How much is too much?

[JimC77]

Hi All,

I'm deep into the planning stages of a trip this September. My family of 5 (3 boys ages 7-13) will be spending 8 days / 7 nights on property. I've got my list of restaurants I'd like to go to and I'm trying to mesh it all together with our park plans and making sure we have ample rest/pool time in there also.

I'm going back and forth for how many TS meals to plan on vs a QS meal in the park. We are planning 5 days in the parks (2 days in MK) plus a free day hanging out at the pool (AKL- Kidani). Right now I'm thinking 4 TS meals and the rest quick service. There are a TON of places I'd love to try but I don't want to feel like our trip is just planned around eating!

What has everyone experience been? For a trip this long with kids should I limit the number of TS meals or no big deal?

TIA
Jim

 

[siren0119]

I would say it depends on how you normally eat. When we went, over an 8 day trip we had breakfast in the room (I had a grocery delivery) and packed sandwiches and snacks. We kept it to one meal per day in the parks, but we did do a TS most days - it was a nice sit-down break from the walking AND the heat! My kids were 8 and 10 at the time, we really didn't need any resort breaks during park days but we DID plan one whole rest day in the middle - that made a huge difference in terms of being able to recharge and have one day with no agenda.

 

[KellyHonos]

I think your answer solely depends on YOUR family. Are you guys more interested in making the most out of your time there and prioritizing the rides and shows? Or are you more go-with-the-flow people and not in a rush to get anywhere? Also, is this your first time, or have you all been before? Another thing to consider is how tired you'll be a couple days in... Planning busy days sounds fun until you're actually living it and are worn out. 4 TS meals sounds very safe to me. Personally when my sister and I go, we look forward to having a sit-down meal together at dinner so we can rest our feet and enjoy the AC. If your family is more rambunctious and just wants to get out there and see all the fun stuff, TS may feel like a waste of time. You can always book more then 4 and depending on how everyone's patience is doing, you can adjust accordingly. Just be careful to cancel things in a timely fashion so you're not charged. Or just finesse the system so you don't get charged by just rescheduling. Truly, it just depends on your family's needs/wants. Sorry, that very long-winded and wordy but I hope in some way it helped!

 

[samsonjs]

We have two kids, 6 and 4. We found TS to take a lot of time, especially if you have to go to another resort to do it. I don’t think we will do other resort dining again with kids. We have 3 TS (Yak and Yeti, Liberty Tree, Homecomin’) planned for our 7 night trip. Honestly I’m thinking of canceling homecomin because I’m not sure if we want to go to Disney springs because there are plenty of malls and wonderful restaurants around where we live.

I also have a Be our guest lunch reservation but that is technically QS. A lot of people really enjoy going to the restaurants but it’s not our primary reason for visiting Disney especially since we have a diverse restaurant scene where we live.

If it was just my husband and I our trip would be different and maybe we would go to more sit down restaurants. It would also be much cheaper to dine without the kids.

 

[Tempty]

I think unless you have a family that eats like a bunch of horses 24/7, you need to low-ball your guesses on how much you're going to eat. You'd think oh I'm going to be doing a lot of walking in the hot sun, burn a lot of calories, I'll want to eat more right? That is true for some people but a lot of times the sudden change in surroundings/diet/routine makes people want to eat less. I thought I was low-balling my guess for our last trip of 6 days with 3 TS meals but I was wrong, we could only manage 2 and that was a stretch for us. Of course you can cancel TS reservations so it isn't a huge deal, but don't over-plan as that can be super stressful.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I’d say this is based on your park touring style. Your kids are likely old enough to hang the whole day without breaks and since you have a rest day planned that’s good for all of you so you really don’t need a TS meal to break up the day. BUT and a big but, it’s nice to have 1 TS per day on park days especially around lunch to have that guaranteed break and get in the AC. Sometimes if you’re not so lucky you end up at a QS with no indoor seating. But if you plan your days we’ll, you can avoid that. However, having that ADR midday or evening time can mess with FP+ plans or your park touring plan and take up too much time. We sometimes feel having 1 TS meal everyday is a time sucker especially if you do a character meal. We also find that since we’re not big eaters the TS meals are semi wasteful for us. I think for a trip that length I’d be ok with 4 TS meals too. I get how you feel, like you’re missing out by not doing more ADRs but they’ll always be another trip and more reasons to head back to a WDW! I try to mentally walk through our day and think about when our family would welcome a break and a time-out and that’s when I book our ADRs. My rule of thumb is always an early lunch adr if we rope drop on an early morning since we’ll be hungry and if we’ll be at one park the whole day with no break, I’ll also make a lunch ADR if it’s summer/hot season. If you’re like me you’ll go back and look at your ADRs like 100x and second guess lol!!

