I've never done any Disney dining before. Can you assist?

[midori sweet]

I love what the whole dining experience adds to travelling.

I really enjoy the restaurants at WDW; however, DH and I don't often want the regular meal format of appetizer, entree, dessert.

We often "do our own thing" at restaurants, and it has never been a problem for us. Here are some tips.

1. First of all, if you are going to be ordering lightly, if at all possible it really helps to go more at a non-prime time for the restaurant. (in the middle of the afternooon, or for an extremely early dinner such as right at 5:00pm when the place is still on the empty side). That way, we are not usually taking up the table from a party who would be spending more.

(That also helps if you kids are younger and not yet have developed perfect, fancy-restaurant manners. We took our not-yet two year old to Blue Zoo, and she was squirmy and did drop a bunch of stuff on the floor. However, since it was 5:00 and there was only two other parties in the restaurant at the time, it wasn't a huge deal. Of course, we left a huge tip to account for having to clean up the floor.)

2. Just tell the servers right off the bat how you want to do things. I usally say "we have kind of a crazy way of ordering, but here is how we like to eat."

Often times, we just select several appetizers and/or salads to share, and ask them to be served "family style." The dishes are put in the middle of the table, and then we ask for additional small plates for each person. We did this at Jiko twice - never had an entree at all.

Every server has always told me "fine, no problem, whatever you like. . ." Then maybe if we are still hungry, again, we will order an entree or two, and share it in the same manner.

3. It also helps if you are very polite and friendly when you do this. Often, we also leave an even greater percentage tip if the servers were very good, just to compensate for the fact that our bill was lower than usual.

Also, I really agree with PP, that occasionally for the experience, it is okay to "divorce" yourself from the notion of "eating your money's worth." (As long as your budget allows, of course.)

If you really want the experience of a character meal or a place like Boma (my very favorite), go to a buffet and just eat slowly and lightly. Use small plates and take only a teapoon of a dish at a time. I actually enjoy those places far more if I choose not to stuff myself.

Actually, I also feel better about less food wasting, since I try to only take small amounts at a time.

Good luck!!!

 

[2forMe]

I would suggest a place where they serve a dinner as an all you can eat meal to share with the whole family. That way you all get to eat as much or as little as you want without it costing any more. Garden Grill at Epcot is great and has the characters. Also the Whispering Canyon Cafe as an all you can eat skillet to share and it is great too.

I thought this type of meal costs more than a regular menu sit down type meal.. i.e. they need to build in the price that some will eat more and some will eat less and still come out ahead.

As for the OP, your kids are young and the kids meals at sit downs are not expensive. I would simply order 3 for your kids to share and then 1 adult meal to split with you and hubby. This will not be too expensive and the kids meals are not that big.

Finally if you are going next week, well that is a little late to be doing ADRs, so you may find that there is nothing that interests you.. but lucky you you go often so you can plan for next time!

 

[happylittlefamily]

Yes, we do go quite often to Disney, so we'll have many opportunities to sample the foods over time.

I think we'll stick with doing some sampling at Epcot WS and the Kitchen Sink idea for our trip next week and then I'll explore more for future stays. We never plan our trips, so maybe dining at the more well-known locations aren't much of an option anyway. We tend to go when we feel like it. If you make ADR, do you have a problem if you need to cancel your reservation? Do you have to cancel so far in advance? Thanks!