Food is ruling our trip

[MrsPiglet]

How do you plan where to eat three months from now? How do you know what parks you will be in? While you are in the parks do you leave to a resort to eat? Doesn't that waste alot of time?

It makes me feel like we are going to WDW to eat.


Am I alone??

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

For all the times we've been to WDW, the only ADRs I have ever made were for CRT, PSB, and Chef Mickey's (once each). Disney to us is not so much about eating. We find many healthy (relatively speaking), delightful foods available at the CS restaurants -and they are always conveniently available. I know every guest has different tastes, but it's a real joykill for us to have to fret over seating times while in-park.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I felt the same way, and decided that the flexibility outweighed the money we would save on DDP.
When we were planning, my husband made a comment about dragging my son away from Small World kicking and screaming at3:30 in the afternoon so we could spend a half hour traveling to Canada (and at least another hour eating) because we had already paid for DDP and had ADR's at Le Cellier. It was my wake up call.
Basically we checked the EMH, park hours, parade/show times, and decided what parks we would go to on what days. I made a few ADR's, BUT ONLY FOR THE PARKS WE WERE PLANNING ON BEING IN THAT DAY. The few resort ADR's I had were on non-park days. I didn't want to waste time traveling either, or have to stop what we were doing just to go eat.
If we changed our minds about what park we were going to (and we did this only once) I called and cancelled the original ADR and we just grabbed CS instead. And I lived to tell about it. Imagine that.
If the intent of your trip is to go to the parks, then don't let the hype of the DDP and ADR's rule your vacation. Off my soap box now.
Enjoy your trip regardless of where and when you eat.

 

[AmberI]

This is my first time to the world. When I found out about the free dining it was so cool to me, but now it's just to much and I feel like I was wasting my first time by planing where were gonna eat, and that where a lot of the day will go too. So I finaly said it's too much and now i'm planing my last week in a condo with real food and more park time.

 

[rentayenta]

This is our first trip to WDW and at first I felt the same way; it felt so confining and overwhelming.

I went about it backwards really. I looked at the restaurants, made my ADRs, and then decided what parks I would be in each day.

I should have chosen the park and then the restaurants but it was too late. With free dining there was no way I could change ADRs to match my parks so I made my parks match my ADRs.

In any event, once I made the ADRs, it felt far less overwhelming. It gave me a place to start.

I looked over menus and went from there.

 

[jeannief]

How do you plan where to eat three months from now? How do you know what parks you will be in? While you are in the parks do you leave to a resort to eat? Doesn't that waste alot of time?

It makes me feel like we are going to WDW to eat.


Am I alone??

We plan by the menus. Last trip I used the menus and got ADRs based on what park we would be going to, which I figured out by looking at the calendar and *****************. But we didn't stick to that schedule entirely as we wound up resting each afternoon back at the pool. So we switched out park days around since we didn't feel tied to a park.
So this year I did the same knowing that we might be at a different park during the day but would wind up wherever our dinner reservation is after a rest. Most of our ressies are early enough that we would be going straight there after an afternoon rest anyway. Or playing for a bit in the new park then making our way there. You do need the hopper option though to make that work.
We also found the travel time to be a great down time for the kids.
We're getting the DDP for free this time but it was worth it last time for us. With the new kid's menus we're doing more buffets, which may make it less attractive if we were we paying. But this way I "know" going in that at least once a day I will be sitting for a meal.
I find planning makes sure that we are not going there soley to eat,as I'm looking into healthy options before getting there and planning my splurges wisely. With no planning it would be an endless number of greasy burgers and fries that would be inhaled by all of us.
Good luck!

 

[Maggi May]

I hear ya, MrsPiglet.
We try to find a happy medium and just plan a few "must do" restaurants - our favorites or new ones that we want to try out (this trip it's Jiko ) Everything else we just wing. As a PP mentioned, there are lots of good counter service options out there besides burgers and fries.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Some folks just aren't planners, and that's fine.

My counsel to folks visiting WDW in these days is the hassles you impose on yourself before you go result in a whole lot less hassles while at Disney. I'd much rather pace myself and do as much planning as possible in advance so that I'm hassle-free once on vacation. I hate being frustrated when I'm supposed to be having a good time.

