Planning night meal--question

[momof2forever]

Do most people plan their ts meal in the park or area they are visiting that day? For example: If I am in Epcot should I plan my night meal there? So we wont be running everywhere, or does it matter? I was thinking we would rather go back to resort and freshen up and then head out again, but lots of people say that takes up lots of time. Thanks.

 

[magiccouple2004]

we plan our dinners where we want to eat and we usually do end up back at the resort to "freshen up" and head out and we have done this for 2 years and had only 1 problem but it was not our fault so eat where ya want to eat and go back and freshen up

have fun

 

[Gina35]

We almost always go back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner, shower, etc.
That's the beauty of staying "in" the park; it's more cumbersome when hotel is out of Disney. If you are staying in a park hotel that is not at all near the park you're visiting that day, it might make more sense to plan a dinner there. For the most part, tho, I much prefer returning to the hotel and going out again.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We are very mindful to plan meals in the area we want to be. I hate having to travel 45 minutes just for a meal and find it to be a waste of time.

We often will go back to the hotel in the afternoon so we choose the restaurant based on where we want to spend our evenings; this also takes into account show times (like Wishes and Spectromagic) and EMH. We work around those, too, so we can be sure and hit the highlights we want to see.

For instance, on one night we want to catch Spectromagic and Wishes. We plan to have an earlier dinner at Kona that night so we can get back and see both. It would not have made sense to travel to Sci Fi just to fly back and try to catch things at MK. Instead, we are close to the MK and don't waste time traveling. (we may spend the day at Epcot but we can still get to Kona easily from there even if we decide to not head back the hotel to freshen up)

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

We're going in August and I can't really imagine being comfortable sitting at a nice dinner in clothing I'd been sweating in all day. However, I also don't

We're staying at the Swan so we have tons of options within walking distance (all of WS, MGM, and everything at the BW, BC/YC, Swan and Dolphin) so for this trip our plan is to spend the mornings and early afternoons in the parks (with an early TS lunch to give us a chance to cool off), then come back swim, shower and dress before walking someplace for dinner. The only exception to this is the day we go to the CG to watch Wishes.

 

[Mickeygotmymoney]

We planned some each way. There were some special meals that we did as a package (i.e. fantasmics) but the rest of the time we found that staying too long was exhausting and we were not in the best of moods. Each morning we took time to plan what we wanted to do based on how everyone was feeling.

The other thing we did was go to one park during the day, and then eat where there were magic hours after we had gone home to freshen up. Make sure you take time to rest. This is vacation.

I woud also recommend asking eveyone in your group if there is somethings special they would like too do.

We loved Cinderalla's castle for the atmosphere, but the food was really heavy for a hot day. A character meal is almost a necessity.
The other option is to eat your special meal for lunch. It is a little cheaper with the same atmosphere.