Eat or Play....That is the big question?

[Dona Momma]

Okay we have been to WDW over ten times and we have the usually places that we just have to grab a bite. (50's Prime Time, Teppan, Le Cellier,
Chef Mickey's, ESPN, Beaches and Cream, Donald's Breakfast , CRT, Hoop Dee Doo,Cheesecake Factory,Crystal Palace) With that said, I feel like we spend so much of our time waiting to sit down, then eat, to head back out as fast as we can to get all of the rides in. Maybe it is my kids ages
(DS 17 and DD 13) but they would rather grab a bite at CS and keep moving. We will probably hit two or three of these places on our July trip.

We are thinking 50's Prime Time, Teppan, ESPN, Beaches and Cream. Then the rest will be CS.

Is it going to be bad or will we really miss out if we just choose a couple of these for our quick eight day trip this year???? I figure we can grab bites to eat at CS at most parks.

They just want to spend as much time as possible riding rides.

HELP PLEASE

 

[bluejasmine]

MY DH and I are taking the kids on a suprise trip in Sept my teenage son is a foodie and we have FD so we will be doing TS for dinner. Then next Sept we are taking my 9 yr old step son who would care more about the rides and loves burgers, nuggets, fries and pizza so he will be thrilled with CS so we plan on getting QSDP. I say its all about what your family wants.

 

[disnut8]

We very seldom do any sit down meals at Disney World. We don't want to be committed to being at a certain place at a certain time. But we don't starve and we have some nice meals. Flame Tree BBQ at Animal Kingdom is very nice. At Epcot, you can have Mexican for lunch and Chinese for dinner without ever having to make a reservation and it takes less than 45 minutes to do the entire meal. Even the Hollywood Studios, long a place that we didn't like for a meal, is getting different things in the counter service places. And hey - it's a vacation. Ice cream and popcorn always sounds really good for lunch.

 

[bangzoom6877]

It all depends on the times you dine. The CS locations could get very crowded, which means long lines, and the possibility of it being very difficult to get a seat. Factoring in these things, it could take you just as long to do a CS meal as it would to do a TS meal, but of course that depends on your schedule and also your dining habits. When DH and I took the kids to WDW last summer, we ate lunch for our CS credits on the DDP. However my kids are small and are used to eating lunch early, so we were at CS locations right when they opened, for the most part. So no long lines, but by the time we got out of there (between 12 and 1 depending on the day), there were huge lines and no place to sit. We dined at the following CS locations: Tangierine Cafe at Epcot; Cosmic Ray's at MK; food court at Pop Century but it has a big seating area and is of course not in a park; Flame Tree BBQ at AK; Pizza Planet at DHS.

As for TS restaurants, we did the all-you-can-eat ones, and we were out of there within an hour of sitting down but did not feel like we rushed through the meal at all. Now if you are used to dining at an a la carte restaurant, ordering appetizers, then an entree then a dessert, then of course it could take longer. I have no experience with a la carte Disney restaurants.
I also did not have dinner at CS locations so I do not know how crowded they get.

So I say, the best way to do CS is for lunch when they open. Or that is at least the quickest.

 

[Dona Momma]

Thanks for the comments.

We will just make a few ADs and then grab what we want when we want the rest of the time.

 

[paintnolish]

There are lots of good cs options, too, that offer more than your typical fried fare. Like pps have suggested, Epcot has tons, I also like Cosmic Rays (chicken, rinbs, etc), WPE...so I am sure you will eat well. Just make those few ADRs for the must eat places.

 

[kmermaid]

We too are going in July and I will make only a few TS: LeCellier for DH & DD1 and Teppen Edo for DD2 for her 12th birthday. The kids are not interested in doing sit downs every night and DH doesn't care so much either. I think we can get by easily with CS especially with staying at BCV and having PHs with Epcot right there.