Would you do a counter service meals only trip???

[JodyTG]

Hello everyone. My husband's parents are going to WDW with us this Christmas and they're not wanting to spend a whole lot of money on food. They'd rather spend the money on more (unneeded) souveniers for the kids. So, I was wondering if anyone has taken a trip where they only ate counter service food and if so, how was it? I, personally, don't have a problem with doing this since my family has been there / done that in regards to all the table service restaurants.

I figured that, if we do this, they should plan on about $15.00 per meal. (Does this sound right?) We'll most likely be eating breakfast in our DVC villa so it would only be lunch and dinner.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Bev J]

There are now so many good CS that you could do it and not be eating burgers all the time.. Sunshine Seasons in the Land you could eat here several times and not have the same meal twice. Wolfgang Puck DTD has wonderful CS food, Cosmic Rays at MK has good chicken/ribs and there are good salads and sandwiches available at lots of places. For $15 for a meal you probably could easily eat at some TS for Lunch, share an appitizer for the table. We have eaten at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch and not spent $15pp, also Rose and Crown there are several offereings for under this price. Look at the menus and you will find the prices and food choices so you can make your descisions...

Bev

 

[kat3668]

For a little more you could do the meal plan.. its only $39.
Much better deal in my opinion.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

If my family and I ever did a trip to WDW where we would not go offsite, then yes we could do counter service meals only. A lot of their counter service locations have a great selection of food on their menus, plus we are not the type of people who plan all our meals at 180 days out. So that is why counter service meals would work best for us.

The only restaurant in WDW we would go to at least once or twice is the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, because we can walk-in at anytime and we always go early so we never wait that long for a table.

 

[tinkandpan]

You could certainly do it. I'd use the menu's to plan ahead. Some of the counter service meals might wind up costing more than going to a TS so check out certain locations. Def try the Land Food Court.

 

[Alisha's mom Sarah]

I admit I've been to Disney 7-8 times and I have eaten at a grand total of 1 sit down restaurant.. You can certainly do Disney without TS.. That being said, I'm super excited to eat a sit down meal every day this time..

 

[pumba]

a year ago we didnt have any ressies and didnt think we were going to be without food......and we only were able to get to Biergarten once and the rest were cs food........we enjoyed ourselves and had good food....I did miss out on my favorite restaurants but we were not going to stress about it.....This year we made sure we had what we wanted...5 ressies ...and we still enjoyed the cs food too....

 

[DonaldTDuck]

couldn't if I were going to MGM. Counter service is weak and the Prime Time Cafe cannot be missed.

 

[daisyduck123]

We'd never even consider a counter-service only trip.

We always get the dining plan & always have a dinner ADR for each night of our 8-9 day trips.
I like knowing that I've got an ADR & not having to worry about where we'll be having dinner, will we find a table, etc.
We like sitting down & being waited on.

 

[lynninpa]

Just a humble suggestion, but maybe you could do 1 character Breakfast and/or one TS lunch and then the rest CS? Just a thought!

 

[Eeyore2003]

I would miss my favorite restaurants, but it certainly could be done and with good food.

We stay at the BWV also and just to recommend the Boardwalk Bakery for sandwiches and fruit plates. Very good.

With EPCOT right there, you could always go over and get counter service from various countries.

Tusker House is really good, but they might be character by then.

And then although the line does get long, Beaches & Cream is of course right across the way.

If you're going to do this, BWV is a nice place to stay with allot of food variety counter service choices around. Also, there's Spoodles Pizza Window.

 

[Eeyore2003]

OOOpppsss. Sorry, saw that you said DVC villa, not BWV!!! If it's Saratoga Springs, there's going to be allot of variety right there also with Artist Palette and DD.

If you're going to be at VWL or OKW, well, then it might be a little more tricky as far as convenient food variety.

 

[TripTime]

In my four or five trips I have only eaten one sit down meal and have never been disappointed in the quality of food. I usually eat breakfast in the room and probaly spend another $20 per person per day for food. This is much cheaper than the DDP and allows me time for shows and rides. This being said, next trip I'm spending the extra money for the DDP plan. But you absolutley can go with just counter service and be happy.

