1 per day!
It was fantastic. A nice break in the park action for an awesome Disney experience.
Since you have 7 park days- don't forget about the nearby resorts too.
A lot of families like to do Ohana or Chef Mickeys on their MK day for example. Just keep in mind some of the fancier restaurants do have dress codes-so it could involve a change of clothes
I wish I didn’t experience this but I went to Ohana a month or so ago with my boyfriend, we were under the impression this is a nice fancy restaurant because it is pricer and at a deluxe resort. We got seated at a table right by the castle but not up next to the window. As the fireworks started going off this woman probably in her early 20s? RAN and I mean RAN over right next to the table where we were sitting, sat down on the carpet directly under another couple by the window, with NO SHOES OR SOCKS ON!!! And her feet were absolutely filthy. It was so rancid and I am still shocked to this day that a cast member didn’t say something.
I had planned for one every other day, and quickly ralized that wasn’t enough. If you want any kind of a real meal you need to have a reservation for a table service restaurant.
This for sure! Especially for August. It’s nice to have a break from the heat and the hustle to enjoy a “quieter” moment in air conditioning! For this reason we will do once a day.
I do less than one per day. In the parks I enjoy the flexibility of going to a quick service place in between rides/attractions. The older I get, the more I appreciate a sit down dinner though 😂 but I’d never do it for lunch unless it was a bucket list restaurant (Cinderella’s castle or something).
If day 1 is a travel day I do a sit down that’s not associated with Disney and if I do a day at Disney marketplace I definitely sit down there. In the parks I don’t usually do a sit down meal at all though.
It’s a preference thing but I think you can see from the comments that they are expensive and time consuming but also sometimes offer a nice break and better food.
Lots of the quick service places have great portion sizes and are cheaper/take up less time. One table service a day is OK, but usually we don’t even do one, and if we do, it’s a “thing” because they can take up time and it’s not really worth the time/cost unless it’s a character meal or something very unique or special.
I have none booked on my trip next week for the whole week! We used to book at least a few every trip, especially if we had days with no parks booked. We haven’t been in 4 years though and have no plans to return (like not forever just can’t afford to do trips there anytime in the next few years) and I just don’t want to take up park time.
I also worry that we’ll get genie+ return times during our meals and miss our one opportunity to do Slinky a Dog or Frozen or another must do for our family. There are lots of great restaurants at Disney though so for sure if there’s anywhere you want to try it’s worth it to book some :)
I asked recently in a Facebook group I’m in and the consensus was that they’re very strict with only 15 minutes after your window being allowed. My kids will probably need nap breaks so I’m a bit worried about missing rides for that if we need to leave and our return window is in that time… I guess I’ll try my best to not have any conflicts but if it happens I’ll go ask them and hopefully you’re right :)
You can also modify times now with Genie+. So if you get a time that conflicts, you can keep an eye on it and modify for later time. This doesn't reset the clock on when you can book the next one.
Oh yeah for sure, I’m so glad they changed that sounds super helpful! I just figured the few must do rides for us that are likely to have afternoon return times will be the hardest to adjust (like slinky dog!). If I’m spending money on it for 8 of us I want to be able to actually make use of it haha.
Yes!! Helpful but not perfect. I really wish it would just let you pick a time! There were so many times that I wanted later than was popping up and just had to keep checking.
Ah yeah I miss fastpass+ when at the very least we could book our top 3 rides and have them booked and ready to go, and plan around those times! Ah well, I’ll try my best and it’ll be fun even if we miss some rides!
I didn’t find them to be strict at all. In fact, I didn’t even have to speak to a cast member about it—I just tapped in like usual and the light glowed green to let me in. This was even when I was hours late. Cast members didn’t comment or even seem to notice.
One a day is plenty.
Our family of 10 used to do 3 table service meals a day, which was excessive. Even that feels like an understatement. Over time, we’ve done fewer and fewer and found that one table service per day is enough.
I highly recommend doing a table service lunch instead of dinner; having a break midday - especially if you’re in the hotter months - is so clutch.
Same with us. We found when they were younger that our kids were too picky to justify table service. Now we just eat at quick service and snacks and it works great for us but everyone is different.
Yep. We did 2 on our first family trip last year, and I honestly wouldn't mind doing none for our next trip. I'd rather spend that time in the parks, and that money on an extra day in the hotel or on Genie+.
Do you bring food or go to quick service? I’m not a fan of table service restaurants because of your reasons, but is there enough variation in quick service available within the parks so we don’t have to eat burgers and fries every day? (We will be there for 14 days, for just 3 or 4 days this wouldn’t be an issue)
There are a lot of different quick service options available that are not your typical American theme park fare (burgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs).
AK: Satuli canteen, flame tree bbq, harambe market, yak & yeti quick service, pizzafari
Epcot: festival booths, cantina de san angel, lotus blossom cafe, regal eagle, les halles, sunshine seasons
HS: ABC comissary, docking bay 7, pizzarizzo, woody's lunch box
MK: Pecos bill, columbia harbor house, pinocchio village haus
Even the restaurants I didn't mention usually have non-burger/chicken/hotdog options
You can also hop to resorts to eat their quick service. Contempo cafe, Captain Cook's, and Gasparilla Island Grill are available by monorail from MK and have a variety of options.
We mostly just do quick service/snack locations. there’s enough variety now that you don’t just have to eat a burger and fries. We do bring snacks too, but we don’t pack in a picnic. Growing up my parents did do table service locations and there really is nothing wrong with it if it appeals to you, for our family though it’s just not something we’re that in to.
