Do you think I am wrong for not planning a lot of meals?

[JaxCon]

We are traveling in Sept with our 7yo and 2.5 year old and staying on site. I have scheduled 2 character b'fast and one ice cream social. The rest of the meals we plan of grabbing around the parks. I just don't feel like spending too much time or money on the nice meals. My kids are picky and I picture them just complaining about wanting to be back out in the parks. I also hate to book meals and have to work around reservation times, I would rather fly by the seat of our pants!

But I look around here and see so many of you planning all of your meals and I wonder if I am missing out on something????

Margaret
mom to Jax and Connor in NC

 

[Scutapipig]

I have a 6.5 and 8 year old. We used to plan a sit down meal every day, but after our last trip and the lack of food the kids wanted to eat yet we still paid for, we're grazing our way around Disney for our upcoming trip.

Just two PS's this time around....Chef Mickey's for breakfast and the Sci-Fi at MGM.

I think you'll do great!

 

[BevS97]

I like to plan a few, but not all of them. If you want to have a sit down meal every day, then it's probably worth planning them, or you can end up wandering around trying to find a table, but if you are happy grazing then I wouldn't worry about it

 

[HopperFan]

I just think us "grazers" (great description Scutapipig) don't talk about it ~ but we are out here ~ keeping a low profile !

When kids were younger we booked the character meals. As they have gotten older we book a few PS meals. This last trip they made me cancel our BOMA reservation cause they just wanted to do the pool and pizza. I was alittle disappointed but my pocketbook liked that !

I imagine in a few years they'll want to go back to some big meals, but for now we are one of the "grazers"!

 

[liznboys]

I'm with ya!! We don't plan a lot of meals either. Last trip, we ate ONE meal that required a PS-that was 'Ohana. Next trip, we'll probably do 4-5 (we're staying 12 nights), and the rest of the meals will be counter service & food court meals. I don't like the idea of the whole trip revolving around a bunch of PS's!! That's too strict a schedule for our taste. Some days we just want to do whatever we feel like it, and not worry about having to be somewhere at a certain time.

 

[Shelly D.]

No way! We all tour differently, and with kids, sometimes you just can't plan meals that far in advance.

Our last trip was with a 13 month old, and we had no idea how she'd do. So, we didn't have any PS until we got there. We were able to book Ohana for dinner and later a character bfast without trouble.

She was on a schedule at home, but it truly got mixed up a bit at WDW with the time change and all the activities. So there was no way I could have guessed when she'd be ready to sit for lunch, etc.

 

[DisFam95]

Grazer here!! I think not planning the big meals especially w/ kids is the way to go!!

Even w/ me and DH we never made PS and always had sit-downs at nice places almost daily. We travel off season and eat off peak times so that helps but never waited more than 20 minutes. I just don't get making my dinner plans 2-3 months in advance. we are fly by the seat of our pants kind of people too and it's never been a problem.

Like the pp said kids are happier w/ pizza/burgers and the pool and won't appreciate a 'fancy' restaurant like Boma. I know DH and I plan to eat at some of our fav sit-downs next trip because DS (will be 2.5) will have a much stronger opinion the time after.

Enjoy the freedom!!

 

[abeyst]

We're grazers, too, for the most part. I plan 1 sit down meal each day that we're not park touring, and the rest of the days are "choose as we go". I, too, have a hard time planning park visits around PS-although I have done it and gotten pretty good at it! Plans change so much with little ones that it's tough to plan 3 months in advance.

What I have learned from our trips to WDW is the biggest fight with DH is where we're going to eat when we're on our way out of the park at the end of the night and we're starving and tired (and so are the kids!)

What I have found most helpful is keeping a list of restaurants with me as we tour around the parks/DTD/other hotels. Restaurants I've researched in guides and online to find out prices and what kind of food they have for all my picky eaters. That way I know at a moment's notice a good place to eat that will appeal to everyone.

 

[hulabird]

We only planned two meals....CRT and the FDP. We always like to be spontaneous on our trips and we hate planning everything around meals. I know that a few years ago I planned a ton of them and ended up canceling a lot of them because we weren't going to be hungry at the PS time. We eat alot of meals in the parks, but also a few off property for a change of pace, because sometimes all the Disney food starts tasting the same. So we will do our Disney favorites: B&C, 50's Prime Time and Sci-Fi and whatever else strikes us on the spur of a moment and then Sizzler, Olive Garden and some others off property.

We have gone in September before and had no problem noy having a PS wherever we went, in fact the longest wait was for dinner at Chef Mickey's one night and that was only 15 minutes.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I think if that's what works for your family, that's what you should do!

My boys are big eaters for their ages (3 and 1, lol), and they like to eat at certain times of the day, because that's how we always do it. Don't know if it will hold through the trip or not, but I have one meal scheduled for each day of our trip. If it works, great! If not, I can cancel them. I tried to plan them at our regular mealtimes (breakfast and dinner), as I plan to try to stick to their regular routine as much as possible.

