What time do you go to dinner?

[MagicPrincess]

Trying to decide on what would be a good time to schedule our dinners...We'll be heading to the parks during the day- back to the GF to rest/swim, and then to dinner and the parks again...

Any suggestions?
6-6:30 sounds like a good round number!

 

[branv]

If we're eating counter service for lunch, it's usually about a 6 pm dinner. If we've planned a rather larger lunch (esp if it's a buffet), we shoot for a later dinner, around 7-7:30.

Though if it's a popular restaurant, we take whatever we can get!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It all depends on whether we want to watch the fireworks or not. At Le Cellier we always schedule dinner around 7:45 because then the restaurant isn't full and so noisy, it makes for a much more enjoyable dinner. Our kids are 13 and + so we don't have to worry about little kids so we usually eat later, it helps beat the crowds, usually bet 7 -7:45.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We go with whatever time is available for the restaurant we want anywhere between 5PM and 7:30PM.

Raglan Road we always go after 8PM, so we can hear the band.

 

[Pugmalion1]

We typically go sometime between 5:30 and 7:00, and I find that the restaurants are much less crowded and hectic the closer to 5:00 that you go, which I like, even if it is a tad early for me.

On our next trip, I think we're going to try to do late dinners. I'm thinking between 8:00 and 9:30. Since we're planning on being there for the Food and Wine Festival, and there's not really going to be an emphasis on us getting up early to get to short ride lines or early Extra Magic Hours, we might as well take it easy and shift around our normal, everyday dining hours.

 

[chamonix]

What time do you usually eat dinner?

I think it really depends on YOU and your circumstances when you dine. Meaning: do you have kids? what time do they need to eat? (for example, when my dd was a wee toddler, we would eat much much earlier since she went to bed so much earlier than she would now that she is 13)

Also, what time are you used to eating dinner? (ok, adjusted for any time zone changes!)

also, take into account when/what you are eating for breakfast and lunch. If you get up kind of late and eat a big breakfast, then you are hitting say, Crystal Palace (a buffet where it's easy to over-eat!) at 1pm, you probably wouldn't want to eat a big sit-down dinner again at 6pm. But then, maybe you would, if that's your habit. You have to go with your usual schedule and routines that already work for your family, I think.

For us, we don't eat much breakfast or lunch (never sit-down, TS places), we tend to eat a light meal at an early brunch-ish time, and (as I already mentioned) especially when dd was very young we would eat a big dinner early--like 6pm. Now that she is older, we eat a bit later. If it was just dh and I, we would probably eat a lot later, LOL.

 

[abubu919]

We either go for an early dinner or a late lunch. So that is usually around the 5:30-6 for dinner or 2 for lunch. It all depends on what the breakfast plans are etc.

 

[HunnyJar]

Generally, we will make our ADR's from anywhere from 6:00-8:30 pm. Just depends on what other meals we have planned for that day and where we are. If we had a character breakfast planned, we will usually book a later dinner to give us enough time in between the two meals.

 

[kbelle8995]

Usually between 5 and 6. It works out because we miss the crowds that dine later.

 

[Tiggs14]

Between 5 and 6pm. We've got a 4 and a 5 year old so we try to get dinner in earlier rather than later.

 

[jdisnut]

We usually eat between 6 and 7 p.m., depending on our plans for the night and the fireworks schedule. My family almost always has a counter service lunch around noon, followed by a table service dinner at night. It has become a routine that we enjoy and find comforting.

But I wouldn't worry too much. Just make your reservation at a time that fits the rest of your itinerary. At the more popular restaurants, you may not even have a choice.

 

[AirGoofy]

We like to eat around 5:00 to 5:30 PM. That is the normal time we eat at home. At Disney, we get an hour + sit down break, and then we can stay through fireworks and go back to the resort.

 

[MagicPrincess]

Thanks!
I think we're just going to keep our dinner time at Disney close to when we normally eat at home!

 

[tami82]

Last trip i made all ressies at 4:30 or 5:00 but found we were a bit rushed for our swimming break in the afternoon. In another way it was good because we didnt have to wait any big amount of time for our table and the buffets were pretty fresh.
. For our next trip i have mixed it up a bit, the places i know will get packed i try to make an early reservation at 5:00 like for Ohana for instance. For a place like Boma i made a 4:30 reservation because i heard it can get packed. Crystal Palace i made for a bit before 6:00 and the rest are just around 5:30-6:00 this way giving us just a bit more time to relax. Also I think the earlier you book the less time you are waiting around for a table.

 

[RMulieri]

On our last 2 trips 400pm was when we ate, because we eat early at home and Our 5 yr old was used to it.The next trip we are shooting for later dinners since we found eating a CS lunch around 1130 and then a snack kept us full a long time

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It depends on park hours, parades, fireworks, EMH, etc. With the kids we do no later then 7 pm, so really 5pm-7pm is good. Really try for nothing later then 6:30 so then we are eating by 7 pm.

Without the kids it doesn't matter. This coming trip we have a 6 pm, 7 pm, 8 pm and 9 pm. Four nights...four dinners.