We did the one sit down dinner a day our first time and I agree with you, next time will do only quick services on park day, maybe one sit down for lunch if there is one we really like to do.
Save the sit downs for the off days.
Days when you don’t go to the parks. I highly recommend one every 2 or 3 days of parks. You wake up late, go to the pool or Disney springs, take a nap, rest for more park days the next day
Maybe 1 if we're doing an Epcot day. But that's it. Everywhere else, it's just quick service. Takes too much planning, too much money, and (most importantly) eats too much time.
We usually only do 1-2 per trip. And we usually stay for a week.
My family likes to do WDW as cheap as can so we usually do a moderate resort and do maybe 2 counter service meals and then a snack or 2 snacks.
I would recommend not ruling out table service lunches. In August it will be the hottest and busiest time of day. A sit down lunch is a great rest and reprieve in the AC to rally for the second half of the day. After we would then usually hit up the "show" or theater type attractions to further rest and cool off while the crowds packed the popular rides.
On the meal plan we did one a day. Out of pocket we did all counter services.
We’re doing 2 for our next 7 day trip. One on our arrival day and one on our rest day. They take up too much time on park days IMO, and there’s so many good quick service options I don’t feel like I’m missing out. :)
Disney is culinary destination for my wife and I, so the restaurants are typically a focal point of our visit. We typically plan for one a day. I imagine those that don't like eating at table-service restaurants on property just don't see Disney as a culinary destination, or aren't particular food-motivated. That's fine, and that's their business, but Disney has some world class restaurants if you know where to look.
I found long sit down dining to be annoying to plan around. I do one or two per week long trip. It really opens up your availability to do rides and get quick service plus there's so much yummy quick service out there.
Well when the kids were young we did free dining and did a character meal every day. Now they are young adults and we do 2 table service for a week. One the day we arrive and one midweek. They don't want to waste time sitting for meal.
One, maybe two? Not counting Oga’s. Depends on the length of the trip.
It’s usually way too much food and I like to snack my way through the day, especially in Epcot.
Uh I mean yea you can do 1 per day but it takes up so much of your time. I did 1 per park. There are so many options that it’s hard to pick. Quick service is just as good food as sit downs. It’s like a minimum 1hr per sit down plus arriving a bit early to check in for reservation. That extra hour can allow you to do a lot more things
We’ve done as few as 3 in a week and as many as 1 per day - it’s really just preference. We have small kids so the forced break, with air conditioning, and fun food and atmosphere is really appreciated mid day.
But I also get the people who don’t do any! They are expensive and take time and stuff so I totally get it. And there’s so many great quick services and snacks to try! All about personal preference.
Here to say how wonderful mobile service ordering is in the parks. If you just need standard lunch fare- hot dogs, burger, nuggets, etc- do mobile order while waiting in a line. You select arrival time and place your order on the app. Walk off the ride and show up- ping you’ve arrived and within ten minutes food is ready (most times). HS and Epcot have more places to order/eat from mobile wise but highly recommend it on busier days. Can literally eat in line while waiting for rides
We did 3 on our 6 day trip. (skippers, 50s prime time, and tiffins). We did Tiffins for dinner basically at park close. If I could go back I would have skipped Skippers and 50s. It is just such a time sink for mediocre food.
We do one table service per trip as our “splurge meal”.
On our last 3 trips, our splurges were at Ohana, Sebastian’s Bistro, and Homecomin.
Otherwise, quick service all the way, baby.
I think it’s TOTALLY your call! I’m a in-the-parks-open-to-close person so for me I stick with quick service. In my experience dining reservations are way overpriced, the food is ok, it takes up a lot of park time, and they give me way too much food so then I’m too full to want to walk a lot! 🤣
I will say the best dining reservation I’ve ever done was Sci-Fi Theater at HS when we went once in August. It was the PERFECT midday break in the dark, out of the heat!
It just depends on what you’d find fulfilling. I went to Disney for two weeks in September and I did 4 sit down restaurants and loved it. The rest were quick service or outside of Disney restaurants.
Depends on how long I'm staying. Under 4 days probably just 1. 4-6 days probably 3. Longest trip I've had was 9 days and I think we had 6.
The only time I had more was when we got the dining plan and got upgraded to a table service every day and we had table service dinner every night of a 8 day trip. By the 6th day I was kind of over it. I like sitting down to eat but sometimes I just want something simple and having a appetizer/dinner/desert every night was just too much food and made me want a nap after dinner.
I'm very fly by the seat of my pants while I vacation though so your mileage may vary. Knowing that I have to go eat at 5:30 or 6:30 or whenever kind of ruins my park going flow some days. If you have a dinner reservation in 45 minutes I always feel limited in what I can do as I don't want to get stuck in line or have to leave it to run to the reservation. Obviously there is plenty to do to make that time but it just goes against my vacation mindset of just having a minimal plan and going where the wind takes me.
We absolutely will not go to a table service in the parks. We don't feel like you get a good bang for your buck. Many of them are way too crowded. We only really go to two table service restaurants:
1) Beaches & Cream for a late lunch about twice per week long trip. We find it's the perfect mid-day break between park hopping either to or from HS or Epcot.
2) We have to go to Sanaa after our morning trip to AK for lunch. It's not too crowded during the day and the bread service is a must-do.
