What time for midday meal do you choose?

[mickeymom629]

We plan to arrive early entry for HS, so we will be up early, and I want to make a 50's PTC Fantasmic dining for midday.
Do you think it's better to choose a time like 11 or more like 1:30?
We are a party of 11 (3 kids). We will definitely need to eat something before noon, but should it just be a snack?
For "dinner", we will just grab something close to the entrance of F! or buy snacks inside, I'm thinking.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I would time your lunch based on what the kids can tolerate. Will they be antsy by 1:30? I know adults that are LOL! If so, do the early route and then snack your way through the rest of the day as needed. Enjoy!

 

[fla4fun]

We plan to arrive early entry for HS, so we will be up early, and I want to make a 50's PTC Fantasmic dining for midday.
Do you think it's better to choose a time like 11 or more like 1:30?
We are a party of 11 (3 kids). We will definitely need to eat something before noon, but should it just be a snack?
For "dinner", we will just grab something close to the entrance of F! or buy snacks inside, I'm thinking.

I would recommend the earlier seating, mainly because seating tends to get backed up there. So a 1:30 reservation could easily see you not being seated until after 2:00. Also, if you know that some of the party will be hungry before noon anyway, it makes more sense in my opinion to have your meal early and the snack later, if needed, than to have the snack early and possibly not be hungry at your reservation time.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

We don't do a big breakfast and always get to the parks early so I'd always choose the earlier lunch.
Keep the snack for mid afternoon.

 

[Rory607]

I’m going to say 1 or 1:30 for Primetime. I agree that you probably won’t be seated right at your reservation time, but I’d still opt for a morning snack and later lunch. It would keep my kids full later into the day and okay with just snacks at dinner time. An early lunch works for me, but the rest of my family gets hangry and they would definitely need another meal.

 

[hardcorestitch]

We plan to arrive early entry for HS, so we will be up early, and I want to make a 50's PTC Fantasmic dining for midday.
Do you think it's better to choose a time like 11 or more like 1:30?
We are a party of 11 (3 kids). We will definitely need to eat something before noon, but should it just be a snack?
For "dinner", we will just grab something close to the entrance of F! or buy snacks inside, I'm thinking.

Keep it small beforehand no matter what times. Don’t wanna fill the stomachs too much before a hearty meal at that place! Maybe a cookie or a Joffrey’s donut?

 

[erinch]

Rope dropping restaurants is one of my favorite hacks. Things are slow and you are ahead of the curve with your orders

 

[NickC]

For us, table service meals are a bit on a sliding scale trying to find the sweet spot. If we are going to the park all day, then a sit down meal might be the only real opportunity to recharge, and we might make it later. 3 hours of park time, then a sit down meal, followed by 10 hours of additional park time would probably be a bit off balance for us. If we are taking a mid day break, then it doesn't matter quite as much.

 

[sponica]

My kids are up with the birds and even at home we're having lunch at 11:30. We usually have lunch around that time and dinner around 5.

We eat 3 meals at home, so we still eat 3 meals (and snacks) on vacation . We're basically hobbits.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would do the earlier time. By the time you are actually eating it'll be well past 12 pm. It takes time to check in, be seated (especially with a larger group), look over menu, get drinks, order, etc.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

early time and have a snack later. We also arrive to Fantasmic early to grab the best spots. They sell a bunch of food items near the entrance and you can enjoy them while waiting.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I would eat earlier, my crew gets cranky quick when calories get low and at Disney world with early mornings and hitting the ground running we run through the calories quick.

Fwiw- the lines for snacks inside the Fantasmic theater can get very long so leave time if you intend to purchase inside (I waited over 20 mins last time).

 

[mickeymom629]

I would eat earlier, my crew gets cranky quick when calories get low and at Disney world with early mornings and hitting the ground running we run through the calories quick.

Fwiw- the lines for snacks inside the Fantasmic theater can get very long so leave time if you intend to purchase inside (I waited over 20 mins last time).

Good point! The reason I got the dining package was to not get there as early as we usually do. I'll make sure our group gets a snack before heading in or leaves time for inside.

 

[disneyseniors]

Well,I seem to be going along with most of the posts, lol
We always get something in the grab and go at the resort, just a baked goodie, before heading to the parks.
Then we always eat early, usually by 11:30. I tend to get cranky if I don't eat regularly due to low blood sugar. So we don't go long without food

 

[Lou'sMommy]

We kind of do the opposite. We usually eat a quick breakfast in the room but make sure it includes plenty of protein to keep us full for awhile. We try to rope drop and take advantage of (sometimes) lower crowds. We do carry some trail mix with us to munch on in line if we want. We like to eat a late sit-down lunch when the crowds start to get crazier in the early afternoon - maybe 1:30 or 2:00. By this time we are tired and hungry and ready to enjoy a nice, leisurely meal. It seems to recharge us for the rest of day.

 

[Mazz519]

We usually get to the parks early usually early entry, we really don’t have breakfast and find we are hungry around 1130-12 so that’s usually when we eat. If one of us is hungry early on we will stop for a snack whether it be a cookie or a pretzel

 

[BrianL]

I tend to hig my lunch early, like 10:30-11, to beat the crowds. I also rarely eat breakfast and always rope-drop, so I am alwyas well hungry at that point.