Been There, Done That, Now What?

[scanne]

For all of my fellow "frequent" WDW visitors, I have a question.

Where do you eat when you've already eaten at most of the restaurants in WDW? Do you eat at a TS place every day? Do you tend to "wing it" more? Do you do the DDP, DXDP, QSDP, no dining plan, TIW? OOP!?!

I'm trying to figure out places I want to eat at/have to eat at and there really is nothing I HAVE to do.

Is this a sign? Is this the "you've been to WDW too much" moment? I want to be in WDW, but I want to take it easy, go with the flow, wake up and say, "hmmmm, what do I want to do today?" instead of looking at my itinerary and saying, "Ok - get to the bus! We have an ADR at Tusker House at 8am. Hustle, hustle, hustle!!!"



Is there a way to 'wing it' with TS restaurants AT ALL? I really just want to get on the plane, get to MCO, hop on the Magical Express and plop down by the pool.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Stories to share?


THANK YOU!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

I guess if you don't want to go to the most popular restaurants, you can try to "wing it" at some of the resort restaurants. A few that come to mind are Captain's Grille at Yacht Club, The Wave at Contemporary, Boatwright's at Port Orleans, Shutters at Caribbean Beach, Turf Club at Saratoga Springs, Olivia's at Old Key West, Kona at Polynesian. From what I have read on these boards, those should be relatively easy to get into for dinner without making an ADR way in advance. However, I am not nearly as experienced as many others on these boards so I'm sure someone else can give you some better insight and other ideas.

There are also the options of the places that do not accept ADRs...Beaches and Cream (although it is hard to get a table because it's so small), Big River or ESPN on the Boardwalk. You could also try the restaurants at the Swan/Dolphin or DTD. I would try places that are not on the DDP if I were paying OOP and felt like I didn't HAVE to do certain Disney restaurants again. Maybe Fulton's, House of Blues, Portabello Yacht Club. There are also many restaurants in the Orlando area which are easy to get to if you have a car and are not relying only on Disney transportation.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We have been to WDW so many times that we just pick our few favorite places to eat on each trip. We usually go for 10 days so we eat TS meals 4 or 5 nights. Some of our favorites are Calif. Grill, Jiko, Le Cellier etc.

 

[Krissalee]

We are DVC owners and have been to Disney a lot over the last 10 years or so, and have dined at most of the restaurants. We take a more relaxed approach now. We are 2 adults, without kids, and we like to eat! Now, I usually just book a signature restaurant for dinner most nights, at places we wanted to return to. Our days are free - we decide to do what we want to do when we wake up (or when we talk about it at dinner the night before). We can usually get a TS lunch on the same day, if we desire, or grab a CS lunch. We spend a lot of time relaxing at the resort, as well.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We kind of "winged it" for our 10 day trip over Christmas (just got back last night - sniff). We ate offsite some and honestly had better food there, ate counter service, and just repeated places that we really liked or that were new to us. During some times of years, you can just wing it. Even Christmas week you could get into many of the resort restaurants fairly easily.

 

[Pakey]

With over 20 trips (2-3 times per year) where we focused heavily on food, we have eaten at every place so now when we go, we will try new places and pick a few favorites, usually places that are not on the dining plan as we find the food better at those places. Other than that, we wing it and aren't concerned about getting into TS places. We have found it to be quite enjoyable not to stress about running to/from ADR's.

 

[Forever Fairy]

My DH and I usually visit 2-3 times per year. Depending on how long we are staying, we try to schedule 2-3 places and then just wing it for the rest. Also, we always try not to schedule anything 2 days in a row. That way it allows us to relax along the way.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

We visit about twice a year and usually work in our favorites (Cape May, Kona Cafe) and then add in a couple we haven't tried before. We do a lot of planning and menu reviewing and then make our ADR's as soon as we're able to. In an 8 night stay, we'll probably do 4 to 5 TS meals. It's just the two of us, no kids, so we don't need to close the parks every day. Some that we want to try on our future trips: Artist Point, Bluezoo, Cali Grill.

 

[B-Ride]

We used to wing it in the early days which meant either CS or offsite. Now we go for Free Dining every year and that, of course, requires planning.

Still it is worth it. The whole family likes to sit down to an TS meal every night and onsite is so much easier. Everyone looks forward to the meals and part of the daily ritual is the kids asking "Where are we eating tonight?" sometimes even before they ask "What park are we visiting today?"