Re: going from parks to food courts

[alexis123]

I will be taking my first trip to wdw in early december and was wandering how long does it take to travel from one of the parks to a food court? preferably the one in port orleans. Is it an easy thing to do or just a hassel? This is where we plan on having dinner every evening.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Welcome to the Dis.. I would allow at least an hour from the parks to one of the resorts if you have a reservation, if you are just going to the food court to eat, it might take 40 min, depending on which park you are at and which resort you are going to.

 

[hercamore]

That would be a big hassle and a major water of time..

Food courts are gonna be around the same price for most foods as the counter services in the parks.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Why don't you eat at the food courts in the parks? Same prices, mostly same food, no trip.

It takes a long time to get there and back. Probably an hour each way.

 

[vettechick99]

You are going to have so much fun on your first trip!

I totally agree with everyone else. Unless you are leaving the park for good that night, stay in the park to eat or run to one of the closer resorts to eat there (i.e. the Poly if you're at the MK).

 

[becka]

The CS options in the parks are pretty much the same for the same prices as the resort food courts. Unless you had a reason you needed to be back at your resort I would say it would just be a waste of time.

 

[alexis123]

thankyou everybody! big help. My family are vegetarians and like the selection you have at the food courts. i have looked and studied all of the cs food menus and restaurants and didn't find anything, not a big selection. can someone fill me in?

 

[alexis123]

oh one more thing! What food courts in the parks? i could not find any!

 

[Deb & Bill]

There are several counter service restaurants in the theme parks. However, I'm not familiar with vegetarian offerings.

You might try this thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1607071

 

[danielle.st]

cs is counter service. That is essentially what a food court is
If you look at the menus for counter service (cs) locations, you will see vegetarian options at many. I can't post links because I am too new. If you start reading reviews of counter service locations, you might see some. Also, try doing a search for vegetarian in the dining forum. I'll bet you get a lot of hits. I'm not a complete vegetarian, but am super picky about meat. It's often easier for me to just eat vegetarian type foods. I've seen quite a lot of choices since I started lurking the last couple weeks (preparing for a Dec '08 trip).
Which parks are you planning to go to? Which foods did you see at your food court that appealed to you?

 

[Pumbaa_]

Which resort are you staying in?

 

[alexis123]

thanks, i have done my research months ago when i made a brochure of all the cs and foodcourts that have veg. options, what they are and how much. i am not happy with any except the food courts really. What i really don't like, maybe i am wrong, that a cs place in wdw parks isn't as comfy as a indoor food court, get what i am saying? is this not true? since i have never been i can't say really.

 

[alexis123]

oh hey, what about down town disney? transportation time? still not good idea?

 

[Pumbaa_]

The problem with eating at a resort Food Court is transportation. Unless you are staying at the resort, getting back to your resort involved transfers at a theme park or DTD. Most transfers will take up to an hour or more (depending on your timing with the buses)

Again, depending on where you are staying, it may make a difference on how easy it is to get here nightly.

 

[darkroom]

I suppose you could always bus to Port Orleans the first night and if it's a pain, have a plan B ready.

It took my sister, brother-in-law, and myself about 3 hours to get from the AK to AKL and then to MGM just to try Zebra Domes at the AKL cafeteria. It's an extreme example, but it happens. POR could be a hike. On the plus side, Busses will run direct from each park, so think 30 minutes on average each way. Not too bad.

The only thing I can think of offhand that sounds like a food court in the parks is inside the land at epcot. It's the Sunshine Season Food Fair, check out the menus. I wouldn't call it "comfy" though.

I think the columbia Harbour house in the MK might work. I'm pretty sure they have some veggie choices and it's usually nice and quiet upstairs.

I cant help with downtown Dis i'm afraid. Never been there.

 

[crisi]

Disney World is the size of Manhattan. It can take fifteen minutes to get from one end of the PARK to the other - then you may need to travel another ten minutes (at the MK) just to get to your CAR (assuming you drive), plus a few mile drive to the resort you want to eat at, then you need to park in a usually large lot, then you need to find the food court. If you are taking Disney buses, they will come every twenty minutes, plus a ten minute ride.

As a Disney veteran, I would not think about going to a resort for lunch from a park. I MIGHT go back to my home resort for a late lunch, and have a snack until then, for a mid-day break, depending on what time of year I was traveling.

At Disney, time is money.

Vegetarian options will be limited - most counter service places will have a single vegetarian option. Options are limited for omnivores as well at most counter service places - a few menu options allows Disney to put tens of thousands of people through lunch lines quickly. As a vegetarian, you will want to check and plan meals carefully. You may want to keep yourself well stocked with appropriate snacks (our family likes the veggie friendly Clif bars).

 

[butterfly8]

I think one of the hardest things to wrap your mind around before you see it in person is just HOW BIG Disney World is. I read somewhere that "it is about 50 square miles....bigger than Manhattan and roughly the size of the city of San Francisco". Now mind you, I'm not positive that statement is accurate, but you get the idea. You probably wouldn't want to travel from one side of San Francisco or Manhattan each day just to eat some fast food.... and I doubt you will want to do it at WDW either.

The food courts at the resorts are no more or less homey/comfortable than the counter service locations in the parks. In fact some of them are more generic and LESS themed than some of their counterparts inside the parks. I think that you could just as easily STAY in the park and find something for everyone in your party to eat even if it meant stopping at a couple of different counter service locations to please everyone. For example, say a couple of you think the vegetarian options at Columbia Harbor House in the Magic Kingdom sound OK, but the rest of you would rather eat something somewhere else. It would take less time to stop and eat at BOTH places than it would to:

1) Make your way back to the park entrance. (Each park is large and spread out- it can take up to 15 minutes just to get from one side of the park to the other walking at a quick pace.)
2) Catch the tram to your car if driving, because even the parking lots are huge and usually your car is not within walking distance, or trek your way from the entrance to your Resort Bus Stop if using Disney transportation.
3) Find your way back to your Resort on the maze of Disney Freeways (you truly do leave the rest of the world behind and get up on Disney freeways) or W -A-I-T at the bus stop if using Disney busses.
4) Trek from the parking lot or bus stop into the Resort food court and then wait in the various lines for everyone to get their food, pay, find a table and eat.
5) Make your way BACK to a park to resume your regularly sheduled vacation.

Even more importantly though, in case you don't know, Disney World works very hard to cater to the dietary needs of their customers. You won't be the first vegetarians they've served, and pretty much EVERY place will help you modify their menu items to better suit your eating habits.

Although if at all possible budget wise, you might want to try to work in at least one or two table service dinners. The chefs at the sit down restaurants will talk to you and sometimes even create entirely new dishes for you based on your likes and dislikes. Maybe shoot for a nice meal on your first night, middle and/or last nights, with "questionable, play it by ear and hope for the best" counter service dinners on all the other nights?

 

[Pumbaa_]

Not sure if you saw this review of a vegan and vegitarian recent trip. (Complete with pictures!!)

Gives you an idea of what is available at the different locations for options.

 

[alexis123]

oh also we are staying outside the parks in a house by all star vacations

 

[Pumbaa_]

So you will have a car, correct? Then it is a simple matter to drive over to PO for dinner. (I would not take a bus to do this if you have a car)