Does anyone eat mainly counter service??

[edk35]

We are going to Disney in Nov for a week and I made a couple of ADR's but plan on just doing mainly counter service since it is crowded and I don't want to waste a lot of time at TS meals. SO..............where do you like to eat that doesn't just have burgers and chicken strips? We want to try some new places maybe. Thanks

 

[disnut8]

I like the Flame Tree BBQ at Animal Kingdom and Lotus Blossom Cafe at World Showcase. The Backstage Catering Company (by the AFI store) at the Studios has different things too.

 

[KandD]

I don't know where you are staying but the POP Century resort has a really good food court, everything from Asian to Nachos to pasta. As far as the parks go, the Pinocchio CS restaurant in MK is good. My family really does not like the ABC CS in HS (we ALWAYS eat at 50s Prime Time as it is my sister's FAVORITE restaurant in the world...not just WDW but the whole wide world). In Epcot, the food court in the Land is really good as well (as far as fast food/CS goes), lots of choices.
Hope this helps a bit!!!

 

[HsvTeacher]

We just got back, and we ate at the Yak and Yeti counter service one day for lunch while we were in Animal Kingdom. I had the honey chicken, and it was awesome! My DH and our friend both got the shrimp lo mein, and they loved it, too. (And you get huge portions...more than enough to share.)

We also ate at Flame Tree one day, and it was very disappointing. The ribs were really dry, and the onion rings were greasy. The corn muffin was good, though.

 

[westjones]

At MK we love the Columbia House which is across from Its A Small World/Haunted Mansion. They have an upstairs area for dining that has never been crowded when we have been there.

At Epcot we go in the food court at The Land and there are a lot of options (so everyone can pick different things).

At DHS we haven't found a place that we like, so just make due when we are there, same at AK--we just usually end up with pizza there, but haven't tried the Yak & Yeti yet, so maybe that will be a winner for us too!

DJ

 

[Amy&Dan]

It looks like you are staying at SSR and OKW. At SSR you have Artist's Palette which I think is wonderful. I love the flatbread pizzas and salads. Goods to Go has a very good tuna salad sandwich (much more limited menu than AP). I think AP is one of the better cs places around.

I think in DTD you have some good options. There is Wolfgang Puck Express which is probably the best cs on property imho. Huge variety, basically the same food they serve at the cafe but cheaper. The portions are large and you can share quite a bit. There is also Earl of Sandwich which is nice and inexpensive and has a huge variety of sandwiches.

In MK, I like Columbia Harbor House a lot, I love their tuna sandwich and their soup. In AK, I really enjoy Flame Tree (love their outdoor seating area) and Pizzafari (I like their sandwiches way more than their pizza). Yak and Yeti also has a cs location in AK and we thought it was really good. The portions were huge! In MGM I love the cuban sandwich at ABC Commissary and my husband loves their curry bowl. I also like their Asian salad. Epcot has a ton of good stuff. I love Yakitori House in Japan and the Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavillion. If you are there during F&W Festival, you can try a huge variety of food all over the World Showcase. I also like the San Angel Cantina in Mexico and the cs place in France has all sorts of things, namely delicious French pastries and desserts!

We do a lot of trips with mostly cs and never feel like we don't have a lot of choices. We did the DDP last trip and this trip, we are doing a couple of ADR's and a whole lot of cs. I can't wait to have that flexibility.

And since you are so close to the Port Orleans resorts, they both have food courts. If you have a car, you can easily drive to one of them. I think Riverside's is better than French Quarter's. Its a great way to get a decent meal for very cheap. And also if you have a car, the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs has a huge variety. Its a lovely resort, and worth it in my book to try. Again, having a car would make that not a bad option at all. The Pepper Market has a steak and its cs! They also have this wet burrito that is incredbile and some other stations that serve Asian food and Italian. I enjoy seeing the various resorts but of course that takes some time. But it helps with the variety of food choices!

 

[MickeyNicki]

For many years DH and I would eat one TS dinner at Epcot and all the rest of our breakfast, lunch and dinners were CS only and we loved it because it was very inexpensive for us and truthfully we did not know about all the other fantastic TS places around.

I blame the DIS for introducing me to TS meals....thanks guys

 

[DanaAustinChelsea]

We ate mostly CS on free dining last week. In fact we left 9 TS credits unused. Flame Tree BBQ gets my vote for AK! I was pleasantly suprised by our meals My son had the Turkey Sandwich, I had Ribs & my daughter had the Fruit Salad. I will probably have some pics & a review after I kicked this stupid cold I have, DHS-Toy Story Pizza Planet I thought was a great deal & I even liked the pizza. Not the best or gourmet pizza, but better than Domino's Pizza. MK-Burgers as Cosmic Rays I think were the best CS burgers we had while in WDW & Casey's Hot Dogs were good too. Epcot- We loved Sunshine Seasons! Everything was good, a large selection & no complaints

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

We only have two TS meals (CP package, and night of MVMCP) scheduled for this December because we don't like to be locked into being at a certain park at a certain time. I like lunch at Cosmic Ray's for the turkey wrap, and Epcot probably has the best variety for CS. Sunshine Seasons has great variety, and I like the Mexico CS. Next trip I'm hoping to try the CS in Morocco.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We love the TS restaurants, but if we are going for a short trip, we mostly do the CS places. One of our favorites is the Yorkshire Co. Fish Shop at EPCOT for the fish and chips. I love Pecos Bills at MK for the taco salad and Flame Tree BBQ at AK has some of the best ribs. We didn't eat at DHS this time, but we usually eat at Backlot Express and get chicken strips, which I heard are long gone, in which case we may have to check out Pizza Planet. Cosmic Rays at MK has a fabulous rosted chicken and ribs combo tha is out of this world (pardon the pun) and it has enough food for 2 to 3 people.

