How many sitdown meals do you do on your WDW trip?

[CK1]

Wow, I guess our family is in the minority for PS.

Yes, we have young children (3 kids, aged 8,7, and 3) and what we have found is that counter service just does NOT work for us. THe price is still high, yet we were doing all the "work" (standing in line, trying to secure a spot to sit, etc.) THe counter service places are very hustle-bustle, and by mid-day our kids are already in sensory-overload! It was just not a good scene. We also found, however, that while character bfasts were fun, our kids never got full value (meal-wise) from them because none of us are really "big bfast" eaters. We have found our best deals with the buffet-type meals (such as CM's, Garden Grille, Ohana, 1900, etc.) The food is ready, there are lots of options, and kids can either stick with the same ol' same ol', or try the adult fare if it appeals to them (I have a 3 yr old with a lobster bisque fetish! She also asked my mother once to wrap up a shrimp for her -- she was stuffed and wanted another and was afraid they would be all gone by the time she could make room to eat it!) And so many of them also offer a menu you can order from, too, if all-you-can-eat is more than you care to eat! (WC has the all-you-can eat, but also a menu, for example). I find the full-service WDW restaurants are just much more kid-oriented than anything we have at home, and so very accommodating, it's worth the extra money to us.

We eat bfast in the villa, we pack snacks for the afternoon (and of course the occasional turkey leg must be had!), and then enjoy a nice sit-down PS dinner at a early seating of 5pm. And if the day gets to be too much, we head back to the villa for R&R. The PS are like special "treats" planted throughout our stay! For a 12 day stay, we probably make 12 PS -- 8 dinner, the rest bfasts or lunches. We typically only go to parks every other day, so having a day at the pool or DTD and then a PS dinner works well, too. I don't mind cooking dinner a few nights on vacation -- I think we all NEED a break from restaurant fare after a few days of it! We actually had one of our best dinners last trip in our villa (ala slow cooker... didn't even feel like cooking to me!)

As for when I plan our PS -- here's where it shows how much we enjoy our Disney dining... I already have our HDDR booked for next yr, and have the rest of our PS already planned and ready to call in at the 90 day window! Planning the meals is one of the highlights of our trips!

 

[JVL1018]

Originally posted by rtwhite
Remember not to neglect yourselves just because your children are young. You and your DH deserve to be able to go where you want also, not just where the kids want to go. Take something for them to do, I tried to take things that would entertain my kids in lines for rides as well as during meal time. I also always had snacks for times our PS was a little later than their tummy alarm clocks.

I agree..and DH and I do go out alone to eat..but really my son is SO..just... I can't even explain the stress he brings to a dining experience.
We bring cars, crayons, books..he plays with them for a couple minutes, and then he's standing up in the booth, trying to squirm out, going under the table, getting free and running around the restaurant..and that is absolutely unacceptable to me. It's dangerous to him and the servers who walk around with hot food, and it is so annoying to other diners..if it's annoying to me and he's mine, I know it's much worse for others!
He is better then he was, so hopefully he will outgrow his wild ways with time and firm discipline form us(taking him out when he acts up, which he hates)

 

[BriarRose59]

I have 2 girls and they were always fairly calm at restaurants when they were younger. If your little one has that much trouble sitting still then I agree with not putting you or him through the frustration. Maybe you should just wait until he is a little older to do many long sitdown type meals. With having younger ones you might eat in your room for breakfast, then snack late morning and come back to your room eat lunch and take a nap. All children are different, that's what makes them so special. You have to do what works best for you.

 

[june@imsarc.com]

We (family of 5, kids 11, 7, 3) have at least one sit down meal a day. We eat breakfast in our villa all but one time when we eat at Chef Mickey's. I enjoy eating at our favorite Disney restaurants each time we visit. We also try one or two new places each trip.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We do atleast one sit down meal a day. We've seen the parks, so we're not in a huge rush to go ride something. We like trying all the restaurants, so restaurants are a great way to experience the best of Disney.

 

[timC]

Planning our meals is a big part of the fun!

We usually have breakfast in our room. For lunch if we're at a park, we'll do counter service, otherwise we'll probably try out a resort restaurant we haven't been to for a while.

For dinner, I usually plan these way in advance, and coordinate the dinner with the park/lunch etc.

Lot's of fun

 

[mickeys#1fan]

DD is 10, so full service restaurants are more doable. It all depends on length of stay for us. We try to have at least one high end meal each trip. We've been to Jiko, California Grill, Artist Point, and Boma. They're all teriffic! Try character dining for the little ones. Chef Mickey's is a hoot.

 

[Megan's Mom]

We usually schedule one sit down meal a day and it ususally is lunch. We prefer to have breakfast in our room then a nice lunch and then snack at dinner. This year we do have one dinner planned for our off day. We are going to try dinner with Cinderella. It has been fun because my family let's me do all the meal planning so they never know exactly what to expect. My parents DD's DGP didn't know what to expect last year when we had lunch with Pooh but that is the one thing that they still talk about and want to know if we are going to do that again this year. I thinkk the adults enjoy character meals as much if not more than the kids.

 

[BEACHCLUBVILLAS]

We go to Disney about twice a year. One trip includes our 2 teenagers and one trip with just the two of us. When we take our kids we eat a sit down meal once a day usually at lunch.

When its just the two of us, we eat one sit down a day usually at dinner and try to make one of those dinners a place we have never tried before.

 

[gmboy95]

2 sit downs(1 lunch and 1 dinner)....well thats unless i take a home equity loan, then....DRINKS ARE ON ME!!!!!