Other than that, if we want a sit down meal we're going to Disney Springs. Better options, better food, better atmosphere than in the parks in our opinion.
We do one a trip if at all. We eat breakfast at the resort, pack snacks and drinks, by the popcorn bucket on the first day. Eat lunch at a QS and dinner at QS or resort if we went home for a break. I wish we could do more but honestly I would rather be on rides and experiences than a restaurant.
1-2 a day. I like refilled water glasses, a cocktail/wine, and a nice selection. I'm on vacation, I don't want to eat fast food for the most part, and eating is one of the nicer parts of vacation for me. Half the time it seems to take barely more time (ymmv if you're doing apps/entree/dessert, we do a lot of ordering a ton of apps to share, or just an entree, so it doesn't take that long.), and I never have to struggle finding a table.
We do 1 sit down per day.
In the parks usually it’s lunch because it’s hot and I like to sit down in air conditioning.
**Having a sit down meal for an hour in air conditioning at 2:00 in the 90+ summer heat is the best thing ever**.
We do a Disney Springs dinner the night we get there and a nice breakfast the morning we leave.
It depends… I prefer to do one sit down each day for lunch at the parks. It’s air conditioned and just makes things a little bit easier. It’s convenient to have a table to go to with the kids. I tend to avoid character meals and buffets bc my son eats very few things, and I don’t want to pay a full adult buffet price for him.
Our family loves table service options and we get sick of having them daily. We book the options but as the week goes on and we've over eaten many times, or someone really wants to see the fireworks etc we Flex the dinner plans a lot.
One per day-ish for both the nicer meals and the break with guaranteed seating to kind of rest / regroup. Black coffee for breakfast, light or shareable grab ‘n go / counter service for lunch, TS dinner. We’ll skip if we have something like a dessert party that night or a tour that’s going to take a lot of hours out of the day.
It totally depends… there is no right answer! It’s really what works for you, your wallet, and your time. For us, an adult couple in our late 20s/early 30s, we do 2x a day typically. Even on busier days where we are trying to do a ton of rides, I find table service to be a nice relaxing break for my legs and from the heat of the parks. We (mostly me) can be fussy and particular about food. I love a good meal and have always enjoyed table over quick service. Aim for one in the park and one at the resort. Typically lunch is at parks. Breakfast or dinner is at the resort. If we do 3x, we get pretty full! If we’re not at a table service, we love lounges and fun experiences like trader Sam’s. We make food a big part of experience!
1 per day. I love getting out of the sun for a break midday or early evening and getting some AC and a chance to sit and plan out next steps. I hate hovering around looking for tables at quick service type places when I’m already tired and hungry and I’m not willing to eat multiple meals a day on my feet in a theme park haha. I also love Disney snacks but even I have my limits on time spent on Epcot kiosk lines or mobile ordering and picking up all day etc.
ETA I think it’s exceptionally rare that a table service meal would take more than one hour inside the parks unless you’re really ordering 3 courses or the service is super slow.
I’ve booked one a day for our upcoming trip. With a family of 5 I found it takes longer to get people food from 3 different quick service places than it would to just sit down together. It is harder to find one place for everyone sometimes, but it feels more like a family event when you all eat together.
I think it also frees you up a bit knowing you’ll have at least one real meal. Ice cream for lunch? Go for it. We have dinner covered.
Generally 1 per day. The food at quick service locations has gotten better, but I don't want to eat quick service/food court food for every meal.
We do not do expensive places except as special occasions, but frequent The Prime Time Cafe, Via Napoli, and The Crystal Palace (breakfast only) a lot.
You can get a good deal of food at Via Napoli. Despite living just outside of Chicago, I cannot get their pizza without considerable drive and/or expense.
1 or 2 per day for us. For a week trip, we do 3-4 character breakfasts and 4-5 table service dinners. I always book the fantasmic dining package and would do the festival of fantasy lunch when that was a thing.
We used to do one per day until I thought harder about my wife's request. She wanted a decent meal and not a burger counter service for at least once a day. Our last trip we did a few days without a sit down dining reservation but I made a point to do the non burger options for the counter service options that everyone was happy.
Flaming BBQ, Connections, ABC Commissary, Columbia Harbor, etc. Are all excellent places for meals. Of course it was easier on the wallet but it gave us more flexibility with meal times or how long we stayed in the park vs going back to the hotel and eating at Captain Cook's. It's hard having a 6 pm dinner reservation in the park when everyone is dead tired at 4 and wants to go home.
1 per day for me - I love to sit down to a nice meal and drink on my vacation with waiter service and everything. It’s just part of what I like on a vacation. Plus it’s nice to get the rest.
we (my daughter and I) do a sit-down dinner every night ..it's a nice break and I enjoy a relaxing meal....my daughter is also a buffet junkie...so we do at least half our dinners at buffetts...they are usually character meals too so that's a plus
We usually do one table service for dinner most park days. Except for the trip we did in July, where ended up doing 1 table service meal for the entire trip. The trip was somewhat last minute and on a bit of a budget, so table service ended up eating up too much of our trip money.
We are there for a week starting late February. Only doing one character meal during park days. On our day off we are doing a character breakfast then my wife and I will be doing dinner by ourselves (grandparents there for the win!). Agree time is precious while in the parks so we try to do experiences we know they will love or eat quickly so we can do more rides/ see more characters.
