? for the planners, did you plan your daily meals

[latrischler]

From brymolmom

"it is important to me that we hit the CS places where the kids will be offered the most variety."

This is the first time I'm going with my family (dh, dd 9 and ds 7) and I would love to know what CS you recommend in each place if you have time to share. We will just have one day in each of the parks.

Thanks so much!

 

[latrischler]

I have a spreadsheet someone sent me which was quite useful in keeping everything straight if you would like it

I would love this if you can send to me. I don't think I can use PM yet - not enough posts?

 

[bigbabyblues]

If we don't have a character breakfast, we have breakfast in the food court; some days DH went to the food court and brought it back and we ate in the room.

For c/s lunch or dinner, I look at the menus and have a few in mind that sound good, depending on where we are when we're ready to eat.

 

[stagemomx3]

Meal planner here. I like know when and where we will eat during the day. It cuts down on time wasted wandering and trying to get 8 people to decide on who wants what where. If we already know where we will be eating we can spend that wandering time resting our feet while everyone decides what they will be eating.

 

[rentayenta]

including where you would have breakfast and lunch? I am hearing alot of people say they book their table service meals, but did you also plan ahead of time,where you would eat for breakfast and lunch, assuming most of your reservations were for dinner? Thanks, I am trying to plan everything ahead of time, but part of me is saying we don't need to plan our counter meals. What are your thoughts? This site rocks by the way. Thanks!!

I planned our TS and have a fairly good idea of what CS we'll eat. I am having groceries delivered for most breakfasts so I guess that's planning too.

 

[candykisses]

We usually have breakfast in the room or the food court.

Like many others have said we don't actually plan our CS. We have favorites in each park and depending where we are when we get hungry that's where we eat. Sometimes we go back to the food court for lunch.

We do plan each TS. We like knowing when and where we will be dining each evening. We keep the dinner times at WDW close to the same as we eat at home. If the boys need a snack later (and they usually do they get whatever they want.

On our last trip, we saw so many walk ups being turned away. I felt bad for them because there were a lot of disappointed children.

 

[beth_cam]

I sort of planned our cs. We generally did breakfast in the room, but since I awoke first I often went to the food court and used up some of the extra CS credits...this year I will probably do that with some of the snack credits. We break up the Magic kingdom in one section till we are done with it and 1 or 2 sections will take about half a day. With that in mind I had planned that whatever day we were in fantasy land we would eat at Pinochios for lunch. We do something similar with Epcot but never seem to stay on our route so the idea was to eat at mexico when we started our afternoon in the countries, which didnt happen, and that was okay. We only allot 1 day for MGM and one day for Animal Kingdom instead of the 2-3 we allot to Magic Kindom and to Epcot. So we always know the MGM day will have Pizza Planet for counter service and the Animal Kindom day I knew I wanted to do Tusker House. Of course the ideas I have for where I want to eat don't always jive with the timeing esp since I didnt think them around the ADR's and plans I may have made for that day....It's just more of the idea that I have researched and know that in this particular park, or this area of this park, which restaurant I think might be good for us to try.

 

[bnba2]

IMO - with kids and the DP - it is a good idea to research the CS menus. Because the kids CS menus offer very few choices (sometimes only Mac n cheese or PB&J) - it is important to me that we hit the CS places where the kids will be offered the most variety. Of course, mom and dad need to have good options on the menu too. But I'm mostly just planning on hitting as many different and varied children's menu options as ...

Any suggestions for restaurants with varied children's menu options on the DP? I've noticed Cosmic Ray's has soup or salad. It looks like more choices at Epcot. Can you get a hamburger happy meal at Restaurantosaurus? I noticed Casey's Corner in MK, and Catalina Eddies (MGM) don't seem to have kid's menus!? What have you experienced?

 

[KKB]

Of course, we made daily ADRs--THANKS, DISBOARDS! (I certainly would have been shut out of Le Cellier if it hadn't been for you!)

