Members: Could you post average time spent eating at TS Restaurants?

[rickq]

Hello members:
I am trying to decide whether to upgrade to deluxe dining plan.
However, before I do I would like to know from members who have recently dined at various TS restaurants at WDW what their average time spent at the restaurant . An example I would like to know would be from the time they arrived at the restaurant waiting for table to the time they finished eating their food.

It just gives me a ballpark figure whether to book 2 TS a day vs 3 TS meals.

Also, did it matter if it was a buffet. Curious if buffets restaurants will be faster service since food should be ready and cooked.

thanks

 

[KungFoomF]

Some of it matters if you have multiple kids. That can add to the time. At any rate, my family is probably a good mix. Two smaller boys and a tween girl.

If you arrive maybe 10 minutes before your ADR you'll be sat within 5-15 minutes almost every time. Sometimes early, sometimes later. Depends on the time of day and the crowd. But this is an average. We had ADR's at La Hacienda last year and waited 20 minutes. On that same trip we showed up at Le Cellier with an extra person and they sat us within 5 minutes.

From the moment our butts hit the seat and we are done eating is almost always about an hour to an hour an 15 minutes. It doesn't matter if we are talking a buffet or not. You might think a buffet is faster, and it can be, but in those situations you tend to visit the buffet more than once and that increases the time.

So on average I'd say we spend 1.5 hours for a TS. Now, that said, we can get focused and do it in under an hour if it is a buffet. We almost always get an 8:05 reservation for Crystal Palace so we can be in the park when it opens. In those cases we WILL be out the door by 8:55 at the latest.

I think it is smart to evaluate this before purchasing the dining plan because table services can really cut into your touring.

 

[Sgt Tibbs]

Family of 3 , 2 adults 1 teenage boy, avg time at any TS restaurant is one hour.

 

[tlhbdm]

When DH and I went during free dining, we were on the deluxe plan, and I will never do it again. It felt like the only thing we did was go from restaurant to restaurant and didn't get much more accomplished. If you go to 2 TS meals then you would probably be fine, but we only had 2-2 TS meals and it was lot of eating and not a whole lot of time riding rides.

 

[Halloweenluv03]

We plan on going on the DxDP for our honeymoon, and I'm planning on only doing at least 2 TS credits a day, hoping we get free dining, so we'll still walk away with our money's worth for upgrading. We're also going for 9 days, and it's my fiance's first time (He'll be 44 when we go) so we're going to take our time enjoying the rides, shows and some good food. And then for lunch we will just do CS. Plus, we plan on doing the Spirit of Aloha our 1st night there.

 

[CathieArms]

I've been working on my ADRs for our June trip, and I've been planning on about 90 minutes for each meal. If memory serves from our last trip, we always got seated very quickly - within about 5 or 10 minutes - and then the meals just sorta zipped along. If we're in a particular hurry, we'll sometimes ask for our bill while we're still eating so that we can leave as soon as we finish.

 

[Diegosmom]

Can anyone tell me what the "normal" time is for a QS meal. Again I know this will very depending on crowds and, age and number of kids etc. But just curious is it like 30 min?

 

[vicki_c]

I always allow at least 1.5 hours in the schedule for TS meals, and we usually eat at "off" times - early for lunch/dinner. Most times that is a good rule of thumb.

I wouldn't allow less than 45 minute-hour for CS most of the time. Again, we go early (we try and eat lunch around 11:15) and we are usually out by noon. If you choose to eat at noon for example, your time may be a lot longer than 30 minutes due to lines at the counter.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--some of it depends on how much you order (drinks, appetizer, dessert, etc) and on when you dine (right at opening, middle of the rush, etc).
Generally, we allow about 2 hours for our meals at places like Shula's, Flying Fish, California Grill, etc.
Since we eat a complete meal and like a slow pace, you might be ok if you allow an hour and a half for a signature table service meal.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Well at all the caracter meals last fall when I travelled solo with my 4yo triplets, it would take us around 60 minutes from the moment we are seated to the time we left. At signature restaurants, it was closer to 2 hours if I took the App, entre and dessert. Keep in mind that some retaurants as a waiting time of 15- 30 minutes after ADR time before being seated.

