Will we starve without reservations?

[ChicagoLaura]

We are going to Disney with our 1 year old Columbus Day weekend.

We are planning on going to Magic Kingdom on Saturday and Sunday and hanging out at our hotel (The Dolphin) until we have to leave for the airport on Monday.

I haven't looked into the Dining Plan and never really thought much about reservations.

Do we need to make reservations for all meals? How do I even begin picking a restaurant if I've never been to Disney?

It would have been nice to do a charcter meal but if those are impossible to get reservations for no real big loss.

Any advise for a clueless girl that just thought we could grab a few hot dogs and then get right back out there?

Thanks!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I do not think you can get dining plan if you are staying at the Dolphin, it must be a Disney owned property. You can eat at any of the CS eateries without a reservation. Most of these are typical burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets etc...but you can find better selections at CS like Sunshine Seasons in Epcot, Cosmic Rays in MK, and Flame Tree BBQ at AK. If you are looking for a sit down table service meal TS-I would suggest looking at the menus section under Info Central and deciding on some restaurants to make ADRs. Being a holiday weekend, I would suggest calling ahead to make the ADRs but you may not be able to get into the more popular restaurants this close to your trip.

Good Luck:)

[SBETigg]

You will definitely not starve. It's a Food and Wine Fest week, plus there are plenty of quick service restaurants-- meaning, no reservations, just walk up and order. And you won't have to stick to hot dogs. DIsney has some great counter service with choices beyond burgers and dogs. If the Food and Wine Fest isn't your thing (with a toddler) check out Sunshine Seasons at the Land in Epcot for a full, filling meal without reservations. Picabu in your hotel is also good, 24 hour.

There are some great choices in every park, some favorites: Flametree BBQ and Yak and Yeti at the Animal Kingdom. Cosmic Rays and Columbia Harbour House at the Magic Kingdom, Starring Rolls at Disney Hollywood Studios, Sunshine Seasons and Tangierine Cafe at Epcot.

Also, it's not too late to make a few reservations (ADRs in Disney-speak). Character meals might be a great fit with your little one. You can check the official Disney website to make dining reservations online or just call and see what's available-- either now, or the day of. There's usually something, though for character meals it is best to plan ahead.

[faline]

If you're flexible, you can usually also get reservations at table service restaurants the same day though I wouldn't count on getting a character meal reservation the same day. Some restaurants, like the Grand Floridian Cafe, at the Grand Floridian often take walk-ins without a problem. As noted, there are multiple counter service locations available so plenty of food is available for when you are hungry!

[cer]

No worries. You will not starve. Dining reservations are recommended, if you intend on doing sit-down table service meals. You can still get dining reservations if you are interested, but a lot of the more popular places may be booked.

As far as counter service meals, there is great availability and great variety. You will be fine.

I have always been impressed with the counter service options. Another great thing about counter service is like you said, grab a quick bite and get right back out there.

Just to add to MississippiDisneyFreak, Columbia Harbor House in MK is a good place to eat counter service. At Downtown Disney Earl of Sandwich is so yummo and I have also hear that Wolfgang Puck has a good counter service there, too. In Epcot, the Bakery in France is good, as well.

You are going to have a great trip! I am so excited for you!

[ElenitaB]

Still not too late to try for a reservation (ADR) for a character meal. Some of the ones that could possibly have openings (no guarantee) are breakfast at 'Ohana, an off hour for dinner at Crystal Palace, an early or late ADR at Garden Grill or maybe breakfast at Cape May Cafe (close to you).

The Swan's Garden Grove also has a character dinner nightly (according to their dining iPhone app) and a character breakfast Saturdays and Sundays. Maybe you could call the hotel and try to book it?