It DOES make a difference to know in advance which park you're visiting. Some parks are more busy on certain weekdays than others ... morning Extra Magic Hours, for instance, make a huge impact on how crowded a park is, as do parades, special events, etc. If I can make a choice that determines whether I'm going to wait in line for a popular attraction for 90 minutes or 20 minutes, and I can do that a few months out, guess what I'm going to do. There are tons of good planning tools available ... I like the Unofficial Guide and Passporter. For the first time on our last trip, I checked on Tour Guide Mike (a DIS sponsor), and danged if there wasn't a BOATLOAD of helpful information there, and I thought I was pretty much in the know.

So, armed with that knowledge of what park I'm visiting, then I can go online, examine menus, poll the rest of my family/party, and determine where I want to have my TS meal on that particular park day. If you're in either the MK or Epcot, leaving the parks for a monorail resort or one of the Epcot resorts, respectively, just isn't that hard. For us, it's all about peace of mind.

Having said all THAT, you can certainly visit WDW and not worry about which park, which restaurant, or anything, and if you're willing to go with the flow, have a good enough time. CS spots aren't an issue, since they're walk-up anyway. Arriving at a TS spot in the parks just as soon as they open can sometimes work, especially in places like Marrakesh. Lunch TS spots are often available as early walkups in the resorts.

When all is said and done, do what makes you happy. The Disney Dining Plan exists to serve ME, not the other way around. Don't serve IT.

 

[Nancyg56]

I decide which parks I am going to visit, decide which day we are going to enjoy the resort, and then make my ADR's. I plan my ADR's around my trip, not the other way around.

The first time I tried to plan, I was simply checking menus at first, comparing prices and looking to maximize the DDP. That was not fun, so I checked out the UG and *****************, decided to eat where it was convenient to our plan and where we liked the menu. I know how long we last in the parks and the approximate time we like our evening meal so I went with those estimates. Planning around restaurants is not fun and not very convenient, planning restaurants around parks and personal taste suits us.

 

[familyS]

I decide the park days first, then the restaurants. For the days that I am not sure which park we'll visit, I plan on an afternoon break followed by early dinners at monorail resort, DTD, or Boardwalk restaurants. Then, we can hop to any park after dinner (typically EP or MK from a monorail resort, EP or DS-MGM from the BW).

 

[WDW Traveler]

How do you plan where to eat three months from now? How do you know what parks you will be in? While you are in the parks do you leave to a resort to eat? Doesn't that waste alot of time?

It makes me feel like we are going to WDW to eat.


Am I alone??

I totally agree with you. We were on the DDP this past Feb/Mar and I felt like I was watching my watch the entire time we were there making sure we didn't miss an ADR. And being on the dining plan also made us eat so much more than we would normally have eaten, only because you feel almost compelled to get the appetizer, dinner and dessert at TS and combo meal and dessert at CS, even if you really didn't want them (and my FIL wouldn't have allowed us to NOT order it all ). I don't mind making a plan of what park we will be at on a given day and maybe make a couple of ADR's, maybe 1 breakfast and 1 or 2 lunches or dinners, but next time we go, no DDP!! LOL But it is personal preference, some people like to plan all of that.

Me, I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal!

 

[patsal]

I plan them all out, but I do know where and when I will be somewhere--it is jsut the over planner in me--I've been doing this since 1991 and I like the results. However I have other ways of doing things occasionally. For a long weekend trip I might do things with total spontinaity. I have cancelled and changed ADR's as well. For someone who doesn't want to overplan I would recommend putting Disney Dining into your speed dial on your cell phone and call when you know where you will be--get the aADR and you're all set or go to guest services as soon as you get to the park--if your not really a planner then "whereever" may be fun to try. There are also the nearby resorts--again with the speed dial a quick call should be all it takes! I have been in line at HBD at MGM and used my cell phone to call for an ADR--seated nearly immediately and bypassing the standby line. I have called from my room to get an ADR with no difficulty--you just have to be flexible about where.
IMHO people stress about things that don't have to be a certain way--just because I choose to plan it all out doesn't mean you have to, if you have the desire to be spontaneous and want flexibility you can be that way just don't expect to get into the most popular places at the most popular times--that would be something that needs to be planned for. Whenever I want to make a change or forego planning I know I have to expect that I will not get everything to fall into place just so, but since I'm being spontaneous I figure that requires that I take what I can get. Rarely can you have no plan but still get what you want when you want it. That doesn't really work anywhere in life does it?

