Pacing A Meal - Your Advice Please

[Linda67]

Hi everyone

I wanted to get some advice on how to pace a meal at WDW

I always like to have a space between appetisers, entrees and desert but have read so many dining reveiws where your are served apps and entrees at the same time, with deserts turning up before you have finished entrees.

Is it acceptable to order entrees once you have finished apps

Also I never know what to have for desert until after I have finished my meal

If you mention to your server that you would like a gap between courses do they have a problem with this?

I wouldn't want to do this simply to hog a table but I really do need some time to digest between courses and can't stand food that is cold which would surely be the case if entrees were sitting on the table whilst you are eating apps

I understand that restaurants have to turn tables quickly so just want to make sure I am not causing problems with certain requests

Thanks all

 

[OhThePain]

It couldn't hurt to mention it to your waiter/waitress if it is a real issue for you. I personally have never had a problem with an app and entree coming out together and desert right after.

 

[wezee]

DH and I never order our entree until we have started eating our apps. And we never order dessert until our entree is finished.
Your server may press you to order everthing at once, but we just order apps, and tell the server we are still thinking about our entree. We have never had a problem.

 

[Linda67]

It couldn't hurt to mention it to your waiter/waitress if it is a real issue for you. I personally have never had a problem with an app and entree coming out together and desert right after.

DH and I never order our entree until we have started eating our apps. And we never order dessert until our entree is finished.
Your server may press you to order everthing at once, but we just order apps, and tell the server we are still thinking about our entree. We have never had a problem.

Thanks for the help guys, I do like the idea of ordering the entree once we have received the apps so we'll probably try that and hope we don't cause any problems for our servers as that is the last thing we would want to do

 

[Hannathy]

While I don't think you need to rush I do think you should be considerate that you are in a theme park and there are a lot of people waiting to eat. It isn't your local fine dining establishment where you can take all evening. I don't think Disney plans on a 2 hour dinner per table when making ADRs.
Personally I rank taking an extra long time at a table the same as taking an extra long time with the characters. In place where many people are counting on everyone being considerate of others it doesn't take many people taking too long to really mess up the flow of things.

I'm sure people will come on and "flame" me but I don't think a theme park is where you should spend over the usual time for dinner when many people are waiting. If everyone waited until they ate their appet. and only then ordered the entree and only then could the kitchen start cooking it, my goodness you would be adding 30+ minutes or more to every table! that would drastically cut down on the amount of people who could be served in an evening and then prices would go up even more. At least order your entree and tell them you don't want it until done but to wait I think is taking too long.

 

[Mommytobree]

I don't like to recieve all my food at once either. I usually will order my app, and wait a few minutes before ordering my meal. And I NEVER order desert until I am done. I don't intentionally try and take too much time, but I am paying for the meal, and want to enjoy each thing and not feel like I have to shovel it all in before it gets cold and then be rolled out the door.

 

[PeterPan09]

I'm not flaming, and I do understand the importance of thinking of the needs of others-however, I remember one lunch we had at the Royal Table that felt so rushed we never wanted to go back again. We didn't feel like we had a chance to really enjoy the experience because we were being pushed to order the next thing and move on.

There should be a balance between being considerate and not sitting at a table for hours and not being able to enjoy the experience because you're being rushed out to make room for the next guests.

 

[ChrisKsAngel]

I don't like to recieve all my food at once either. I usually will order my app, and wait a few minutes before ordering my meal. And I NEVER order desert until I am done. I don't intentionally try and take too much time, but I am paying for the meal, and want to enjoy each thing and not feel like I have to shovel it all in before it gets cold and then be rolled out the door.

I totally agree as this is how we do it too. I agree that we are paying for our meal and should not be rushed. There are plenty of people out there who do rush through meals in order to make it back out into the park. In the end, it all balances out.

 

[blanq]

I have been to WDW 10 times and have never had my entree served with my appetizer. I have always thought the servers did a great job with the pace of serving multiple courses. If you are concerned about it, I would just state it up front; tell them you don't want them to bring out your entree while you are still eating your soup, salad, or other appetizer. That should pretty much about do it.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

DH and I never order our entree until we have started eating our apps. And we never order dessert until our entree is finished.

1) Yes.
2) We do this in regular and finer restaurants.
3) It is never a problem.
4) IF a waiter/waitress wants a full order, just tell them you will get to it.
5) This also allows us the ability to change our minds mid-meal.

NOTE: In some cases, you need to allow the kitchen 20-30 minutes for a special dessert. In these cases, we order dessert early, but other than that, not until after the entrée.

 

[MrsLS]

This only happened to us at I think one restaurant and we went a lot of TS last time. I've never had to order dessert until they take away our entree plates, I don't think I was every asked to order while ordering everything else (app & entree). If you are worried, order apps first & have your server come back to order the entrees after you "look over" the menu some more.

 

[Wendy5055]

I wouldn't think that pacing your meal would be any kind of issue. Honestly, a sit down dinner takes at least 1.5 to 2 hours start to finish (especially signature restaurants).

I have not had any issues with food courses arriving at the same time...but if it is important to you, just mention to your server that you will order according to your preferences.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[jennylyn_b]

Hi everyone

I wanted to get some advice on how to pace a meal at WDW

I always like to have a space between appetisers, entrees and desert but have read so many dining reveiws where your are served apps and entrees at the same time, with deserts turning up before you have finished entrees.

Is it acceptable to order entrees once you have finished apps

Also I never know what to have for desert until after I have finished my meal

If you mention to your server that you would like a gap between courses do they have a problem with this?

I wouldn't want to do this simply to hog a table but I really do need some time to digest between courses and can't stand food that is cold which would surely be the case if entrees were sitting on the table whilst you are eating apps

I understand that restaurants have to turn tables quickly so just want to make sure I am not causing problems with certain requests

Thanks all

We eat for the experience too! We simply tell our waiter or waitress that we want to take our time and are there to enjoy our meal. After that we have a well paced meal and aren't rushed at all. That doesn't mean that we are ignored either. If anything I'd say we get better service because they know we aren't going to get annoyed with a slower service and it takes some pressure off of them!

 

[need2travel]

I agree w/ the pp, we tell the server we are not in a rush, that we are there to make a night of it & enjoy ourselves. After that we usually have a very well paced meal. If we find it getting a little too fast for our liking we just take a few minutes longer figuring out our dessert. Or if we are somewhere that driving isn't an issue we simply order another glass of wine between the entree & dessert.