Suzanne

 

[edk35]

We usually do a TS almost every day or at least every other day (we have many faves) but this trip I didn't want to adhere to that type of schedule so we are going for more counter meals. We have never eaten at the place in THE LAND....well since they changed it a couple of years ago. That might be a good one to try. I have never found a counter place at HS that I like. We usually eat at Prime Time and didn't care for it this past summer. Thanks to all that posted their suggestions. I am enjoying reading these.

 

[Tricia1972]

Epcot:
Sunshine Seasons
Mexico - Chicken Taco - Avoid the Nachos
Germany - Sommerfest for a Brat, Kraut and Apple Strudle
Morocco - Tangeriene Cafe - Chicken and lamb platter

MK:
Columbia Harbor House
Casey's
RIP - Pinocchio's Village Haus - Always one of our favorites, removed our two favorite dishes - Turkey Panini and Figaro Fries

MGM:
Backlot Express

AK:
We go back to SSR or DTD

DTD:
Wolfgang Puck Express
Earl of Sandwich

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Epcot:
Sunshine Seasons
Mexico - Chicken Taco - Avoid the Nachos
Germany - Sommerfest for a Brat, Kraut and Apple Strudle
Morocco - Tangeriene Cafe - Chicken and lamb platter

MK:
Columbia Harbor House
Casey's
RIP - Pinocchio's Village Haus - Always one of our favorites, removed our two favorite dishes - Turkey Panini and Figaro Fries

MGM:
Backlot Express

AK:
We go back to SSR or DTD

DTD:
Wolfgang Puck Express
Earl of Sandwich

I thought I recently read tha tthe Figaro Fries were back DH would love those.

Suzanne

 

[perriwinkleblue]

When time is tight CS is the way to go.

Here are my picks:

MK - Columbia Harbor House. Grab your tray and head upstairs for a little peace and quiet. My favorite is the tuna on multigrain bread and the veggie chili. They also have fish and chips and chicken nuggets.
EPCOT - Sunshine Seasons inside the Land: a great little food court with nice choices. Also worth noting; an actual bakery counter with great desserts.
HS - Starring Rolls has nice big sandwiches and a little outdoor patio.
AK - Pizzafari: The food has always been good IMO. Pizza, chicken parm, Italian sub, and caesar salad w/chicken and a really fun, colorful atmosphere.

I missed where you said you are staying but another poster mentioned POR? The create your own pasta in the food court was excellent. Made to order with your choice of pasta, sauce, veggies, and shrimp or chicken. Huge portions and very tasty (just make sure the chef doesn't add salt, I had it one time when the chef added a giant "pinch" ) Also great at POR - the ice cream sundaes with Mickey sprinkles.

 

[Tricia1972]

I thought I recently read tha tthe Figaro Fries were back DH would love those.

Suzanne

I read the same thing and I was very excited. Apparently the menu on allearsnet.com listed them with the lettuce, tomatoes, ranch, cheese and bacon. There was a lot of buzz, and I was happy.

Then a few people who came back said that nothing had changed. They are listed on the menu as Figaro Fries, but they're still just fries with cheese and bacon.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I read the same thing and I was very excited. Apparently the menu on allearsnet.com listed them with the lettuce, tomatoes, ranch, cheese and bacon. There was a lot of buzz, and I was happy.

Then a few people who came back said that nothing had changed. They are listed on the menu as Figaro Fries, but they're still just fries with cheese and bacon.

Oh, okay.

Suzanne

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Besides eating at various offsite locations the main counter service locations my family and I would eat at is Earl of Sandwich, which we would try at least two times while at WDW. The other location is Gasparilla's Grill & Games at the Grand Floridian.

 

[Stacerita]

Our first trip I didn't know anything about TS so I just went thinking it was all CS. We did get into two TS that week. The rest was burgers and such. It wasn't that bad really. We were also staying off site so we ate on Internationl dr too. Now we plan ahead and make ADRs for places we want to eat at. But not for every meal.

 

[Minniekins]

These have been mentioned already, but here's my 2 cents! I think the places in the parks would be best for saving time, if that's one of your reasons for sticking to CS. At MK, we loved Cosmic Ray's, they really do have great burgers and fries, with great burger toppings at the sidebar, plus the BBQ ribs and chicken are great! We love Casey's too, for hot dogs and corn dog nuggets, and the old mickey cartoons they play in the back! Also, Columbia Harbor House. At Epcot, there is also the Electric Umbrella. They used to have a great ham and swiss on pretzel bread, but they took that off the menu, unfortunately. We usually just snack around the world here, maybe getting different things at different CS and sharing. We always have to get something at Lotus Blossom cafe, usually the orange chicken, and they have a great ham and cheese on croissant sandwich at the french bakery in France, and Fish and Chips in England. At AK we used to get CS roasted chicken at Tusker House, but they've changed to a TS buffet. A lot of people seem to like Flametree BBQ here. At DHS, we love 50"s Prime Time Cafe, but that's a TS. We also usually do backlot express, and there is also Starring Rolls Cafe for different sandwiches, Toluca Legs Turkey Company with a couple salads, sandwiches and turkey legs(yum!), or even Toy Story Pizza Planet. And, of course any CS restaurants at your resort before heading out or when you come back. Anyway, hope some of this is helpful in helping you pick some CS meals! Have great trip!

 

[edk35]

Besides eating at various offsite locations the main counter service locations my family and I would eat at is Earl of Sandwich, which we would try at least two times while at WDW. The other location is Gasparilla's Grill & Games at the Grand Floridian.

My two boys like to get McDonalds at DTD if we do counter there so we always get that for them and then walk over to Earl for my daughter, dh and myself. We like Earl too. I think we will tryWolfgang Puck's Express
this trip maybe.