 

[Brygida]

How do you plan where to eat three months from now? How do you know what parks you will be in? While you are in the parks do you leave to a resort to eat? Doesn't that waste alot of time?

It makes me feel like we are going to WDW to eat.


Am I alone??

Like others mentioned, I plan the main park I will visit first (as I get the park-hopper option). I base it on parks where there are NO extra hours, due to shorter lines for my line-averse-toddler.

I then know that we are hungriest at lunchtime. My toddler is used to eating at noon. So I see nothing hard about booking as many TS at noon as I can. I certainly wouldn't ignore a hungry child, so why wouldn't I stop at noon anyway? So I don't see it as wasting time... I see it as a built-in break.

If the park I'm in does not have a good TS, then I get in my rental car and drive there. I insist on a rental car, because I would consider it a waste to use Disney transport to get to a resort restaurant (usually).

MK is good in this respect as a ride on the monorail to a resort restaurant is restful, a nice break, AND the food is so much better at the resort restaurants.

One of my personal hangups is eating bad food! I want fresh, good quality food, or my stomach becomes unhappy! I can't eat McD & BK stuff. I know many people who can and don't care what they eat. I do, so planning meals to keep us happy is very important to a successful vacation.

 

[Brygida]

I totally agree with you. We were on the DDP this past Feb/Mar and I felt like I was watching my watch the entire time we were there making sure we didn't miss an ADR. And being on the dining plan also made us eat so much more than we would normally have eaten, only because you feel almost compelled to get the appetizer, dinner and dessert at TS and combo meal and dessert at CS, even if you really didn't want them (and my FIL wouldn't have allowed us to NOT order it all ). I don't mind making a plan of what park we will be at on a given day and maybe make a couple of ADR's, maybe 1 breakfast and 1 or 2 lunches or dinners, but next time we go, no DDP!! LOL But it is personal preference, some people like to plan all of that.

Me, I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal!

The "fly by the seat of my pants" approach would not work for me. When it is meal time, we want to eat, not wait in restaurant lines. My toddler would get crankier and crankier and my husband would eventually insist on leaving and grabbing the first greasy take-out (read fastest) food available. He would then complain for hours about how awful he felt after eating all that greasy stuff instead of a nice normal meal. The day would be ruined for hours until everyone finally got over it.

People, children especially.... or maybe it is husbands especially need breaks and regular meal times. I know when my family eats, why would I ignore it? Why wouldn't I plan it?

 

[Nancyg56]

It's funny what is important to different people. For my family meals are part of the vacation, not just something to keep us from fainting. I like knowing what our meal plan is and where I am going to be each day. I hate appointments when I m at home and avoid them as much as possible, but an appointment with dinner while in Disney is my idea a perfect.

Now there are a lot of people who have their touring plans written in stone, they know where they are going to be and when. They have this wondrous plan that maximizes park time and allows them to experience more attractions in one day than I might in a week. For me that would be a nightmare.

There is no wrong way. I have no room to moan because I don't get as much out of the parks as a person who has spent many hours researching their touring plan. I know that there is going to be a trade off and I accept it.

A person who rejects ADR's because planning them goes against their vacation style is in the same boat as I am. It is a decision that one makes not to plan meals in advance. It is not wrong but once that decision is made you accept the trade off. You may not eat what you want when you want.

Research is key when planning any vacation. If a family vacations at Disney and has not plan they may leave wondering why anyone goes back. If they did not plan they won't get on may attractions, miss all of the best shows, not have a nice spot to view the parade, it goes on and on. And it happens all of the time.

The same goes for dining. The days of spontaneous dining are gone, at least for a while. When I first brought my children you made a reservation upon arrival for your meals and dinner shows. Times change and vacation planning changes as well.

