Pick where you plan on counter service or just fly by the seat of your pants?

[italianfamilia]

Do people plan out which counter service you plan on using or just stop at them as you go through? Does it help with the touring plan?

 

[sunee]

If you're going commando, it is a really good idea to plan where you'll be eating. Not hard to find a counter-service place near where you're going to be. The less time wasted, the better. If you are doing sit-down meals, you may want to consider getting ADRs.

My favorite CS places:

MK - Pecos Bill's
Epcot - Mexico or Morocco in World Showcase, Sunshine Season in Future World
AK - Tusker House for breakfast, Flame Tree for lunch/dinner
MGM - I don't do CS there. I either sit down or leave...but one is as good (or bad) as the other.

 

[italianfamilia]

I"m not doing any ADRs, just the CS..what would you recommend in MGM? Those others sound great...have you eaten at that Pirato or whatever it is? love Mexican food!!

 

[Laura]

I'll walk a little out of my way for Tangierine Cafe and Columbia Harbour House, but not all the way across the park. Other than that, I'll eat wherever's closest.

 

[The Sweetness]

Pirata y el perico (sp) is in MK, near the pirates ride. I hear that it is not always open

AT MGM, my personal fave is Pizza Planet, but I may re-think that w a 2y old. Backlot express has the standard burgers and strips etc

My fave as far as food goes at MGM is PT 50s cafe, and its a TS. But I cant stand the Sci-fi Drive in place

 

[tndisneyfan]

We planned out a couple of counter service places we wanted to eat but usually we just flew by the seat of our pants. I think if you try to plan CS meals to much you may end up doing a lot of extra walking or trying to go ahead and eat when you really aren't that hungry.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

There are several must do cs's for me. One is Cosmic Ray's, the chicken/rib combo is great. Sunshine Seasons at Epcot is very good, and at AK, Flame Tree is wonderful. I have found nothing at MGM I like much, but I'll find something.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I try to plan,but when my girls are hungry, we just find the closest CS with food that they would like.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I usually have a couple in mind that I think everyone would like.

 

[MinnieCandi]

Both. There are a couple of places at each park that I know my family would like, so I steer them there when we are hungry. But I don't "plan" the CS meal. I agree with PP's about MGM, we probably wont eat there this year, eat breakfast before you go and maybe get a snack there.

 

[MEM]

Pirata y el perico (sp) is in MK, near the pirates ride. I hear that it is not always open:confused
QUOTE]

That has been our experience too, so in that case, you cannot "plan"
to eat there but might be pleasantly surprised to see it open as you pass by.

 

[MPHARJ]

We don't usually plan CS, except if we are at Epcot, we usually go to Sunshine Seasons, great variety! Other then that it depends on when we are hungry and what we are hungry for.

 

[Disneyolic]

We definitely do not plan on where we will have our CS meals.

I have printed up the menus from All Ears so we all have an idea of what is where and narrow it down. Then it all has to do with timing and where we are when we get hungry. We made most of our ADRs for lunch time so we don't have to adjust our evenings in case we decide to do midafternoon breaks.

 

[sunee]

I"m not doing any ADRs, just the CS..what would you recommend in MGM? Those others sound great...have you eaten at that Pirato or whatever it is? love Mexican food!!

I have eaten there and it is OK, but it is rarely open.

If you love mexican food, you must try the counter service place in Mexico - I think it is called Cantina de San Angel. You order at a counter and sit outside, on the water. It is really lovely, IMO. I'd honestly rather eat there than inside at the restaurant.

MGM has a nice bakery-snack type place, Starring Rolls Cafe, at the corner of the Hollywood Boulevard (main street you walk up when you enter) and Sunset Boulevard (the street that leads down to Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster.)

In MGM, you can go to any counter service place, really. They're fine - just nothing to speak of, really. I'd just go to whatever I was closer to or eat offsite or at the hotel. But, that's me.

 

[penjen]

We go where ever is closest and has air conditioning

But have a list in my head of what and where I would like to try.

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

We really enjoy Picochio's (sp?) in MK. Great selection and the canoli's are amazing. Your may get lucky and snag a seat near the window to watch the IASW loading area.

 

[MickeyNicki]

For CS places we just wing it...except for Epcot where we like to try something from each country

 

[bookgirl2632]

It's a mixture of both for us. I know which ones I want to try in each park, but where we eat depends on where we are. For instance, at MK, if we are in Tomorrowland when hunger strikes for lunch, we'll go to Cosmic Ray's. If we are in Frontierland, well, then it's Pecos Bill for us. Same is true for AK. We were torn between Flame Tree and Tusker House, but wound up at Tusker House since we were near it at lunchtime.

 

[allyphoe]

I carry a list that has each CS restaurant broken down by park and land, with a separate column for each listing what they have that DD will eat. Keeps me from having to guess and hope when she has a specific request, and I can say "Do you want X, Y, or Z" and walk accordingly. I can find something to eat anywhere (or wait a little longer), but DD was overwhelmed enough by WDW that she wanted to eat (and actually did eat) mac-n-cheese 3 meals a day for the 12 days we were there, despite having a more varied diet at home.

 

[lou7401]

Since we always have an ADR for a sit-down dinner, we like to stay flexible at lunchtime. We have our favorites in each park and head to the nearest one when we are hungry.