Counter Service only?

[castlegirl]

We are not on the Dining Plan, so I'm trying to keep food costs down. Have you ever had all your meals from CS? Will we miss anything by not having a TS meal? Is there a list of just CS restaurants anywhere?

[goofiecrazy]

When it was just me and my husband we did mostly CS places and one or 2 if that TS places.We would rather spend more time in the parks doing things then being at a table for a long period of time. Now the next time we will have the kids there for the first time and it might be more TS character meals.You can look under the info central for menus etc. to see what u like.

[Christine]

We've done a trip or two with no table service before. I didn't feel slighted at all. Sometimes I have a hard time sitting still that long to do a real sit-down meal! :blush: I like to eat and run!

[Cinderelley]

This is the way that DH prefers to do it. All CS meals means more time on the rides.

[ryca1dreams]

We normally only do counter service meals unless we get the free dining plan.

[mrsgaribaldi]

We only do 1 or 2 sit down meals too, if any at all.:mickey:

[AnnieBananie]

So many times we have only done CS meals or meals in our hotel. We enjoy our visits to the parks and don't want to spend lots of time sitting down for a longer meal. When we relax, we use that time at the pool or hotel. There are lots of great CS options; we have our favorites in each park. (Ex.....MK--Casey's, Cosmic Ray's. Ak--Tusker House (really gonna miss this with the renovation to character meal), Epcot--Cantina de San Angel, Boulangerie Patisserie, MGM--Backlot Express, Starring Rolls.......)

[DisneyDudet]

If you go to the Dining Guide (http://intercot.com/infocentral/dining/diningguide/default.asp) in Info Central, you can click which park you want and there will be the list of all the restaurants, with notations for CS!

And we usually only do one TS if any each trip. I would much rather go ride and play than sit and eat, plus, we save a little cash.

[snifflesmcg]

As stated, there is a list on Intercot with all CS meals. To break it up a bit, why not do one or two table services. Maybe a breakfast or lunch to keep the cost down.

[Natazu]

Will we miss anything by not having a TS meal?
I understand keeping costs down. We've been to WDW on a light budget more than once. I remember a trip during which we had only counter service. My only regret from that trip was not having a nice relaxing dinner in a restaurant. For us, TS dining is as much a part of the Disney experience as the rides, the shows, and The Mouse. So, sadly yes, I think you'll miss some of the experience by skipping TS meals.

[Kairi_7378]

There are a lot of good TS restaurants at WDW, and if you are a "food person," yes, you will miss some of the WDW experience. However, there are some great CS places. Most of our meals are CS. You can do an entire trip on CS and not be forced to eat French Fries and burgers the entire time (unless that is what you want to do.)
It is impossible to do everything in one trip to Disney World. Some people choose to save time/money by eating CS. Yes, they are missing something that Disney has to offer. Other people, like me, aren't interested in the golfing and water parks. I am sure that these are fantastic but I choose to miss that part of the world to do something else when I am on vacation.
I'm not sure how many are in your party and if you are travelling with children, but here are a a few tips that may work for you to save $$$. There are a few places that serve CS portions so large (Flame Tree, Tangerine Cafe) that one meal can be split between 2 people. Some days, our meals were just snacks (pretzel for DH, Dole Whip for me.) I also recommend taking some granola bars or simple breakfast food to save both time and money.

[January-2007]

If you think you might miss out on something maybe try having a table service breakfast or lunch. It's relatively inexpensive at times when comparing what you'd be spending at a counter service location anyway and for the special theming you get to experience it to me is worth it. Even if we were going on a budget we would still fit in a character breakfast at either Chef Mickey's or 'Ohana and a lunch at either the Sci Fi or 50s Prime Time.

We've gone on trips where a lot of meals were counter service and it was fine for the most part. If your resort food court is good then that's going to help a lot. Everything Pop was really great so we didn't really feel like we missed out. I don't think I've ever gone on a trip to WDW without going to at least one table service meal. It's part of the fun since the experiences are so very unique!

[Tink#64]

The meals themselves aren't that important to us. We mostly do CS, but we do a few TS also - usually a favorite we want to revisit or someplace new we'd like to try. We try to visit a different resort each trip & have dinner while we're there. Last year we stayed 9 days & still felt like not enough time, we don't like to spend a lot of time in restaurants. Unless there is a particular dining experience that you feel like you are going to miss out on - then my opinion is you won't miss anything. We all do Disney differently - you do it your way!:mickey:

[SignguyTom]

WDW has a great assortment of CS meals available. Burgers and Fries (Cosmic Rays, Pecos Bills) are easy to find. They also serve grilled chicken sandwiches. You can even substitute fresh veggies for the fries if you wish. Also available is Pizza (AK-Pizzafari, MGM- Pizza Planet) Fish & Chips (MK Columbia Harbour House) Deli Sandwiches (MGM -abc Commissary) Tacos/Burritos (Epcot - Cantina de San Angel). There are tons more as well. Check out the menus in Info Central.

Now, in my opinion, WDW would not be the same without the TS meals. We do not eat out very often in our real world, so the TS meals are special to us at Disney World. I can relate to the people wanting to spend as much time as they can on the rides, etc, but, IMHO, there is just something special about the restaurants at WDW. If we were to go without the DDP, then I'm sure we would have more CS meals than TS, BUT we would definitely have a few!

Either way, enjoy your trip! Eating CS also gives you more flexibility since you don't have to worry about being somewhere specific because you have an ADR. Just a thought...

[JPL]

The parks offer good variety at their CS restaurants so you can really eat all CS without saying oh no not another burger. I have had a few trips that were short and did all CS and was fine with it.:thumbsup:

Some suggestions for some variety
Cosmic Rays - MK
Flame Tree BBQ - AK
Backlot Express - MGM
Sunshine Seasons - Epcot

[playdead88]

we do all counter service except 1 dinner and 1 breakfast durning the whole week. counter service at disney is great and im a vegetarian! some of our favorites are:

columbia harbor house - mk
pecos bills - mk
egg roll wagon (one of my faves) - mk

pizzafari - ak
flame tree bbq - ak

anywhere in world showcase - epcot
pizza cart in front of test track - epcot

rosies all american cafe - mgm
abc - mgm
mill and bills have the best milkshakes - mgm

and these are just a few! besides the food being good counter service is great because it takes so much less time to eat and get back out there!!