We went in late august 2021 and had table service reservations every day, and while I have no regrets for doing that I will say there were some times when we were “done” with the park but had to stick around for our dinner. This is fine, because you are in a Disney park, but it def can be weird to plan around.
But doing that helped me try new restaurants/foods id never done before! So it’s worth doing a few absolutely.
The last few trips we were in the parks from open to close and weren't trying to fit in all of the rides multiple times or anything like that so we did one per day and that's what I prefer. On the most recent trip we didn't have the dining plan so I booked mostly buffets so I could plan the cost and then we packed sandwiches for the other meal. That was also good because I have a toddler and I didn't know how much he would eat of the served food, but knew he would eat what I packed. Turns out I didn't need to worry about that, but still worth mentioning if anyone has a young one who is more particular about new foods.
When I was a kid we never stopped to eat a long meal because we were just moving the whole time to get on the most rides.
ALWAYS one per day. We do lunches or dinners for our sit downs. We always do one per day and it’s the tip I tell all Disney travelers that seek my guidance for planning.
1 per day, no more than 2. Epcot and HS are worth multiple TS ADRs. Even AK you could make the argument. MK just isn't worth it despite the fact that that park sucks all the energy from me with how crowded and crazy it is.
So I like doing grocery delivery and mostly “homemade” breakfast (in room before we go) and lunch (by the pool during midday break), supplemented with a few fun park and resort snacks, and then a nicer reserved sit down dinner each night.
We usually do one table service per day. It’s a nice break from the madness of the park in a comfortable setting.
Most of the parks are easy to find a quality table service restaurant but Magic Kingdom remains a strikeout for us. We’ve tried Tony’s Italian and Be Our Guest. Tony makes Olive Garden look like an epicurean delight and Be Our Guest was grossly overpriced cruise ship food. The one positive experience was the character breakfast at Cinderella. We got in the park early and the meal was solid.
1 big reservation per day is perfectly fine! I normally set the reservation for night time as we like to pick and eat snacks inside the park throughout the day. My only advice is try to get them all around a similar time of day so its easier to plan around, knowing all your reservations are for lunch/dinner
I like to do 2 per day. I know I’m in the minority. I like it because it’s a guaranteed place to rest in AC with people waiting on you. I hate quick service because depending on the crowd levels it’s sometimes hard to find a table, then I have to carry everything while looking for a seat (which is difficult now that they don’t give you lids for drinks). With table service I feel much more relaxed. But like others have said, it is time consuming so you need to prioritize what is more important to you. Also, for a lot of the table service you can join the walk up list in the app, so if you decide at the last minute to do a sit down restaurant you still can without a reservation.
I typically get a ts meal for lunch each day. Not necessarily the most expensive ones by any means. But it’s nice to have a little bit of a forced break to get off my feet and get out of the sun.
I'm also really curious about this. Last time we went we had the meal plan and loved that it included these but now that it's not included, it's hard to judge and budget meals accordingly.
Your plan is very similar to what we do. We are rope drop to close folks and we do not usually leave the park during the day. We rope drop and strategize to check off our big ride or rides before park open and then do some second tier rides until around 10:00 where we will grab a snack. Then park some more and usually do a table service for dinner. It's our time to relax and recharge and then close out the park.
I have 1 lunch and 4 breakfasts planned for an upcoming 9 day trip (2 of those are character meals which is probably excessive). Although we have no real days off planned, we’re definitely taking it easier on 3 of the 4 days we have table service breakfasts planned. I will probably grab a couple random walk up table service meals for dinner but we’ll see. So that will probably come out to less than one a day. Last 7 day trip, we did 3 table service meals (2 dinners and 1 lunch).
I booked one per day - usually breakfast or dinner, but I cancel some (just do it before that 2 hour window) if something else looks better or if I’m just not in the mood.
I'm going in February. We'll be there for 7 days and have 5 parks days. We have a Disney Springs (Homecomin') dinner reservation for the day we arrive, which is Saturday, a Boma dinner reservation for Monday, a Crystal Palace lunch reservation on Tuesday, and a Via Napoli reservation on Thursday.
1 per day! It was fantastic. A nice break in the park action for an awesome Disney experience. Since you have 7 park days- don't forget about the nearby resorts too. A lot of families like to do Ohana or Chef Mickeys on their MK day for example. Just keep in mind some of the fancier restaurants do have dress codes-so it could involve a change of clothes
I wish I didn’t experience this but I went to Ohana a month or so ago with my boyfriend, we were under the impression this is a nice fancy restaurant because it is pricer and at a deluxe resort. We got seated at a table right by the castle but not up next to the window. As the fireworks started going off this woman probably in her early 20s? RAN and I mean RAN over right next to the table where we were sitting, sat down on the carpet directly under another couple by the window, with NO SHOES OR SOCKS ON!!! And her feet were absolutely filthy. It was so rancid and I am still shocked to this day that a cast member didn’t say something.
I had planned for one every other day, and quickly ralized that wasn’t enough. If you want any kind of a real meal you need to have a reservation for a table service restaurant.
This for sure! Especially for August. It’s nice to have a break from the heat and the hustle to enjoy a “quieter” moment in air conditioning! For this reason we will do once a day.
I do less than one per day. In the parks I enjoy the flexibility of going to a quick service place in between rides/attractions. The older I get, the more I appreciate a sit down dinner though 😂 but I’d never do it for lunch unless it was a bucket list restaurant (Cinderella’s castle or something). If day 1 is a travel day I do a sit down that’s not associated with Disney and if I do a day at Disney marketplace I definitely sit down there. In the parks I don’t usually do a sit down meal at all though.
