Do you plan EVERY Meal?

[marriedmarylander]

I understand having to make PS for TS meals, but do you plan out in advance where you are eating for CS meals as well? I think this would be difficult to plan every CS meal or is it?

Most of the CS seems to have similar foods - burgers, chicken, pizza, sandwiches, ...

 

[Kaycee]

I don't plan every meal, but I do have a good idea of which restaurants sound appealing to me in each park so that when it comes time to eat, we don't wander around aimlessly trying to choose a restaurant.

 

[Bob P]

Only to the extent that we don't eat at peak times when eating counter service. We'll eat lunch by 11 or 11:30 or else it's mobbed.

Bob

 

[becka]

We plan our TS meals and we always try to eat at Cosmic Rays at least once each trip but other than that we pretty much just wing it with the counter service. We do know that some mornings or evenings we will do the food court at the resort but if we are in the parks we see where we are when we get hungry and try to find something nearby. I try to remember some of the places that people like best so if we are near something I hear is good we will go that direction.

 

[MinnieM3]

No, we don't. We plan our TS meals and TRY to keep PS's, but if we're inthe middle of something else, we just go with the flow.

We take a "hunger check" every so often, making everyone give us a 1 to 10 on the hunger scale, so we can judge when we need to eat and who needs a snack to tide them over. Works for us!

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

I plan one sit-down PS per day, with the occasional second for things like a dessert before a show. I generally have an idea of which counter service I would like to visit, but don't decide until I'm actually there. I find this is a good balance - I know we're going to get one good sit-down per day and also have room for spontineity.

N.E.D.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I don't plan most of my TS meals and none of my CS meals. We eat at off hours and we aren't picky about where we eat.

 

[kyirish25]

I actually do plan out all meals including CS, but am not upset should plans change or we are not in that area of the park at lunch time and eat somewhere else.

But we tend to do 2 TS a day so the CS is more for the food court at the resort and just a few of our favorite CS spots.

 

[zdad]

Sort of...........

As others have said, we insist on being flexible. We do have certain PSs we don't want to miss, but generally, we'll plan to have a "quick meal at the park for lunch" as an example. So we know we're planning to eat at the park that day, no ressies or specific locations, just whatever strikes us when it is time to eat.

We will put a little more structure into WHEN we eat, especially if we have a sit down meal planned for B, L or D. Example, if we are eating at Whispering Canyon for dinner @ 5pm, we'll probably have a light and early lunch. Maybe a breakfast bar in the room, and a light lunch ~ 10:30 - 11

 

[oogieboogie]

Pre-trip, we plan our meals, mostly lunch and dinner. We decide based on EMH and other factors which park we'd like to go to and what restaurants we'd like to go to in that area.

Now... that's not to say the plans won't change. In fact when we get to WDW, we usually change our plans according to our mood. Every night, after we're done for the day and relaxing in the room, we think about what we're going to do the next day and if it jibes with what we had pre-planned, then great. Otherwise, we change our PSs to fit our mood.

Having a plan for our meals helps with budgeting too. It gives us a rough idea of how much we'll be spending that day, plus it's just fun to plan!

 

[Danauk]

For our next trip we have decided on which PS to make and will have one PS per day (except the first night where we are ordering room servive.) I have a good idea as to where we will eat lunch each day, but have several choices depending on exactly where we are when we get hungry. Lunch will just be grabbing a quick bite though. We will eat all our breakfasts in our room.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

This will be the first time that I will have 1 PS for every day of our trip because we are on the dining plan.

On our previous trips we only had one or two. But I remember stopping by Sci-fi and not being able to have a place to eat because the wait time was so long.

I think that I will play it safe this year and do all my PS arrangements before leaving. With the dining plan I expect that the crowds at the restaurants will be quite different this year than they were on my previous trips. And since I am paying precious $$$$ for this dining plan I want to take full advantage of it.
As for the CS meals, I have a few places in mind that we really enjoy, although we would like to try out a couple of new places, but we don't have a definite plan for those. We will be having our CS meals for lunch quite early in fact because we will be having cereal bars and light snacks for breakfast. I hope that I get my desired times for my TS meals. My 90 day window opens on April 28th.....

 

[Bracho]

I do plan every meal just beacuse we have so many favorites and so many we really enjoy eating at that we have to plan or we'll miss out on something.

 

[SeaSpray]

Since we're staying concierge, we'll be having breakfast each morning at the lounge, so those are taken care of.

I have made 2 PSs per day (lunch and dinner) for our upcoming trip in July. And mainly that's because DH is diabetic and must eat at regular intervals and since it'll be 4th of July week AND hot and humid, it'll be very crowded and I need to know we have a place to go inside so he (we) can eat and cool off.

Having said that, we are not opposed to deciding last minute to skip a PS and eat somewhere else. We have chosen our favorites plus some new places we want to try, but except for a couple of special meal PSs, the others wouldn't be a big deal to change at the last minute.

We're not "commando" type park people, and we split each day between 2 parks, so the meals will coincide with the parks we happen to be in each day at noon, then later in the evening for dinner. Four of the PSs are at our resort restaurants so those will be especially convenient. This all looks good on paper, we'll see how the reality works out.

 

[Ocean Springs Mom]

We have a lot of favorite CS places to eat, so generally, we plan where we are eating lunch. It's usually when we'll meet up with other parts of the group if we're splitting up for the day, also.

Then we have PS for dinner each night, and again, meet up with everyone and enjoy the meal together.

 

[gardengal]

I plan it out so that we know whats available and dont wander aimlessly. If things change they change.

Michelle

 

[dimoe]

I personally have made one ps for everyday for ts. I have read all about the counter services so we will wing that part. It is our first trip to disney love the idea of a meal plan. I think the ts places will be a lot harder to get into with the new dining plan .imho
Diane

 

[Meezers]

We plan and make PS's for table service...generally one a day. The other times we just kinda graze

 

[dmslush]

I plan at least one sit down meal a day. I think, as a family, we need that time to sit and talk and enjoy each other.. not just disney world.

 

[mill4023]

I still remember a really terrible meal we had in tomorrowland in Disneyland about 3 years ago. The food was awful, the place was crowded, and it was incredibly expensive. It was not a fun experience. So when we went to DL last summer, I bought the Unofficial Guide and spent a lot of time reading reviews of different restaurants. Because I did this planning ahead of time, we ended up having two really great meals at Carnation Cafe and Cafe Orleans. It's amazing how much of a difference having a nice meal can make in your day.

In two weeks, we are leaving for our first visit to WDW and I've been doing a ton of planning. I am not planning every meal (I have 5 PS's in 9 days) but I am reading a lot of reviews and I am making a list of all the restaurants that have gotten good reviews and sound appealing. That way, each day when we are in a park, we will have a list of good dining options to choose from.