Two sit down meals a day

[NYCgrrl]

I agree on all counts and we typically eat that way as well. When fast food is the option, I get the salad (mcdonald's salads aren't terrible!). Have you tried Sunshine Seasons at Epcot, or Tangerine Cafe in the Morroco pavilion? Both of those are really atypical fast food and offer a wide variety of options are every trip stops for us. We do a lot of eating in our rooms (DVC, so kitchen) as well, along with signatures for 3 or 4 nights a week-long trip.

I was asking the OP b/c I wondered if they had visited some of the QS that aren't burger and fries fast food type.

Haven't tried Tangerine Cafe yet but heard a lot of good of it. Been known to pull to a stop looking at the shawarma picture but then I recall the tuna stuffed peppers at Spice Road and the decision is made: Spice Road it is and I'll have shawarma when I get back home, LOL. DGD and her cousin ate at SS once and really enjoyed their sandwiches.

 

[Lilsia]

Haven't tried Tangerine Cafe yet but heard a lot of good of it. Been known to pull to a stop looking at the shawarma picture but then I recall the tuna stuffed peppers at Spice Road and the decision is made: Spice Road it is and I'll have shawarma when I get back home, LOL. DGD and her cousin ate at SS once and really enjoyed their sandwiches.

Tangierine Cafe is one of our favorites and we eat here a couple times each visit. I love the chicken shawarma plate. They use the chicken that is made on the gyro roaster thingy and not just regular grilled chicken. No one has that where I live. I like their tabbouleh also.

 

[RamblingMad]

Yep sit down meals is my preference too.

The challenge is syncing them up with your fast passes. The planning is hard, but it’s doable.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Shawarma and gyros are sold throughout Manhattan from food carts so the next time you get this way keep it in your memory banks.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Yep sit down meals is my preference too.

The challenge is syncing them up with your fast passes. The planning is hard, but it’s doable.

My new way of organising a WDW trip is to wait until I have my FPs in hand before making ADRs. This has worked for most eateries excepting the wildly popular ones. For any of those we want to eat at I do like normal and plan the FPs around the existing ADRs.

 

[kiford]

We normally do two TS per day - one for breakfast and one for dinner. The last few times we've been we haven't done that as much partly due to scheduling for some early morning activities so just not enough time. We're doing F&W next month so we'll not be doing as many TS meals and we did a couple of days grazing at the kiosks in Feb at the Arts festival and in May at F&G. Also, we have been meeting up with friends who are Florida residents and they don't always do TS, especially at breakfast. There are some CS/QS places which aren't too bad if you carefully select them and I will say that they have improved some of the options. So we are branching out a bit but it will still always be our preference for two TS per day. We don't snack or eat at all through the middle of the day when we do this. I have no problem spending several hours per day in TS restaurants - that's part of the vacation for us.

 

[J-Dog]

I would personally never do 2 TS meals in one day. We typically stay off-property, so we eat something little/light for breakfast at our VRBO, then usually eat something very little at QS, or sometimes nothing at all for lunch.

I really enjoy many of the TS meals at WDW, but almost all of them are very calorie-dense and low-fiber. That, and they take up way too much time that could be spent doing something else at the parks.

As I said, I love a lot of the food at WDW, but I can get great food at restaurants at home too. I don't want to spend all my time sitting in restaurants at a place that I only visit once every 3-4 years.

To each his own though...

 

[Lovetherodent]

I'm certainly hopeful it won't be too much food, as I'm trying it next trip! I don't mind QS (some is quite good), but find myself eating at odd times to avoid the hunt for the table and still winding up in the hot sun or balancing a plate as I sit on a wall. I think spacing is key. I do IF and the others in my party prefer lunch foods to breakfast, so it'll be early lunch/later dinner. When the kids were little, I told them to stop eating when they were full. Same applies here. You don't have to clean your plate if you want dessert (and I always want dessert).

 

[KenHutch]

As my tolerance for declining food quality (especially among CS) we have found ourselves going to the deluxe plan. You can lose time but to minimize it we do 2 meals a day a breakfast early and a signature in the evenings. This lets people decide on whether to go back to the park or the hotel. This next trip the only CS we consider a must do is the Santuli Canteen in Animal Kingdom.

 

[Lilsia]

Shawarma and gyros are sold throughout Manhattan from food carts so the next time you get this way keep it in your memory banks.

Oh, I know the value of bigger cities. I grew up in the Chicago area and dearly miss the amazing variety of food. We have some really good gyro places here but none that use the gyro spit chicken, which is amazing.

 

[Lilsia]

I would also like to add that even if you go to a table service for a couple of meals, you don't necessarily have to eat a lot. You can easily just order and appetizer or share a meal for one of them.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We generally do the Deluxe Dining Plan and do 2 sit down meals a day. I usually schedule us either a late breakfast or early lunch at the park we are visiting that day so that we can get to the park at rope drop and get a good amount of attractions in before it is time to eat. We will then have a Signature Dinner at about 7 at a resort. For us that timing works out well and we are ready to eat again by the dinner ADR.