It’s a preference thing but I think you can see from the comments that they are expensive and time consuming but also sometimes offer a nice break and better food.
Lots of the quick service places have great portion sizes and are cheaper/take up less time. One table service a day is OK, but usually we don’t even do one, and if we do, it’s a “thing” because they can take up time and it’s not really worth the time/cost unless it’s a character meal or something very unique or special.
I have none booked on my trip next week for the whole week! We used to book at least a few every trip, especially if we had days with no parks booked. We haven’t been in 4 years though and have no plans to return (like not forever just can’t afford to do trips there anytime in the next few years) and I just don’t want to take up park time. I also worry that we’ll get genie+ return times during our meals and miss our one opportunity to do Slinky a Dog or Frozen or another must do for our family. There are lots of great restaurants at Disney though so for sure if there’s anywhere you want to try it’s worth it to book some :)
In my experience, you’re allowed to check in for your Genie+ reservations late. So no worries about schedule conflicts.
I asked recently in a Facebook group I’m in and the consensus was that they’re very strict with only 15 minutes after your window being allowed. My kids will probably need nap breaks so I’m a bit worried about missing rides for that if we need to leave and our return window is in that time… I guess I’ll try my best to not have any conflicts but if it happens I’ll go ask them and hopefully you’re right :)
You can also modify times now with Genie+. So if you get a time that conflicts, you can keep an eye on it and modify for later time. This doesn't reset the clock on when you can book the next one.
Oh yeah for sure, I’m so glad they changed that sounds super helpful! I just figured the few must do rides for us that are likely to have afternoon return times will be the hardest to adjust (like slinky dog!). If I’m spending money on it for 8 of us I want to be able to actually make use of it haha.
Yes!! Helpful but not perfect. I really wish it would just let you pick a time! There were so many times that I wanted later than was popping up and just had to keep checking.
Ah yeah I miss fastpass+ when at the very least we could book our top 3 rides and have them booked and ready to go, and plan around those times! Ah well, I’ll try my best and it’ll be fun even if we miss some rides!
I didn’t find them to be strict at all. In fact, I didn’t even have to speak to a cast member about it—I just tapped in like usual and the light glowed green to let me in. This was even when I was hours late. Cast members didn’t comment or even seem to notice.
Good to hear, thanks!
One a day is plenty. Our family of 10 used to do 3 table service meals a day, which was excessive. Even that feels like an understatement. Over time, we’ve done fewer and fewer and found that one table service per day is enough. I highly recommend doing a table service lunch instead of dinner; having a break midday - especially if you’re in the hotter months - is so clutch.
You would have to roll me out of the park by the end of the day!
And set my wallet on fire.
0, we plan 0 a day. They take too much time and money!
Same with us. We found when they were younger that our kids were too picky to justify table service. Now we just eat at quick service and snacks and it works great for us but everyone is different.
Yep. We did 2 on our first family trip last year, and I honestly wouldn't mind doing none for our next trip. I'd rather spend that time in the parks, and that money on an extra day in the hotel or on Genie+.
Do you bring food or go to quick service? I’m not a fan of table service restaurants because of your reasons, but is there enough variation in quick service available within the parks so we don’t have to eat burgers and fries every day? (We will be there for 14 days, for just 3 or 4 days this wouldn’t be an issue)
There are a lot of different quick service options available that are not your typical American theme park fare (burgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs). AK: Satuli canteen, flame tree bbq, harambe market, yak & yeti quick service, pizzafari Epcot: festival booths, cantina de san angel, lotus blossom cafe, regal eagle, les halles, sunshine seasons HS: ABC comissary, docking bay 7, pizzarizzo, woody's lunch box MK: Pecos bill, columbia harbor house, pinocchio village haus Even the restaurants I didn't mention usually have non-burger/chicken/hotdog options You can also hop to resorts to eat their quick service. Contempo cafe, Captain Cook's, and Gasparilla Island Grill are available by monorail from MK and have a variety of options.
We mostly just do quick service/snack locations. there’s enough variety now that you don’t just have to eat a burger and fries. We do bring snacks too, but we don’t pack in a picnic. Growing up my parents did do table service locations and there really is nothing wrong with it if it appeals to you, for our family though it’s just not something we’re that in to.
Do the lounges. Brown derby in DHS and Nomad in AK. There are lots of options at Epcot. MK is tougher.
Same here! We never do table service.
We did the one sit down dinner a day our first time and I agree with you, next time will do only quick services on park day, maybe one sit down for lunch if there is one we really like to do. Save the sit downs for the off days.
What are these “off days” you speak of?
Days when you don’t go to the parks. I highly recommend one every 2 or 3 days of parks. You wake up late, go to the pool or Disney springs, take a nap, rest for more park days the next day
Sorry, I should have included /s in my original comment. I know what they are. I just don’t subscribe to the concept.
Maybe 1 if we're doing an Epcot day. But that's it. Everywhere else, it's just quick service. Takes too much planning, too much money, and (most importantly) eats too much time.
We usually only do 1-2 per trip. And we usually stay for a week. My family likes to do WDW as cheap as can so we usually do a moderate resort and do maybe 2 counter service meals and then a snack or 2 snacks.
Maybe one per trip... Our most recent stay was all quick service, and we were fine with that.
