Fine Dining.....or Eat Fast and Play?

[DisneyJunkie]

When you think about dining on your WDW trip, how do you plan for it? Do you plan to eat at one of the "nicer" restaurants once or twice in a trip, or are you the kind that doesn't really care about the food, you'll just grab something quick, eat, and be on your way enjoying the parks?

[SBETigg]

We always have some fine dining planned. In fact, last trip was the first time that we even tried some of the counter service restaurants. Now we mix it up- most nights, we have ts dining planned, a few of those nights are for nicer places, and some nights we left free to wing it and focus on rides instead of food.

[LauraF]

We always plan for TS at least one meal a day, usually dinner.

For me it's a worthwhile expense. I'm going to each park at least twice during an average trip, so I have plenty of time to see everything at least once. Also, I get exhausted by the crowds/heat and prefer to go inside someplace where I can sit and not be jostled and have some quiet. I'm also VERY hungry after a day of exploring WDW! Feed me! :D

[disneycouple2004]

With the DDP, we always eat at least one really nice meal, it cost 2 ts meals but its worth it..:D

[moe513]

I like to take a break and sit and have a nice meal.

[GreenBeetle]

I guess it depends on what you consider "fancy". But we also plan at least one sit-down meal a day - usually dinner. The fast food/quick service stuff gets old pretty fast. A relaxing table service meal is a great way for us to re-fuel and head back out to the parks. :mickey:

[dizneeat]

We always have a few nice TS meals, mostly dinner, every trip we take. We ALWAYS have dinner at the California Grill (can't beat the location).
We usually pick one new (for us) place to eat and a few old time favorites. It is part of making our vacation a magical time.

Karin

[Polynesian Dweller]

Fine dining is part of the trip and wouldn't miss places like Le Cellier, Narcoosess, Portabello etc. Would feel like something was missing.

[dolphinmickey9170]

We always make TS ressies for almost every night for dinner. We save the CS for either breakfast or lunch. Occasionally, depending on what ADR's are available, some of these dinners turn into lunch, but it's a great way to take a break from the heat.


3 more days.........Are we there yet?

[Mom2princesses]

We also always have a sit down meal for dinner. Part of a great vacation is being able to splurge on some great food as well. Food that we don't normally eat at home because of being so health concious. But when vacation comes we have some fun.

[PirateLover]

Before the DDP we were grab-n-go type people. But the original DDP was such a bargain in our eyes that we couldn't pass it over. I don't think we'll be doing DDP anymore with the changes, but I think we will probably have one or two sit down meals now that we know how nice they are :cool:

[DDuck66]

We always mix up our dining plans with some fancy meals, some character meals, and some CS meals...variety is the spice of life or so they say.

[avantgardeinker]

One of the things we love about Disney so much is the food and the great atmosphere at their table service restaurants. We eat at a TS restaurants on most days when we go to WDW.

120 more days!!
:mickey:

[mac badger]

we mix it up, but always do 1 sit down. i like going to the resorts because its usually easier to get in. we have been to concourse steak house often for that reason but i guess no more

[Florida Dreamer]

We always plan several evenings of fine dining on every trip. It allows us the chance to relax, reflect on the day, and try new foods. For us, the dining is just as memorable as the attractions. It completes the whole Disney package for us.

[IloveDisney71]

Before the DDP we were grab-n-go type people. But the original DDP was such a bargain in our eyes that we couldn't pass it over. I don't think we'll be doing DDP anymore with the changes, but I think we will probably have one or two sit down meals now that we know how nice they are :cool:

DITTO for me!

[RAIDER]

It varies for us ..but we always spoil ourselves with at least one or two fancy meals :thumbsup:

[c&d]

We always make a point of having one nice long relaxing dinner. After all the comings and goings to parks and pools it's really nice to sit back and really relax.

[RALPH]

We eat at a nice sit down restaurant every night. It is my favorite part of WDW! We do Le Cellier twice (DS's favorite) Yachtsman twice (my favorite) Fulton's, and Chef Mickeys. Our down meal is Hollywood and Vine which we do only for the Fantasmic Package.

It is a nice break from the parks. We revisit themn after dinner though.

[Tink#64]

We don't do "fancy" but we do have usually 2 or 3 TS dinners. DH likes food, for the rest of us, hungry = eat, but I like the different atmospheres that we get to experience. We like to try at least one new TS each trip. I'm thinking dinner at AKL next trip!:mickey:

[snifflesmcg]

It depends on what the plans are. Some times we eat on the run, some we made all ADR's.

[playdead88]

we always do cindy's bfast and at least one other dinner usually the night before we leave but the rest of the time counter service is the way to go for us - eat that pizza dumbo awaits!!:mickey:

[jakeybake]

The dining experience is as important to me as the parks and resorts so we always eat at least one "fancy" table service per day.

We love having the opportunity to sit, relax, be waited on and eat great food. It really is worth it to us and an important part of our WDW experience each trip.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I choose the eat quick and play option although we do a few character meals each trip. This year we are doing the "free" dining and am not sure about it. A sit down meal everyday for us is much. We are not adventurous people so we have booked a ton of character buffets, my son will love it. I cannot say we eat fancy on our trips, if we do eat sit down it is always a character meal, which is just buffet and not fancy at all but a ton of fun!

[ShanPooh]

This time we'll be doing almost all table service.
We want it to be the least stress possible with almost 3 year old DD and 5 year old DS.

We've done a mix in the past.

Last time, we were on the free dining plan and ate like kings. The food was WONDERFUL, but the kiddos were squirmy!

[Natazu]

I know everybody's different, families vacation differently than couples, peoples budgets vary, and of course everyone has different priorities.

For us, fine dining is as much a part of the trip as roller coasters and shows about lost fish. We have a sit-down meal at least once a day. I couldn't imagine a vacation at Disney without capping off each evening with a nice relaxing dinner, drinks, and great service. WDW has the highest concentration of affordable fine dining anywhere in the world. I'll sacrifice park time for four-star dining any day.

[DisneyOtaku]

I think WDW has some of the best food and I hate missing out on it. We try to have one table service meal a day, but not at overly-expensive places. We do usually have one really nice meal per trip--last trip was Kona Cafe, the one before that, California Grill.

[MouseHouser]

Of our favorite restaurants on the planet, many are in Disney. As much as we love the food, it's the atmosphere that really does it for us.

Boma, 'Ohana, San Angel Inn, Rose & Crown, and Whispering Canyon Cafe, to name a few.

[mprewitt]

Since we go so often, we aren't park commandos. Fine dining and spending time at our DVC resort is part of the vacation, just as much as taking time to stroll through the parks and going on rides. We always do 3-4 fine dining nights, and the other nights we'll cook the meal in our room (since DVC resorts offer a full kitchen).

Since we also get an Annual Pass and order the DDE card, we get 20% off the fine dining, which makes the cost more reasonable.