How much of a hassle is it to eat at resorts rather than parks?

[perd]

Looking at my ADRs so far, I'm worried we are going to be running all over Kingdom Come just to eat dinner.

We have ADRs at:

Cap'n Jacks
Concourse
Le Cellier
Ohana
Coral Reef

We are staying at CSR

Just added 3 more nights so thought about adding Boma, Chef Mickey's and something else.

BUT - the only park ADR we have is at Epcot (twice) and now I'm worried we'll be at a park and have to leave and get to a resort/downtown Disney in time for our ADR and it's going to really mess us up.

I'm rethinking my ADRs and thinking maybe I should plan out one for each park so we can eat in the park we a visiting that day...That's what a smart person would do but of course I just got on the phone and started making reservations without any thought to what we might be doing each day!

 

[kileybeth]

I'm in your boat, not sure of what we are doing on given days (even tho I have looked at it and just don't have enough info yet) so do not even know where to begin making ADR's. . .do know where we want to go for some and worried they are popular and we won't get in if I don't just go ahead and reserve something soon. . .aahhh

anyone with those charts on what days are busiest in parks for which days for September? can I buy something online to give me this info?

help??

 

[bicker]

Concourse Steakhouse won't be a big deal. It's just a 5-10 minute walk from the front of the Magic Kingdom, so walking back after dinner to catch the bus back to CSR is no big deal. (Do be aware that Concourse Steakhouse will be closing soon.)

O'hana is a little bit further, but as long as the Magic Kingdom is still open, you can hop the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and then take the bus back to your hotel.

Cap'n Jack's is a bit of a hassle to get to. I recommend you swap that for Spoodles. You can catch dinner there during a day you're spending at Epcot. It's just a 5-10 minute walk from England in the World Showcase.

 

[kbmoo]

It is a little of a hassle. It depends on whats important to you. I have been to Disney so many times that now I am in to trying out the resturants, but if you are more into the parks you are better off eating at them. The only problem with the dining plan is you are kinda tied down by your dinner reservations.

 

[kileybeth]

and so if you are really not very picky about eat times or places it is still probably pretty dumb not to make ADR's??

the whole "TIED DOWN" thing will make my DH nuts. It is also our first time on property and I'm trying to make a convet out of him so I want it to feel really easy to do this . . .??

probably deosn't help that last time we were there we were just riding the monarail to see resorts and happened off at Poly and walked up and ate at Ohana's??? (Jan) oh dear.

 

[DaisyD]

We always make ADRs for dinner when we know we are going to be leaving the park early or getting to the park after dinner. That way we go to dinner either after our day or before the evening. We kind of prefer the resort restaurants more then the park restaurants anyway. If I had to leave a park to eat and then return to the park I wouldn't do it. Too much traveling for me. I'd just make an ADR in the park that I am going to stay at.

 

[WindFlower]

I did the same exact thing last Sept and it was a hassle. One time we were stranded at GF and ended up calling a cab to take us back to AKL because it was late and the busses stopped running. Also, it totally cut down time at certain parks because we had to rush to get to random resorts to make our meals. This year I'm going to keep it basic and easy on myself and DH. I don't think it's worth it!

 

[madalex]

In my opinion, it is not a hassle a all. I rarely eat dinner in the parks and only have lunch in the parks about half the time. It really depends upon how you plan to approach the parks. If you want to be there all day long, leaving to go to a resort meal can be an effort and take some time. Generally, I do the parks only early in the day (sometimes through lunch, but not much longer), spend the afternoon at the resort and then out for dinner, with sometimes go back to parks after dinner. Under my schedule, doing resort meals is relatively easy (and the food is so much better than most park food).

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I think a lot depends on how you tour the parks.

We much prefer dinners at resorts, but I think that's based on how we tour. We stay offsite and drive to the parks/resorts. We hit a park in the morning, do CS for lunch, head back to our hotel or timeshare in the mid afternoon for pool, cocktails, freshening up. Then we drive to our dinner at a resort. I shoot for our dinner times between 7:30 and 8:30.

Since we rarely stay at a park past five o'clock or so, dinner ADRs at parks is a headache for us. We're usually ready to leave the park, and we feel like we have to stay for our dinner ressie.

 

[vicki845]

It depends on what is important to you and what time of year you are going. If you are going in the summer months, the parks stay open late. So you can make an adr for 7pm, eat and go back to the parks for a few hours. Really just mk and epicot. MGM anf AK close early. The rest of the year the parks close earlier, I really don't know the exact times. Anyway once you leave the park for dinner you won't have enough to go back to the parks. You figure between traveling and eating it can take up to 2 1/2- 3 hours before you can return to the parks. You can also do adr's for lunch and cs for dinner . This way you will be there in the evenings. You can also do all you adr's at the parks. It really depends on what you want. Good Luck

 

[Luv4Disney]

We don't think it's that big of a deal. We usually plan Concourse for when we're at MK. Others don't really matter because we'll just hop on the bus to that resort for our ADR.