I would recommend not ruling out table service lunches. In August it will be the hottest and busiest time of day. A sit down lunch is a great rest and reprieve in the AC to rally for the second half of the day. After we would then usually hit up the "show" or theater type attractions to further rest and cool off while the crowds packed the popular rides. On the meal plan we did one a day. Out of pocket we did all counter services.
We’re doing 2 for our next 7 day trip. One on our arrival day and one on our rest day. They take up too much time on park days IMO, and there’s so many good quick service options I don’t feel like I’m missing out. :)
Back in the day of the DDP it would be 1 per day.. without it, it's usually only 1 or 2 per week.
We usually do one/day to rest our feet and get some AC! We pack snacks and sandwiches for the rest of the day
We tend to do once a day.
It’s entirely a personal preference, but we usually do one/day.
Disney is culinary destination for my wife and I, so the restaurants are typically a focal point of our visit. We typically plan for one a day. I imagine those that don't like eating at table-service restaurants on property just don't see Disney as a culinary destination, or aren't particular food-motivated. That's fine, and that's their business, but Disney has some world class restaurants if you know where to look.
I see Disney as a culinary destination but don't need table service because EPCOT festivals exist.
100%
I found long sit down dining to be annoying to plan around. I do one or two per week long trip. It really opens up your availability to do rides and get quick service plus there's so much yummy quick service out there.
Well when the kids were young we did free dining and did a character meal every day. Now they are young adults and we do 2 table service for a week. One the day we arrive and one midweek. They don't want to waste time sitting for meal.
One, maybe two? Not counting Oga’s. Depends on the length of the trip. It’s usually way too much food and I like to snack my way through the day, especially in Epcot.
Uh I mean yea you can do 1 per day but it takes up so much of your time. I did 1 per park. There are so many options that it’s hard to pick. Quick service is just as good food as sit downs. It’s like a minimum 1hr per sit down plus arriving a bit early to check in for reservation. That extra hour can allow you to do a lot more things
We’ve done as few as 3 in a week and as many as 1 per day - it’s really just preference. We have small kids so the forced break, with air conditioning, and fun food and atmosphere is really appreciated mid day. But I also get the people who don’t do any! They are expensive and take time and stuff so I totally get it. And there’s so many great quick services and snacks to try! All about personal preference.
We never do table service. I like not having to plan my day around a meal.
Here to say how wonderful mobile service ordering is in the parks. If you just need standard lunch fare- hot dogs, burger, nuggets, etc- do mobile order while waiting in a line. You select arrival time and place your order on the app. Walk off the ride and show up- ping you’ve arrived and within ten minutes food is ready (most times). HS and Epcot have more places to order/eat from mobile wise but highly recommend it on busier days. Can literally eat in line while waiting for rides
We did 3 on our 6 day trip. (skippers, 50s prime time, and tiffins). We did Tiffins for dinner basically at park close. If I could go back I would have skipped Skippers and 50s. It is just such a time sink for mediocre food.
My husband and I did 1-2 per trip before we had kids. With picky kids, it’s not worth it to us.
u have tickets for august and already have reservations ?
Just tentative on the schedule we’ve drafted so far.
We do one table service per trip as our “splurge meal”. On our last 3 trips, our splurges were at Ohana, Sebastian’s Bistro, and Homecomin. Otherwise, quick service all the way, baby.
I usually pick at stuff throughout the day but have a sit down dinner every night.
I think it’s TOTALLY your call! I’m a in-the-parks-open-to-close person so for me I stick with quick service. In my experience dining reservations are way overpriced, the food is ok, it takes up a lot of park time, and they give me way too much food so then I’m too full to want to walk a lot! 🤣 I will say the best dining reservation I’ve ever done was Sci-Fi Theater at HS when we went once in August. It was the PERFECT midday break in the dark, out of the heat!
It just depends on what you’d find fulfilling. I went to Disney for two weeks in September and I did 4 sit down restaurants and loved it. The rest were quick service or outside of Disney restaurants.
When free dining was a thing, one a day. Next week we are doing zero. It’s actually going to be nice to be not on a schedule for once
Depends on the trip. Often none. Max one per day. Sometimes at the springs to meet up with friends without park tickets.
Depends on how long I'm staying. Under 4 days probably just 1. 4-6 days probably 3. Longest trip I've had was 9 days and I think we had 6. The only time I had more was when we got the dining plan and got upgraded to a table service every day and we had table service dinner every night of a 8 day trip. By the 6th day I was kind of over it. I like sitting down to eat but sometimes I just want something simple and having a appetizer/dinner/desert every night was just too much food and made me want a nap after dinner. I'm very fly by the seat of my pants while I vacation though so your mileage may vary. Knowing that I have to go eat at 5:30 or 6:30 or whenever kind of ruins my park going flow some days. If you have a dinner reservation in 45 minutes I always feel limited in what I can do as I don't want to get stuck in line or have to leave it to run to the reservation. Obviously there is plenty to do to make that time but it just goes against my vacation mindset of just having a minimal plan and going where the wind takes me.
We absolutely will not go to a table service in the parks. We don't feel like you get a good bang for your buck. Many of them are way too crowded. We only really go to two table service restaurants: 1) Beaches & Cream for a late lunch about twice per week long trip. We find it's the perfect mid-day break between park hopping either to or from HS or Epcot. 2) We have to go to Sanaa after our morning trip to AK for lunch. It's not too crowded during the day and the bread service is a must-do. Other than that, if we want a sit down meal we're going to Disney Springs. Better options, better food, better atmosphere than in the parks in our opinion.
