Why are in-resort TS so important?

[Dis703]

It's not a huge deal to me, but it's an added perk that makes the mods and deluxes more appealing. We plan on one TS meal every day we are in Disney and the convenience of being able to plan a TS meal at or near our resort is ideal. When we stayed at BWI or BC we had breakfast on check out day at Cafe May Cafe. It was great with packing up not to have to worry about transportation anywhere, we just walked over. We also have days where we change our plans because of weather. Like a day it was pouring nonstop in AK and just too much to handle so we cancelled our dinner plans in the park and went back to our resort, played in the arcade and then walked right next door for a TS meal. We rarely eat at the food courts and don't care for much of what they offer so having one or more TS option nearby is ideal.

 

[Regan117]

We order room service a lot, especially for breakfast. Usually the room service comes from one of the restaurants on site. Grand Floridian, for instance, is GF Cafe. So that matters to us. Otherwise, we eat at all the different resorts regardless of where we are staying.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We don't have pick the resort based on it having a TS. I've stayed at POR many times and never once been to Boatwright's. When we stayed at Beach Club last year, we did really enjoy having Cape May Café right there for us. We did breakfast and dinner during the trip, and it was just so nice and convenient to walk out of the room and have a TS restaurant right there down the hall, without worrying about getting there on time with transportation and all of that. We see why it is so important to people, and we will go there but it is never a deal breaker. We do love the fact that the Beach Club's location is pretty great, since it is near a lot of the other TS restaurants - YC, BW and Epcot restaurants.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Sounds like us too. We don't eat out a lot at home, so when we are on vaction, TS dining is something we enjoy. QS at every meal just doesn't sound like a vacation to me.

We don't necessarily need a TS at the resort we stay at, but we also don't want to travel too far to get to one either. Something within walking distance is ideal. We are Florida residents, so we always have a car with us, but once the car is parked at the resort, it doesn't move until it is time to go home. Also, we like to have a glass or two of wine with our dinner, and neither of us will drive even if we have had one drop of alcohol. Not preaching or judging any one else, that is just our personal rule.

Exactly! One of the things I love about Disney is I DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE. I can enjoy a cold beer with dinner or lunch and not have to drive to get back and forth. Wife and I are the same way. No driving even with one drink, so we never have a drink with dinner or at a party that is not at our house. So to be able to let go and have a few while enjoying all that the resorts have to offer is a big part of our vacation.

 

[kniquy]

It wouldn't make me stay at a particular resort, but it is nice knowing that you have that option if you are planning a resort day and you want a nice meal. honestly if you can work the bus system - getting to dinner at one of the MK resorts is pretty easy or with the wide availability of uber it is pretty simple to go to a different resort for a TS meal, it just takes a bit more time and planning. I think people like convenience and options when vacationing.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I wouldn't call it "important". I would simply call it an advantage *if* you plan to dine at the restaurant at your resort, in the time saved not having to travel for an ADR.

 

[DizDaD7]

Just sort of a general question. When discussions come up about why to choose one resort over another, or negatives about value resorts/POFQ, etc., the argument often comes up about the availability of TS restaurants. As in, this resort is better because the TS there is better. Or I would never stay there because they don't have a TS.

Is that really a big deal to a lot of people? I just never even think about it. We go in between lots of different resorts for dining options. And just because we stay at a resort with a TS doesn't necessarily mean we'll eat there. Or that we'll eat there more than once. We stayed in Wilderness Lodge last year because we really loved the resort. We didn't eat TS at the resort once! But we've been to Whispering Canyon several times in the past from other resorts.

I just don't see the need to plan my week-long stay around the one meal I might eat at that resort. Or do people eat at the same restaurant multiple times in one stay?

Like I said, just curious because I really don't understand this argument!

I'm not so sure it's in the majority that people base their decision on where to stay, but I'm sure it does way in peoples minds that having 1 or more good dining options help.

Everyones vacation styles are completely different from one another, so for some people that have a lot of resort/down time might not want to venture out....Some may want to eat specifically offsite, or @ other resorts...

For us, it would be a nice perk to have things close by, but it's not a necessity..I for one actually ENJOY Disney transportation (TBH) (Whether that's the bus,boat or monorail)So going to other resorts or parks is never an issue.

The one thing I might add though, is the difference from how we used to tour...Looking at our past stays, the earlier years w/out kids and when they were young, we basically were gung ho, RD to closing. The resort was a mere place to lay our heads...So not having TS wasn't a big deal...At the moment we own DVC & I'd say it would be very hard to stay at a value again,(other factors add to this as well)because the food court as an only option wouldn't cut it....Just sayin!!

 

[gillep]

Although it certainly isn't the deciding factor for me, I absolutely prefer to stay at a hotel that has a good TS restaurant, and preferably one that I can make a same day reservation. This is especially important to me if my stay is longer than about 4 nights, as then I am looking at a more relaxing trip and I like to option to just stay in and relax at the resort and have a good dinner. In January we were staying for a week at AKL and we ate at all 3 of the TS restaurants using last minute same-day bookings (we had a Jiko reservation for Sunday but switched it to Saturday last minute). The time that this was the most useful was in November when my husband broke his foot during our trip, we were celebrating my birthday and were staying at Yacht Club, so we switched birthday dinner to Yachtsman that day so that he wouldn't have to go far for dinner, and I wouldn't be missing out on a birthday meal.