[dmosher]

Laura,
DW and I usually make ADR's obsessivley for the places we want. This trip however we too are going with no formal dining plans. Unless you want specific reservations at specific dining locations you will be fine. As others have said be flexible about your time, or do what we are doing and save some money by eating mostly counter service. It is all about be creative... want to go to the 50's Prime Time? Eat at the bar, same food rarely any wait, etc. Want to eat at the California Grill? You can get a table in the waiting area and eat and drink the same as others and still see the fireworks. WDW have a multitude of experiences and there are so many counter service places that serve excellent foods, etc you will not be hurting for choices. As to where to eat, it depends, on what kind of foods you like, atmosphere, etc. and how much do you want to spend per meal. DW and I have this down to a science, really.

Cheers,
D

[lighteningqueen]

OK From what I read from you you are ONLY going to MK and ONLY have 2 days. Then yes try to get an adr for Crystal Palace either breakfast buffet or Dinner Buffet You will be stuffed. The Counter service lunch places the best are Pecos Bills.. Huge burgers taco salad etc. Or Columbia Harbor House, great shrimp platter 9.00 There is also Tonys Its a sit down Table Service on Main Street and also the Plaza restaurant Table service as well. Those are really the best choices for you IF you dont want to leave the grounds and waste time commuting. Which if it were me we would not leave the park till it closed if I was ONLY GOING 2 days and being FIRST timers. Your not gonna want to leave and it will be over before you know it. If its a busy weekend then you will spend time in lines somewhat, and I am betting the park closes early. We ar3 going in Jan this year and the hours are short only until 8. Go to the park hours calender on the Disneyworld.com under park hours under parks.. site Look up your dates type it in and the park which is MK in your case.It also shows you if there are extra hours that night.. or open later. You can also look at menus in allears.net. Click on dining then go down the paragraph until you see the highlighted blue words current menus and their prices click on that and look up the choices I gave you or you can click on anything in MK park and look at what they have to offer then decide if you want to call in ressies or eat Counter Service CS Table Service is TS . Oh my I remember our first time 8 days and not long enough to do anything. We fell in Love and went again the next year still didnt do it all.But you are only going to one park and that should be easy. but think again about hanging at the hotel. This is short for you and not a minute should be wasted out of that park.. Hope this helps. Oh wdwinfo.com has a good site for menus as well as this one has some but wdwinfo.com shows pictures of the places and tells a bit more for prices etc and hours to eat at them.

[BigFatDaddy]

Four years ago my family went to Disney World for 10 days. It was the first time for our teenagers at the time and the first time my husband and I had been back since 1982. We didn't even think about making reservations at restaurants! We were so excited to be going to WDW! We just planned for what we wanted to do and see at each park and didn't even think about eating! We were just fine. We had plenty to eat at each park and Downtown Disney also.

[cer]

OK From what I read from you you are ONLY going to MK and ONLY have 2 days.

To original poster, I am sorry I did not read more carefully. If you are only going to MK and only for a couple of days, another dining option for table service would be to consider the monorail resorts. They are just a quick ride away.

For a character meal you could try Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, or breakfast at Ohana or 1900 Park Faire...

Anyway, I am sort of embarrassed I did not pay closer attention to your post. Sorry about that.

[Tink#64]

:welcome: to Intercot! My advice would be to see if you can make ADR's for a character meal if you'd like that experience, we've done a few & they are fantastic but costly!

This year was our first trip not making any ADR's & it was awesome! We were able to tour as we wanted without thinking we had to be someplace for a meal at a certain time! And we definitely didn't starve! Another note here, we've never done the dining plan, as we always stay at a value resort & WDW gives us a discount for AAA & you can't book room only with the discount & get the meal plan! We're not huge eaters, and WDW portions are very generous, we've learned to share (no buffets) so we're not wasting food & tossing in the trash! If we're hungry later, it justifies those Mickey Bars & Dole Whips! :bar:

In MK, our fav CS's are Cosmic Rays (wraps), Pinocchio Village Haus (chicken ceasar salad) & the new Tortuga Tavern (yummy taco salad's!) I'd take a look at the menu's of the MK restaurants to get an idea of what is offered at each restaurant so you can try for ADR's or plan for CS's. I always note on my touring cards at least one option for each section of the park, that way no matter where you are when you want to eat, you'll have an idea of where to go & what to expect! :eat:

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Oops, I also missed that you were only doing MK...like everyone said Cosmic Rays, Pecos Bills, Columbia harbor house all have great choices, for a character meal try Crystal Palace but you probably will need to call ahead for an ADR...if you don't mind leaving for a meal and coming back 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian-a short monorail ride away has a character meal for breakfast and dinner as does Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary...Ohana's at the Polynesian has a character breakfast, still I would think ADRs would be necessary for those:mickey:

[mudpuppysmom]

From reading your post it sounds to me like you are pretty flexible (saying it's not tragic if you don't get a character meal).

Sometimes flying by the seat of your pants is a good way to go and my family and I have done it several times!! Normally I make one or two scheduled meals and we wing the rest. With the addition of my DS#2 we have had to rethink that a little bit as he has several "eating issues". While we do take "snacks" into the park with us for him it is tough to do. What used to be a couple granola bars and water has turned into more than I like to drag around, so now I plan more meals for his sake (and talk ahead of time with the chefs). While it does slow us down a little it's better for him in the long run.

Sure knowing ahead of time where you are going to eat is fine, but having an adventure is so much more fun!

You will SO be able to find a "few hot dogs" and get back to it!:mickey:

[Janmac]

Reservations are only available for sit-down meals. For any of the counter service - where you go up to the counter to order and carry your food to your table - you do not need a reservation.

At this point, less than a month away from your trip, you are probably out of luck with reservations at character restaurants. IF you really had your heart set on a character meal your best option would be to ask about cancellations at the podium at Crystal Palace during off times - like 10 am or perhaps 2 pm.

Quite likely your 1 yr old won't really care about up close and personal experiences with the completely full size characters anyway. Hard to say, as each kid is different, but the 2 and 3 year olds we've brought to Magic Kingdom were mostly happy to observe from a distance.

Our favorite counter service is Cosmic Rays, near Tomorrowland. There are 3 ordering bays, depending on whether you want burgers - to load up at the toppings bar - or perhaps a half a chicken and mashed potatoes, to share. The seating area is large and even has "live" entertainment, sort of. Sonny Eclipse is an animatronic musician. Probably entertain your 1 yr old enormously.

Regardless of where you eat, it's best to try to eat at off times, like late morning or mid-afternoon.

Also there are carts around the Magic Kingdom that have hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream, etc. So one of you can wait in line while the other and your child can watch something going on. There's always something entertaining going on. And kids that age are great for falling asleep in their strollers when they're tired.

If your 1 yr old should need some quiet time at the park, be sure to go to the first aid center - you'll find it on the park map. If memory serves, there is even space for a bit of a crawl around.

Enjoy!

Jan

[Katzateer]

We don't have seatings for a lot of our meals.

If you go straight to Crystal Palace when park opens you will have a good chance of getting in for a character meal. The food and character interaction s great and we have just walked up our last two trips and gotten in with no problems.

[diz_girl]

There are many really good TS restaurants at WDW and even in the parks that probably still have tables available. For MK days, try LTT for lunch (they have availability both Saturday and Sunday of Columbus Day weekend) or even take a break from the park and have lunch at the GF Cafe at the GF or Kona Cafe at the Poly (both restaurants have availability for both lunch and dinner for both days).

While character meals at the parks and WDW resorts are probably full, even the Garden Grove at the Swan. People often forget about the Swan/Dolphin restaurants as options. But they're perfect for you since you're already there.

[kemps@wdw]

ADRs for every meal are really not necessary. But most will tell you that there are certain places that ressies are an absolute must. We generally chose 2 or 3 restaurants / dinner shows that we really want to do and make ADRs for those when we book our trip. As for our other dining options, we kinda decide that once we get there. Like you, character meals are basically take-it-or-leave-it for us, now that DD is older.