Do people really eat dinner at 4pm?

[raidermatt]

We normally eat dinner late, but we've taken to making ADRs for early dinners at WDW. We usually shoot for 5pm, but will take 4pm if that's all there is.

The first time we did this it was because it was the only time available, but it worked out very well so now we do it on purpose. Why?

-We go in the summer, so it gets us out of the heat.
-Restaurants are less crowded so we rarely have to wait long to be seated.

Since that is an early dinner time for us, we either go with a light breakfast and fairly early lunch, or a big breakfast and just a snack for lunch.

Then we will get a snack or ice cream or something later in the evening.

Like I said, we usually eat late, so I never would have thought we go with that kind of schedule by choice, but it really does work well for us.

Plus, you have to remember that you don't actually eat at your ADR time. You still might not get seated until 10 or 15 minutes later, and then it will be awhile before you actually get your food and start eating (unless its a buffet).

 

[Oofies]

When we went in July with 3 18 month olds we ate at 345 and 4ish almost every evening. Eating at buffetts that early saved us from having snacks earlier in the day and we were not so stuffed when we went to bed.

We often had a left over banana or apple before bed. ( which for them is around 8pm). If one of us wanted to go catch one of the shows the kids would be in bed and we only needed one person to stay to 'watch' the kids'!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We usually eat dinner around 5 at home, so it's not a big deal to us to have an early ADR. It works well for us at WDW, we get back to the park in time for dinner right after our break.

 

[The Sweetness]

Our usual dinner time is 5, and my earliest ADR is for 4:40. I just made ADR for the time I would usually eat. I know I may get seated a bit later than the ADR, but I also dont imagine Ill be starving at dinner time, w all the luscious snacks around. I'll have ample patience to wait, if nec.

 

[DCDisney]

We do early dinner ADRs for a few reasons. We go during January so heat isn't an issue.... I have kids and earlier works better for them. The main reason though that we go early is that the restaurants don't have a chance to get backed up. At Sci Fi at 5 we waited not at all. When we left at 6 people with ADRS were waiting 20-30 minutes plus with the restaurant being full service is slower,etc. We do also do an occasional big lunch which we tend to do around 1 which if we get an early start in teh morning we are ready for soem down time to eat and then a swim back at our resort beofre we go out for the evening. I always make my ADRs early because the early times seem to go fast.

Yvonne

 

[mickeysgirl17]

We like early dinners. I have several reasons why: 1) We can skip lunch and save $$$. 2) the restaurants are empty. 3) At character meals, we get the characters to ourselves. 4) We loose the pounds we just put on by walking in the parks after dinner. 5) Short wait for our table.

 

[lustergirl]

The very first time that I visited "the world" I was a rookie (didn't know too much then) and I made my dinner ressies for around 4:30 or 5:00pm. Well I ended up cancelling them all because we were still so full from lunch, being on the dining plan really fills a person up- ha!! So now that I have gained disney world experience I have made my current ressies for around 7pm which by then hopefully we will be hungry again.

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

When I read the OP my first thought was "Well then what time DO people eat?" We always eat between 5-6 at home, so we don't really change things. BUT... we also don't really eat lunch either.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Well, we usually have ADRs, but yes, we like to eat that early sometimes. Especially in the warmer months at WDW, we sometimes skip lunch, and eat an early dinner. If we have a late breakfast, we will get a snack instead of lunch, and eat an early dinner. It's also a less busy time, and we like to eat early anyway. Then we get another snack later in the evening. As a teacher, I usually eat breakfast at 7, and lunch at 11:30, so my ideal time for dinner would be between 4:30 and 5....It's just a matter of preference like anything else in life.

I am a teacher and early diner like you. Another bonus to an early dinner: room for an ice cream sandwich before the fireworks!

Here's our routine: TS breakfast, share something small for lunch, or skip it if we're still full, and sit down to a nice relaxing dinner around 5 OR else have a small breakfast, good lunch and a later dinner (this works well for Narcoossee's or Cali Grill when we want to see the fireworks around mealtime.)

 

[hannah03]

We are late eaters... 8-8:30 for dinner. My grandparent's always ate dinner by 5pm. I never got it then, and I still don't LOL!!