 

[rosiebean]

Depends on what my plans are for each trip. For instance: my last trip, several in our party arrived at BC mid-afternoon but didn't plan on using park tickets until the next day. We were tired from traveling, so even though we ventured out late afternoon to Trader Sam's for drinks, we *really appreciated* being able to go to dinner later at a TS option within a few minutes of our room vs eating elsewhere and having to take transportation back to BC. Throughout that trip, we used dining options in the BC/YC/BWI area and our larger party would have been miserable doing QS or heading out to another resort or park to sit down and have a decent meal.

A few years ago at POR, we had a similar experience. Headed over to DS on the boat for dinner as people arrived in the afternoon but weren't going to the parks until the following day. Ate at Boatwright's before getting ready to head out to MNSSHP...we would have been miserable lining up for QS and going to another location wasn't an option given our plans that night.

Everyone is different. Having TS nearby isn't something I demand every trip, but yes, it's a consideration depending on what I and my party are doing each trip.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

It's usually not very important, especially if there is at least a decent QS within the resort. The one time I find it important is if the weather conditions are unusually bad. For example, In 2004 I stayed at WL during Hurricane Jeanne. Because of the hurricane, no one could leave the resort at all for one day. Having two TS restaurants in the resort, under those conditions, was wonderful. Even though WDW doesn't have hurricanes very often, even with a normal rain one might prefer to dine in the hotel restaurant instead of going out in the rain. With good weather it would be less of a big deal, but as others have said, it is a nice convenience to be able to walk back to your room after dinner at your hotel. Still, I wouldn't typically have several meals at the same restaurant on one trip. I might have two meals at the same restaurant, perhaps a dinner and a breakfast. More than two meals at the same restaurant on one trip would be unlikely.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Resort TS actually definitely is a consideration for us. We don't like having only a food court to rely on. Even if we never use the TS option, and granted you can always hop on the bus to DS anyway, we like knowing there's always a backup resort dining option for when the food court starts to get old for us. That's one of the biggest reasons we only ever stayed at the values one time--we felt a bit trapped, foodwise. (And why we love Coronado Springs!)

 

[Parker Clan]

That doesn't factor into our decision making when planning a trip but it was definitely a bonus this year at Grand Floridian... We ate at 1900 Park Fare twice and it was convenient to just walk five mins to eat. We could even change after dinner for the parks or shopping or whatever we were doing.
But again this was not the reason we chose to stay there!

 

[mamamelody2]

It's not important for us at all. We like to stay at the parks most of the time. When we return early, we prefer to have a quick bit at the food court, then spend our time at the pool. I just think table service meals take too long (and are too expensive if you don't have free dining.)

 

[melana]

I have never based my decision on which resort to pick based on whether or not they have TS. As long as it has some kind of food option I am fine. I pick my stay based on if I have stayed there before and does it look comfortable and how much walking I am going to have to do to get from point A to point B... LOL.
For example I picked BLT for my next stay and the places at the Contemporary really do not interest me at this time (could change before my trip) so I will more than likely not be eating TS there.

 

[Farro]

We usually stay at Beach Club for our trips, so we consider Epcot table services part of our hotel, due to being so close. We never actually ate in the restaurants at Beach or Yacht Club, didn't find them appealing. Although we did eat at Crews Cup in the Yacht Club, loved it.

This time we are staying at Polynesian and I have to say we are pretty excited to take advantage of have both O'hana and Kona in our hotel. Stuff ourselves at a O'hana dinner, grab a drink at Tambu Lounge, then meander back to our room! Or get up and only walk a bit to breakfast in Kona. And the monorail will make it easy to go eat at the other monorail resorts for dinner/breakfast.

 

[vinotinto]

It's usually not very important, especially if there is at least a decent QS within the resort. The one time I find it important is if the weather conditions are unusually bad. For example, In 2004 I stayed at WL during Hurricane Jeanne. Because of the hurricane, no one could leave the resort at all for one day. Having two TS restaurants in the resort, under those conditions, was wonderful. Even though WDW doesn't have hurricanes very often, even with a normal rain one might prefer to dine in the hotel restaurant instead of going out in the rain. With good weather it would be less of a big deal, but as others have said, it is a nice convenience to be able to walk back to your room after dinner at your hotel. Still, I wouldn't typically have several meals at the same restaurant on one trip. I might have two meals at the same restaurant, perhaps a dinner and a breakfast. More than two meals at the same restaurant on one trip would be unlikely.

This was our experience at AKL during hurricane Matthew. It was nice to have dinner and breakfast at Boma.

 

[BabyFu18]

For me having a table service option at our resort is just a backup, maybe we will eat their or maybe not, but if it's storming or we don't feel well or just don't want to leave the resort for whatever reason it's nice to have an option to eat at your resort without it having to be quick service. I always want a good quick service location and a good table service location at hotels because I want the convenience of not having to leave the hotel if we so choose.

It's not make or break if we don't have it, but it is most preferred if possible!