Adjusting to "Disney dining"

[Griffin11]

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.

The only Disney resort I've stayed at was Coronado Springs 10+ years ago for a conference, and I really liked it. I would love to try Gran Destino Tower but the big negative for me is the lack of bathtub. But maybe I can spend the next year convincing my kids to like showers instead of baths

 

[Deb & Bill]

We just got home last night from a short three night trip to WDW. We only had one ADR made ahead of time (last morning at Grand Floridian Café for breakfast), but ate at four other TS meals, two dinners and two breakfasts by making an ADR right before we decided to go eat. If you are going late Jan, you might be able to get by without making ADRs ahead of time. We only had the two of us and I had no problem getting an ADR a half hour before we wanted to eat. Now if you were talking about early January, it might not be so easy because of the holidays and the marathon. We made ADRs for both Chef Mickey's and Trails End about 30-60 minutes before we could get there. We made breakfast ADRs for the Wave and Olivia's about 45 minutes before we ate. Our two dinners were at 5PM and 7PM, breakfasts at 7:30AM and 8:15 AM.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

The only Disney resort I've stayed at was Coronado Springs 10+ years ago for a conference, and I really liked it. I would love to try Gran Destino Tower but the big negative for me is the lack of bathtub. But maybe I can spend the next year convincing my kids to like showers instead of baths

Yeah... Those pesky kids mess everything up!
Maybe just go dunk them in the pool in the morning and get it over with!

 

[Louis morrell]

I do make some reservations in advance but I have been very successful pulling a reservation using the app day of. You most likely will not get the most popular places but they are not always the best places to eat anyway. You just have to be a little flexible.

 

[rdaky]

We have done all sorts of Disney trips- everything from Dining Plan to zero table service, and I have to say it seems to be a more carefree trip when we minimize the TS reservations. Less planning your day and fast passes around a meal. So we take advantage of better counter service meals (there are good ones that aren't all cheeseburgers!) and we've also done what others have suggested: book a same day ADR at a Table Service only a couple of hours before a meal. In my experience there are plenty of options available even at the last minute.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Lots of ADRs open up last minute, so you should be able to find someplace to eat last minute but id be too worried about it so I always have ADRs 6 months in advance for peace of mind. We do breakfast in the room, eat quick service lunch (at off times to avoid the rush) and always do a TS meal that we ADRd 6 months in advance. It does suck having to guess where you’re going to want to eat half a year in advance but that’s the nature of the beast. I know what’s restaurants we like and which ones we wanna try so as long as I pick one of those I figure we’ll be happy with our meals.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

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?

You absolutely can make that work (to some extent). For breakfast, plan on eating at the food court (a quick service credit on the Disney dining plan), which opens at 6 am. Lunch is a bit difficult. You certainly can eat lunch at or near your resort, which we usually do, but will have to travel back there from the park. Then you can do a table service dinner at your hotel (which often won't require reservations) or make same-day reservations at the park you intend to visit. Reservations are only necessary for a few restaurants, many of which aren't even that good.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Hi OP,
When on vacation, we have the same dining style as you. What we love about Disney is we can keep that same style. Since our kids were the ages yours will be, we've only did a couple TS restaurants cuz there were a dozen other things the little ones would rather do than sit thru a hour and a half meal. Crystal Palace has always been a fav for us. There are many CS restaurants where you can enjoy a nice, cool atmosphere, get something not close to resembling a burger/fries/nuggets and have a nice dinner. Plus, you can share your meal with your kids!!!

I recommend choosing a resort that has a few dining options that fit your family. The monorail loop resorts are awesome (we now favorite the Poly) and we stayed at WL all the while the kids were growing up.

Some fav restaurants when our kids were ages yours will be:
Crystal Palace
50's Prime Time
Columbia Harbor House
Pecos Bill
Roaring Fork
Whispering Canyon

Enjoy!

 

[Griffin11]

Hi OP,
When on vacation, we have the same dining style as you. What we love about Disney is we can keep that same style. Since our kids were the ages yours will be, we've only did a couple TS restaurants cuz there were a dozen other things the little ones would rather do than sit thru a hour and a half meal. Crystal Palace has always been a fav for us. There are many CS restaurants where you can enjoy a nice, cool atmosphere, get something not close to resembling a burger/fries/nuggets and have a nice dinner. Plus, you can share your meal with your kids!!!

I recommend choosing a resort that has a few dining options that fit your family. The monorail loop resorts are awesome (we now favorite the Poly) and we stayed at WL all the while the kids were growing up.

Some fav restaurants when our kids were ages yours will be:
Crystal Palace
50's Prime Time
Columbia Harbor House
Pecos Bill
Roaring Fork
Whispering Canyon

Enjoy!

Thank you so much, great suggestions!

 

[deakam]

With children ages 3 and 5 are you looking to do character meet and greets? You usually get 5 characters per meal. With that being said character meals are nearly impossible to get into without a reservation. We do a table service meal everyday. Usually a late lunch or early dinner. We do it as a break from the heat. The character breakfasts are less expensive than the lunches and dinners but we don't do many table service breakfasts because breakfast food is all the same. We love the French Quarter. On the last trip we stayed there breakfast was coffee and beignets everyday.