 

[Leota]

In my opinion, it is not a hassle a all. I rarely eat dinner in the parks and only have lunch in the parks about half the time. It really depends upon how you plan to approach the parks. If you want to be there all day long, leaving to go to a resort meal can be an effort and take some time. Generally, I do the parks only early in the day (sometimes through lunch, but not much longer), spend the afternoon at the resort and then out for dinner, with sometimes go back to parks after dinner. Under my schedule, doing resort meals is relatively easy (and the food is so much better than most park food).

I could have written that exact post. Even when DH & I go alone & sleep in, hit the Park late after a late breakfast, we are done & out by 2-3:00 at the latest. DS (18) & I are more commando & go at Rope Drop, but then we are done by noon. We may or may not go back to a Park after a lunch break, but we always eat dinner at a resort, usually a signature & never find it a hassle. To us, that's part of what vacation is all about tho - it's not just the Parks & the Attractions. Dining is a HUGE part of it. And the best Disney has to offer is at the resorts.

 

[Luv4Disney]

I could have written that exact post. Even when DH & I go alone & sleep in, hit the Park late after a late breakfast, we are done & out by 2-3:00 at the latest. DS (18) & I are more commando & go at Rope Drop, but then we are done by noon. We may or may not go back to a Park after a lunch break, but we always eat dinner at a resort, usually a signature & never find it a hassle. To us, that's part of what vacation is all about tho - it's not just the Parks & the Attractions. Dining is a HUGE part of it. And the best Disney has to offer is at the resorts.

I agree! Dining is a big part of the vacation for us. It's a time for us to kick back and relax.

 

[2forMe]

Well I am going with 2 small children and do not plan to spend a whole day at any park. I pretty much figure that we will do the parks in the mornings and have our CS there too.. then head back to the resort for a little rest then a swim in the pool and back out to eat for dinner and then maybe a quick visit to whichever park we are nearest. Most of my TS meals will be at a resort and not a park..

 

[Jenn Lynn]

If I am doing a breakfast it is in or near the park I am going to be at that day. I make the earliest possible seating. We eat lunch somewhere in the park we are in. Then we go back to the hotel, rest, and eat dinner somewhere near where we want to be that night.

 

[raidermatt]

It definitely requires some extra time, effort and planning. Whether you consider that a hassle or not depends on your personal preferences.

For us it is something we don't want to deal with, so on park days we eat in the park.

 

[kbmoo]

I would definately make reservations. I called for my Sept trips and they are filling up fast. You could alway cancel them. But last year a bunch of people didn't make any reservations and there were no restaurants open.

 

[scrapperjill]

This is only our second time going to WDW...and I think (like others) the matter of it being a hassle or a big deal/waste of time or how ever else you want to say it depends on each group. We're doing the DDP and with that we're able to eat at alot of diffrent places that we normally wouldn't do if paying OOP each time. With that we've decided on a mix of park and resort resturants...with more of them being at resorts. I don't recall the OP ever saying if they had their touring plan inroder or just the ADR's. My best piece of advice for the OP is....look at the ADR you've already made then try and pick the parks that would be the easist to get to and from. Like what park and ADR can you hop on the monorail and get to. Or if you have a down day that your planning on spending at DTD...make that the day you have your ADR at Capt Jacks.

I've always done our touring plan first then made ADR according to that. I'm not to sure I've done the "best" job of it this year...being we've only ended up with ONE ADR in a park...and the others are at resorts. BUT I have done my best to keep them close and easy to get to and with the least amount of time. For example the Day were at MGM is the day we'll be going to Spoodles. From what I hear it's a short walk away or we can take a friendship boat and get there fairly quickly as well.

 

[saffy]

anyone with those charts on what days are busiest in parks for which days for September? can I buy something online to give me this info?

help??

Tour Guide Mike has that info.

Go to the Theme Park Touring section here - he has a banner ad (he's a sponsor) across the top of the page. Click on that and it will link you to his site - it totally has a list of which parks to visit on which days.

It's like $21 to sign up (although, by following that ad, you save $3) and TOTALLY worth it. You sign a confidentiality agreement when you join, which is why I can't tell you "got to Epcot this day, MGM this day" but if you pay the $18, you'll totally get that info.

Do a search here, that's what I did before I joined - you'll see lots of good responses (and some bad, too. Just pointing out that there are 2 sides, but for the price, it's totally worth it!).