What time do you eat dinner?

[starsinnight]

Ok I know this sounds silly but it is really stalling me making my ADR's and our trip is coming soon. I first wavered with where I wanted to go but now I've decided I just can't think of a time (that is, if I have a choice when I call the CM).

So I tried discussing this with my bf and we cant decide. (It's just the two of us going). I have decided to eat at Boma (again, if I can get a ressie) and I don't know if I should do early at 5pm or late at 10pm.

Last time on our trip we did ALL our meals at 4 or 5pm so we would have time to go to the parks before and after the meal. We were then able to just eat snacks or small meals for the rest of the day too instead (we really liked the French pastry/bakery for brunch at Epcot). We don't eat too much. So brunch and a late dinner may be enough for us (with snacks thrown in).

So I am wondering about Boma being a buffet. We will probably pig out lol and then be too tired to walk around the parks again. So I am wondering should I make the dinner ressie for 10pm and then we can go back to the resort after for bed and call it a night.

But then I am thinking what if that night has magic hours and we could stay late at one of the parks and not want to end our visit so soon (we are only going to the parks for this one day).

So what do you all do? What would you all do?

Early dinner and go to the parks before and after.

Enjoy a day at the parks and finish with dinner.

 

[Tricia1972]

Not sure if I'll be helpful or not, but this is what works for us. Our days are pretty structured:

Rope Drop
Tour through the morning
Early Lunch
Resort for a nap
Dinner
Back to parks after dinner

We generally go during busy times, so parks are open a little bit later, though we avoid EMH evenings like the plague.

On a night that we do a big buffet like Boma we'd do DTD after dinner and just meander.

 

[princess lovers mom]

we always try to eat between 5 and 6 so not to miss parades, fireworks etc in the evening - we usually too usually either eat a late breakfast or early lunch with snacks in between....

if we ate a buffet thatlate I am sure I wouldn't feel well at bedtime !!!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I plan early & late ADR's based on our itenarary. Example: AKV, AM ADR for Tusker House Character Breakfast 8:30am,get FP for the Kilamanjaro Safari to get on after breakfast. Finish AKV and then back to resort to rest, wash up in time for 7:30 ADR at Jiko.

Personally, we can't have big meals and ride and hustle about afterwards.

This June we did Epcot all day from rope drop, had a light lunch there, then 6pm ADR's for Le Cellier (superb meal, all be it quite noisy) and then went off to do the Illumination Cruise. Perfect day!

I think it really depends on preference. We don't always have big meals every day, some days we just eat junk and stay all day till closing just grazing.

I also like to have early dinners and then take the boat to DTD and hang out. Then we can have ice cream at Girardellos!

 

[RMulieri]

We eat dinner at 4-430pm..even at home. We usually eat a late breakfast/real early lunch, than dinner .we snack in the evening.

 

[camdensmom]

We eat all meals as early as possible. This is esp. good for the character buffets. We beat the crowds and then enjoy being out while most are showering/eating.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I try and make my ADRs as close to the restaurant's opening as possible.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It's tricky.
We like to go back for a break midday, so if dinner is too early we barely have any time to rest before we have to head back out to get to our ADR in time. If we don't eat dinner until 7:30 or so then it is hard to get a good spot for fireworks, parades, Fantasmic!, etc.

Good luck!

 

[staceylynnga]

I definitely plan around what I expect our days to look like. When my husband and I did Disney just the 2 of us before we were married, we made ADRs for between 730 and 830. We were lucky enough to have a window seat at California Grill just in time to catch Wishes - an amazing evening.

We are going back to Disney in January 09 with our son (almost 17 months right now). Most of our dinners are between 7 and 730, to give us a solid day at the parks and a good afternoon nap before dinner for Nathan. The only early dinner we have is a 430 (opening time) for 1900 Park Fare - we plan to head to MK afterward to catch Spectromagic at 7 followed by Wishes at 8.

Personally, I cannot see eating dinner at 10 p.m., especially if it is a time of year when it gets dark early. I'd rather do a sizeable lunch or early dinner and then snack later on. Having a full meal that late, you have no chance to work it off LOL. It's still super late for me; It's just about bedtime for me shortly afterward.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I used to eat around 5 ish but now we go anytime between 6 and 7

 

[jenjersnap]

It varies a bit based on which park we are going to, but, generally, we visit off-season when MK closes at 8 pm and DHS closes at 7 pm so we eat after the park closes usually. Coming from Mountain time zone, it's easy for us. The exception is Epcot - we usually eat 7ish there so that we're finished right before Illuminations. AK closes at 5 pm and never figures in the evening plan.

 

[Cat0727]

We try to eat around 4:45-5 because we eat lunch early also, at around 11.

 

[jmsvss]

At home we typically eat dinner between 7-8:30 depending on work schedules. For Disney, you are right, you may not have much of a choice when you call Disney Dining. When I am planning for Disney I usually try to lay out my park plan for the week - parades, fireworks, etc and then shoot for mealtimes around that. Since you are travelling without young children I am guessing that you will have more luck with later times.

Personally - I don't think I would do a late buffet especially if you are not big eaters.

 

[seadd67]

me and my ds eat all times,we have eaten at late as 11/midnight and as early as 5pm It depends on what were doing and were we are. At DTD we usually plan our dinners late because it closes late,at epcot its before Illumanations.At AK its right before the park closes,and at MK its during the late parade. we eat a little beakfast unless we do the chacter breakfast,and when we do that its ussually a late dinner. For lunch Its late morining or just after noon(we do not eat lunch if we have the chacter breakfast) go on how you feel dont limt your self to a schedlue your on vacation. Set a plan then go from there

 

[bangzoom6877]

We schedule our ADRs based on our sons' normal dining times. We eat dinner between 5 and 6:30 at home depending on the day (earlier during the week, a little later on weekends). So when we went in July, all our ADRs were between 5 and 6:30.

We went to the parks for rope drop (and we did take advantage of 2 EMH mornings which worked out well for us), ate lunch between 11 and 12 (their normal lunchtime), left the parks no later than 2 PM for an afternoon break, and had a dinner ADR either at a park around 5:30 or a resort hotel anywhere between 5 and 6:30. If we were in a park we would walk around a little afterwards, or we would explore a little at a resort hotel. Then we would get back to the room by 8:30, get the kids ready for bed and we were able to see the higher Epcot fireworks from our room at Pop Century so we would watch that every night at 9:00. This worked out well and kept my kids on their regular time schedule so they were very happy and we all enjoyed our trip! On future vacations I will continue to make our ADRs according to their regular dining times at home.