Eating @ Disney?

My boys will be 2 and 4 when we go in May. - We booked the trip in February.......They're NOT big eaters

I have one character breakfast booked at 7:30 AM the Wednesday near our hotel (we're staying @ the Yacht Club)
My kids are not really morning people so to get them up to rush anywhere is NOT my idea of a vacation - They'll be miserable

My only concern is dinner - I mean, is it REALLY REALLY necessary for me to make reservations every single night to be able to sit down at eat dinner?
I really don't have any place I HAVE TO eat at .......

what has been your experience? Suggestions? etc.

Thanks!

Message edited 3/29/2013 12:45:17 PM.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Honestly- if there's nowhere you HAVEto eat- I wouldn't stress about reservations. May isn't a crazy busy time there ( I went in may 2011) And even if you just do the quick service places there will still be tables and stuff to sit down and take a break and eat. That way you eat when you or the boys are hungry and don't rush around to get to your reservation.
Idk- I went to Disney about 10 times growing up and my parents never made reservations and we had a blast every time nice and low key...

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Thanks - The only place I wanted to take the boys to was TRex - and even when I booked the trip in Feb. the only reservation available for that place was at 10 pm ALL week .......

So, we'll just do the store in there instead

Re: Eating @ Disney?

We didn't eat at TRex but we went there to play twice. It looks great! I'm sure you could put your name down, get a buzzer and play. We liked it so much that we went back.

I wasn't sold on character meals but I highly recommend booking one. We had such a great time at Ohana's breakfast.

At the parks, we just winged it. I did have a list of counter restaurants that came recommended. The first time we went to disney, i didn't do any restaurant research and most of meals were bad.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Call T Rex directly. 407 828 8739.

They only release a certain amount of tables to WDW dining but you can often make a ressie directly with them.

Also, yes, book reservations for one sit down meal each day of your trip. It's a nice respite to sit and eat rather than deal with the food court, waiting in line and hunting for a table for every meal. If it is a busy time you will have no options other than counter service. Plan ahead. You can always cancel/change your plan later but get some reservations.

If you are gong to Epcot I highly recommend Via Napoli- delicious Italian.

My favorite in all of WDW is Sanna at The Animal Kingdom Villas. Authentic and delicious food while you dine on an African savannah observing zebras, giraffes and other animals. Love it there.

Yacht and Beach Club are our favorite resorts- the pool is just fantastic!

Happy planning.

ETA: the previous poster is correct, many restaurants are not so great but many are awesome. If you'd like any more reccomendations for specific places/parks/locations let me know.

Message edited 3/29/2013 1:53:54 PM.

Eating @ Disney?

Also check the week before you go - you may be able to get a reservation as people cancel at the last minute.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

We called TRex on Sunday for a Monday night reservation at 6pm (next day) back in October. Definitely try them directly and keep trying. My kids loved it.

Also try Rainforest Cafe.

My kids aren't huge eaters either and we only had reservations for TRex, otherwise we played it by ear every day. We stayed off property though and had a car.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

If you are looking to eat at a sit down table service restaurant every night, then I recommend making reservations. It's not like it was back in the day where you can just arrive at the park and make a reservation that day. Grant it there will be some table service locations that will be available as walk up, you just can't be picky about location and time. There are plenty of counter service places if you just want to wing it. I would also ask for suggestions of counter service places so you don't get stuck eating somewhere that may not be the best. Honestly, there are a lot of great food options, you just need to know where to find them.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

thanks - I aboslutely want to do a sit down dinner each night, I just didn't want to have to plan it out 2 months in advance.
I have NO idea where the days are giong to take us, especially with a 2 and 4 year old - I don't want to be married to a dinner reservation, especially at a specific time. -

I was just hoping since we're going at a supposedly lower key time of year (mid May) I'd be ok to get a table

Eating @ Disney?

Your chances of getting a walk up at a sit down is very very slim unfortunately. You will be settling. Disney isn't the type of vacation that you can't "plan". You should plan out which parks on which days, etc. And make ressies at places that don't require a deposit. We mostly do counter service since a. The prices are too much for my SN teenager to eat at a buffet, and b. I don't like to be married to reservations, and rushing to get there. We sit at counter service and its fine for us.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

I also advise planning ahead. Since you are saying at the YC you will have Extra Magic Hour privileges. If you aren't going to want to take advantage of this extra perk you will absolutely want to avoid the park that is offering EMH in the morning because it will be the most crowded park of the day. You will need to know which park is offering this perk which makes the planning ahead necessary. Also, dining reservations have become increasingly difficult to get during your trip. The only people I know who have been stressed or disappointed with Disney vacations are the people who wanted to wing it. My SIL complained how crowded it was and that she couldn't get any meal reservations. If she had done some planning I think she would have had a much more enjoyable experience. You don't have to go commando crazy planning but a little effort now will pay off.