 

[Sara_H]

Like others have said it is all personal preference. On our last trip we had 6 park days and we only did 4 table service. We did Raglan Road the night of our arrival. Then our first day in the parks we did Sci Fi, 3rd day in the parks we did Coral Reef and then 5th day we did Cape May breakfast. For our family it was nice to have a few sit down meals but we honestly don't care that much about food and would rather spend the time on the rides. I do know of other people who prefer to do at least one Table Service each day. As I'm starting to plan our next trip, I think we will probably do the same number of TS meals as it seemed to work well last time.

 

[goodeats]

I found the table service to be a nice break from the hustle bustle - especially in the August heat. My girls were 9 and 6 on our last trip and they were not overly squirrely in the restaurants. They especially liked the buffets because they could pick what they wanted and didn't have to wait for the food to come. Buffets are expensive though - especially with 10 year old Disney "adults"!

I will always plan at least one sit-down a day, and am not opposed to two. This is not a popular opinion though. There are lots of ADRs available day of, they just won't be at the popular restaurants.

 

[LoriWV]

Sounds like a reasonable plan to start with. If you get there and realize that you are really going to feel like you are missing out by not going to one of the other TS places you were interested in, see if you can pick up the ADR for some point in your trip. Hope you have a great time!

 

[loves to dive]

We have been going since my son was just shy of 3, he is now 38, I don't even want to do the math. We have always played it by ear. Not a popular thing to do but we don't make advance ADRs any further out then the night before. Most of the time it's day of while walking around the parks. We just don't know what we are going to be in the mood for, and this was especially so when he was smaller. Yes, it's possible to make an ADR the day of. You might not be able to get the "must do" character meals but there are always plenty of places available if you are willing to eat at resorts or different parks and at earlier or later times.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

No more than one TS per day for me.
The one per day is also only if I'm on the DDP.
If I'm not then I usually only do one TS for the trip overall.
I enjoy the QS restaurants as they have a lot of variety and I can walk in when I want to.
Only exception being BOG lunch. I make an ADR every time for 11:30am.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Hi All,

I'm deep into the planning stages of a trip this September. My family of 5 (3 boys ages 7-13) will be spending 8 days / 7 nights on property. I've got my list of restaurants I'd like to go to and I'm trying to mesh it all together with our park plans and making sure we have ample rest/pool time in there also.

I'm going back and forth for how many TS meals to plan on vs a QS meal in the park. We are planning 5 days in the parks (2 days in MK) plus a free day hanging out at the pool (AKL- Kidani). Right now I'm thinking 4 TS meals and the rest quick service. There are a TON of places I'd love to try but I don't want to feel like our trip is just planned around eating!

What has everyone experience been? For a trip this long with kids should I limit the number of TS meals or no big deal?

TIA
Jim

You'll find many different styles of eating at WDW just by reading these posts.
As PPs said I would eat much the same way you do at home.
Do what you want to do as there is no right or wrong.

 

[jennadi8]

Like many others said it's personal preference. My family prefers 1 TS a day and we do not break and go back to the hotel and rest. The time and energy spent on traveling back to a resort to rest is for us much better spent relaxing at a TS restaraunt in the A/C. We generally plan our TS meal each day between 1 and 3 pm. That being said if your kids are not the type to relax at a restaurant and enjoy just talking with the family and eating you might prefer the rest back at your resort. Don't stress about it! If you want more or less TS meals after the first day just add or cancel them. With a family of 5 it shouldn't be too hard to find something day of.

 

[michelepa]

Agree with other posters that everyone tours Disney differently and thus have varied priorities.
4 TS seems like a good amount especially if you want to take time out to spend at the pool, which is a good idea in September and with the ages of your kids.
I agree with those who have posted that you should try and make ADR's at places where you will be already rather than traveling to the restaurant for the sake of the restaurant~ unless the kids are dying to eat there~ as travel time sucks out a large portion from your day.
Yes there are many many places to try, for a variety of reasons, not sure about your kids but one of mine (DS) was never keen on TS and my other (DD teen) wants Tiffins, Sanaa, Skippers, Boathouse, HDDR and BOG dinner!
You should also check out the QS places prior to your trip so you can plan on some healthier meals rather than just chicken fingers and fries-unless that's what you all like. For example, I really enjoy Sunshine Seasons food court in EPCOT and Yak and Yeti in AK. But again on these boards you'll get as many complaints as you will rave reviews.
I will say though if there are places you want to eat you should definitely make an ADR to secure a spot. Even though Sept is not the busiest of seasons everyone likes to eat around the same times and you don't want to wait around to be seated because you didn't reserve. It's not to say if you suddenly decide to eat somewhere because you need a break you couldn't get a walk up but I wouldn't chance it with must eat places.