 

[saraheliz]

When our kids were young, we only booked TS for breakfast (either PPO or last seating so we didn't lose touring time at park opening) or lunch (usually on the later side). We left dinners open, because we just didn't know how tired they'd be, where we'd end up, etc. We found that QS either in the parks or back in our room was sufficient, but that was before the time of MDE where you could hop on and reserve something if you really wanted to.
In spring 2018, I planned a very last minute (8 days out) trip for myself and my older girls during a relatively busy time (April). We ate several TS meals and had no trouble with reservations- none of them where character meals but there were certainly character meals available to book. And at least two of the TS meals I booked at a less preferable time but was able to keep an eye out up until a couple of hours before and ultimately edit it to a time that worked better for us. So, the availability was there. The ones I was able to edit weren't super popular restaurants (Beaches and Cream and The Plaza) but they worked well for us and we enjoyed them. It will all work out. If there are restaurants that are super important to you, book those ahead of time for sure, but the rest shouldn't be too tough if you don't have your heart set on too much.

 

[AngiTN]

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?

Why can't you dine that way?
It's what we always do.
I don't make an ADR before that morning and we never dine at QS at WDW, only TS.
We've dined at every location at Disney, except V&A

 

[Griffin11]

With children ages 3 and 5 are you looking to do character meet and greets? You usually get 5 characters per meal. With that being said character meals are nearly impossible to get into without a reservation. We do a table service meal everyday. Usually a late lunch or early dinner. We do it as a break from the heat. The character breakfasts are less expensive than the lunches and dinners but we don't do many table service breakfasts because breakfast food is all the same. We love the French Quarter. On the last trip we stayed there breakfast was coffee and beignets everyday.

Hoping to do a character meal or two. It's looking like those should be my only reservations and we can wing it for the rest.

 

[Griffin11]

Why can't you dine that way?
It's what we always do.
I don't make an ADR before that morning and we never dine at QS at WDW, only TS.
We've dined at every location at Disney, except V&A

Good to know, I thought it would be way more complicated. I guess it's only as complicated as you make it!

 

[AngiTN]

Good to know, I thought it would be way more complicated. I guess it's only as complicated as you make it!

Yes! People make dining way, way, WAY too complicated.
It's very easy and ADR are really easy to get. Heck, I got BOG lunch for Christmas day the afternoon before, for 4 of us
I read over and over and over again how people are complaining about being locked in to their plans 180 days away from their trip. I always think to myself, why are you doing that then? Nothing HAS to be done then. If it's stressful, causing discontent, then don't do it. Wait. I'm not sure I've ever planned a trip 180 days away. Ours are usually less than 60 days, or barely more than.

 

[nkereina]

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.

I'm not trying to be nitpicky, but I would add that if you are willing to eat at off times AND are flexible about where you eat, you can find a TS restaurant with availability. It was not our experience that we could walk up to most restaurants on our November trip. There was availability at off-times at some TS restaurants, but it was sparse and we needed to be open minded to trying new or less popular restaurants to find something. And we were a party of 2. I'm only bringing this up to help manage expectations.

 

[AngiTN]

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.

I would never suggest anyone try walk up to Disney restaurants.
You stand a VERY good chance of being turned away, even if they have an opening on the app. Some will not take walk ups, ever. Period.
Some of the contract places will but not all of them even. And why bother trying to memorize who is contract and who is Disney owned.
Open the app, make an ADR, even if it's only 10 min from now. Then you know you will get seated. Just remove the doubt. If you can't find a spot, then odds are they can't seat you. If you really want to go anyway, go ask. But you better have a back up in place.

 

[jdisnut]

It's about 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 3. A quick scan of Disney's website reveals that you could book lunch today for a party of 4 between 12:30 and 1:30 at, among other places, Liberty Tree Tavern, Skipper Canteen, The Plaza, Le Cellier, Biergarten, Chefs de France, Coral Reef, Garden Grill, Marrakesh, Rose & Crown, San Angel Inn, Teppan Edo, Brown Derby, Mama Melrose's, Tiffins and Tusker House. That list encompasses reasonably popular restaurants at all four parks -- for reservations in the next 90 minutes or so.

I bring that up to make a point: The urgency of making a dining plan is enormously overrated. Yes, there's no doubt that there are a handful of extremely popular locations that require advanced planning. If you want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table or 'Ohana or Be Our Guest or the new Star Wars cantina, you absolutely need to go through the process of logging on 180 days in advance and securing a spot.

But if you want to just make decisions over the course of the trip, you absolutely can do that. I know this because it's usually how my family travels. We've been there the week between Christmas and New Year's -- the busiest time of the entire year -- and will frequently log onto the app an hour or two before we want to eat and find plenty of reservations available at desirable restaurants around property. Can we eat at the absolute most popular places this way? No. But that's OK. You do not need to feel obligated to make reservations so far in advance. You'd be shocked what you can find the day of.

 

[nkereina]

I bring that up to make a point: The urgency of making a dining plan is enormously overrated. Yes, there's no doubt that there are a handful of extremely popular locations that require advanced planning. If you want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table or 'Ohana or Be Our Guest or the new Star Wars cantina, you absolutely need to go through the process of logging on 180 days in advance and securing a spot.

The only caveat would be during a free dining promotion. Because so many people have a dining plan where they have TS credits to use up, restaurants DO fill at that time making it difficult to book on the fly.

 

[Orionreplay]

I use up our ADRs fairly early around 6 months out just to get them onto something. I make sure I get the restaurants the whole family wants first and foremost. As we get closer to the trip, I'm always goofing around with reservations. With the Disney app these days, its so easy to play around.

But when we get to WDW, I start to change locations and reservations based on what is reality. Never mind all the planning. Here we are now. How do we feel? Where would we rather be? I gave up several ADRs on our last trip when I found other things available.