Adjusting to "Disney dining"

[Lilsia]

If you are willing to eat at off times, late lunch/early dinner, then you will be able to walk up to most restaurants. Any of them that are not character meals should not be a problem, especially that time of the year. You say that you do not plan to be in the parks at dinner time, what are your plans for every evening? If you have all of this extra time, you can easily go to Disney Springs or to one of the resorts to eat.

 

[smiths02]

I think I am most confused about dinner because I don't expect us to still be in the parks by then. So maybe plan on a table service lunch in the parks on most days so that we can do a more flexible quick service dinner?

With kids the ages of your kids, that worked best for us for the most part.
We did something light in the room (bowl of cereal, protein bar, etc.) and then either booked a really late breakfast (if we wanted a character meal) or a lunch.
We generally like to rope drop and get a lot accomplished in the morning. This meal would give us a rest, then have our FP rides lined up. Then we would go from there.

We made a mistake one trip doing this early morning park stuff, thinking we would leave the park at 1pm and then rest and eat dinner at 6pm at a resort table service. Napping worked differently at Disney and no one really wanted to go back out to dinner, so it was not fun.

I will say that we had a couple of days that we wanted to be later in the parks, but we would only do that once or twice during a trip and we would sleep-in and have a later start in general and that worked for us as well.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While we wing it a bit more now that our kids are older, we went very structured with our meals at WDW when they were young. I would go into our trips with everything booked and a rough idea of how and what and when. At least when you're planning for younger kids, I found that more of the meals we were looking at were about experiences. So, the perspective became more about getting into what was fun and also well timed vs. trying to figure out what I wanted to eat 6 months in advance. For my kids' first trip, I knew princess meals would be a must for my older one, Pooh meals for my younger one, at least one fireworks view meal, a Mickey meal to ensure we met him in a non-line setting, etc. I've seen too many people turned away from walk ups (including myself) to bank on that...especially for anything you really want to do, but as the kids have gotten older, we will look for things with last minute availability and book day of or day before. And you can still bring some food/snacks...or have it delivered...so you have stuff on you for any of the in between stuff. While we like pre-park opening character meals to get all of that meet and greet stuff out of the way before parks open, there have been plenty of mornings where everyone has had fruit and cereal bars and just hit the parks. Ultimately, I don't go into the trips trying to maintain all of our norms since one destination may require more flexibility to really make the most of it.

 

[HarleenQ]

You can always check the app around the time you're starting to get hungry and see what's available. I'm sure they'll be some last minute options for TS, and if not, just grab a QS.

If you're not pressed about where/when to eat you can totally navigate Disney the same way you're accustomed to other vacations.

 

[disneyseniors]

I am in the early stages of planning a trip in Jan/Feb 2021, but I can't get my head around "Disney dining". It seems like the way we would typically handle dining on vacation is impossible at Disney, so I'm not sure what will work for our family.

There are four of us, kids will be 3 and 5. Typically we would either do:
-Table service breakfast at our hotel (early to beat the crowds), light lunch of grocery items, early table service dinner close to hotel; or
-Light breakfast of grocery items, early table service lunch, delivery or quick service dinner close to hotel

We almost never make reservations, especially since we eat a bit earlier than the crowds. Generally we research a few options so we have something in mind, and then just go with whatever fits best when we're hungry. I know we can still do this with quick service meals at Disney, but I really value the table service meals as a bit of a break and a chance to sit down and be served!

I probably shouldn't be worried about dining a year in advance, but I think it may influence where we choose to stay (currently thinking French Quarter) and of course our budget.

If you have similar non-Disney dining preferences, what do you do at Disney?

There is no table service at POFQ. There is table service at POR. You might want to check that out. They also have the best quick service I've encountered at WDW.

 

[ajwilhorn]

If you are flexible on where you want to eat, there should be opportunities to reserve dining even while you are there for TS dining. We were just there the week after marathon weekend and booked Beaches & Cream and Nine Dragons on the day of. I'm sure some of the "premier" TS places fill up, but there are options.

 

[TEM1234]

You can’t cancel an ADR the day of, but you can move it to another day if you had a loose plan and it totally imploded. (With 4 small children that has happened to us before, especially with a TS dinner after a long day of parks.)

 

[disneygirlsng]

That's great to know. I'm not one to completely no show on a reservation but a 24 hour cancelation doesn't leave for much flexibility.

You don't necessarily have to cancel 24 hours in advance. You can always modify the reservation to any day in the future and then cancel. I've done this up until about 30 minutes before an ADR I had booked, works like a charm.

 

[loves to dive]

I see no problem with doing it the way you always do. We never, ever, ever make ADRs more in advance than day of. I just hop on MDE while we are walking around the park and find what's available and we go from there. Depending on where you are staying a table service breakfast shouldn't be a problem. We always have one at Dolphin at Fresh Market the day we leave, no ADRs needed. The beauty of booking ADRs on the fly is if you want a TS lunch, you can usually find an early or later one. TS supper, I've had no problem finding them. Now, we don't do character meals or buffets but I have seen both pop up when looking. They key is to be flexible. Quick easy breakfast in your room, no problem. Pack little boxes of cereal and boy milk once you get there. Or whatever else you tend to eat for breakfast.

