Need a little help with my dining strategy! One TS a day, lunch or dinner?

[MaC410]

So my wife and I are currently planning our second ever Disney World trip. One our first trip we found out we enjoy having one table service meal a day and then just snacking here and there when we are hungry. On our first trip we made all of our table service meals for dinner and snacked during the first half of the day. On our next trip we are starting to debate if maybe doing our table service for lunch each day would be a better idea. It would make sure we are hungry for our TS meal (since we don't eat breakfast) and it would allow us to then enjoy our snacking a bit more for the rest of the day/night. It would also allow us to spend more time out in the parks at night which is our favorite time to be in the parks.

It does sound like we are leaning towards lunch table service each day but I'd like to maybe get some input from others who do stuff like this. For people who do 1 TS a day do you prefer the lunch or dinner strategy? Maybe there are some pros/cons I'm not thinking of with going for lunch at a TS instead of going for dinner?

 

[Eword1004]

We are breakfast people so we usually do breakfast either at our resort quick or a table service character meal...then we usually snack around for lunch and do another TS for dinner... but like I said we are morning and breakfast people... so I would much rather eat a good breakfast then lunch personally and then have dinner.... we also do dinner early kinda cause we have children with us so we are usually finished with dinner somewhere by 6:30 ... we will be there over thanksgiving and our tentative plan looks something like this...

day one
chef mickey bfast

day two
Minnie holiday dine dinner

day three
be our guest dinner

day four
tusker house bfast
1900 park fare dinner

day five
Biergarten dinner

there rest we will fill in with quick service and snacks... there are plenty of good places that quick service would make a great dinner too...

 

[sharonabe]

So my wife and I are currently planning our second ever Disney World trip. One our first trip we found out we enjoy having one table service meal a day and then just snacking here and there when we are hungry. On our first trip we made all of our table service meals for dinner and snacked during the first half of the day. On our next trip we are starting to debate if maybe doing our table service for lunch each day would be a better idea. It would make sure we are hungry for our TS meal (since we don't eat breakfast) and it would allow us to then enjoy our snacking a bit more for the rest of the day/night. It would also allow us to spend more time out in the parks at night which is our favorite time to be in the parks.

It does sound like we are leaning towards lunch table service each day but I'd like to maybe get some input from others who do stuff like this. For people who do 1 TS a day do you prefer the lunch or dinner strategy? Maybe there are some pros/cons I'm not thinking of with going for lunch at a TS instead of going for dinner?

I like your idea. Not only will you be hungry for your meal, you'll also have the rest of the day to walk it off. If you're going during the summer, it also gets you into the A/C for an hour or so. For us, a lunch time ADR would be enough of a break that we wouldn't need to go back to the resort for a break, so more time in the parks.

 

[kbmartin]

If you're going when it's super hot and humid, I would absolutely plan on lunch. It's a great time to rest in the A/C!

 

[Disneylover99]

We almost always try to do our TS meals at lunch. We find plans unravel as the day rolls on so we don't like being tied down to an ADR in the evening.

 

[Juliet0778]

It depends on the family! We prefer to sit down and relax (with a glass of wine!) at the end of the day, so our table service meals are generally for dinner. And also, we're usually done for the day after dinner because we have a young child and he's not usually ready to keep going much past 8 anyway.

 

[sharadoc]

Yes, lunch, brunch or late breakfast is our preferred method when we do TS meals. Last trip we had free dining and ended up with so many QS credits because we didn't want to eat another meal and preferred snacking. Like one day we had Biergarten lunch and caramel popcorn and beer for dinner lol. Plus when it's hot, it's even harder to eat a large meal and do anything but go to sleep!

 

[mdelano4]

When we used to do DDP, we actually used to mix it up (not necessarily on purpose). We liked some of the breakfast spots (Chef Mickey and Donald's Breakfast a saurus), so that was our TS for the day. Then we might opt for a late lunch with the Fantasmic package. The rest were dinners. We could not stuff ourselves with more than one TS in a day anyway. A PP talked about walking off a big meal, which is a great idea. I'd say mix it up. A little variety is good for you and keeps your metabolism guessing.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Plus, as I understand, TS restaurants tend to be a little cheaper at lunch time vs. at Dinner time. If you're paying OOP, lunchc would probably be a better choice for you!

 

[ArielDreams]

We do dinners TS because we like more flexibility during the day. We can hop to another park if the 1st one gets crowded or go back to the resort early and hang out by the pool. If we want to go to the dinner park early, we can.

 

[mtemm]

We are mixing it up a bit. 4 park days, Epcot day we have lunch ADR at 1 then plan to head to hotel for a bit after. Will grab apps at CL lounge and head back to Epcot and if anyone is still hungry we figure they can nibble around the world. MK day I have the Plaza booked for noon. Again will head back to resort to swim. This day I ended up booking a 2nd ADR for dinner at BOG. AK day we have a dinner ADR (at our resort) and same with our HS day (at Disney springs). Thinking about it, with both Epcot and MK (lunch ADR) I definitely expect us (barring weather or exhaustion) to return to the park in the evening, whereas with AK and HS (no lunch ADR, Just dinner ones) I have no idea if we will, am leaving it loose.