Full Service Or Counter Service?

[Iris]

I know that for many people, the restaurants are an important part of their WDW experience. I have never been one of them. For me, it's counter service and food courts. I don't think I have ever ordered food sitting down at WDW.

Are there any other non-foodies out there?

 

[Disvillain63]

It depends on the trip and who is traveling with me. We've gone with no ADRs and we've gone with an ADR every day/night.

 

[PUSH]

I'm mainly a QS person, but I like to go TS once or twice a trip.

 

[experiment624]

I read in another thread that, sometimes, it depends on the days' agenda. We found that some people are more attraction oriented and/or time constrained and don't like to use up time at a sit-down. While some enjoy the food, ambience, a/c, and a break from the crowds, and have the time to spend, ha ha. I noticed in that conversation, what appears to me personally as a trend; those who have done Disney more (and possibly more often), will do table service, while those who go more rarely, like to try to fit more attractions in and do quick service. That has been my observation, and in no way is fact or how it is for everyone. I am sure there are a bazillion other factors when families determine TS or QS but thought I would mention some observations from other threads.

Basically, there is no one way to do meals at Disney. It's each families' individual preference. Growing up in a larger family, we would often snack throughout the day, everyone had their personal favorite attraction to see and there just wasn't a whole lot of time for meals, or money for that matter. Now that it is just DH and self, we enjoy the meals most and my husband is the complete opposite of a foodie.

 

[jkl2000]

I'll have a better idea after October, but I think: QS

I could totally see once my kids are older (no longer kids) that I'd be able to visit WDW and be MUCH more leisurely.

 

[zurgandfriend]

I like my food and my comfort. After 27 years in the military I am not fond of eating off of my lap or sleeping on the ground

 

[Lord_Vader]

I have found over the years that when we stay for longer periods, 10 days or more, my family is much more relaxed and we truely enjoy sitting down to eat a meal or two per day at table service locations. For the shorter stays we found that riding the rides, seeing the shows and meeting the characters was more important so we ate on the run, stayed in the parks from open to close to maximize our limited time. My children are hardly children anymore, 21 and 16 so my view may be a slight bit different but when my children were younger they loved CInderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey's, Boma, etc. as they were more fun to them, now they want Narcoossee's, Shula's and Jiko so maybe QS isn't such a bad idea...

Personally, I would rather stay 14 to 16 days, relax and take a relaxing vacation at the parks instead of rushing around to make sure we do everything.

 

[baloofigment14]

We always do Full Service and love it!

 

[sxeensweet]

We do both! We get the dining plan so we do a table service at night and sometimes in the morn and our lunch is usually at our fave quick service spots.

 

[disneypearl]

We usually go mostly counter service. I would guess we average a table service meal every other day.

 

[jw24]

The answer is always different. Some prefer QS either for time or money. (In my case, it's more of the latter though!), others prefer TS because it's family time, a nice break from the hustle and bustle from the parks and some like a good mix of TS and QS. My experiences have with mostly QS locations but now that I've gotten older, I've made food a priority to be a necessary part of my WDW experience. While I have some favorites I will enjoy no matter what like Earl of Sandwich, I want to try other places like Boma or Sanaa, for instance. I would prefer my next future WDW trip to have a good mix of both. Not exactly equal but with so many restaurants and eateries on my bucket list, I must do a mix!

 

[rufio]

Heck no! Our trips are based around ADRs (I don't think I could get DH to go, otherwise). The food is just as much a vacation for us as the attractions! We have at least one ADR per day.

 

[acishere]

I like to have at least one table service dinner at Epcot and one sit down meal at a hotel I've never stayed in. The rest of the time i will just to quick service to save money.

Food adds to my experience so if I can do more table meals, I will. Only time I wouldn't bother is breakfast. The morning is for attractions so its a breakfast to go and an ice coffee as soon as I find one that isn't that pre-made junk.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I can see the advantage of only doing quick service and a lot of those meals are tasty. But it is nice to have a place to sit and relax and be waited on so we do a blend. Plus there are some restaurants I just don't want to miss like 'ohana, and boma!

 

[armyfamilyof5]

I like my food and my comfort. After 27 years in the military I am not fond of eating off of my lap or sleeping on the ground

This.

 

[real mad hatter]

75% CS....25% TS....

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

We really do enjoy a sit down meal once a day, be it breakfast (HUGE breakfast food fans) or dinner. Of course, like most of our members, we have our *must do* sit downs every year, be it for the food or nostalgia.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

We usually do one table service (Crystal Palace) and then Quick Service the rest of the time.

 

[reptar77]

Table service 99.9% of the time.

 

[ShookieJones]

I read in another thread that, sometimes, it depends on the days' agenda. We found that some people are more attraction oriented and/or time constrained and don't like to use up time at a sit-down. While some enjoy the food, ambience, a/c, and a break from the crowds, and have the time to spend, ha ha. I noticed in that conversation, what appears to me personally as a trend; those who have done Disney more (and possibly more often), will do table service, while those who go more rarely, like to try to fit more attractions in and do quick service. That has been my observation, and in no way is fact or how it is for everyone. I am sure there are a bazillion other factors when families determine TS or QS but thought I would mention some observations from other threads.

Basically, there is no one way to do meals at Disney. It's each families' individual preference. Growing up in a larger family, we would often snack throughout the day, everyone had their personal favorite attraction to see and there just wasn't a whole lot of time for meals, or money for that matter. Now that it is just DH and self, we enjoy the meals most and my husband is the complete opposite of a foodie.

We've always been park commandos, but that's exactly why we do a TS dinner each day. That's our self imposed downtime. Granted I'm a foodie of sorts, but I wouldn't do a deluxe dining plan because that would require, too much time away from hitting attractions and enjoying the parks. So in my case you're partially right.
We are definitely park oriented and want to maximize are times in the park, but that 1 TS sit down meal at the end of the day is something we all look forward to very much.