Sit Down Dining

Hey everyone...our family is starting to plan a 5 day WDW vaction in November and we are trying to determine which package for Disney Dining that we should choose. So, a few questions...what are some good sit down table service restaraunts? Is there a certain plan that you've had success with? Is it worth doing table services when the time is an odd one?

It will be my mom, dad, brother (11) and me (14)...no one drinks alchohol and we are relatively flexable as far as times and styles of food...Thanks for the help and advice!!! :thumbsup:

Rebecca (:

I think if you ask 50 people their favorite restaurant you will get 50 different answers. I think you should pick according to what you'll be near that day, and what theme you like.
As for what plan suits you best, again that depends greatly on the individual. If you want to eat three sit down meals a day, get the deluxe. You'll probably want the plan with one table service, one quick service and one snack per person per night. But if you only wanted to do counter service, there's a plan for that.
As for odd times, I don't think the experience is any different according to times. Well, breakfasts can differ from dinners. But a breakfast is the same whether it's 8 am or 1030 am.

I would think the Deluxe Plan would be an enormous amount of food, unless you plan on eating at all Signature Restaurants....with the standard plan you get one Counter Service, one Table Service and one snack....this is lots of food and you only have to worry about making reservations for one meal a day and can be flexible on your other meal times...

Some Table Service Restaurants we enjoy are:

Magic Kingdom:
Crystal Palace-this is a buffet

Hollywood Studios:
I've never had a really good TS meal here but I heard 50s Prime Time is good ust haven't tried it yet

AK:
Rainforest Cafe-(Not on Dining Plan though)

Epcot:
LeCellier-great steak house
Chefs De France
Biergarten
Its hard to go wrong with a World Showcase TS restaurant

DTD:
Planet Hollywood
Raglan Road

Hi Rebecca, you stated that your trip is going to be in Nov. If that is for this year you are already within the 180 day Advance Dining Reservation window and a lot of the prime locations just might be unavailable. As soon as you know your dates go online to the Disney website and see just what is open during your stay.
Now, about what dining plan would be good for your family, I think you're right on the money with the Deluxe DDP being way too much food. We have traveled with others on 3 different occasions and used the deluxe plan.............all we did was eat. Thank goodness everyone is now of the same frame of mind and we won't have to use that plan ever again.
Good luck and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything falls into place for your family.

Just a word of caution, Friday & Saturday nights at Epcot during the food and wine festival (while you will be there) are very crowded so you might avoid those nights for dinner there.

Like someone else said, at this point you won't be able to get in to some of the restaurants, Le Cellier especially. You have to book those right at the 180 day mark.

It might be easier to ask people on here which restaurants to absolutely avoid. You'll probably get more uniform responses that way.

Standard Dining Plan would be plenty for you guys.

Some of our suggestions:

Polynesian Resort - O'Hana
Wilderness Lodge - Whispering Canyon Cafe
Magic Kingdom - Liberty Tree Tavern
Animal Kingdom - Tusker House
Hollywood Studios - Nothing great, but 50's Prime Time isn't bad.
Epcot - Where to begin? Coral Reef, Tutto Italia, Teppan Edo, Chefs de France are all very good.

We usually don't go during standard times. We find on our vacations at WDW, we get up and eat breakfast a little earlier, and are always at the gates when the rope drops. As such, we're always ready for lunch by 11am, and we also avoid lines for the CS places by eating that early. Then, we usually start heading to dinner anywhere between 4:30 - 5:30. That way we can walk off dinner in the parks until they close.

I agree with several of the previous posts, since your are already in the 180 day mark (actually well within) many restaurants will be full. Personally I would make your plans on where you are going to be first (which parks/resorts each day) then make plans on where you would like to eat based on that.

Before you decide to go with a dining plan, try going online and booking some of the locations you want to eat at. If too many are already booked then you may decide it would be better for you to go with the CS dining plan (2 Counter Service per day) rather than the regular dining plan where you may be wasting TS credits on places you don't really care to eat at, but are the only ones available.

Good luck and remember, if something is booked, keep trying because people do cancel. :thumbsup:

Have fun with the planning and on your trip!

We get the dining plan with 1TS, 1QS and snack. It's more than enough, and saves us money, since we are likely to eat at a full service restaurant at least once daily.

My kids (ages 12, 15) fave restaurant is SciFi dinner theatre at DHS, cant' beat the atmosphere. Also, you can get great food/table service at the BC and YC restaurants. We tend to make dining ressies near our hotel, because we usually take breaks mid-afternoon and go back to the hotel.

Our favorite restaurants are at Epcot: Coral Reef, LeCellier, Chefs du France. The new Italian restaurant should be good too. If they are full, keep trying! People sometimes have to move things around :)