Are Ps's that important?

[bcarson]

We are going the first week in May. I was just curious if Ps's are really that necessary for the what seems to be a moderate time? I have made two for some charachter dinners but thats it. We have a dd 3 and ds 5 so I kind of figured we would eat at our place or out after or before a break. I don't see us really eating in the parks that much. Maybe for lunch and a counter service can be done for that. Or if we change our minds will we be able to get in places. By the way we are staying at a time share so we have full kitchen service. I think if we were staying on site it might be different. Thanks!

 

[NeverEnufWDW]

Save yourself any disappointments - make PSs. They are easy to change if your plans change.

 

[MLAinVA]

We always make PSs for meals. Many times we look aroung in restaurants and say to ourselves that we probably didn't need a PS. But there are other times that it is very clear that we wouldn't be eating where we want to eat without a PS. It never hurts to be safe.

 

[4greatboys]

If there is a certain restuarant you want to eat at or if you have a large party its good to make ps. Last Oct when we went I was able to make ps the day of at a couple of places we wanted to eat but it was for the off hours, they had nothing available during the busy times. And last Dec (the beginning when parks are not that crowded) my ds' and I couldnt get in to SciFi at all. So this trip we made 1 ps per day for a nice sit down meal and the rest of the time it will just be counter service.

 

[WDWLVR]

If there is something you know you absolutely want to do then make PS for it. For most meals it is pretty easy to just do it on your own. Some trips we make multiple PS's and others we don't make any.

For a character meal (breakfast or dinner) it is always a good idea. For anything else I think you would be fine without.

 

[karemore]

No, it sounds like you have it planned just fine for your needs!

With young children you aren't going to want to have to worry about keeping your reservations for meals.

You have the reservations for the character meals which your kids will love.

You'll be perfectly happy with counter service meals the rest of the time, or eating back at the time share.

And like you said, if you happen to be near a restaurant you are interested in....there's no harm in asking if they have a table for you.

Don't give a second thought to PS's.

It's one thing if you are going to Disney for the food, but it doesn't sound like that is the priority for your family......it's certainly not for mine!

There are too many other wonderful ways to spend our time and money.

Have a wonderful time!

Karen

 

[disneyfor3]

I have a 3 year old son and I prefer to make the priority seatings ahead of time at the times I want - then when we get there if plans change (which of course they will with 3 year olds!) I either stop by guest relations and cancel real quick. I would rather have some things planned each day and take a second to cancel rather than scramble and try to get in. We just went the end of January and we didn't really schedule anything - we had to choose some odd times to eat (3:00 was all I could get for SciFi). Of course, our 3 year old would be happy with a hot dog from Casey's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if he had a choice!

 

[crisi]

When my kids were 2 and 3 we took them on their first WDW trip. Since we were winging it and weren't used to traveling with them, and since we were going in "Value Season" we only had three PSs made when we left.

It was a huge mistake. I discovered that I cannot eat counter service every day (or even every meal for two days in a row). We'd be starving and then start looking for options (because we were busy, or we weren't tracking our kids hunger levels and then they were starving). So we were always looking to eat at times I'd rather not be trying to walk into. We were given a multi hour wait at Whispering Canyon, turned away from SciFi and Teppenyaki. Walked into Marrakesh. Made same day reservations at 3:00 in the afternoon for Whispering Canyon another night. Had PSs at Ohanas for the character breakfast and San Angel Inn and watched people turned away.

Other people have great luck. But I'll now make at least ONE PS a day.