CS By the time everyone pick what they want to eat and you might have to wait at several bays to order everyone's food and find a table to eat at, it might be closer to an hour. Time goes fast.

I honestly didn't find TS to be much longer then CS and the food was much better plus I didn't have to deal with having my girls around my legs while trying to order food and making sure everyone was following me to the table..

 

[kwdw]

TS meals - hard to do in less than an hour except for maybe a non-character breakfast. Probably 1:15 for casual dining, 1:30 for signature dining. Could do a buffet in an hour - but you'd need to ask your server to start processing your check before you are totally done, and that would not involve lingering over an alcoholic drink or a coffee at the end.

CS meals in a park - once you have picked a place - I'd say 45 minutes from walking in the door until back to touring the park unless you go at off-times and can walk up for your order.

CS at a resort - depend on time of day - could be very quick - 20 minutes if no waiting to order or pay.

I'd only do 2 TS in a day. Too much food and time to do three. And I love to eat.

 

[Pugmalion1]

I really have no clue...

An hour to an hour and a half on average, with dinners taking longer, maybe? There's only the two of us and we tend to eat breakfasts and dinners at table service restaurants (mostly dinners), with a fair amount of signatures. Hope some of that can help you out in making your decision.

 

[Diegosmom]

Thanks for everyone who answered my QS question...didnt mean to hijack.

We had originally planned to do QS dining and then add a few TS meals (or possibly do reular dining and add mugs and a few snacks) but I got to real look at the QS meals and started to realize this might be a nightmare. My husband is pretty picky. He doesnt like pizza, hamburgs or sandwiches. And while he does liked pork and chicken he doesn like his food sweat so depending on the BBQ he might not like it. Then I also saw that alot of the QS didnt really have a lot to offer so it seemed like we might have to hit 2 QS (as DS and I love all the things he hates lol) and I got to thinking that doing more TS might not be too bad. Espcially if it is hot nd we wanted a break in AC. So now I am leaning more towards regular dining or deluxe. And now that you all told me that it could take 45min to 1 hour for QS tht might have just sealed the deal. Especially if I have ADRs I can just print the menu and take them with me and while we stand in line for a ride we can check out our next meal. I really wish disney would offer a 2TS 1 QS 2snacks and the mug or even just 2TS and no QS...3 meals a day is a lot when you are doing all TS and there is a big difference in price between regular and deluxe.

 

[Tricia1972]

For a DxDDP meal you can plan on about 1.5 to 2 hours. The appetizer adds time to the experience. I don't think we ever made it out in an hour with the three courses. People who didn't have an appetizer would finish well before us (when we were seated at the same time)

Buffets we were able to get in and out if in about an hour.

 

[RMulieri]

Our experience for a party of 2 adults,1 child. 90 mins

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

To me its just SOOOOOOOOOO much food. Plus i really dislike making reservations

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

I would say between 60-90 minutes for a TS restaurant. Buffet dinners give you a little more control if you need to hurry things along.

If going to a signature... more like 2 hours. The record goes to Jiko at 3 hours... our waiter, Eduarto, kept forgetting we existed because we weren't drinking alcohol.

 

[vinotinto]

If I had to give an average estimate, I would say:
60 minutes for buffet breakfast
75 < 90 minutes for TS lunch or dinner
90 < 120 minutes for Signature dinners

This was 2 adults, 2 kids with 2-3 courses and drinks at dinner.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Buffets - 30 to 40 minutes depending on how busy the place is

Non signature - 40 to 60 minutes

Signature - 90 to 120 minutes

 

[Tricia1972]

Buffets - 30 to 40 minutes depending on how busy the place is

Non signature - 40 to 60 minutes

Signature - 90 to 120 minutes

40 minutes for three courses? That's amazing, and I think you were very lucky. We were never out in under an hour with an appetizer, entree and dessert.