I have researched the various CS at each park, noting one or two that I would prefer to eat at--food quality is my priority. Now that being said, I am flexible. I am not EXACTLY sure where in the park we will be when we get hungry, nor what the kids will want to eat. Not a biggie for me--I got my TS restaurants that I wanted! PLUS we will be at EPCOT during F&WF, so likely a couple of days we will be grazing, too.

I won't say we are planning our Snacks...BUT there are certainly a few items that I don't want to miss! I REFUSE to use snack credits for water...ask for a free glass of ice water at any CS. And personally I don't want to waste a snack credit on a basic park snack that I can get anywhere (ie popcorn). But hey, if that's what a kid wants, who cares? And you KNOW I'm gonna need diet soda periodically throughout the day....

Breakfast will mostly be in the room...powerbars, pop tarts, cereal bars from home. Milk/juice from resort store. BUT I may have to hit French/Norway bakeries, and maybe MK bakery...some awfully yummy sounding items!

(Can you tell this trip has become more about the food than the rides for me??!! I better lose 10lbs. BEFORE I go! )

 

[KKB]

From brymolmom

This is the first time I'm going with my family (dh, dd 9 and ds 7) and I would love to know what CS you recommend in each place if you have time to share. We will just have one day in each of the parks.

Thanks so much!

As food was a NON issue on our first brief trip to the world...
MK...Pecos Bills looks best to me
EPCOT...Sunshine Seasons; would like to try nachos in MX, but w/ F&WF, we will struggle to eat at SS!
AK...well, it WAS Tusker House, but looks like Flame Tree is a close second..and now it will HAVE to be first!
MGM...tough one here! It seems to be the dining black hole. No raving CS or TS! Still deliberating this one...probably Pizza Planet. Good CS value for kids, as no kids meals

Someone mentioned the place where there is a CS w/ 1/2 ribs & 1/2 chicken combo that is terrific value. Unfortunately, we don't care for ribs!

 

[disneymom2twins]

My kids are late sleepers, so I usually eat a smaller breakfast in the room. Pop-tarts, mini muffins, cereal, that type of thing. Then we hit the parks and have CS lunch around 11:30ish or so. I usually just pick a CS place in each area, so depending on where we are, we know where to go.

Then we have a snack around 2:30ish, then all of our dinner ADRs are around 5:30ish. If the kids are ok, we will hang in the park for fireworks, or head back to the hotel if they are beat.

 

[Colleen27]

including where you would have breakfast and lunch? I am hearing alot of people say they book their table service meals, but did you also plan ahead of time,where you would eat for breakfast and lunch, assuming most of your reservations were for dinner? Thanks, I am trying to plan everything ahead of time, but part of me is saying we don't need to plan our counter meals. What are your thoughts? This site rocks by the way. Thanks!!

We don't really plan, but I do look over the menus to see if any are must-dos or absolute-don'ts for our tastes. On my spreadsheet, I have a few notes about recommended or noteworthy CS at the park we'll be at that day, but we'll leave the specifics of the decision up to our mood and what is close when we're ready for lunch. As far as breakfast goes, DH & I don't really eat first thing in the morning, so we keep snacks & fruit on hand in the room for the kids or swing by the food court for pastries for the kids and coffee/tea for us, and make lunch our first real meal.

 

[blanq]

We plan our TSs only. We schedule almost all of those for dinner, because we like to have a nice dinner at the end of the day. We schedule the dinners somewhat later because we don't like to be rushed to get to an ADR, and the dinner is our final event of the day anyway.

We generally know what CS places we like in the various parks, and we choose those based on what we want to eat at the moment, or sometimes simply on which one is closest. The only time we actually plan a CS is if we are using a "heavy" CS to save a TS credit for a signature dining.

This is how my family handles scheduling too. Once in a while there is a CS we really want to make sure and eat at during our stay (WGP Express in DTD tends to be one of those), so we will plan those in. Also, once in awhile we will plan our breakfasts around snack credits. For example, we really love the Funnel Cakes at the MK, so will plan a day to have them for breakfast and use a few snack credits.