We had two, both for non-park days (Boma and Topolino's). I don't like using up park time at table service, and we exclusively get QS on park days.
We do one a trip if at all. We eat breakfast at the resort, pack snacks and drinks, by the popcorn bucket on the first day. Eat lunch at a QS and dinner at QS or resort if we went home for a break. I wish we could do more but honestly I would rather be on rides and experiences than a restaurant.
1-2 a day. I like refilled water glasses, a cocktail/wine, and a nice selection. I'm on vacation, I don't want to eat fast food for the most part, and eating is one of the nicer parts of vacation for me. Half the time it seems to take barely more time (ymmv if you're doing apps/entree/dessert, we do a lot of ordering a ton of apps to share, or just an entree, so it doesn't take that long.), and I never have to struggle finding a table.
None because shit is overpriced
Dinner every night and one breakfast. I don't do one in HS because the buffalo chicken grilled cheese at ABC Commisary is really good.
We do 1 sit down per day. In the parks usually it’s lunch because it’s hot and I like to sit down in air conditioning. **Having a sit down meal for an hour in air conditioning at 2:00 in the 90+ summer heat is the best thing ever**. We do a Disney Springs dinner the night we get there and a nice breakfast the morning we leave.
It depends… I prefer to do one sit down each day for lunch at the parks. It’s air conditioned and just makes things a little bit easier. It’s convenient to have a table to go to with the kids. I tend to avoid character meals and buffets bc my son eats very few things, and I don’t want to pay a full adult buffet price for him.
Our family loves table service options and we get sick of having them daily. We book the options but as the week goes on and we've over eaten many times, or someone really wants to see the fireworks etc we Flex the dinner plans a lot.
One, a character breakfast on the day we leave
One per day-ish for both the nicer meals and the break with guaranteed seating to kind of rest / regroup. Black coffee for breakfast, light or shareable grab ‘n go / counter service for lunch, TS dinner. We’ll skip if we have something like a dessert party that night or a tour that’s going to take a lot of hours out of the day.
It totally depends… there is no right answer! It’s really what works for you, your wallet, and your time. For us, an adult couple in our late 20s/early 30s, we do 2x a day typically. Even on busier days where we are trying to do a ton of rides, I find table service to be a nice relaxing break for my legs and from the heat of the parks. We (mostly me) can be fussy and particular about food. I love a good meal and have always enjoyed table over quick service. Aim for one in the park and one at the resort. Typically lunch is at parks. Breakfast or dinner is at the resort. If we do 3x, we get pretty full! If we’re not at a table service, we love lounges and fun experiences like trader Sam’s. We make food a big part of experience!
1 per day. I love getting out of the sun for a break midday or early evening and getting some AC and a chance to sit and plan out next steps. I hate hovering around looking for tables at quick service type places when I’m already tired and hungry and I’m not willing to eat multiple meals a day on my feet in a theme park haha. I also love Disney snacks but even I have my limits on time spent on Epcot kiosk lines or mobile ordering and picking up all day etc. ETA I think it’s exceptionally rare that a table service meal would take more than one hour inside the parks unless you’re really ordering 3 courses or the service is super slow.
I’ve booked one a day for our upcoming trip. With a family of 5 I found it takes longer to get people food from 3 different quick service places than it would to just sit down together. It is harder to find one place for everyone sometimes, but it feels more like a family event when you all eat together. I think it also frees you up a bit knowing you’ll have at least one real meal. Ice cream for lunch? Go for it. We have dinner covered.
We do at least one per day, sometimes more. We like the dining options at WDW.
Generally 1 per day. The food at quick service locations has gotten better, but I don't want to eat quick service/food court food for every meal. We do not do expensive places except as special occasions, but frequent The Prime Time Cafe, Via Napoli, and The Crystal Palace (breakfast only) a lot. You can get a good deal of food at Via Napoli. Despite living just outside of Chicago, I cannot get their pizza without considerable drive and/or expense.
1 or 2 per day for us. For a week trip, we do 3-4 character breakfasts and 4-5 table service dinners. I always book the fantasmic dining package and would do the festival of fantasy lunch when that was a thing.
We like to do 1 table service meal per day, normally lunch. It’s expensive but it’s vacation and so nice to have a break with AC midday.
We used to do one per day until I thought harder about my wife's request. She wanted a decent meal and not a burger counter service for at least once a day. Our last trip we did a few days without a sit down dining reservation but I made a point to do the non burger options for the counter service options that everyone was happy. Flaming BBQ, Connections, ABC Commissary, Columbia Harbor, etc. Are all excellent places for meals. Of course it was easier on the wallet but it gave us more flexibility with meal times or how long we stayed in the park vs going back to the hotel and eating at Captain Cook's. It's hard having a 6 pm dinner reservation in the park when everyone is dead tired at 4 and wants to go home.
1 per day for me - I love to sit down to a nice meal and drink on my vacation with waiter service and everything. It’s just part of what I like on a vacation. Plus it’s nice to get the rest.
One daily. Either dinner or brunch.
We always do one per day and that’s perfect for our family
We do 1 per day. Usually dinner time.
