Do you feel like your ADR cause 'time' restrictions?

[Frau Farbissina]

The only time I feel that TS dining hurts our schedule is when it's middle of the day, poorly timed in general, and or not well located for our park plans. i.e. an early breakfast and/or a dinner timed well with EMH, fireworks or park closing is actually very refreshing. For example, pre-park opening breakfast at Tusker House on our AK day and a late dinner at Boma the same day = a great plan. On the flip side- early breakfast at 1900PF on our Epcot day followed by lunch at Akershus- not the way to go...although dinner at Rose & Crown that day was good. Our kids seemed to do better when we have TS meals than CS meals...maybe b/c the sit down restaurant helps isolate them from the parks a bit and calms them. Plus, dining is part of the attraction of being at Disney...i.e. it's not just stopping for dinner, it's another almost equally important experience for a Disney trip.

And while I know people love the dining plan, while we like the TS credits, we could do without the CS and snack credits - so we're skipping it this trip and just paying OOP since our plans and normal dining habits make it the cheaper way to go.

I agree. You can make it work, it just takes planning. The only thing I've really regretted was missing ADRs and having no opportunity in the schedule (and I mean that loosely, we really don't stickt to one) to do a walk-up.

I'll also say that I just had a client insist on doing the QS plan and I ended up meeting her at the Poly during her trip since I was down there as well. She told me that while they liked the flexibility of the plan, they really got tired of so much fast food after day 2.

 

[Ransom]

We schedule an average of one sit-down meal per day of our trip and that works out fine. We don't have any scheduled on arrival or departure days, and if it's F&W Festival time, we won't schedule any on our Epcot days. Also none on the middle Saturday, either (we go for two weeks per trip).

On our first two trips, back when the dining plan was a screamingly great deal, we did use it and we felt like we absolutely had to make every ADR no matter what or we'd lose money. But since then we've used the Tables in Wonderland card instead, so we feel like we can skip an ADR if we don't feel like spending the time at the moment (we always call and cancel when that happens, of course).

Scheduling two or more sit-down meals per day, every day would pretty much ruin the trip for us. Too much scheduling for a vacation!

 

[JillC LI]

No!
The only restriction I feel is the waistband on my pants after all of those wonderful meals. :slurp:

I have to agree with this whole-heartedly! :lol::slurp:

 

[cymbaldiva]

I'll also say that I just had a client insist on doing the QS plan and I ended up meeting her at the Poly during her trip since I was down there as well. She told me that while they liked the flexibility of the plan, they really got tired of so much fast food after day 2.

I hope you took the opportunity to educate your client about the diverse QS offerings that Disney has available. While I find most of the TS options pretty mediocre, there are plenty of good counter service options to be found.

 

[meekoman]

When we had that dining plan a couple of years ago, I found it did limit how we toured the parks due to the timing of the ADR's. Trying to figure out which places still had availability at reasonable times kind of messed up when we wanted to visit which park. We had to plan our park visits around our meals. Sometimes, we had to eat at times we weren't accustomed to. It kind of took some of the fun out of it. This year, we have the quick service plan which is free again but allows us to eat where and when we want, although at a lower quality level. Can't complain about free food though!

 

[irmonkey]

To be honest, I regretted not making ADR's when I went in 2009. Hamburgers, chicken tenders and pizza get old fast...

We typically plan out what parks we are going to prior to making the ADR so we don't have the entire week at Epcot. Instead we'll have a couple in the MK area, a couple in Epcot, maybe one in AK or DHS.

 

[flavious27]

To be honest, I regretted not making ADR's when I went in 2009. Hamburgers, chicken tenders and pizza get old fast...

We typically plan out what parks we are going to prior to making the ADR so we don't have the entire week at Epcot. Instead we'll have a couple in the MK area, a couple in Epcot, maybe one in AK or DHS.

Agreed, you could walk up to the restaurants you like but the time wasted waiting is just mind numbing.

 

[wendysue]

yes

 

[erasure fan1]

I hope you took the opportunity to educate your client about the diverse QS offerings that Disney has available. While I find most of the TS options pretty mediocre, there are plenty of good counter service options to be found.

