Nervous nelly - mistakes or no...

[Ishy]

K. we leave in 2 weeks! 3 adults (DD is 18) and a boy(10) with a huge appetite. I prepurchased vouchers for 1 character breakfast, 1 VKL prolly at rainforest cafe and 10 Q&C -- I have not made priority seating because I dont know when we will use what. Even at disney it will be hard to motivate them into any kind of preset plans - I am hoping the promise of cold air conditioned resturaunts will help.

How bad is it to NOT have PS's?
Should I buy 10 more Q&C's?
We LOVE breakfast, I was hoping to find a list of buffets somewhere... we are there for 8 days should I plan another character breakfast?

All I get are grunts from the family when I ask - I think they are still not believing we are going....

 

[bigbabyblues]

Since you're going in the summer, it's probably going to busy, and it may be hard to get into a restaurant if you don't have a PS at all, especially the character meals. Maybe if you can at least decide and try to make a PS for the next day, it might be better than not having one. A few days ago someone posted about soemone they knew going a few weeks ago without PS and being told wait times were something like 4 hours, if you could get in at all without one. Here's a link to it:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=602729

Maybe let your family in on that will help them commit to something? It's hard to know ahead of time what you'll want to eat when, but at least if you have a PS, you know you have someplace to eat. I only made one PS for each day of our trip, but I couldn't imagine eating counter service all week long. It's whatever works for your group!

 

[goofy4tink]

We were there last August and going again this August. We have at least one PS for each day. If we don't feel like honoring it, I just call and let them know. If you don't make any PS at all you could find yourselves eating at counters the whole trip. When we checked in for our PS at each restaurant, we ran into lots of people that were turned away. The waits in a lot of cases were over an hour. If you really want to try to go without them, I would suggest that you try to eat at really odd times....3:00 for late lunch/early dinner....10:00 late breakfast.

 

[dzneelvr]

For summer travel, you better get a PS for at least one meal each day or you could be out of luck for hours. We settle on 1 park per day to begin and then I make a PS for a late lunch there; you can always hop over to another park later.
That also helps with the chaos of deciding where to go each day. I can't imagine how we would all decide where to go if everyone could "choose" each day. Yikes! I tell them ahead of time so they know and that's always worked for us.
We just got back from 11 days and without our PSs--there would've have been some hungry and grumpy "campers".

At least get PSs for the attraction-type eateries, such as Sci Fi, Cinderella's Castle, etc. you may have to be satisfied with always eating a meal at counter service if you don't.

 

[maggiew]

I am all for having at least one PS per day during the summer. We also preplan which day we will be at which park and then make one PS for lunch or late breakfast at that park. My family tends NOT to be able to make EE and I have since given up trying to make it. So we usually go to the Park that has EE on the following day.

Although, one trip we had leftover Breakfast vouchers (I forgot to bring them one day and so we had to schedule another character breakfast. Darn. ) Anyway, I called at like 8:30 am and tried to get the Princess breakfast for that day. The lady basically laughed at me. But, she did have available Cape May Cafe for a hour later. So we took that (We love Cape May breakfast.) Anyway, my point is, if you aren't too picky about where you go, then just call the night before or the day of when you decide where you will be going. There should be something available. You may have to get a monorail resort restaurant if at MK, or a Boardwalk area restaurant if at EpCot, but you should find SOMETHING.

Maggie

 

[tinkerbella22]

This will be my 4th August trip. You NEED PS. Last year I saw so many crying kids and a few parents on the verge of tears as they were being told they were not taking anyone without a ps for the rest of the day. One exasperated father actually yelled, "We can't eat anywhere!" I felt bad for him. He had children with him. Make a general outline of which park you will be in. Make a ps...at least one....you can usually change the time if you already have one to bargain with. Pleaase pm me if you need help. I have eaten just about everywhere at disney. I can help you plan and tell you about the breakfast choices.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Unless you want to eat counter service you really need to get some PS's You will not be able to get into a sit down without one.
Go to allearsnet.com and you will get a list of all the buffets ( as well as all restaurants) what the menu is and the cost. We love this and use this to decide where we will eat.

 

[marcyinPA]

Since you love breakfast, why not try the Trails End Buffeteria at FW? If you go on your MK day, it's most convenient. You can hop the boat from MK to FW, and then back again to start your day.

Trails End does not take PS's but there is rarely a wait. They have a terrific breakfast buffet. The food is plentiful, hot and varied and they have the absolute best donuts, made right on the premises, and better than Krispy Kremes if you ask me! LOL

The best part is the value...9.99 for adults, 5.99 for kids, all you can eat. The service was very good when we were there in May. And we love the atmosphere of FW...very laid back and relaxed.

I understand that their lunch and dinner buffets are very good too. We've only been for breakfast but have loved it both times!

 

[mrspaha]

Boy, am I glad I looked at this thread. Me and my two teens are going to be at MGM/Epcot for one day only (a Saturday), and all along I've been thinking we'll just swing in to one of these restaurants for a late lunch with no problem. I've been reading up on some of the reports, and I thought the Sci Fi or the Prime Time might be fun. Anyhow, do I understand correctly that I should make reservations even for these type places? And, also, if I make ressies, and we can't get there in time because of long waits on rides, etc, will I be charged anything? (I was under the impression I would have to give a credit card # to make the reservations.)

Any one have any thoughts on Sci Fi or Prime Time, or any other suggestions for us?

Thanks much! (We kind of have to make the most of our time, since we only have one day -- also, the only thing they're really interested in at Epcot is Test Track and one other ride I can't remember, so we'll be focusing most of our time at MGM. also the fantasmic at night.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Yep, you need a PS for Sci-Fi or 50's PTC. The only place you don't need them for are the counter service places, like Pizza Planet, ABC Commissary, etc. You can check out allearsnet.com and under the list of menus it tells you which ones are counter service.

You don't have to use a credit card for most PS, I think the only ones are either of the Princess breakfasts, the Fantasmic dinner package, and maybe at Christmas time.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

I would do 50's prime time instead of Sci Fi but that is just me. I know many people that would do it the other way around.
I just think that Prime time is a lot more fun. It just depends on your group and what they like.