 

[jimmytammy]

We dont plan many meals anymore. We usually do one priority seating before leaving for our trip but others we usually get once we see how things go. Our kids think its a blast to eat popcorn or ice cream for lunch.

The more meals you plan, the more your day gets stressed.

BTW, where in NC are you located? We live in Burlington, which is in the piedmont.

 

[hulabird]

Exactly how I feel, stress is added when I have to plan every meal. I like to just eat when I am hungry, or grab a snack when it strikes my fancy, and not think "I really shouldn't eat this because we have a PS scheduled for 5:00 p.m."

I hate stopping in my day to call and cancel or rearrange PS's, too much of a bother.

I do agree though that for certain things, a PS is helpful, Like CRT or going during peak times. When we go in value season we never have a problem. But I could see where prime times could make for a headache trying to find a place to eat.

 

[CajunGirl2]

Thanks for asking this question. We are also going in Sept. I was getting worried that I was doing something wrong by not making PSs. I do have PSB one morning & CM for dinner another night; but that's it! We're staying in a cabin at FW so we'll have a place to fix meals but DH doesn't think we'll be doing that.

abeyst, I like your suggestion of making a list of potential restaurants in each park to carry around. I think I'll do that.

The only place that I'm thinking would be fun for DDs (2 & 4) may be Germany. We tend to eat dinner around 6:00 p.m. so I'm hoping that in Sept. we won't have trouble getting in at 5:30. I have a feeling we'll be doing lots of counter service though.

 

[WendyinNC]

Hum. Maybe I will cancel my PS. It does stress me out to have to be somewhere at a certain time or tell the kids they can't eat now because they have to eat in 1 1/2 hrs. Some of our best meals at WDW were Ice Cream for dinner in the MK; walking right in w/out PS to Garden Grill; and walking right in to Germany w/out PS.

My worst experience was giving away our fast passes to Buzz Light Year to make it to Crystal Palace and then waiting for 30 min. in the heat to get seated. I'm still kicking myself for this one.

Hi Jimmytammy. I live in Greensboro, NC.

 

[lenshanem]

We still plan one PS meal a day. Eating fries, etc. everyday gets old real fast. We look forward to our nice meal. Since we joined DVC though, we always eat breakfast in the room which helps some.
I know last summer I went with my Mom and my girls and we didn't plan a PS everyday. On those days we ended up calling around to get a PS somewhere cause the thought of eating another junk meal grossed us out. We were at AKL and their food court is very limited.
So I guess it depends on where you are staying. I actually think the values and mods have decent offerings for dinner.

 

[tjmw2727]

I agree with you but I still always have at least one PS a day just in case. If we have a character breakfast then I won't get another ps that day but on days when we don't have a special meal I make a PS for a late lunch at a more casual sit down.

We have been going to WDW since the girls were 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 and they really need the break even if its in the park to rest and relax eat "better" food and just color in the AC for a while. My girls have always enjoyed foods other than typical kids meals so we got them fruit, soup, salad appetizers etc. I am not opposed to the occasional mickey bar for lunch mind you but the late lunch seatings have saved us many times. Keep in mind that if you decide last minute you may have a long wait time but if you decide not to use a PS just go to any restaurant or use the house phone and cancel it. FWIW - your 2 1/2 you eats free at the buffets - that can't hurt!

Have a great trip.

TJ

 

[JaxCon]

Thanks every body! I guess we are grazers! I feel better now, there is just so much pressure to do everything! I don't want to look like a loser by not planning the right things sine I am doing all the planning. But since it is a slow time maybe we will be able to get in for good meal sif we want them!

Thanks agian!

Jimmytammy - I am in Raliegh

Margaret

 

[ladydancer]

We only do one ps meal (character breakfast) per trip. We like to keep our plans loose. We would rather just eat on the run, where ever we happen to be when we get hungry.

 

[AnnetteF]

Don't feel that because you have no PS's that you will have to eat fast food the whole trip. My husband and I don't like to have our vacation all planned out. We typically just see where we are that day and choose where we want to eat based on what is convenient for us. A couple of years ago, I wanted to go to California Grill at the last minute. This would be the first time we had eaten there and knowing the popularity of it I thought it might be wise to call ahead for a PS. I was told that there were no more priority seatings available for that night. Since we were heading that way anyway and had a backup plan, we decided to show up there anyway and see what happened. They told us we could wait for a table and were vague on how long it might take but we decided to take a shot and wait in the lounge. 15 minutes later, we were called and were seated at a great table.

 

[patelaine1953]

I have never planned any of our meals. We only try to decide beforehand which restaurants sound like they would appeal to all of us. We just try to pick one restaurant per day per park. We have park hopper passes but don't tend to hop at all. That may change this year, though, because we have a larger group with a wide range of ages (10 to 71). Mostly we just wing it.