How do you eat?

[MinnieLee]

We don't make ADRs for every day - just a particular restaurant that we want to go to and then plan which park that day. I do not like feeling restricted to reservations all the time. If we have breakfast ADRs, then we will have a a counter service dinner or maybe just a Casey's or such. Dinner ADRS, later breakfast but usually make dinner reservations around 5. We know that some restaurants you can't get in without ADRs so we plan accordingly. It also gets expensive with table service every day.

Also, we go when the F&W is going on, so I am quite content "eating around the world".

 

[princess aleya]

We plan a lot of sit down meals while in Disney, it's a nice break from the parks. We look forward dining out on vacation.

 

[disney debi]

On all of our previous trips we have done a TS dinner every night. This July we are going for 10 days and have only made 5 adrs and plan to give it a try doing quick service for the rest.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

When visiting, do you have a table service reservation for every night you are there? I hate that I have to make reservations for meals and not be able to depend on what our moods/situations are. Any tips or strategies for this?

We would be so miserable with an ADR every day. We usually save 1-3 special TS meals and wing it the rest of the time during our typical 9day/8night trip. When DS was little there was no way he would sit for an hour or two in a restaurant. He always thought, in a high chair at a table = immediate gratification of food! That translated to eating only when we were hungry, sometimes substituting healthy snacks for lunch, sharing a quick CS meal, etc. and having the freedom of NOT having an ADR. This approach has also allowed us to enjoy the parks at a pretty leisurely pace, always having time to do what we 'feel like' and not having the pressure to be somewhere at a certain time. This has worked very well for us.

...Enter FastPasss+ and ugh! (Hopefully not before our next trip tho!!!)

 

[bumbershoot]

When visiting, do you have a table service reservation for every night you are there? I hate that I have to make reservations for meals and not be able to depend on what our moods/situations are. Any tips or strategies for this?

We tend to have an ADR every day at lunch. We have some sort of breakfast depending on our day and what time we're getting out, we have that nice time to sit down in the middle of the day, and then we do whatever we want to do for dinner.

Rather than relying on whims, I look at the kinds of foods we'll be ordering (we are vegetarian so there's not a huge variety at each restaurant), and I let that cause our excitement about the food to grow. Right now I am happily anticipating the next time i'll be able to eat at Tusker House, for example, and I don't have a trip planned!

Right now I know that unless DS wants to dine with princesses at Akershus, we won't be doing any more table services at Epcot. And that's fine with me, because we love Sunshine Seasons, and could make a day's meals out of the pastries at Kringla bakery!

We spent time at Disneyland going by our whims, and that caused wonky blood sugar, horrid moods, and accidentally not eating dinner until after 9pm. That's a huge mistake for us, so having the anticipation of the ADRs is good for us.

We have to figure out where to go each day anyway...might as well use the "best parks" to figure out where to go, and make reservations at places close by!

That translated to eating only when we were hungry, sometimes substituting healthy snacks for lunch, sharing a quick CS meal, etc. and having the freedom of NOT having an ADR.

Oh you're so lucky. DS and DH have stomachs that go from "oh I'm so full" to "empty! empty! must have food or will have massive tantrum!" in 5 minutes. And that's not enough time to figure out where we'll eat, get in line, and get our food. Or, worse, WAIT for a walk-in at a TS. Doesn't work for us. I'm jealous!

 

[ZoZo]

Over the course of our week, we usually do 2 or 3 sit down restaurants.

Me, too. There are lots of good QS options, and I find I don't need/want too many TS meals.

 

[rebelbuddhist]

I try to plan on a variety of meals throughout our trips. I can be certain that we won't be in the mood for steak every night, so I throw some Italian in there etc.
Most restaurants at Disney can still be cancelled up until the last minute. The others only require cancellation by 10pm the night before. Also, ones with cancellations policies tend to be character meals that you go to more for the experience than the food anyways. They also tend to be buffets, which allows variety.
In general, I tend to look at planning for Disney the same as planning for meals for any other time. Our tastes aren't going to change that much between now and a month from now or even 6 months from now. We're also going to get hungry around the same times as we do at home. Yeah...there's some variations, but I can re-address my plans a week or even a night before and make changes where necessary. I've cancelled or changed an ADR every trip. It's a little more difficult now with the penalties for cancellation (I haven't been since they initiated that) but it's still not a big deal, and I try to make sure those are the ones we are more likely to keep.

Not according to an e-mail I received yesterday from WDW Dining. I know that Josh at easywdw also says this e-mail is wrong and you can cancel up to 11:59 pm the day before. (on-line 10:00 pm by phone). But Disney is saying not less than 24 hours in advance to cancel without the $10 per person charge at the places that require credit card guarantee.
HERE'S the e-mail from WDW

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort.

