How do you feel about the pre-planning involved with a Disney trip?

[Accident]

I wasn't aware that Brown Derby added a counter service. My last visit was June/July 2015 and we didn't see it at that time. Can you tell me where I can find it? I know that on one side of the restaurant are the bathrooms and the outside smoking area, the other side is starring rolls. Have they added something?

starring rolls is what I'm referring too. To me, the quality has really been upped, at least for this summer it was.. (and now I might have to check it out again tomorrow was trying to avoid property as I have a week off and parents visiting so I need to do the family thing)..

Any other gems you could share?

I'll post them up tomorrow, it's getting late here.

 

[Alesia]

Agreed, there are a lot of quick serve options, I have tried most of them and know from experience that I do not care for them. I know how that sounds, but one of many things I that I have liked at WDW is the ability to have a decent meal in a civilized location. I literally hate trying to scarf down a terrible burger or pizza standing because there are no tables available. I much prefer (and am willing to pay for) a nice cobb salad at Brown Derby or Pizza at Via Napoli for instance.

We typically only eat table service once every three days and we never eat burgers or pizza there (we tried each once, neither was good.) I would really encourage you to take a look at the menus at allears.net - it sounds like maybe you aren't aware of the different options.

Harambe market and Flame Tree are great choices at AK. And if you join the Landry's Select Club, you get priority seating at Yak &Yeti and Rainforest Café without an ADR.

MK has Columbia Harbor House, which is pretty good, and the waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow are delicious. The menu at Gaston's Tavern is limited, but the roasted pork shank is awesome.

Epcot has so many great CS options -- Les Halles and Tangierine Café are terrific. Also, a lot of the TS restaurants in Epcot are easy to get a same day ADR for.

DHS is the weakest park for counter service, but Sci-fi Café and the brown Derby have lounges that you can get into without an ADR. The sandwiches at Starring Rolls aren't particularly interesting, but they're surprisingly tasty.

FWIW, we have never had a hard time finding a table at a counter service location, but we always eat at off times.

 

[Disneylover99]

Agreed, there are a lot of quick serve options, I have tried most of them and know from experience that I do not care for them. I know how that sounds, but one of many things I that I have liked at WDW is the ability to have a decent meal in a civilized location. I literally hate trying to scarf down a terrible burger or pizza standing because there are no tables available. I much prefer (and am willing to pay for) a nice cobb salad at Brown Derby or Pizza at Via Napoli for instance.

I would hate that too. But it doesn't have to be that way.

We go to DW every year for at least two weeks and sometimes only do counter service. I can honestly say, the only counter service burger/pizza I had last time was at D-luxe burger and Blaze pizza. There was plenty of seating at both places and both places had delicious food. WPE at DS is also amazing and they bring you your food.

MK eat at CHH upstairs. Plenty of seating. Try the Lighthouse sandwich with steamed broccoli and side of chili. Yum!

Epcot eat at Sunshine Seasons - salads, hearty meals, lovely desserts or Tangierine Cafe/Kringla Bakery. We've always found seating. Sometimes they open the Mexican restaurant (the one beside the counter service Mexican) on busy days and you can bring your counter service lunch in to eat.....so nice and peaceful.

 

[VACamm]

I don't mind all of the planning. I actually like it because it gets me excited for our trip!

 

[KCValerie1]

Thanks all, there are some very good tips in this thread regarding eating counter service food. To be clear at one point I have probably tried every counter service in the parks, I do enjoy starring rolls for coffee and a cherry danish in the morning, the Anadupar Tea Cart for a chai tea in Animal Kingdom, at MK there is the famous dole whip, and EPCOT has many great options including the fish and chips right next to the Rose and Crown, and the pastries at Kringla are the stuff of legends in our household.

It seems as if with the changes implemented by Disney a last minute trip really isn't advisable. If you can plan a year in advance you should be fine, but if you can't commit that far in advance I think you are in for frustration.

 

[toonaspie]

It has become something of a logistics nightmare atm since they brought FP+ into the mix, plus the amount of construction going on and the lack of information from Disney itself. I recently got asked to take an online survey regarding the WDW website itself, I made it clear that I was dissatified with the planning process. I'm really hoping they get their act together on this.

What they really need is something similar to Touring Plans where you can plan out your complete vacation/wish list before you need to reserve anything and Disney can help recommend the right time and prices. Or maybe they have something similar to this and I'm not aware?

And then they need to make it so that you can schedule and reserve everything all at once.

 

[KCValerie1]

It has become something of a logistics nightmare atm since they brought FP+ into the mix, plus the amount of construction going on and the lack of information from Disney itself. I recently got asked to take an online survey regarding the WDW website itself, I made it clear that I was dissatified with the planning process. I'm really hoping they get their act together on this.

What they really need is something similar to Touring Plans where you can plan out your complete vacation/wish list before you need to reserve anything and Disney can help recommend the right time and prices. Or maybe they have something similar to this and I'm not aware?

And then they need to make it so that you can schedule and reserve everything all at once.

I couldn't agree more! It's so challenging to try to build your FP+ only to discover that you can't get the dining that you want at that park or vice versa.

 

[disneyseniors]

Let me begin by stating that I would consider myself a Disney veteran. We have been DVC members since 1998 and have visited more times than I am comfortable admitting to!

We have seen a lot of changes at Disney through the years, some I have loved and others not so much. However, I would love to hear everyone's input on the pre-planning that is necessary at this time.

I'm sure that this has been debated many times, but I have been absent from the boards for a while, as we have been so disappointed that we no longer wish to go. However, for the first time I have DVC points that will expire if I don't use them...so I am going to visit instead of losing the points.

I can virtually not get dinner at any restaurant that I want. I can eat at 2:40, 4:30 but that's about it! Plus I have to guarantee with a CC, I know that I can cancel 24 hours in advance, but they do not budge on the 24 hour cancellation. I find it frustrating that if I call the morning of they will still charge me! Not to mention I can't get the restaurants that I want anyway. Anyone else feel this way/have suggestions? I have always loved the sit down restaurants at WDW, counter service food simply does not sit well with me.

Then we move to FP+. I love to plan ahead, but I find it incredibly restrictive that I have to choose the park, ride and time 60 days in advance, not to mention only 3 with no park hopping. Yes, I know that I can get more after the 3, but by that time availability is so limited it makes the option virtually useless.

If I wake up and it's pouring rain, yet that's the only day that I could get 7DMT I'm stuck at MK getting soaked! In the past I was on an even keel with every other guest and could opt to go to another park that might be a little more friendly to wet conditions.

Am I the only one? How do I get past the frustration and find the magic again? Literally some of our favorite family memories at WDW, now the cast members are not as friendly and everywhere I turn I find yet another less than magical moment.

OP, you hit the nail on the head with the comment about what if you get 7dmt and it rains. Well, that very thing happened to us. I could only get one day and one time when I booked our 9 day trip 2 years ago, at the height of the mine train popularity. I know it was almost impossible to book at that time, so I gladly took the one and only time on our last day at WDW. Well, that evening, when our fp was scheduled, the skies opened up and buckets poured!! Of course, it was then closed. We were given an anytime fp for the mine train, which did not help at all because we were leaving early the next day (4:45am). It would have helped if we had more days, but due to the weather and situation of only being able to get one time onthat one day, we were out of luck. However, 2 days earlier, we decided ona whim to wait in a 60 minute line to ride it, and I am glad that we did, otherwise we would have missed out completely. So, that scenario does happen, unfortunately.