 

[skater]

I'm not sure if you booked with the free dining promotion. This will be our
3rd year with it, and out 1st year we were totally ruled by food and our AdRs. It actually took some of the magic away because I felt so stressed about making our reservations and planned too many early and late meals. Last year we reminded ourselves - ITS FREE! and we had much more relaxing trip. We actually canceled some ADR's when we realized they wouldn't work for us (without too much stress), and we even were able to add a couple that did work better for us (including a princess lunch at Norway). We now never let a meal interfere with our fun.

I don't know if its as easy to relax if you pay for the dining plan, but it may not be worth purchasing if its too stressful. Nothing is worth it if it makes your vacation stressful.

 

[marcyinPA]

We've done the DP twice. Once was free, and this last trip we paid for it. We are hoping to go again in June 2008, and we most likely will not be on the DDP. We did not enjoy it this past trip. We were too tied down to ADR's, and we just ate too much. We'll probably make 4 or 5 ADR's during an 8 day trip, a couple of breakfasts and a couple of dinners, and then eat CS. I know we could probably come out even buying the plan, but we want flexibility.

There are plenty of places for great CS meals that aren't fast food. We could probably eat CS for every meal and never eat a burger the whole week!

We've also been to WDW many times, so we've BTDT for a lot of things. We know we'll be back, so it's easier for us to pick and choose things like restaurants.

 

[skater]

We've done the DP twice. Once was free, and this last trip we paid for it. We are hoping to go again in June 2008, and we most likely will not be on the DDP. We did not enjoy it this past trip. We were too tied down to ADR's, and we just ate too much. We'll probably make 4 or 5 ADR's during an 8 day trip, a couple of breakfasts and a couple of dinners, and then eat CS. I know we could probably come out even buying the plan, but we want flexibility.

There are plenty of places for great CS meals that aren't fast food. We could probably eat CS for every meal and never eat a burger the whole week!

We've also been to WDW many times, so we've BTDT for a lot of things. We know we'll be back, so it's easier for us to pick and choose things like restaurants.

Its definately easier to not eat too much when its free! If I had to pay for it, I would probably get the mentality that we had to get our money's worth and would end up overeating. When its free, I have the luxury of losing credits or not eating all that's offered without worrying about the cost.

 

[carone0318]

Before DDP and now after I plan the same way - luckily the DDP works for my planning style. We always pay for DDP because we are DVC members and I can't get it for free.

We always eat a TS once a day whether it's breakfast or dinner. We fill in with a CS if we are hungry at other times of the day and we usually use our snack credit for breakfast at the Boardwalk bakery.

All of the below is usually before the 180+10 mark, since I usually book our trips right at the 11 month window:

Once a trip is booked, I start to get an idea of where we would like to eat our TS's on that trip. Usually we try to find a new TS to eat at on each trip, but there are some favorites that we like to repeat too. Once they are decided I start to look at the park hours (usually gauging from past park hours) and then start to piece the puzzle. I know that the day we arrive regardless of the day, we must go to MK and we usually eat at LTT. This is how we start our trips. Sometimes I take into account the early entry/late hours, but it really doesn't matter to us. I always make our ADRs at the 180+10 mark. I have been known to make some changes after the fact, but usually it is very few.

I think as a PP had said, your family structure has a lot to do with how you plan. If you have small children, which I sort of do now, they are 10 & 6, well they need to eat. I would rather have a TS to fall back on than nothing at all. The other factor in your planning strategy is if you have park hoppers/APs. We have APs and we always are hopping all around the parks on every trip. For us it is really no big deal.

I just sort of have a skeletal plan for our trips, I don't do the we will be on this ride at this time thing! We wing it in the parks, but we know usually know what park we will be in and where we will be eating ahead of time.

To each his/her own...

 

[chrismb22]

Last time, we did what a lot of the people said -- we planned our days and then planned our meals around it.

See, I'm different though, I LIKE the sit down meals and am willing to take a break in my day to go and sit for an hour. (I dont' have kids though so, granted, it's easier for me.)

Did I stick to my reservations last time? About 80% of the time but usually I had no problem making changes.

Oh and one thing I like to do, plan for the whole trip except 1 day -- usually the last day. On that day, we decide what we didn't see (and eat) that we really want and plan when we get there. I need to plan though. I can't be one of those people who wakes up each morning and says "what park will we go to today." I'd go crazy.