 

[DisLiss]

My main dilemma is that apart from a restaurant or two I'm not too fussed about where we eat, but I don't want to be stuck without a table service option when I need one. I guess I have to plan way in advance anyway and just cancel 24 hrs out if needed.

We actually have done well with making same day ADRs, but I hesitate to suggest that to others because A.) We always get hoppers so we have a lot of flexibility, and B.) We always go the same general time of year, so I feel really out of touch with the demand for TS restaurants other times of year.

 

[sapphirerose915]

An option we used is the landrys card. On our AK day you can use it to get seating without a reservation at yak & yeti And/Or rainforest cafe.
This can also be utilized at disney springs with the rainforest cafe there and/ or trex cafe.
It cost $25 for the card but you get $25 off your 1st meal, so it's free in reality!!

 

[Griffin11]

We made a mistake one trip doing this early morning park stuff, thinking we would leave the park at 1pm and then rest and eat dinner at 6pm at a resort table service. Napping worked differently at Disney and no one really wanted to go back out to dinner, so it was not fun.

This is exactly what I think will happen to us, I definitely want to be flexible with our late afternoons/evenings.

 

[MomOTwins]

The thing that is different about Disney vacations for us is that at a beach hotel or other vacation, the best time to be active and out doing things is the middle of the day and afternoon, whereas at Disney World, that is the WORST time to be at the parks--the best times to be at the parks are first thing in the morning before the lines get long, and evenings when again the crowds and heat taper off and their are nighttime fireworks shows at the parks. Midday is just a bit hot crush of people and long lines everywhere.

As a result, we find ourselves eating a quick breakfast, spending all morning through lunch at the parks, going back to the hotel afternoon for downtime, and then back to the parks around 4/5pm for dinner and evening entertainment. Which means all our lunch and dinners are a the parks; meaning we either do quick service or have an ADR. The few times we have opted to a resort MDR, it is too late by the time we are done to hoof it all the way back to the park, which always takes much longer than you'd think.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

I am in the early stages of planning a trip in Jan/Feb 2021, but I can't get my head around "Disney dining". It seems like the way we would typically handle dining on vacation is impossible at Disney, so I'm not sure what will work for our family.

To really confuse the issue... Ha
With little ones that age being that you will likely be at the resort at random times, you may come out ahead money wise staying Club Level at Gran Destino Tower. They say the breakfast is great and the selections of both lunch and dinner have received good reviews as well. Something to think about.
CRS has some really nice food options in Toledo and 3 Bridges Grill out on the lake.

 

[DrunkJam]

To really confuse the issue... Ha
With little ones that age being that you will likely be at the resort at random times, you may come out ahead money wise staying Club Level at Gran Destino Tower. They say the breakfast is great and the selections of both lunch and dinner have received good reviews as well. Something to think about.
CRS has some really nice food options in Toledo and 3 Bridges Grill out on the lake.

Actually Club Level might be a good option! Then you could do TS meals IF you wanted, but, no one would be going hungry and if you just want a quiet place to sit with food, it's there whatever time you want it (in your resort of course)

 

[PollyannaMom]

I think I am most confused about dinner because I don't expect us to still be in the parks by then. So maybe plan on a table service lunch in the parks on most days so that we can do a more flexible quick service dinner?

We did something light in the room (bowl of cereal, protein bar, etc.) and then either booked a really late breakfast (if we wanted a character meal) or a lunch.

We leaned toward brunch/lunch time for TS when DS was little too. I liked that AC and downtime after a busy morning in the parks, and then we could play the afternoon/evening by ear.

My main dilemma is that apart from a restaurant or two I'm not too fussed about where we eat, but I don't want to be stuck without a table service option when I need one. I guess I have to plan way in advance anyway and just cancel 24 hrs out if needed.

You really only have to plan way out if there are certain places you especially want. There's generally something available on shorter notice if you're flexible. So book those couple you really care about, and then use the MDE app to get more when you're there.

One other thought, it's a year away, so your little one's schedule may change a lot between now and then.

 

[disneyseniors]

An option we used is the landrys card. On our AK day you can use it to get seating without a reservation at yak & yeti And/Or rainforest cafe.
This can also be utilized at disney springs with the rainforest cafe there and/ or trex cafe.
It cost $25 for the card but you get $25 off your 1st meal, so it's free in reality!!

I hate to ask a dumb question, but I've heard a lot about Landry's on here and am intrigued. But I don't know where to get one? Is there an online site or a restaurant you have to go to and get one? I honestly don't know, but it sounds like a good alternative.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

I hate to ask a dumb question, but I've heard a lot about Landry's on here and am intrigued. But I don't know where to get one? Is there an online site or a restaurant you have to go to and get one? I honestly don't know, but it sounds like a good alternative.

There is never a dumb question! Ha Lots of dumb answers, but never a dumb question! LOL
Link: https://www.landrysselect.com/

 

[RamblingMad]

The challenge is booking dining before FPs. This is where things fall apart for me. Trying to figure out where I’ll be for both. This is especially hard when you can’t get FPs.

 

[sapphirerose915]

The challenge is booking dining before FPs. This is where things fall apart for me. Trying to figure out where I’ll be for both. This is especially hard when you can’t get FPs.

Same.. I feel like all of my plans change right after the 60 day mark...