Doing a survery

[tigertam]

I am doing a survey. What time do you like to book for lunch and dinner reservations?

 

[HaleyB]

I like a late lunch OR an early dinner. It really depends on where I am eating and their hours. I love to eat around 3-4pm at WDW.

 

[loralie]

Since we used the dining plan we made most of our Character breakfast as late as possilbe and used them as our lunch for the day. We ate something small in the room before we went to the parks. Then we would schedule our dinners for about 6:00 pm.

This worked out great for our May 13 - 20, 2005 trip. (I wish I was back there)

Loralie

 

[jenjen212]

depends on where we are that day, or what we have planned, which park etc.

if we are doing a dinner show, like hoop de doo, or the luau (which are like 5 or 7), then we would just grab a light breakfast at the resort, like fruit & yogurt, then maybe a sandwhich or salad for lunch around 1 or 2 because i know that dinner would be a heavy meal.

we don't stay in animal kingdom long when we go, it just seems too hot to be there for some reason. we usually will get there early and then split around 2 or 3. we might eat a late lunch or early dinner then.

if we did a character breakfast, we are usually filled up for most of the day. we usually won't be hungry until 6 or so.

depends on your family size and family habits...

good luck!

jen

 

[Aimeedyan]

Completely depends on our schedule. If we're doing breakfast, we do a late breakfast around 1030-11am to count for lunch too. We don't hit the parks early anymore, and don't get up early, nor do we eat breakfast at home usually =)

If we do that breakfast, then we eat a meal around 5pm, with a snack later. If we opt to cruise right into lunch, we dine around noon - 1 and then dinner around 7 or 8.

All that to say, it's never consistent

 

[daannzzz]

Because I can't stand the crowds for food (don't mind them for rides) I always book lunch for as early as lunch is served. Generally Between 11:00 and 12:00, prefferably between 11:00 and 11:30. Disney has a bad habit of not having any lunch foods available until noon.
For dinner I try to book between 5:00 and 6:00.
This has worked well for us unless we had a buffet for lunch in which case we often cancel the dinner reservation and get something at a fast food place later.

 

[tigertam]

Because I can't stand the crowds for food (don't mind them for rides) I always book lunch for as early as lunch is served. Generally Between 11:00 and 12:00, prefferably between 11:00 and 11:30. Disney has a bad habit of not having and lunch foods available until noon.
For dinner I try to book between 5:00 and 6:00.
This has worked well for us unless we had a buffet for lunch in which case we often cancel the dinner reservation and get something at a fast food place later.

This is more our plan. I was wondering if it was popular. For the most part I think eating around 5 or 5:30 is early and that it isn't as popular. I am hoping for that and hoping that you can get in to sit down meals quickly and be served quickly. We are traveling with a party of 10. Two of which will be one and two. They normally go to bed at 7:00 p.m., so I want to eat fairly early, so we can get in and out without them getting bored and tired and noisy. They are usually very good, but I am sure being out of there normal routine and being busy will make them tired. How long does it take for the popular sit down meals?(w/ reservations - how long from reservations to sit down and eat and out? How long should I prepare for?

Any tips with little ones eating at Disney, best times to go?

 

[daannzzz]

In general the time it seems to take from the time you arrive at the entrance and let them know you have a PS until you are done is around an hour or so. Sometimes when you have a PS for the first few minutes a place is open at lunch, it can take longer for them to get up and running but the food usually is prepared fairly fast

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

We're sticking to our home meal times with the two little ones - so that means breakfasts in the room around 6:00 or 6:30, lunch around 11:30 and dinners around 5:00. I know that is early for some!

 

[malibuconlee]

It depends on where we plan to spend the day. I like to have breakfast before we hit MK or Epcot. But for MGM I like to wait until we get done with TOT and RNRC. We usually hit MGM for EMH days and we try to get two rides in on each ride first thing in the morning. Doesn't always work, but then I try and get the first seating at 50's PTC for lunch.

 

[threeboysmom]

We like to have our lunch around 11:30 or 12:00 (usually no later than that as kids are starving from having an early breakfast before hitting the parks). I aim for dinner around 7:00ish each night.

 

[Ilovestitch]

We usually do later lunches and dinners- like 1 or 2 for lunch and dinner 7 or 8pm. For buffet meals, though, I like to eat early b/c I feel the food hasn't been picked over for hours (i'm sure the food is fine though b/c they are always replenishing it). We usually do the Boma dinner buffet right at 5pm. We only do one PS meal per day though, and just eat cs and snacks whenever we feel like it.

 

[snuggles]

We usually eat a big lunch and smaller dinner if we are there in the cooler weather. In warmer weather we have a larger dinner. Usually dinner is around 6 and lunch around noon.

 

[tigertam]

So people eat all over the board and some people eat differantly depending on their plan for the day? Are there any unbusy times to eat?

 

[BANNISTER]

lunch @ 130PM, dinner around 7pm

 

[PatsGirl]

We're hoping to eat an early lunch and early dinner (maybe 11:30 and 5:30). Hoping this avoids crowds and still allows a half-way decent bedtime. Normally we'd eat a very light breakfast or lunch and an early dinner but we're trying to make the most of the dining plan.

Tigertam: Be prepared for very tired children at dinner. If they are used to going to bed at 7 (like mine were at that age) and you have PS for even 5:30, you'll be lucky to get them to bed by 9. Add that to being on the go all day and.... Hopefully, you can go with the flow. If they sleep through dinner, give em a yogurt later when they wake up and a BIG breakfast. I wasn't that easygoing with my first and I really regret it now. The second is a different story, she eats when she's hungry (to a certain degree) and if she's tired I let her sleep and feed her when she gets up. Difficult for us but truly better in the long run.

 

[CATMANDO]

We have a lite B-fast in room and have lunch around 230 pm and Dinner around 8or 9. this is how it is at home too. We also eat according to the weather hot, cold and so on. We carry snacks in the park and if some gets hungry before. he gets a snack.

 

[cobbler]

Well if we do a character bfast I like to go around 8am because it takes time for me to get the kids up, hubby up and get them moving. Plus I have to look cute for the pictures at Chef Mickeys

As for lunch we like to eat a bigger lunch and eat it a bit later because lunch is usually cheaper than dinner. I think we like to eat 1-130ish.

Dinner is weird. If we eat a big lunch we just snack for dinner. If its a big dinner, probably around 530-6ish.

 

[tigertam]

We have a lite B-fast in room and have lunch around 230 pm and Dinner around 8or 9. this is how it is at home too. We also eat according to the weather hot, cold and so on. We carry snacks in the park and if some gets hungry before. he gets a snack.

Thats a good idea about snacks, especially for little ones.(and big ones!)
Do you or anyone else have any good snack ideas that might be a little nutritous, but easy to bring? I always seem to get in a rut with snacks.

 

[tigertam]

Well if we do a character bfast I like to go around 8am

How long does it usually take you guys to do character meals?(Cinderella's Royal Table and Crystal Palace) Does anyone get to visit with them more than once?