 

[GlendaO]

I admit that I have issues with planning -- not just Disney but most things. I plan meals for the month, scheduling, etc so it just follows over into any trip we make. With WDW, I've made ADRs for the TS and printed out menus. I do have kids, so I look for places that both myself, DH and the girls will eat. My oldest (8y) likes to check these out too. Then, when we're in the parks, we try to head towards the area and do things around there. I'm really not psychotic though! I have a back-up if we are on the complete opposite side, or it's massively crowded or anything else comes up. Otherwise, I plan!

 

[latrischler]

Oh funny - I've been printing the menus for the ADRs we have too! We are going in Sept and telling our kids next week (girl 9, boy 7). They have not been and don't know. Tonight we watched a behind the scenes movie on the travel channel about WDW. My kids were saying - wow, we should go there! Little by little we'll feed them info until they figure it out!

 

[septbaby]

Well, by planning the TS meals, by default we have to plug holes with CSs. We are 2 adult and 1 child vegetarians, so I at least have to know our options. I am most concerned about my 5yo nephew eating on the kids plan. He eats well at breakfast so we'll make a point to eat at the resort (CBR) on the days we don't have a TS for breakfast or lunch. We know where we can get veggie burgers, veggie chili, etc. so like others we can pick a place based on where we are when we get hungry. We might also select a place based on AC too. Hey its hot down there!

 

[Rantybaby]

Since I'm going for a convention: Gospel Music Workshop of America Aug 12th-17th. I'm staying at the headquarters: Coronado Springs Resort. My park time will be limited.

Friday, 8/10 TS breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 8 am, then spend all day at the MAGIC KINGDOM. CS somewhere in the park.

Saturday, 8/11 Breakfast in room. Then head over to EPCOT all day. CS at San Angel. TS dinner at the Rose & Crown at 7:30 pm, with a viewing of Illuminations.

Sunday, 8/12 TS breakfast at Maya Grill at 8 am. Concecration/Worship Services start at 10:15 am. My choir then will travel to Tampa for a singing engagement. I'll pick up CS at Pepper Market.

Monday, 8/13 & Wednesday 8/15 Will be at MGM STUDIOS 8:30 am-1:30 pm.
Seminars/Mass Choir Rehearsal until 4 pm Monday-Thursday.
TS lunch at 50's Prime Time on Monday at 11:30 am with CS dinner at Pepper Market. CS lunch in park and TS dinner at Cap'n Jacks on Wednesday at 5:20 pm. (Early dinners by 5:15 due to evening worship services 7:30 pm-Midnight.

Tuesday, 8/14 & Thursday 8/16 Will be at ANIMAL KINGDOM 8:30 am-1:30 pm. CS lunch at Flame Tree & Tusker House. TS dinner at Boatwright's on Tuesday at 5:20 pm. TS dinner at Cape May Cafe on Thursday at 5:30 pm.

Friday, 8/17 TS breakfast at Maya Grill at 7:30 am. Mass Choir Recording until 4 pm. CS dinner at Pepper Market. My choir, the Los Angeles Chapter will sing tonight.

Saturday, 8/18 Will be a free day. Will play all day by ear. Maybe hit a park later in the day. Leave on Sunday, 8/19.

As you can see I HAD to plan my meals in advance. Hope to see any fellow Disser while I'm there.

 

[cheapi86]

I book TS meals in advance, but wing everything else.

 

[Tam1067]

All breakfasts we do at the resort CS--we're not huge breakfast eaters, and it's easy to walk over there (we stay at the Poly). Lunches vary. Sometimes I plan ahead, and sometimes we go to the closest place. I did read menus on all these websites, though, so I knew which CS places would have something edible for my very picky DS--which is why we skipped Pecos Bill's last year even though we were in the area.