 

[loopner67]

We'll eat at an early time like that if it's planned in. If we have an early plan for dinner, then we don't eat lunch. We either eat a late breakfast and then just wait for the early dinner or stick in a quick snack. It can even save us money, even if that's not really why we eat early. Sometimes, the early dinner times are the only ones available and I'll still take them to eat in a restaurant where I really want to eat.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I really like to eat dinner early at WDW. We generally skip breakfast, eat lunch at 10:30 or 11:00 (yes there are some places that serve lunch at 10:30) and then eat dinner between 4:00 and 5:00. At home we seldom eat before 6:00, sometimes as late as 7:00. I think in the end, its just what really works for your family and your touring plan. Now that I have kids and four schedules to juggle I eat at times I thought I never would. And its never the same two days in a row!

 

[photo_chick]

Well, 4pm eastern time would feel like 5pm to me since I am on central time. That is about when I usually eat dinner. MY DD's school has them having lunch at 11am, so by 10:30 eastern time she would probably be getting pretty hungry.

 

[cdrn1]

I get up really early in my normal everyday life (4:30 a.m.) and so when we are at WDW we tend to get up early and hit the parks as soon as they open. We often skip lunch and eat an early dinner. Then we have a dessert-y thing before we leave the parks at night...my favorite thing is to get some of those giant chocolate-covered strawberries at the candy store in MK just after closing, and then sit and people watch (and wait for the crowds to clear) while we eat the berries.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

This is certainly enlightening. Looks like we're the oddballs. When I was growing up, we always ate early too. My dad would skip lunch to get home early, & mom would have dinner ready for him. Then we'd always have snacks later in the evening. To me, it felt like we were always eating. The biggest reason I started serving dinner later when I was grown was to keep from eating all evening. I always thought my mom & dad were the only people who ate so early. I guess not. You guys have convinced me that eating early, then snacking on something yummy could be a good thing on vacation though.

 

[Disneytwinz]

At home we normally eat between 5pm-7pm, depending on the night of the week. When we're on vacation we eat late because we eat breakfast early (7am-8am) then lunch around 1pm. We couldn't eat again by 4-5pm if we tried! So our dinners are all set for around 6:30-7pm.

 

[Christine]

This is certainly enlightening. Looks like we're the oddballs. When I was growing up, we always ate early too. My dad would skip lunch to get home early, & mom would have dinner ready for him. Then we'd always have snacks later in the evening. To me, it felt like we were always eating. The biggest reason I started serving dinner later when I was grown was to keep from eating all evening. I always thought my mom & dad were the only people who ate so early. I guess not. You guys have convinced me that eating early, then snacking on something yummy could be a good thing on vacation though.

I'll tell you why I eat early. I get home from work at 4:00 p.m. If I don't start cooking dinner right away, I totally lose my momentum and might even fall asleep on the couch!!! Not good. So as soon as I walk in the door, I head to the kitchen and start. Whatever I cook, rarely takes more than an hour. Honestly, as the "cook" it is nice to just get the meal behind me and the rest of my evening is somewhat free.

Also, most of my kids activities start at 5:30-6:00 p.m. I have them in bed by 8:30. So, if they did not eat prior to the activity, they wouldn't eat until 7:00 to 7:30 and then going right to bed. Plus, they are just starving when they get home.

 

[bicker]

I can't help but wonder, if people really want to eat that early?

I see no advantage to eating later than that, but I comply with society's norms, to be compatible with those I travel with. What advantage do you see in eating a large meal closer to bedtime?

Along the same lines, I'm surprised when I read some people can't get into a favorite restaurant for dinner so they go for lunch instead.

Again, a big meal at 2pm or 3pm would be even better than one at 4pm. In the abstract, I see no disadvantage to switching to a system whereby the big meal of the day is the middle-meal, with lighter meals in the morning and the evening. However, society supports that perspective even less than the "eating dinner early" perspective, by punishing those desiring their main meal of the day midday by withholding some of the better choices into the dinner menu. If restaurant provided the same experience for lunch and dinner, I'd sooner have a late lunch than an early dinner.

Then again, I'm never into a big meal in the middle of a hot day.

If it is a hot day, it'll invariably be a hot evening, and the different in temperature isn't really enough to warrant a change in eating habits IMHO. I'm going to have a lighter meal during summer, whether it's 2pm, 4pm or 6pm.

 

[pumba]

because of some medical conditions.......I eat almost exact times all the time....that means 7:30.......12:00 ......and either 4:30 or 5:00..
and then a SNACK in the evening hours......no biggy....

 

[mushu1313]

We are huge fans of the fireworks shows, so eating early worked for us. We were able to eat and then park hop to whatever show we wanted and still get good spots to watch them in.