Good luck!

Message edited 3/29/2013 6:08:42 PM.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

We will be there right after mother's day in May. We were there that same week in 2010. We have one to two ts meals booked a day. Three are paid (CRT) or guarantees. The rest can be cancelled 5 mins before. We only do breakfasts except maybe our departure day. People I know who didn't book ADRs were unhappy bc they had no openings, only late openings or at places they didn't want. They ended up with a lot of cs.

You don't need to make ADRs but it is highly recommended. You have to ask yourself some questions...

Are you on the dining plan? Will you be okay if you can't get to use them all?

Are you really flexible? Willing to eat at 8 or 9 pm? Willing to eat at any sit down at any location? Be willing to do many or all cs if you get get a ts that suits your needs?

If you want to be flexible but don't like the above...

Plan for breakfast at the cs at your hotel or your room.

You could make a lunch and dinner adr at your normal dining times, then just use the one that suits your days needs best. This way you have something you can live with.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Posted by MarisaK

Thanks - The only place I wanted to take the boys to was TRex - and even when I booked the trip in Feb. the only reservation available for that place was at 10 pm ALL week .......

So, we'll just do the store in there instead

Re: Eating @ Disney?

For many of the meals there is no penalty if you no show at all, and for those that do take credit cards to hold the reservation, you can easily cancel 24 hours in advance, and for most of those there is only a small penalty (i think 10 dollars per adult?) to just no show. Honestly, I am not a planner either with meals b/c who knows where you will be w/kids and naps and exhaustion and walking etc etc but why not just HAVE a plan, so you have SOMETHING and a good place you researched to eat if you make it- but if you don't then it's (Generally) not a big deal! I think it's win-win. The other option could lead to major disappointment. I haven't been to disney in years but my guess is that quick service/stands will generally be unhealthy crap (total guess though) and not good meals.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

we never did dinner reservations...my kids wake up early, so breakfast is better for us.

We always ate on the fly, either in the park, at our hotel, room service or, as one night had it, Ice cream for dinner (it's Disney, anything goes!!!)

Honestly, the kids were soo tired by nighttime, that they hardly ate anything for dinner.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

We did not make reservations for every dinner.

The girls are nuggets, fries, yogurt or pizza.

We did our character meals at breakfast, with a buffet. But not crazy early, 8:30 or 9. They ate bites of this and that. We get the meal plan so we don't stress about what they eat c

Eating @ Disney?

I always book an early dinner for every single day. She was 3 and all our dinners were as close to 6 as I could get. Like PP said it was less stress to worry about what's for dinner. We planned our day that morning based on dinner.

Still you CAN cancel reservations if you want.

And I walked into the Coral Reef at Epcot (great fish) and got a table right next to the huge tank it has. AJ loved waving at the sea turtle who alternatively slept and went up for air. Thing was bigger than our table. No reservations made, just walked up.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Thanks all -

I'll do my best at this point to take your advice and book what I can ......

I'm really disappointed Disney has turned into this HAVE to plan it 6 months in advance kind of thing .......
We are such crazy planners w/ EVERYTHING else that we really like our vacations to be laid back .....oh well, when I Rome, I guess

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Posted by Lillykat

Posted by MarisaK

Thanks - The only place I wanted to take the boys to was TRex - and even when I booked the trip in Feb. the only reservation available for that place was at 10 pm ALL week .......

So, we'll just do the store in there instead

Did you go through the disney system for trex? Try calling the trex cafe directly. Number is on the trex website. They have a very small number of tables put aside for adr. If you call them directly they will have a ton of avilability.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

No, not necessary.

When I first went to Disney - we didn't book dinner reservations and we ate wherever we wanted to. I think our max wait was 30 mins.

You may want to book a dinner show just for fun, but still not necessary.

eta: I'm surprised at the number of people saying that the wait will be long.

Also - the Sci-Fi Diner in Hollywood Studios is fun for kids.

Message edited 4/2/2013 1:33:49 PM.

Re: Eating @ Disney?

Posted by Lillykat

Posted by MarisaK

Thanks - The only place I wanted to take the boys to was TRex - and even when I booked the trip in Feb. the only reservation available for that place was at 10 pm ALL week .......

So, we'll just do the store in there instead

Did you go through the disney system for trex? Try calling the trex cafe directly. Number is on the trex website. They have a very small number of tables put aside for adr. If you call them directly they will have a ton of avilability.