to take my kiddies around The World Showcase so I started a thread a few months ago asking for tips on what to look for..it was very informative!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22707677#post22707677&highlight=

 

[SmallWorld71]

Where is Tangerine and Columbia Harbor House located? See, I told you I was clueless....

The 1st is in Morocco in Epcot, the 2nd in Liberty Square at MK. I know there are menus on the DIS, but I like checking allears.net for the menus. They will have all the CS listed. I would definitely check it out.

 

[JodyLynC]

DH and I always primarily did CS. There are plenty of places to enjoy a good meal. In Tomorrowland is Cosmic Ray's which has a variety of items. In Epcot in the Land are a good variety of items as well.

This trip we are getting a cabin at FW and using the kitchen for some of our meals. We do have a couple of TS places reserved, but will mostly be hitting CS while in the parks.