 

[kldmom2000]

That's how we always did it with our parents-we did around 8 or 9 trips to Disney (Ft. Wilderness) as a kid and not once did we ever do a TS meal (I think that's why I'm making up for it on all of my trips w/ DH! ) We would normally eat @ the cabin for breakfast in the AM and then Dad would bring sandwiches into the park and we'd have those for lunch and then @ dinner we'd get a CS meal....

 

[The Sweetness]

I admit I've been to Disney 7-8 times and I have eaten at a grand total of 1 sit down restaurant.. You can certainly do Disney without TS.. That being said, I'm super excited to eat a sit down meal every day this time..

We've had similar exp ourselves. More than 8 times, and never a TS more than twice on a trip. Trips usually lasted 4-6 days. Never went hungry. But back then, there wasnt quite as much variety (seems to me) and we DID get tired of seeing french fries twice a day

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Absolutely we would do CS only. DH & I love fine dining, sports bar dining and a good burger now and then, too

We're actually seeing more creativity and theming from CS right now than we are from TS -- with the exception of a few of the signature dining restaurants. And even with the signature, the portions are getting smaller and the price is going up; TS is proving to be a headache with long waits even with an ADR and selling out months in advance; and -- depending on your vacation style -- sitting in a packed restaurant with servers shuffling you in and out quickly like cattle isn't very relaxing, nor "vacation-like."

We just returned from an eight-day trip. DH & I spend about 40 days a year in O-Town at theme parks. For the first time in, gosh, probably 20 years, we bought our dinner from Casey's. Yep, grabbed a hot dog -- it was huge! -- squirted on our favorite toppings, got an icy cold fountain beverage, walked outside and found a seat overlooking the castle. Fresh air, the smell of popcorn, kids' faces in awe of what was around them, Mickey balloons ... it was one of the most magical meals we've had at MK in a long time. And it took about 20 minutes to enjoy with no rushing, no planning six months ago, no waiting -- well, about ten minutes for the folks in front of us (our wait at Jiko on the same trip was 40 minutes past our ADR time).

Eight years ago, DH & I would have an ADR every day for TS on our trips, sometimes two. We'd eat CS as a last resort. Now it's become pretty much the opposite.

MGM is the only place that we won't eat CS, and it's one of the few ADRs we make -- or we just eat a big breakfast, skip lunch altogether and grab an ice cream and head somewhere else for a big early dinner.

 

[cobbler]

Our upcoming unexpected extended October trip will be this way.

We are getting of the Member cruise and added 3 nights to Disney but we only have one sit down meal reserved, a breakfast the day we leave and the rest we would figure we would wing it with counter service to save some cash.

I think it will be ok, because there are a lot of pretty good resorts with some good food courts.

 

[Karnak]

No, I would not do a "counter service only" trip to WDW. That's because I never go back to my resort during the day, and I never park hop. (I consider both to be a waste of good park time, what with traveling back and forth, etc.) So, spending the day in one park means that I always also enjoy at least one table service meal. This makes for a nice rest break during the day.

But, as they say, "To each his own."

Enjoy.

 

[ellyn2000]

Back in the days of a much tighter budget we only ate CS and enjoyed every minute of it. We would sometimes budget for one character meal during the trip. I agree with the poster that stated there are so many choices now that you won't have to choose between a hamburger and chicken strips for every meal.

 

[QueenGoblin]

If it were just me and my DDs, that is totally how I would go. We are grazers, so we'd be happy with a snack in the mornings and splitting a CS meal or two through the day in addition to some more snacks

Unfortunately, my DH is the skinniest of us, but he eats more than I have ever seen anyone eat, ever. It is a freak show. So, to keep Daddy happy we need to hit the buffets on pretty much a daily basis, and once you do that, you might as well be on the dining plan. It okay though, we just do the character buffets which keeps little ones happy and saves us from having to spend time waiting to see the characters in the parks.

Planning your day around ADRs you made weeks if not months ago when you are traveling with little ones who have their own agendas is not always the easiest thing. But it is better than dealing with a hungry and therefore grumpy and headachey DH.