That is a great question, I do apologize for any confusion. Please keep
in mind that some of our Signature Dining Reservations will actually
have different policies, however for most dining reservations. There is
a 1 Day cancellation policy, $10 per person will be charged/forfeited if
canceling within 1 Day or no show of the reservation. So for that you
will need to cancel within 24 hours of the reservation in order to
actually avoid the cancellation penalty.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact
us.
Sincerely,
Crystal Linton
WDW Online Communications

 

[frannn]

For us, our WDW vacation is not just about the parks, but also about the food. We've done the DXDP for the past few years with 2-3 TS every day, booked 180 in advance. Yes, we are THOSE people. There are just certain places we want to eat at, when we want to eat at them. I had been booking our ADRs around the EMH parks, but since we are going in a busier time this year, will do the opposite. We are also downgrading to the DP plus TIW. This way, we can still eat 3 meals a day (like we do at home), but not be tied to a specific location 3 times a day. I know which CS we wish to try, so we will just eat at those whenever we are at their respective locations. I know we'll miss the ordering freedom we felt when we got apps included and only had to pull out our room key to pay for the meal, but I plan to buy a gift card so we can still have that pre-paid feeling. We'll be able to use TIW for a quick CS breakfast at our resort, plus any additional TS over our DP credits. Not planning on having a lot of adult beverages, but its nice to know the discount is there if we want it. Less of our $ is going to Disney now that they raised the DXDP to where it doesn't make financial sense to us anymore. We may even...GASP...eat something offsite without feeling like we were wasting a TS credit...

 

[iheartjuppy]

We aren't big breakfast people, the kids (DS4, turning 5 on our May trip, and DD1, turning 2 a month after our trip) usually just have a yogurt tube or some mini muffins so we are planning on packing or having those things delivered to the room (AKL) or possibly upgrading to Concierge for similar grab-and-go options. We mostly do CS lunches and dinners vary. This trip is 5n/6d and we have ADRs for one breakfast (Ohana), one lunch (Hollywood and Vine) and one dinner (Chef Mickey's) - all character meals for the kids. We may pick up another lunch or dinner TS along the way, and may try for breakfast at Boma if we are up early one morning, but otherwise we will be winging it!

 

[aaarcher86]

We do a TS breakfast and a TS dinner with a QS or just snacks thrown in there for lunch at the park.

It's a nice break, a nice way to meet the characters for the kids, and I don't have to worry about bringing any outside food with me while I'm on vacation.

 

[P00H1010]

When visiting, do you have a table service reservation for every night you are there? I hate that I have to make reservations for meals and not be able to depend on what our moods/situations are. Any tips or strategies for this?

I agree, I do not like to do a lot of ADRs. We do not care for basing our day around them as we like to go with that flow. For a 10 day trip we only make about 3-4 ADRs. On days that we have a reservation that is our "big" meal for the day wither it is lunch or dinner. On days we have a dinner planned we do a small lunch (share a counter service or a snack or two) in anticipation of a bigger dinner. On days we have a lunch planned we eat our big lunch and base what we do later on how we feel. Sometimes we don't eat dinner and sometimes we might share a counter service. On days that we do not have any ADRs we just go with the flow and "pick" at counter services and snacks throughout the day. There is food everywhere at WDW and just because you do not have a reservation doesn't mean you will go hungry .

 

[Peachkins]

My last trip we did an ADR each day. Some were lunch, some were dinner, but all were made to coincide with what park or area of Disney we would be visiting that day since we didn't have park hoppers. This worked great for us as we didn't really need to go out of our way to get to the restaurants.

I think I will be doing something similar for me and my husband's first trip together next year. We're planning on doing the deluxe plan. We'll probably do a light breakfast at the resort (basically a snack), and an early lunch at whatever park we're at that day. Then I think we'll leave the park to get a later signature dinner at one of the resorts. We're actually looking forward to all the TS meals, but with the way we're planning them they shouldn't cut into our park time too much.

 

[MoukyMouse]

For us, our WDW vacation is not just about the parks, but also about the food. We've done the DXDP for the past few years with 2-3 TS every day, booked 180 in advance. Yes, we are THOSE people. There are just certain places we want to eat at, when we want to eat at them.

Well, I guess we are THOSE people too. Until reading this thread, I just assumed we were closer to the norm. We LOVE the DxDP! Actually, though, this will be the 1st year we've gone without it. We are now owners at BonnetCreek & staying offsite means No DP We will, however, have our AP discount & have already made our ADRs for April, June, & Nov. We always sleep in & skip b'fast, eat an early TS lunch in a park, & a TS dinner in the same park...except for AK day. AK is Tusker b'fast & early dinner at Rainforest or Boma (to continue the AK theme for the day).

 

[JennyDrake]

I am there 3x/year and stay 4-6 nights each time. I will have usually (only) 2 ADRs--one is ALWAYS for Boma!!!