 

[Tessaf]

We do at least 2 TS every day. We don't order the appetizers or desserts and usually spend about an hour at the restaurant. We love being able to sit down for awhile, take a break from walking and enjoy some A/C.

 

[GillianP1301]

We do 2, sometimes even 3 sit down meals a day. Dining is an important part of our Disney vacations for a few reasons. First, they ensure we have built in breaks/cool down periods (we always go late August) and second, I consider restaurants attractions in themselves and with character meals, we save time on having to queue up for them during our park time.

As far as the time it takes, on average a TS/non character meal is 50 - 60 minutes. Character meals are more in the 60 - 75 range and a signature is 75 - 90 minutes. That's a relaxed pace, never feel rushed, always see all characters.

I dislike QS meals mostly because I don't like lining up for food and I like even less carrying a tray of food while trying to find a table and keep track of my son. I still do the odd QS to fill in a 3rd meal if I don't have them all as TS.

That's pretty much how we've eaten at Disney World the last 8 yearly trips we've taken. As an example, I have a 10 night trip coming up and I have 19 TS, 5 signatures and 6 QS (of those 7 are character meals) and I can't wait!

 

[DazzleT]

We have the deluxe dining plan in one room and quick service in the other room. For the table services, if it is not a buffet, I have told people they only get half a credit each plus a drink. I would never get an appetizer, an entree and a dessert for everyone at home so we aren’t doing that here. If they are still hungry, we have a million snack credits (I will be shocked if they end up being hungry, but you got to let them know there is a plan).

 

[kirstenb1]

Rarely do TS. At WDW, time is big money!!! Park tickets are expensive enough that we try to max out all the rides we can. We can eat at restaurants back home the other 51 weeks of the year.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

We did 2 or 3 TS meals every day on our last trip (4 weeks on DxDP) and will do the same again. We had food allergies in our party, but I also liked having guaranteed times when we could have a long break and access to AC. The QS restaurants were not for us - I liked knowing that we had a table, we didn’t need to queue, and it was easy. We didn’t always eat a three course meal, obviously, and it was nice to have the option of healthy food, though that wasn’t my main concern.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I know 90 minutes is sort of the worst case scenario, but I don't think I've ever taken that long to eat a meal at Disney. Maybe Tiffins, but that's because we stretched it out as long as possible. We were hot and tired.

The one time we did do counter service it still took 45 minutes between trying to find a seat and whatnot. And I don't like to inhale my food.

We did 2 TS a day. Sometimes breakfast and dinner, other times lunch and dinner.

I agree. I've never agreed with the "too much food" or "too much time" argument. If only ordering an entree, it isn't more food. As for time, it's usually no more than 15 to 30 minutes to eat at a non-signature TS. IMO, the only valid argument is price. QS is usually cheaper. (There are some TS that are close in price, but you have to figure in the tip.) If the top priority is eating more cheaply, QS is definitely the better option.

 

[GillianP1301]

I agree. I've never agreed with the "too much food" or "too much time" argument. If only ordering an entree, it isn't more food. As for time, it's usually no more than 15 to 30 minutes to eat at a non-signature TS. IMO, the only valid argument is price. QS is usually cheaper. (There are some TS that are close in price, but you have to figure in the tip.) If the top priority is eating more cheaply, QS is definitely the better option.

I also never understand the too much time and food arguments. You have to eat and I would argue that with kids, if they are used to eating 3 meals a day at home, then sticking to that pattern will save on a lot of meltdowns (same goes for sleep). TS normally takes a bit longer than QS, but not outrageously so. And the too much food, I understand even less. I don't calculate the value of my meal on volume of food. If I can't eat the entire serving (common with the large portion sizes) then I don't eat the entire serving. As long as I leave the restaurant satisfied that I've had a good meal, then there's my value.

I do believe that a lot of people (note I did not say ALL) who balk at multiple TS meals a day are doing so more so because of cost than anything else, and that's fine. I think they throw out the "too much food"/"too much time" as a justification for their choice, which is not at all necessary. For sure there are more affordable ways to eat then having 2 or 3 TS meals a day. QS is cheaper as is having some food in your room to replace the need for some meals (breakfast usually).

 

[J-Dog]

I also never understand the too much time and food arguments. You have to eat and I would argue that with kids, if they are used to eating 3 meals a day at home, then sticking to that pattern will save on a lot of meltdowns (same goes for sleep). TS normally takes a bit longer than QS, but not outrageously so. And the too much food, I understand even less. I don't calculate the value of my meal on volume of food. If I can't eat the entire serving (common with the large portion sizes) then I don't eat the entire serving. As long as I leave the restaurant satisfied that I've had a good meal, then there's my value.

I do believe that a lot of people (note I did not say ALL) who balk at multiple TS meals a day are doing so more so because of cost than anything else, and that's fine. I think they throw out the "too much food"/"too much time" as a justification for their choice, which is not at all necessary. For sure there are more affordable ways to eat then having 2 or 3 TS meals a day. QS is cheaper as is having some food in your room to replace the need for some meals (breakfast usually).

OR --- maybe those people actually do think it's too much food? Why do you feel the need to explain other people's opinions and lifestyles based on your own?