Question for those who eat all/most meals at campsite

[Praise2Him]

In an effort to save money on meals we're planning on eating almost every meal at our camper. Luckily DH is only going to the parks 2 days out of 6 wo he's volunteered to cook breakfast before we go and have supper ready when we return. We're taking crackers, etc. to hold us over for lunch.

Here's the question: What's a good time to leave the parks to go "home" for supper and how much time will it take? We'll be driving our car and returning to the same park each day (no hopping). We're also mostly doing the night EMH parks.

 

[TurnR@TheMouseHouse]

Is this your first time driving around Disney? If so it will depend on how well you navigate around disney property.

If you have a very clear picture of how to get from each park to FW then it should not take more than 15 to 20 min from the time you walk out the park gates until you arrive at FW. If you make a wrong turn, and believe me it's easy to do, then it will take longer.

I prefer taking the buses or the ferry to and from FW. It could take longer than driving, but it adds so much to the experience. It's like stopping a smelling the roses, walking from the docks to the bus stop. I'll admit the longest it ever took to get from a park to FW was about 50 minutes, but most often I would be back at my campsite within 30 to 40 min.

If you do decide to take a bus, you can drive to the main parking lot at FW and then hop on the bus there. Then does save considerable time when returning to your campsite.

Call me crazy...but I love using Disney transportation. To me it's part of the whole experience. After hours of walking around a park, I love hoping on a boat or bus and sitting there watching the World go by as it delivers me back to my resort or FW. Actually I have had some of my most memorable experiences on a bus or ferry!

Sorry...I digress...15 to 20 minutes! If you know your way around!

 

[Praise2Him]

Thank you. I guess I wasn't clear in my question, though. I really meant total round trip, from leaving the park, gettting to FW, eating supper, and getting back to the park. (Of course, I know it depends on how long we spend eating, but I just wondered how long most people spend on average doing this.) Maybe not very many people do this, though?

More info: We've been to DisneyWorld about 15 times in the past 4 years, so are familiar with driving it. Also, forgot to mention that I'll be with teenagers, not small children.

Again, thank you for trying to answer my question. I'm sorry it didn't make much sense the first time. Oh, we are definitely going to take the boat to the MK. We usually do take the buses everywhere, but I just figured it would be faster to drive, since we're not spending all day in the parks?

 

[RocklandRVers]

We take a more relaxed way to experience the parks and take the time to relax a bit in between visits. We hit them at opening, stay til mid afternoon and come back to relax, swim, nap, eat dinner, digest and then head back. Given our take it slow pace its hard to give advice on how long it takes.

If we did do it commando style, we could get to FtW from any park in about 10-15 minutes. If DW stayed back (which would mean handcuffs and leg irons) and made dinner, I am guessing my teenage son and nephew who is joining us in April, could wolf down dinner in another 10-15 minutes and after another 10-15 minutes be back in the parks. BUT if our concern was more about spending as much time in the parks, then why bother leaving? We would get something quick to eat at a counter service place inside the park so we could refuel quickly get back to action.

Realistically for us there is a gap of 2-3 hours from when we leave the park in the afternoon to our return in the evening. I paid extra to stay inside Disney so why not get the most out of FtW fun too? I could have saved more money staying in a local campground if I just wanted place to stay. We like FtW and would stay there even if we didn't go to the parks.

We learned a long time ago from other vacations that high intensity see and do it all is does not fit our idea of R & R. After all I am on vacation to rest and relax not race and run.

 

[loriandmatt]

i generally allow for about 2 hours to get from the park to FW, prepair a meal, clean up, relax a bit to digest and make our way to our next park.

we are happy with dinner in pretty much any time range. it all depends on what other eats we had that day. generally we plan to leave park #1 at around 4 or 5 and get back to a park around 6 or 7.

sometimes we shave some of that time off if the meal we are having is low maintenance. (something out of a crock pot - i swear by my crock pot when at FW!!! - that is waiting for us or sandwiches) Grilling stuff takes a bit longer.

- lori