New here and needing advice

[happy.family.of.6]

We go to Walt Disney World Oct. 17-25 (actually we are only going 4 days out of these days.) Is it really worth making reservations at particular restaurants or are the quick service places adequate? THere are 8 of us and we are wanting to go on a budget. What do you think?

It will be me, my husband, a 5 yr old, 7 yr old, and 2 9 yr olds, my mom (47) and my neice (18)

Thanks!!

 

[stacy6552]

I like to have one ADR for each day. Quick service places are fine, although some parks are better than others, but in the middle or at the end of a busy day, its nice to have someplace to sit down.

 

[dvcgirl82]

We usually do our family reunions at Disney and have a party of 15+, so I understand wanting to be on a budget!

Most of the time, we do CS and then we splurge for a big get-together the last night - something with a show or entertainment is always fun - something like 'Ohana, Hoop-Dee-Do, Biergarten, etc.

 

[Wild4Walt]

There are some really good CS options at Epcot, so I would think you could get away without having any at Epcot.

The rest of the parks you'll see mostly burgers, dogs and chicken. Some salads.

If you are OK with the type of food offered, I say go for it!

 

[shannn]

If you are a family who'd be fine with eating fast food for 4 days, then CS for the whole time is fine. Like the PP said, you can find some different choices in Epcot but in the other park there aren't a lot of options. I'd try Columbia House in MK for something different.

 

[danceintherain]

You can find menus in various places online.
(Ex. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm)

Look through the menus and decide whether you'll be able to handle eating at CS.
When I went to Disney with my family when I was younger we managed to eat at CS places or bring our own food most of the time, but now I'd rather eat Table Service.
When I eat Counter Service I tend to eat the same things every meal which gets redundant after a while.
Epcot has a lot of variety.
Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom are decent.
Hollywood Studios is probably the worst for CS variety.

I would recommend at least scheduling 1 table service meal for the trip. Breakfast tends to be the least expensive meal of the day. Lunch the second least even though the menu is almost exactly the same as dinner.
Meals at the resorts tend to be a little less than in the parks.
If you choose a buffet, then you will know exactly how much it will be in advance. Keep in mind an automatic gratuity of 18% is added for all parties 6 or more at Disney Table Service Restaurants.

Decide a food budget for the trip, then decide that way.

 

[disnywd]

Four days of CS isn't too bad.

We were at WDW for nine days once, many years ago, with no ADRs and ate nothing but CS the entire time.

We were all so sick of burgers, chicken and french fries by the time we got home we couldn't stand it!

My husband has absolutely insisted that we do the dining plan every year since, just so he knows that he doesn't have to eat CS every day.

Have a happy trip!

 

[landofoz]

On a related note, we're going with the Free Dining in October and have rarely done table service in the past without the dining plan. It's information overload on the restaurants...what is a good character meal. The only two we've done are Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace in MK. Thanks!

 

[Hootch]

on trips where we have done lots of TS locations (my preference) and some where we have done a majority of CS locations. The most recent trip was the latter. We let the kids decide much of our scheduling. Payback is coming though when they are a little older.

The 5 and 7 year olds will want to spend some time in the MK. Cosmic ray's has a wide variety of food options and a fixin's bar that includes a cheese sauce and sauteed onions and mushrooms among other things. Columbia Harbor House has been mentioned above. I also thought the salads at Pinocchio Haus were a good lunch break during the hotter part of the day.

Epcot has a lot of choices. Look at the menus and pick some out. You may spend more time there than you think. Innoventions and some of the acts in the country pavilions really appeal to kids. (Oh and there will be all kinds of booths at that time with $3 and $4 dollar snacks to try out from the various countries in the World Showcase. That will add a lot of variety.)

DHS is kind of limited. Kids generally like Pizza Planet and Backlot Express is OK.

Counter service meals are a part of a lot of families' budgets. Disney recognized this and added a quick service plan for these families. It didn't work for us but it seems to work for others.

You can always throw a character breakfast in one morning in the kiddle to break things up. Breakfasts are cheaper and a later breakfast is usually easier to get and can serve as a brunch. Another option is Trails End. It's sort of out of the way but sometimes they have kids activities like a marshmallow roast and a movie. I know they have it in the summer but haven't though about it in October.