New here, 1st trip - can you help me with dining time lengths?

[JulyFire]

Hello, we are making a our first trip to Disney World in August. Family of 6 - 2 parents and children ages 13, 11, 5, and 2 1/2.

I have ADRs for the following restaurants. I would like to plan the rest of our days, so what would be very helpful to me is if some of you very knowledgeable people could tell me approx. how long we can expect to spend at each of these meals. As in, will we be there for 45 mins? An hour? An hour and a half? More? Just on average, of course.

Our planned meals are:

Teppan Edo (dinner)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Le Cellier (lunch)
Coral Reef (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Faire (dinner)
Ohana (dinner)
Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Faire (breakfast)


Any ideas as to how much time to allot for each of these? I'm talking actual time at the restaurant, not travel time. Thanks so much!

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

I'm afraid no one can be very specific...you could spend anywhere from half an hour to 90 minutes at each restaurant...it depends how quickly you want to get out. Of course, you can control the pace better at a buffet.

One thing you should keep in mind is that you may have to wait for a table, even with an ADR. If you are dining at peak times and/or in peak seasons, you might not be seated until 10, 20, even 30 minutes after your ADR time.

Enjoy your trip and feel free to ask away!

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

I will give you what I have experienced most recently and hope that it helps.

Teppan Edo (lunch in late Nov 2007) -- waited approx. 20-25 minutes for table with an ADR. Lunch took about 1.5 hours from sitdown to leaving.

Chef Mickeys (breakfast in late Aug 2006) -- minimal wait for table with ADR. Guessing about 1.5 hours for eating and seeing all characters (some more than once).

LeCellier (dinner in late Nov 2007) -- 5-10 minute wait for table without ADR. About 1.75-2 hours from sitting down to leaving. Same for July 2007.

Coral Reef (dinner in mid-July 2007) -- 15 minute wait for table with ADR. Took 2 hours from sitting down to leaving. Same in Aug 2006.

Crystal Palace (dinner mid-July 2007) -- 30 minute wait for table with ADR. Again about 1.5 hours for eating and seeing all characters.

Ohana (dinner mid-May 2005) -- 20 minute wait for table with ADR. About 1.5-1.75 hours for dinner.

Have not been to any meals at 1900 Park Faire.

These meals included appetizers and desserts, and dining with 2 children now ages 8 & 6. We didn't rush, but didn't take our sweet time either.

You never know how long you will have to wait for a table. The 30 minute wait for Crystal Palace was longer than any wait we had for a ride! I was also supprised about to see the long wait at Teppan Edo as it was a slow time to visit.

Another element that may add a lot of time is waiting for the check/payment to be processed at the end of th meal. We've had it happen where we are finishing our dessert, looking to pay and find ourselves waiting for the transaction to be completed long after the dessert is done. Once we were through the appetizers, meal and dessert in 45 minutes. It took another 30-40 minutes to get the bill delivered, picked up, returned... no kidding. That was rediculous! Even worse...we had the SAME server on another trip and the exact SAME thing happened again!

Based on our experiences the last 3 years, I "budget" about 2 hours for meals. If we get done sooner, great. But at least I don't expect it to take less and plan accordingly. Hope that helps.

You have some really good choices and hope you enjoy all your meals.

 

[tigger536]

I would second (and third) what the others have said re dining times. About two hours, could be more or less depending on how quickly you are seated. You have some great choices there as well!

And I know you didn't ask this, but...I notice you have 2 meals at 1900 park faire. I know they are slightly different experiences, but, you might want to consider changing one so you experience another restaurant. It might round out your experience better. Just a thought...and there are so many great ones at WDW...

but when you do go to 1900 park, do try the strawberry soup! (Yummy!)

 

[JulyFire]

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll budget about 2 hours per, just to be safe.

And I know you didn't ask this, but...I notice you have 2 meals at 1900 park faire. I know they are slightly different experiences, but, you might want to consider changing one so you experience another restaurant. It might round out your experience better. Just a thought...and there are so many great ones at WDW...

I know...but DD "neeeeeeds" to eat with both Cinderella and Mary Poppins...and we can't do CRT, so 2 Park Faire meals it is.