What is the best time to eat lunch at a counter service restaurant? Obviously not noon, but is it better to eat at 11:00 or 1:00 as far as the crowds go?
This is a GREAT question and it makes a HUGE difference when you eat. Try to eat between 11 and 11:15 if at all possible. We always ate about that time and when we ordered our food there were no lines at all. By 11:30 when we were eating our meal, the lines were forming and by 11:45 it was crowded. So the earlier you eat the better. I'm betting 1 would be crowded. Now 2 might not be bad.
In all seriousness, my kids and I forego breakfast and have lunch in the 11:00 - 11:15 zone and because there's so much food even at a CS we're usually stuffed until around 7:00 when we usually have our dinner reservations. But I agree, have lunch as close to 11:00 as you can.
Believe it or not , we are early risers and eat breakfast in room about 630am.So by 1030 -1100 we eat lunch.During free dining this seemd to work out best since most places got real busy about 1130.
We normally eat lunch around 2pm, but this Saturday when we had lunch @ the Pecos Bill restaurant it was absolutely mobbed. That's not normally what we've found when we've eaten that late at a CS restaurant.
This is what we do, too. We have a light b'fast in the room before 8am, then head to the parks for rope drop. Lunch no later than 11 or so- we never have to wait in lines at the CS places at this time. Then, an early dinner (although according to Disney, it is still a late lunch) sometime between 3 and 4. We will do buffets a lot of times, so we can get the lower lunch price, and just make the latest lunchtime ADR we can. We really fill up, and that will hold us for the rest of the evening. If anyone wants a little something, they can have a snack later in the evening.
If my family and I are having lunch at a counter service location no matter the type season it is, we always eat lunch just after 11:00 AM to avoid any long lines.
Looks like my day is just happening at different times than everyone else here.
We'll eat breakfast around 8 or 8:30 but we don't have dinner til around 8. That puts lunch somewhere around 1:30 or 2 with a snack either between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner, depending on which one is the bigger meal.