 

[KenHutch]

This really is a family decision in our case the girls (10 & 18) consider the meals to be part of the whole Disney thing. We almost never eat CS and do 2 TS meals a day most of the time. In my case the girls are old enough to give me a list which included Le Cellier, Yachtman and the California Grill. I am a big believer in using YouTube videos of ride and restaurants to gauge interest. You might consider that as well.

 

[Nancyg56]

This really is a family decision in our case the girls (10 & 18) consider the meals to be part of the whole Disney thing. We almost never eat CS and do 2 TS meals a day most of the time. In my case the girls are old enough to give me a list which included Le Cellier, Yachtman and the California Grill. I am a big believer in using YouTube videos of ride and restaurants to gauge interest. You might consider that as well.

Exactly. We all tour differently, but for my family dining is a part of the trip. Mt 17 YO DGD has her favorites, and right not Kona, Narcoossees, Le Cellier,and CG are among her top ten.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I found the table service to be a nice break from the hustle bustle - especially in the August heat. My girls were 9 and 6 on our last trip and they were not overly squirrely in the restaurants. They especially liked the buffets because they could pick what they wanted and didn't have to wait for the food to come. Buffets are expensive though - especially with 10 year old Disney "adults"!

I will always plan at least one sit-down a day, and am not opposed to two. This is not a popular opinion though. There are lots of ADRs available day of, they just won't be at the popular restaurants.

We don't have kids but this is how we are too. To me, it seems that TS meals in the park are pretty quick - the CMs probably know that guests are anxious to get back to park stuff. I haven't had QS with mobile ordering so its probably better now but there were times we got stuck on a slow moving QS line and add the time to get condiments (sometimes drinks), find a table and sit...I don't feel like it saved all that much time. But overall, I prefer table service and we enjoy the break from the parks, the quiet and the a/c.

But obviously, its a personal decision and how much park time you want to get in.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Another one chiming in to say it's really personal preference/ based on how you normally eat at home or on vacation/ based on what your overall touring plans are.

In general we only have 1 TS a day or less but that's just how it works best for our planning. On my next trip I have 4 ADRs planned for a 6 night stay (1 breakfast, 1 BOG lunch so not a TS but still an ADR, and 2 dinners). I may end up dropping a dinner depending on how the rest of my plans shake out. We have our favorites and there are a lot of new (to us) places we would love to try so I try to make sure I include 1 favorite and 1 new but overall we've accepted that we can't possibly get to them all at once.

We're generally happy with QS options and the flexibility. Sometimes my group is hungry at 11 AM and sometimes they can go much later before wanting a full meal. Sometimes we're happy to snack all day.

 

[JimC77]

I’d say this is based on your park touring style. Your kids are likely old enough to hang the whole day without breaks and since you have a rest day planned that’s good for all of you so you really don’t need a TS meal to break up the day. BUT and a big but, it’s nice to have 1 TS per day on park days especially around lunch to have that guaranteed break and get in the AC. Sometimes if you’re not so lucky you end up at a QS with no indoor seating. But if you plan your days we’ll, you can avoid that. However, having that ADR midday or evening time can mess with FP+ plans or your park touring plan and take up too much time. We sometimes feel having 1 TS meal everyday is a time sucker especially if you do a character meal. We also find that since we’re not big eaters the TS meals are semi wasteful for us. I think for a trip that length I’d be ok with 4 TS meals too. I get how you feel, like you’re missing out by not doing more ADRs but they’ll always be another trip and more reasons to head back to a WDW! I try to mentally walk through our day and think about when our family would welcome a break and a time-out and that’s when I book our ADRs. My rule of thumb is always an early lunch adr if we rope drop on an early morning since we’ll be hungry and if we’ll be at one park the whole day with no break, I’ll also make a lunch ADR if it’s summer/hot season. If you’re like me you’ll go back and look at your ADRs like 100x and second guess lol!!

Exactly! I haven't even made the ADRs yet and I'm already second guessing my plans!

 

[JimC77]

- especially with 10 year old Disney "adults"!

I know right! My oldest at 13 isn't a big eater and paying $50+ at a buffet for him to pick at 1/2 a plate of food makes my head hurt. Trying to not think about it and chalk it up as all part of "the experience."