 

[Ms. WDW]

We don't have any "young" children. Our son is now a "teen". (Pray for me please.....)

But we usually do at least 1 sit down meal per day and it's usually lunch. First of all it's somewhat less expensive than dinner. Not much now, but somewhat.
And secondly sometimes in the evenings we're just not that hungry.

For my next trip, next summer, I think I'll change the plan just a little. I'll pick out our "must do" restaurants and then on the days we don't have ressies either prepare something or eat on the go!

But that can change too!!

 

[Disney Doll]

We kind of wing it with food. We generally do breakfast in the room. We don't have kids, so the character breakfast thing, while we ahve enjoyed them in the past, is not a necessity. We sometimes travel with folks who have small kids, so on those trips we get the character breakfasts!!!

Lunch is generally fast food in the park, although if we ate a late brakfast, soemtimes we skip lunch and have an early nice dinner. We genrally make a PS the day we are going to use it. Once we know our plan for the day, if there's somewhere we want to eat, we call that morning. HHDR is obviously the exception to that but that's a special event more than a sit-down PS meal, IMHO.

Sometimes we'll just sort of "graze" all day, especially at Epcot where you have the foods from the different countries, and never actually sit down for any kind of meal, fast food or fancier.

 

[chaoskids]

We go to WDW for a week and usually have 5 PS's. We have four young boys and do mostly character meals. They also are entertained at RFC.

 

[BCV23]

Having relaxing family meals together is one of our favorite parts of a WDW trip and so we have always made tons of PSs....2 or 3 each day is our norm. We've been going since our children were babies and the pattern still holds now that they're 23, 21 & 17 if all of us are on the trip.

However if it's just my son and I he likes to have breakfast in the room and sometimes room service for dinner. So for those trips (or parts of trips), I am starting to make only one or two PS per day.

 

[mmmcq]

I'm a planning fanatic so I usually plan sit down dinners for 4-5 nights of a 5-7 night trip. We have lots of favorites, but on each trip we try 1-3 new restaurants. We tend to do restaurants where I know our youngest daughter (3) will eat something (She ate a whole bowl of spaghetti at Alfredos and a whole plate of steak at Teppaniki). At the French Pavillion they made her a bowl of plain pasta which went over well - and that was a last minute PS (a call made from BCV). Of course we usually go back to the hotel to swim and nap the wee one, so our dinners are on the late side. We also tend to time our meals at Epcot with the fireworks so that sometime during our meal the girls can sneak out and get a glimpse of Illuminations. We get a meal and entertainment....it's great.

On the past three trips we have started our first day at San Angel Inn. It's a tradition now. I make flight reservations for first thing in the am. We arrive at WDW by 1-2pm and then we head for Epcot. We eat a late lunch at San Angel and ask for a table by the water, unwind from the travel and get into our Disney mode while our girls ride the boats as much as their hearts desire. My 3 yr old this year got the biggest thrill out of riding by mom and dad's table in the boat (with her 14 and 12 yr old sisters of course!).

I make PS for 1-2 lunches, but most times we make a PS when we hit the park - especially MGM. This past July we made mid-day reservations for Sci-Fi one day and then Prime Time another planned around our Fast Passes picked up as soon as we enter the park. In the MK and Epcot we usually do counter service or head back to Beaches and Cream and SAB.

We usually do 1 or 2 character meals - different ones each trip. And we do Hoop De Doo or something else everyother trip.

I find the dining experiences at WDW to be one of the best parts of the whole pkg (aside from being addicted to Rock N' Roller Coaster in MGM). I like the walk to and from the restaurants - especially home from Epcot in the dark with the girls and my husband. I would have to say that dinners in Epcot have been the highlight of our trips these past two summers.

 

[MinnieGi]

We usually do one sit-down meal a day. Most often that meal is lunch for us. We have a 3yo DD and it seems to work out best to have a nice sit-down lunch at the parks and then we go back to our resort to nap and swim. Although we also usually get a princess breakfast in there as well and for the second time in a row we are planning on doing HDDR too.

 

[Sabor]

We have 5 total (DW and DDs 7,4 , DS 1) and
have been OKW members since 1998.
One of the greatest advantages that lead to our purchase was the $$ that could be saved by eating in.
Our typical day Breakfast in the room (pop tarts , cereal , bagels an occasional bacon and eggs) Get to a park when it opens , leave by 12:30 go for a swim , have a late lunch/early dinner in the room than back to a different park (or dowtown or BW).
On a 7 night trip we will usually eat out one night. We will cook a nice meal matbe three nights and the other 3 nights we eat sandwiches or quick meals. Some of our favorites are taco's , hamburger helper , sausage and peppers.

 

[RJake1]

We always do 1 - 2 character meals and those are usually our only sitdown meals.

Our favorite is Crystal Palace, second is Grand Floridian, and third is Garden Grille at Epcot. The only other character meals we've had are at Liberty Tree Tavern and VB breakfast.

What the heck, they're all good!! I would go back to any of them in a heartbeat.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We find the sit down restaurants at WDW to be exceptional, and plan one meal a day in them most days of our trips. This trip, we only had one day that did not have a planned meal, but we ended up in one of the restaurants anyway that day (Brown Derby), and it was FANTASTIC! Our favorites seem to change occationally. Our current favorites are Artist Point, Teppanyaki dining rooms, and Brown Derby. We used to love O'Hana and Akershus, but those have changed significantly in the past couple years, so they aren't as high on our list anymore.