Has Anyone Done Counter Service Only?

[toystoryduo]

Hi everyone!

Our trip to WDW is this coming December and to pass the time I have tweaked and re-tweaked our plans and schedule. I have been focusing lately on our meals and have found myself wondering if skipping the table service restaurants would be a good idea budget wise and timewise.... So, has anyone ever done just counter service before? Did you feel like you were "missing out" on something? Thanks for your input!

 

[snowy76]

We've never gone totally TS free (we did four sit downs for lunch or dinner on our 6 day trip in June) but we love the CS places. We never feel like we're missing out, since that frees up money for other things!

Use the menus on allears.net to see what's available. There is a huge variety of foods if you know where to look.

You might compromise and do just one TS per day, or pick a few special favorites that pique your interest. That way you feel pampered a few times and still save money!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Hi there! the first time DH and i went (then he was my dfi) and he had NEVER been to the WORLD before (can you imagine??) well we decided to only do CS to not waste any time sitting down and it was one of the best trips we ever had! we tried a bunch of different places ate quick and went on with our day!!

 

[hipporina]

Yep, on both of our last trips. This year, we will be eating at TS because we have the free dining, but otherwise we would probably just do counter service. There is a lot of good CS food to be had throughout the parks and resorts. Personally, I enjoyed a lot of the food at the ASMo food court, even though it is not "fine dining".

One of my concerns this trip is spending too much time eating, I'm sure it will be fine in the end. You can definately have a great trip without it.

 

[jann1033]

we always do a mix but the TS at lunch..it's cheaper, you get a good meal not a burger. another option is some of the resort places like Pepper Market that are a step above the usual counter place. even pop food court has "meals" for about the same price as a sandwich. personally i can't take a week of burgers.

 

[missypie]

We did a trip to Disneyland that way. We arrived on Saturday and left the next Saturday. We did one character dinner buffet as our first meal, one character breakfast buffet as our last meal and one TS meal in the middle. I have never been so sick of "beige" food...I'm not a huge salad eater, but I was craving lettuce. Needless to say, for our 10 day trip to WDW, we had one TS reservation each day.

With that said, if you study the menus on allearsnet.com, there are some good CS choices with "different" foods.

 

[disneymom727]

Until our last trip we always did CS meals. That was what was in our budget. On our honeymoon we "splurged" and went to a TS, The ESPN club! When we went in Feb. we ate lunch at the WCC. Then I had felt like I had been missing something. It was nice to see another resort and spend a little more for a nicer meal. We added the dining plan for our upcoming trip just for a change. However, were doing a BIG vacation which we haven't done in 8 years. All this to say, I am sure we will enjoy eating at a lot of different restaurants that w/out the dining plan we wouldn't otherwise be able to do, but I'm sure the next trip to WDW won't be for a while and will be back to CS meals.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We only did one TS a character meal for my DS third bday. Otherwise, CS was fine, I don't think we missed out on anything but a larger bill. Starlight Rays at MK, McDonalds at AK, Fish and Chips in England at Epcot, and the Turkey leg stand at MGM were our favorites.

 

[disney1990]

We have been several times and done CS only. The wonderful thing about Disney is that you can get almost anything at a counter restaurant. Personally, I don't eat beef. There are so many choices these days -- the new noodle restaurant at MK, salmon in the recently reopened Land Building, and sushi at the CS restaurant in Japan at Epcot. My personal favorite is the Tangerine Cafe in Morocco.

 

[snowy76]

My personal favorite is the Tangerine Cafe in Morocco.

Oooooh, that's my favorite too! My fave is the lamb shawarma platter.

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post is the FUN you can have snacking your way through the CS spots all over World Showcase. YUM! Oh, now you got me reminiscing. Egg rolls in China, almond pretzels in Norway, black forest cake in Germany, Chestnut cake or shaved ice in Japan, the patisserie in France (did I say I like dessert? LOL)

AK also has some of the best CS, IMO.

 

[annie1995]

Hello,
My family and I dined only on counter service last summer. It definately saved us money, in hind site I wish we went to a table service location, but the kids really didn't care, they just hurried through every meal anyway. I feel that you could go to some table service resturants for lunch, and get the experience and still save money! Enjoy your trip!! Annie

 

[Kaycee]

We always do a table service or two, but the majority of our meals are counter service. WDW counter service offers a wide variety and good food. Earl of Sandwich, Columbia Harbour House, Tangerine Cafe, Boulangerie Patisserie, Sunshine Seasons Food Court, and Tusker House are a few of our favorites.

I'm sure we could do a trip of nothing but counter service and be perfectly happy with our meals.

 

[wilderness01]

We have never done CS only. We do CS for a few of our favorites, like Casey's, Peco's Bills, BeachesnCream but other than that we do not. We like to sit down at least once per day for TS to relax, cool off, put our feet up in air conditioning, etc. I also like to get things other than the typical burger fare, like soup or salad. How about if you do Chef Mickey's for breakfast instead? Or LeCellier for lunch instead? That would be more economical. We try to only eat one, maybe 2 meals out per day. The other meals we either eat in our villa or eat a late breakfast so it really is like lunch, or an early dinner to substitute lunch, etc. We really are not that hungry for 3 meals a day at WDW. I do however have plenty of fruit, fruit snacks, pretzels, etc. if the kids want to graze during the day. I have never done it, but my neighbors packed a cooler for lunch and left it in the car. Would you consider that to help budget? Also have you tried the Concourse Restaurant in the Contemporary. We find them pretty reasonable with pretty good food. Good luck.

