Help Deciding On Whether Or Not To "Priority Seat"?

[Jasper Dale]

my wife and i took our first trip to WDW in 2001 and we stayed for 8 days. we Priority Seated ourselves sick and spent waaayyy too much eating which left us really lethargic and we didn't actually see everything we wanted to see in the parks.

we are returning to WDW December 13-17th. i know it is really late to try to make reservations and all, but my question really has to do with the whole "concept" of dining on this vacation.

since it is going to be a rather short trip and "fine dining" really isn't as big of a "temptation" as it was the last time we were there, i am wondering how difficult it is to "dine" at WDW without wasting a lot of time, especially if we are not "picky" regarding what we eat.

i don't want to eat just "junk food" on the trip, but we really want to focus our time seeing everything we missed out on the last time we went to WDW.

are there decent "walk up" places to eat at WDW? we were so pathetic the last time we went, that we never even attempted to eat anywhere but places we had Priority Seating and i think we both gained about 8 pounds during the week.

or should i try and go ahead and make some Priority Seating just in case?

thanks for your help!

 

[coltow]

Walk-ups are not easy to come by. If there is any place that you really want go ahead and try to get an ADR. You can also always try to get some when you are there. For example, if you know the day before that you are going to DHS and would like to try Sci-fi call or go to the front desk to check availibility.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

All depends where and what you want to eat. Decembers pretty busy and I'd rather be safe knowing that I'm going to get at least one decent meal per day rather than standing in line at overly busy counter service venues and wasting more time

 

[Jasper Dale]

so are the counter service places really that busy? how long of a wait is normal?

 

[Monty]

TS without ADRs really isn't a good idea.

That said, for a week in WDW, I could survive on CS/QS meals for the duration if I had to [I always have ADRs well in advance, but if...]. There are some very good food choices available.

 

[gembob]

so are the counter service places really that busy? how long of a wait is normal?

Last time I went in June 2007 CS isn't along wait compared to TS. I would say that that the longest I have ever waited was approx 15 minutes and that was at a really busy time. But then I am British, Queuers Supreme!!

 

[TTFN-Tiggger]

For as busy as the holiday season is there I would recommend ADR's. My last trip we did the dining plan. If we booked breakfast we booked late morning and then we held over to a early dinner with the TS and skipped lunch. For the dinners we booked we did TS for breakfast, skipped lunch and booked an early dinner - I never felt like I was eating all day - spaced out nicely.

 

[slappy magoo]

Will you have a car?
Not having ADRs isn't NECESSARILY as bad if you have a car. You can always drive to some of the more out of the way resorts, or to DTD...or if necessary, offsite (yeah, I know, what am *I* smoking?) But if you're limited to staying onsite and using Disney transportaion, it will usually be next-to-impossible to get in restaurants in any of the theme parks and nearby restaurants (like the monorail resorts, or the International Gateway resorts).

My recommendation would be to try to get ADRs at your restaurants of choice, & be flexible with times. If they're booked, & you have a car, consider Olivia's at OKW, Turf Club at SSR, Boatwrights at POR, Bongo's in DTD. When at MK, try the more casual monorail resort eateries like Kona Café in poly or Grand Floridian Café. Also, Trails' End buffet at FW often is easy to get ADRs. Sometimes, the more upscale restaurants are easier to get into because they're more expensive; consider Jiko's at AKL, or Artist Point at WL, Yachtsman's Steakhouse at Yacht Club.

Good luck.

 

[Jasper Dale]

thanks for all the opinons. it will probably be good for us "not" to have too many reservations. my wife and i both tend to "stuff ourselves" and then wind up wanting to take a nap.

:ROFLOL:

 

[slappy magoo]

thanks for all the opinons. it will probably be good for us "not" to have too many reservations. my wife and i both tend to "stuff ourselves" and then wind up wanting to take a nap.

:ROFLOL:

Avoid buffets, split or avoid appetizers and desserts, & try to drink water instead of colas/coffee/alcohol. :shrug:

This forum and allears.net have fairly exhaustive lists of all current menus, including prices. And it's not all deep-fried Twinkies or butter-soaked burgers.

 

[TinkSassy]

Are you on the DDP? You could have trouble getting in your TS credits without ADRs if you are. If not, I've never had much trouble with CS. The trick is to eat at off times - eat a very light breakfast, stop for lunch at 11a when the restaurants first open and there are no lines - we either do dinner at 5 to avoid the rush or get a snack and take CS to the curb very late to hold spots for the evening shows.

:xmas: Christmas 2008 or Bust!

 

[Jasper Dale]

no, i looked into the dining plan and i just don't think it's something that would actually save us any money. i don't want to feel "stuffed" during my vacation and there are too many tempting places at WDW to eat that i know it would just cut into my touring time in the parks.

we were actually thinking about taking a cab to a grocery store and buying some fruit, etc. we have a couple reservations and i think that's going to work out best for us.

 

[slappy magoo]

no, i looked into the dining plan and i just don't think it's something that would actually save us any money. i don't want to feel "stuffed" during my vacation and there are too many tempting places at WDW to eat that i know it would just cut into my touring time in the parks.

we were actually thinking about taking a cab to a grocery store and buying some fruit, etc. we have a couple reservations and i think that's going to work out best for us.

If you take a car service to WDW from the airport, some car companies include a 30-min stop at a grocery store.

 

[Philo]

My rule is, book the places you defiantly want to go to and take it from there. On out last trip (11days) we had 8 ADR's and one day eating off site. I know I would never feel good after two big meals so we always went for a lunch time snack at a CS and a reservation at night.

To be honest, the two nights when we didn't have ADR's were a bit of a relief. More freedom and because we knew we had good meals coming our way, we we're happy to just grab a bit of junk.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I can never understand the reluctance to make ADRs, with one or two exceptions you are not committing to anything and can always cancel if things change.

Its no bad thing having a bit of structure to your day either, in summer it forces you to take a break.

 

[Scooter]

My wife and I have no problems being seated w/o ADR's with the exception of The Royal Table at Magic Kingdom.

You just have to be be able to eat during off hours.

Breakfast: be there really early (be there when they open) or really late
Lunch: be there at 11:00 as soon as they open for lunch or have a late lunch.
Dinner: be willing to eat early (like 4:30-5:00ish) or late late just before they close.

It also helps to have just the two of us. You can't pull this off with a party of 4 or more.

Also: it never hurts to just walk up and ask if there is a table available. All they can do is say no but a lot of times there are no shows and/or cancellations.

My wife and I aren't ADR people because we never know when we are going to be hungry or which park we will be in when we are hungry.

Is it better to get ADR's? You betcha, but we still manage to get into Table service places most of the time with out them so we take our chances.
Good luck

 

[kmanship]

Try making ADR's at times when the parks are closing/closed or just opening... One thing we do is try to find restaurants that open earlier than the actual park does... Eat a good breakfast, a counter service for lunch and then if you want have an ADR for sometime around park closing, that way you want have much idle time while the park is open....Good luck!