Number of meals during a trip question....

[megan4777]

I was just wondering how many sit down meals everyone here usually has during a trip. Actually, while I'm asking....
Do you split counter (and snacking) with sit down, or do more of one of the other.
I have some ideas of where I'd like to eat on our next trip and am curious as to what everyone does.
Thanks

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You will find many differing opinions on here. Personally, we always have at least 2 sit-downs a day, that I book a PS for in advance. We think dining is a big part of the experience. My DS(12) never asks what park we're going to the next day, but he always asks where I have our PS's for. I've trained him well!

 

[bekkiz]

On the last two trips (one with my best friend, the other my honeymoon), we scheduled 1-2 sit downs a day. I love to eat, and I really love to eat at WDW

For this next trip, as we're with 5 people, and trying to keep costs down, we're scheduling 0-1 sit downs per day. I know we'll eat at Chef Mickey's for Breakfast, Boma and HDDR for dinner, and perhaps Nine Dragons for lunch (request of my cousin). Other than that, we're sticking to counter service for the 6 days. It's a little easier that way, and obviously a lot cheaper!

 

[skuttle]

We LOVE to eat out, so we always have at least one sit-down a day. Sometimes two if we do a big breakfast somewhere (character or spoodles).

 

[hezreck]

We are there for 7 days this Dec. I have scheduled only 5 sit down meals. One for each of the first 5 days and the last two days we are winging it. Might try Boma one of those days since we are staying at AKL.

I like to have one big meal a day and snack the reast of the time.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We have found that if we have a large breakfast (love Spoodles on the Boardwalk) we can skip lunch except for a snack. This way we have two sit down meals with PS for dinner only. This has worked very well for us in the past. The only time we don't do this if we are going to EM at the Studios or Epcot. Don't want a full stomach before RnR or TOT or MS.

 

[goofy4tink]

We have at least one sit-down meal a day, especially during the hotter months. Since we stay at BWVs now, we don't do as many breakfasts as we used to do. We have those in our room and then a snack for lunch and sit-down for dinner. But, having a late breakfast somewhere, then a light snack around 1 p.m. and a big dinner after 5-6, is a great way to go.

I always have one PS for each day. If I change my mind when we get to WDW, I just stop by Guest Services and cancel for that day.

 

[CamColt]

We usually do 1 sit down and 1 counter service per day. the rest of the food is snacks, drinks by the pool, or we get the kids something at the food court. Sometimes it works out to 2 sit downs a day though.

 

[Chicago526]

I like to do one sit down a day, minimum. It's just nice to be able to sit still and have someone wait on you. You don't have to wait in line, you don't have to grab your own napkins and ketchup, and you have a lot more in the way of menu options.

For this trip, we are doing two sit downs per day on most days. We'll have room service for breakfast (so I guess that's sit down!) and a dinner PS, leaving lunch open so we can just eat where and when we want.

 

[pixiedust23]

I do quick breakfast in the room, counter or poolside for lunch, and sit down for dinner. They give you so much food at a sit down meal that there is no way I could eat more than that, esp since I hate to waste food.

 

[Brian Noble]

We probably have 2 sit-down meals every three days or so. In a typical week, maybe four or five. We usually don't do breakfast, as that is prime park time. Often we'll do a very late lunch when everyone is tired and needs a break.

It really depends on you and your group. Are you eaters? Riders? Show-goers? Strollers? We are riders, followed closely by show-goers.

I'm an eater, but am mostly alone. For example, this summer, DW and I were in Lausanne, CH for a business trip. We took a dinner cruise around Lake Geneva in a fully-restored paddlewheeler. I thought of it as a wonderful four course gourmet meal with a romantic atmosphere and nice setting. My wife thought it was a beautiful sunset cruise through the French and Swiss alps that had some decent food. All in one's perspective, I guess!

 

[MissionMouse]

Our last trip we made 2 table service PS each day...typically lunch and dinner. On a few days we had 3PS for table service...Chef Mickey's Breakfast, etc. We ensured we had the right amount of time between PS to ensure we would be hungry. With a 1 and 3 year old making table service PS arrangements provided us a level of break from the day that a counter service dining choice could never be able to provide.

Breakfast was typically simple breakfast items we bought at the resort snack bar or grill that we ate either in our room or within the outside dining area next to the marina with a partial view of the castle.

We have traveled before eating more at the counter service restaurants and it seemed a little more stressful since you have to deal with all the lunch or dinner rush. Standing in line, placing an order, paying, waiting, then searching for a table to eat, only to find most tables and chairs packing you in like sardines...this really takes away from the day in our opinion....and all of this just for junk food at $$$. Younger children may start to act accordingly, so we find the small difference in price to be worth it and we get better food, atmophere, and service.

It does require that you make realistic plans so your dining choices do not conflict with your park plans and time utilization (ride and show times, travel times to rides, parks,and restaurants, etc).

Also, don't forget parades that may be occurring during the day which you may need to navigate through which can cause a delay in making your destination. We experienced this at Epcot in 2000 with a large family gathering in Italy...we felt like rushing salmon swimming upstream, but we made our PS time and after all of that we were made to wait too.

 

[oogieboogie]

We'll be down in Jan for 9 days and so far we have PSs for:

Marrakesh - lunch
Ohana - dinner
WCC - dinner
CRT - lunch
Le Cellier - lunch

We'll also do:
Beaches & Cream - lunch/dinner
Pepper Market - dinner

We typically do 1 sit down a day either dinner or lunch. We're not big breakfast eaters, so that's out. If we do a sit-down at lunch, we'll do something light for dinner. Conversely if we do sit down at dinner, we'll eat at Casey's for lunch or just munch our way around.

 

[Harambe]

It seems we average about 5 PS's a trip. That may include a dinner show and probably one character meal.

However, on our next trip, we will be there in steamy August, so I am trying to plan on a midday meal in the parks (could be sit-down or counter service) that will supply us with a good meal, air conditioning, and an hour or more of relaxation.

Just remember to not be a slave to your PS's. As goofy4tink said, it is easy to cancel a PS if you don't feel like what you had planned.

 

[jl3614]

We are in the minority - especially for the population of people who would be posting on this board. Meals are not a huge priority for our Disnay trips.

Unless you are counting Food Courts as sit-down places, we probably only eat at 3 sit-downs in a week trip. On an average trip we usually eat one sit-down in one of the parks, one sit-down at a resort or DTD, and one sit-down offsite. One of these is usually a character breakfast.

 

[Disneyof3]

Meals are apart of our trip but not are top priority. Las time we went we made only 1 PS for 4 days. From reading this board for over a year now, our upcoming trip is for 5 days and 2 PS. The rest are counter-service and breakfast in the room everyday except for our breakfast/brunch character meal. With 5 in our family I find it is too $ for us to do alot of the sit down meals. This year might help with the CAN $ up.

Just another opinion with a family of 5.

 

[fizz13]

We are going in January for 2 weeks and I have 13 PS arrangements. I made a list of all the restaurants I did not want to miss, then tried to fit them on to my itinerary. I had a list of about 20 so trimmed this down. I have 2 days where there are 2 sit- downs in a day but the others are spaced out.
Chances are when we are there, it may be that we are enjoying an activity at PS time and maybe miss it but that is ok. it is enough for me that I have plans for all my picks if I choose.
Hope this helps,
Claire

 

[TwingleMum]

We usually plan 1 PS a day. The rest of the time we either grab snacks or do counter service. But I have 3 kids under 4 yrs old so alot depends on who your traveling with.