Just out of curiosity...

[MrsRoyale]

I am sitting here reading every single menu for every single restaurant in the entire Disney Resort, planning where we will be going for breakfast, lunch and dinner two years from now and getting my heart broken into a million pieces because there's not enough days in my vacation to hit all the places I want to eat in. So, then I got curious...

How many people out there actually plan their days around where you will be eating that day??? Do you make your meals a part of your vacation just as much as visiting the rides, or do you really not care and just grab something quick on the go?

 

[Duck143]

Definitely!! Restaurants are a huge part of our vacation! The different settings, tastes, character meals all so different from everything we do back at home! I know how you feel about not having enough days to dine everywhere you want! That's why you remember and plan those next trip!!

 

[AngiTN]

We consider our meals as big a part of our vacation as the rides/shows.
But, we don't plan our day around a meal. We've learned through all our trips that there are a lot of great places to eat and it's really not hard to find 1 that suits us last minute.
That may be night before, but usually it's that morning, while on the bus. I'll search for what is available for whatever our plans are for that day and book it.
We rarely eat QS at Disney, as I find it's just not very good and we never go hungry. It's not hard to find good TS. Especially if you are willing to dine off times.
We find our favorite meal timing is
Some sort of Bar for breakfast on the way out in the morning
Very early lunch, first ADR if possible.
Later dinners, like 7:30/8:00.
May grab a popcorn or frozen something in between if we get too hungry.

 

[MrsRoyale]

Yeah, I used to do that before, but now being our first time with a kiddo there's a little more planning involved but hey! I am as excited about all these restaurants as I am about the rides! EPCOT is driving me insane!!!! "I wanna eat here. And here. Oh! That looks delicious! Sure! Let's go there too"

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, I used to do that before, but now being our first time with a kiddo there's a little more planning involved but hey! I am as excited about all these restaurants as I am about the rides! EPCOT is driving me insane!!!! "I wanna eat here. And here. Oh! That looks delicious! Sure! Let's go there too"

Epcot is the worst. Too many good places, too little time.
We often hop over there just to eat, if we can feasibly make it work. It's not hard as we can often plan a stop at Epcot either on the to our Resort after a break or on our way out for the evening.

 

[Jonas_Swe]

I know where you're coming from on this. It's really hard to pick just a few places.

I usually manage to choose one or two highlights for my trip, and yes for that day or those days I also plan what park to visit and such. Just to get that experience.

The other days I tend to leave open for whatever happens along the way.

Well, it has of course helped a lot that I've been fortunate to visit during low crowd seasons, so most places have been able to squeeze in two more people.

 

[lilfaeriebrat]

My husband is a huge foodie so where we planned on eating played a huge part in our planning. We started planning in February and our trip is next month, in that time though menus changed and where we planned on eating changed as the menus changed. So keep in mind that you're 2 years out and the menus will change multiple times between now and your trip.

 

[MrsRoyale]

Yeah, I am going in Mid May 2018 which, based on my research, seems to be a fairly low crowd time. We are also going for two weeks, 2 days per park so that should help a little too. My plan is to do QS during the day and do TS for dinner since we'll be tired and the sitting down will be a welcomed break.

 

[bigskip]

As an adult couple we do foodie holidays, book ADR's at 180 days out, then book FP+ around where we are planning to eat.

 

[MrsRoyale]

My husband is a huge foodie so where we planned on eating played a huge part in our planning. We started planning in February and our trip is next month, in that time though menus changed and where we planned on eating changed as the menus changed. So keep in mind that you're 2 years out and the menus will change multiple times between now and your trip.

Yeah, I am not too concerned with menus as much as I am with the experience and type of cuisine. I figured I can eat a burger any time here at home, so I am focusing on places that may offer something different.

 

[ELSA711]

My children are finally pulling away from the character meals so this next trip I feel like we are hitting Epcot every night for a new restaurant that we have always wanted to try. The problem is not enough days to accommodate all my requests

 

[MrsRoyale]

My children are finally pulling away from the character meals so this next trip I feel like we are hitting Epcot every night for a new restaurant that we have always wanted to try. The problem is not enough days to accommodate all my requests

The only Character Dining meal I am planning is for Chef Mickey on my son's birthday and we are doing breakfast. That's the only restaurant that features Mickey Mouse, right?

 

[ELSA711]

The only Character Dining meal I am planning is for Chef Mickey on my son's birthday and we are doing breakfast. That's the only restaurant that features Mickey Mouse, right?

Mickey is at a lot of meals so I don't understand 'features'. We would do them all, and I feel like it's just to much Mickey. How many autographs do we need. This year we are only doing Garden Grill for Mickey, 1900 Park Fare for Alice and a big maybe Akershus for the princesses. My kids just don't interact with the characters like most.

 

[MrsRoyale]

Mickey is at a lot of meals so I don't understand 'features'. We would do them all, and I feel like it's just to much Mickey. How many autographs do we need. This year we are only doing Garden Grill for Mickey, 1900 Park Fare for Alice and a big maybe Akershus for the princesses. My kids just don't interact with the characters like most.

Sorry, by features I meant that he was present. I honestly thought that you could only see Mickey at Chef Mickey. I will do a little more research on that, then!

 

[10MoreMinutes]

I absolutely plan my day around where I want to eat! That's often the first thing I decide on, and all my other plans spider out from there. Of course, that's not much different from everyday plans for me...I do love to eat.

 

[AngiTN]

Sorry, by features I meant that he was present. I honestly thought that you could only see Mickey at Chef Mickey. I will do a little more research on that, then!

Mickey is at lots of meals, in all different costumes. None are "classic Mickey"
CM has Chef's attire
Ohana Breakfast, Hawaiian attire
Garden Grill, farming attire
H&V Dinner, seasonal attire
seems like I'm forgetting one here

 

[Mmw37]

Sorry, by features I meant that he was present. I honestly thought that you could only see Mickey at Chef Mickey. I will do a little more research on that, then!

We didn't really care for CM breakfast. We were on DxDP so we didn't feel the price tag, but at least the day we went the characters barely spent any time at our table. Tusker House, on the other hand, was wonderful! Same characters. Food was a little more interesting, and the characters actually stopped and interacted with the tables. Donald played peek a boo with our 9 m/o for at least a few minutes, and stopped back by on the second trip around the restaurant.

 

[Nikki K]

100%. I book the reservations for the restaurants I want and work everything else around it. Next year will be our 3rd trip and I still have loads I want to do.

 

[mckennarose]

Restaurants are a big part of the experience for us. We usually pick our park day first, based on crowd calendar and prior experience, then any "biggie" TS, like BOG, Ohana or R&C for Illuminations. The harder to get ressies get first priority and I try to grab those right when our window opens. Then we do plan our day around those ressies. We do also try to plan visiting new restaurants each time.

 

[bigskip]

Mickey is at lots of meals, in all different costumes. None are "classic Mickey"
CM has Chef's attire
Ohana Breakfast, Hawaiian attire
Garden Grill, farming attire
H&V Dinner, seasonal attire
seems like I'm forgetting one here

Tusker House - jungle Mickey