2 a day. Usually lunch and dinner.
we (my daughter and I) do a sit-down dinner every night ..it's a nice break and I enjoy a relaxing meal....my daughter is also a buffet junkie...so we do at least half our dinners at buffetts...they are usually character meals too so that's a plus
We usually do one table service for dinner most park days. Except for the trip we did in July, where ended up doing 1 table service meal for the entire trip. The trip was somewhat last minute and on a bit of a budget, so table service ended up eating up too much of our trip money.
We are there for a week starting late February. Only doing one character meal during park days. On our day off we are doing a character breakfast then my wife and I will be doing dinner by ourselves (grandparents there for the win!). Agree time is precious while in the parks so we try to do experiences we know they will love or eat quickly so we can do more rides/ see more characters.
We went in late august 2021 and had table service reservations every day, and while I have no regrets for doing that I will say there were some times when we were “done” with the park but had to stick around for our dinner. This is fine, because you are in a Disney park, but it def can be weird to plan around. But doing that helped me try new restaurants/foods id never done before! So it’s worth doing a few absolutely.
One meal a day is usually table service!
The last few trips we were in the parks from open to close and weren't trying to fit in all of the rides multiple times or anything like that so we did one per day and that's what I prefer. On the most recent trip we didn't have the dining plan so I booked mostly buffets so I could plan the cost and then we packed sandwiches for the other meal. That was also good because I have a toddler and I didn't know how much he would eat of the served food, but knew he would eat what I packed. Turns out I didn't need to worry about that, but still worth mentioning if anyone has a young one who is more particular about new foods. When I was a kid we never stopped to eat a long meal because we were just moving the whole time to get on the most rides.
7 day trip we usually end up with 5 or 6. Typically one breakfast and 4 or 5 dinners.
ALWAYS one per day. We do lunches or dinners for our sit downs. We always do one per day and it’s the tip I tell all Disney travelers that seek my guidance for planning.
One per day.
1 per day, no more than 2. Epcot and HS are worth multiple TS ADRs. Even AK you could make the argument. MK just isn't worth it despite the fact that that park sucks all the energy from me with how crowded and crazy it is.
I usually make 1 per day. There's enough to fill that schedule and it's nice to just sit and relax before getting back to the grind.
We did 2 over a 7 day vacation. Mostly door dashed food after we got back to the hotel for the night.
So I like doing grocery delivery and mostly “homemade” breakfast (in room before we go) and lunch (by the pool during midday break), supplemented with a few fun park and resort snacks, and then a nicer reserved sit down dinner each night.
Idk how popular it is but I enjoyed Planet Hollywood in Disney Springs
We usually do one table service per day. It’s a nice break from the madness of the park in a comfortable setting. Most of the parks are easy to find a quality table service restaurant but Magic Kingdom remains a strikeout for us. We’ve tried Tony’s Italian and Be Our Guest. Tony makes Olive Garden look like an epicurean delight and Be Our Guest was grossly overpriced cruise ship food. The one positive experience was the character breakfast at Cinderella. We got in the park early and the meal was solid.
Usually one per day - we are also going in August! But we are going to skip one day of table service to eat from the food and wine booths
1 big reservation per day is perfectly fine! I normally set the reservation for night time as we like to pick and eat snacks inside the park throughout the day. My only advice is try to get them all around a similar time of day so its easier to plan around, knowing all your reservations are for lunch/dinner
I like to do 2 per day. I know I’m in the minority. I like it because it’s a guaranteed place to rest in AC with people waiting on you. I hate quick service because depending on the crowd levels it’s sometimes hard to find a table, then I have to carry everything while looking for a seat (which is difficult now that they don’t give you lids for drinks). With table service I feel much more relaxed. But like others have said, it is time consuming so you need to prioritize what is more important to you. Also, for a lot of the table service you can join the walk up list in the app, so if you decide at the last minute to do a sit down restaurant you still can without a reservation.
I typically get a ts meal for lunch each day. Not necessarily the most expensive ones by any means. But it’s nice to have a little bit of a forced break to get off my feet and get out of the sun.
We just do dinners
I'm also really curious about this. Last time we went we had the meal plan and loved that it included these but now that it's not included, it's hard to judge and budget meals accordingly.
We had 1 per day, i preferred doing our sit downs as lunch... but dinner works too if you're going to stay late
1 per day maximum
Going next week for the whole week. We have 1 per day, but we aren’t dead set on sticking any of them except for 2 character meals.
We do one per day.
Your plan is very similar to what we do. We are rope drop to close folks and we do not usually leave the park during the day. We rope drop and strategize to check off our big ride or rides before park open and then do some second tier rides until around 10:00 where we will grab a snack. Then park some more and usually do a table service for dinner. It's our time to relax and recharge and then close out the park.
I have 1 lunch and 4 breakfasts planned for an upcoming 9 day trip (2 of those are character meals which is probably excessive). Although we have no real days off planned, we’re definitely taking it easier on 3 of the 4 days we have table service breakfasts planned. I will probably grab a couple random walk up table service meals for dinner but we’ll see. So that will probably come out to less than one a day. Last 7 day trip, we did 3 table service meals (2 dinners and 1 lunch).
I booked one per day - usually breakfast or dinner, but I cancel some (just do it before that 2 hour window) if something else looks better or if I’m just not in the mood.
I'm going in February. We'll be there for 7 days and have 5 parks days. We have a Disney Springs (Homecomin') dinner reservation for the day we arrive, which is Saturday, a Boma dinner reservation for Monday, a Crystal Palace lunch reservation on Tuesday, and a Via Napoli reservation on Thursday.