P.S. You have more planned than I do and we leave in a few weeks!

 

[LiteBrite]

Years ago we used to go on a *very* tight budget, so much so that we didn't even eat counter service for some meals (we'd bring in our own sandwiches for one meal a day), but even then we'd budget for one nice sit-down meal during the trip. It made us feel better about the whole thing.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

I say don't do it! Atleast have one TS meal every other day. At the very least. Unless it's a matter of go or not go...then CS will have to do. I find our family needs the time to relax at some point during the day. A slower paced relaxed meal recharges us. I also find we eat alot less when we eat a TS meal...less snacking. If you eat a nice TS lunch, it will be less expensive and give you time to sit down for a bit and defnitely get a table.

Either way, have a great trip!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Because you're going in December, you probably have a better chance of this than say, August, where you really need that break to get out of the heat!

Budget-wise, there are quite a few places that are sit down and inexpensive, such as Trail's End buffet in Wilderness Lodge.

There are some great counter service places. Look for reviews and look at the menus so you eat at some of the better places. (There is some awful cs out there too!)

Some places are:
MK
Pecos Bill's
Cosmic Ray's
Columbia Harbor House *sit upstairs by a window!*

Epcot
Fountainview Bakery
Yorkshire Fish and Chips (*love* this)
I hear Tangereine Cafe is excellent, haven't tried it yet
Snacks from *everywhere*!
Definitely either Boulangerie Patisserie or Kringla bakeri og Kafe for dessert!

DAK
Flame Tree
Tusker House

In the Studios, I would either do a sit down or I would try the new place - I think it's Backlot Express? The one that's supposed to have Mediterranean food. I've never much cared for the cs in that park. I love 50's Prime Time and Sci Fi!

DTD
I hear great things about Earl of Sandwich!

I would include at least one character meal (I recommend Crystal Palace or Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast) as a special thing. I would really miss that if I didn't do at least one of them. (I would also really miss 'Ohana, which I am just in love with!)

I would probably add 1-3 ts and leave the rest as cs. It will definitely save you time!

 

[dyna]

My family has went and didn't even eat CS during our entire stay. Cereal for breakfast in room, waited till our break to eat Peanut butter sandwich in room when we got back to the room. Then either before we went back into the park or when we got back for the night another Peanut butter sandwich. I also had some celery and carrots etc in the cooler and we had some fresh fruit with us that didn't have to be kept cold along with chips.
When we went in Dec and Jan we didn't even need to buy drinks in the parks. DD usually did get a mickey bar daily tho.

More than a dozen trips to disney and I've ate table service twice. NEVER felt I was missing anything. Castle breakfast way back in 98 for EMH and I was pissed I was not in the park having fun. CP for lunch a few years later it was ok but nothing to write home about least that time it was a busier time of day and I didn't feel like I was missing as much in parks only my nappy back at the room which we went and did after lunch.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Actually, we like TS but it's not because we need to escape the heat since we live in Florida, we are a bit used to it. We like to just relax and have some down time. We are Passholders so not only do we go on daytrips very frequently, we do about 4 resort trips a year. All different seasons and we always like atleast 1 TS meal a day. The trips we have taken where we focused more on CS, we tended to eat and snack more and I got tired of my food being served on or in paper/plastic.

You did provide a great list of CS options though and I can attest to the Tangierine Cafe being fabulous!

 

[aubriee]

Sorry, to me TS restaraunts are a big part of the vacation. I can't imagine a vacation without them. I enjoy taking a break to rejuvenate and I also enjoy trying new foods and experiences. I can't imagine WDW without trying a few TS restaraunts, for the ambience if nothing else. I went on my first ever solo trip last May and having never eaten alone almost decided not to book any TS. After thinking about it I decided I would be missing a big part of what I'd enjoyed in the past. I booked Le Cellier, Rose & Crown, Marakesh, Biergarten, CP, Bomas, House of Blues, Mama Melrose, Sci Fi, and Rainforest Cafe at AK. The only one I didn't keep was Bomas, because I was tired and ill that night. The only one I didn't enjoy was Biergarten. I'm taking my son and D-I-L in Sept and we have nine TS booked. I'm going back solo in Dec and am already thinking about new TS I want to try. If I have to work a few overtime shifts to pay for my TS meals, so be it, but I'm on vacation and intend to enjoy it.

 

[baileybelle]

On all our previous trips we've done CS because of the kids. They were more interested in the attractions than eating at a TS.

On our upcoming trip in October, it will only be me and DH and I have made a PS for each day at a TS for lunch. I've booked LLT, Plaza Restaurant, Prime Time, Sci Fi, Le Cellier and Rose and Crown. We will be doing Tusker House at AK.

I am so looking forward to this trip. It will be so much more relaxing for Dh and I. Come on October!!!