I feel the same way. So many people bash counter service as just burgers, fries, hotdogs and chicken nuggets. there is a ton of variety and "non typical" options if you just look a bit. I have had many O counter service meals that were as good or better than the table service meals.

 

[cymbaldiva]

I feel the same way. So many people bash counter service as just burgers, fries, hotdogs and chicken nuggets. there is a ton of variety and "non typical" options if you just look a bit. I have had many O counter service meals that were as good or better than the table service meals.

Thank you I get so tired of the QS bashing - there really IS a lot out there; I wish folks would just look!

 

[forevermickey]

yes and no. I agree Dining is part of the experience and I too schedule my ADR's around my schedule. There are times where it may seem a bit time crunching to make it to an ADR but is is worth it and I personally wouldn't give it up... we also need that time to sit in a comfortable nice place to cool off and relax.. it is hard to do that with a quick service meal.

 

[righttrack]

The ADRs provide structure, a vector from which to base the vacation. There are things to see, and you want to make sure you get those in. A scheduled, sit down meal with family, particularly if your kids are growing, is a good way to meet, and discuss strategy, something you can't do when running. If I find we over-scheduled ourselves and are going to eat a meal in a park or resort we have grown tired of, I'll call and see if we can get an ADR somewhere else, typically the day before said planned meal.

 

[Frau Farbissina]

I actually do. It's worth it to be because it forces us to sit down and rest a bit and I like the food, but it can really be hard to keep to your schedule. And if you're on the dining plan, there's that extra pressure to make your ADR so you don't have to use it at a quick service place.

I think it also depends on the type of trip. With younger kids, it can be a little more difficult to keep those ADRs, especially the early morning hour ones.

 

[sublimesting]

They are but they are also worth it. I can tell you at times I have been quite full but still had an ADR to get to . One I recall was an 8:00 pm at Boma. I still put a hurting on the buffet but I could have done without eating for the rest of the day.

 

[DisneyDude]

I couldn't imagine a trip without a few ADR, they have become part of our traditions. Yes they do mean you have to plan a little earlier, but that just adds to the excitment. Of course you can always cancel, if it really will cause a problem on the day.

 

[LeeSeeBabe]

Table service and Sit-down meals are A PART of our Disney Experience. When we're tight on cash and have to steer away from ADRs, I always end up feeling like we didn't have our full Disney Experience!

 

[WDWmazprty]

Table service and Sit-down meals are A PART of our Disney Experience. When we're tight on cash and have to steer away from ADRs, I always end up feeling like we didn't have our full Disney Experience!

This! exactly.

 

[drp4video]

I don't do the dinning plan for the reason that it is just me and my daughter, and we tend to split food a lot. Also, I tend to not really know what parks I will be in on what day, so it is hard to make a ADR. We do try to go to the parks when they have EMH in the evening, and I could use that as a guideline, but some trips it doesn't work out. Sometimes I will make one for the day we arrive as we no longer have AP's and don't arrive in time to go to a park, so I make one at a hotel. Or, if we have a non-park day at the pool or shopping, same thing.

We are going September 3-10 and there are only a few days that are fixed due to meeting other family members who will be there at the same time. This means we will probabaly miss some EMH days, but as it shouldn't be as busy as summer or Christmas, that is ok. I just can't committ right now to ADR's as I don't know where we will be. :shrug: In the past, we have had good luck booking them the day of...although it is usally an early or late time.

 

[BUZZCRUSH]

No, but I'm one of those bad people who make multiple reservations. I do cancel the ones I do not use before we dine. But like others we find the dining an experience itself and a nice break from the day.

 

[Yodadudeman]

Well it really depends on the type of vacation you want to go on. Both options are really good ones tho. However, when you made ADR's, you get a little more variety. Quick service restaurants are more than just burgers and fries, but they definately don't have the variety of "sit-down" options. However, if you are looking for a vacation that is a little quicker, then the quick service dining plan is the one for you. Either option will make for a great vacation. It just depends on the type of Disney vacation that you desire.