Planning around lunch? Thoughts on carrying in snacks?

[WDWMPrincess]

Looking at planning our days around lunch reservations since dining reservations become available first and it would mean a break from the heat. So far I'm thinking:

Day 1 Magic Kingdom + Cinderella's Royal Table

Day 2 Animal Kingdom + Tusker House Rivers of Light

Day 3 Hollywood Sudios + Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dining

Day 4 Epcot + ???

Day 5 free day for everyone to catch up whatever they think they missed

I haven't really been able to make up my mind on a lunch option for Epcot. If it were just me I'd opt for Spice Road Table at dinner to view the light show, but although I find references to kid friendly options on some Disney planning websites I don't see them on the WDW website. Also thinking we'll carry some snacks into the park. I don't mind paying for a mid-afternoon Dole Whip or Mickey Ice Cream Pop, but I can't see shelling out for quadruple priced snacks just because they've slapped a Disney logo on popcorn or trail mix. Which sort of relates to the Epcot dilemma as opting to eat dinner in that park would allow us to snack our way through the World Showcase. We really loved trying all the neat foods from all the different countries when I took the kids last.

Any thoughts, experience, or Epcot lunch suggestions welcomed. Thanks!

 

[nickys]

Looking at planning our days around lunch reservations since dining reservations become available first and it would mean a break from the heat. So far I'm thinking:

Day 1 Magic Kingdom + Cinderella's Royal Table

Day 2 Animal Kingdom + Tusker House Rivers of Light

Day 3 Hollywood Sudios + Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dining

Day 4 Epcot + ???

Day 5 free day for everyone to catch up whatever they think they missed

I haven't really been able to make up my mind on a lunch option for Epcot. If it were just me I'd opt for Spice Road Table at dinner to view the light show, but although I find references to kid friendly options on some Disney planning websites I don't see them on the WDW website. Also thinking we'll carry some snacks into the park. I don't mind paying for a mid-afternoon Dole Whip or Mickey Ice Cream Pop, but I can't see shelling out for quadruple priced snacks just because they've slapped a Disney logo on popcorn or trail mix. Which sort of relates to the Epcot dilemma as opting to eat dinner in that park would allow us to snack our way through the World Showcase. We really loved trying all the neat foods from all the different countries when I took the kids last.

Any thoughts, experience, or Epcot lunch suggestions welcomed. Thanks!

OK, first thing to be aware of. If you're planning around lunch, and you want the ROL and Fantasmic dining packages (which I think are a great way to go to make things easier), the dining packages are often not available at 180 days. It can be a month or more later before reservations are available. Which can make planning somewhat fraught. You'd need to allow enough leeway in any plans to account for what time you could get.

Also H&V, whilst fun enough, is the worst buffet I've had on site. It isn't the Disney Jnr characters either at lunch any more, which would be one of only two valid reason I could think of for eating there (the other being a PPO breakfast to sign up for Jedi Training). I would consider Mama Melrose instead.

Snacks - lots of people bring snacks. One thing that might be worth thinking about is the refillable popcorn bucket. It's good for length of stay, and is around $15 I think with $1.50 refills. You can get it at any park, and there are stations to get refills dotted around (although not everywhere does them - not the speciality stations at Epcot for example).

Speaking of Epcot and lunch....

Garden Grill has Chip and Dale, and food is brought to your table (you can ask for more of whatever you like).
Biergarten is fun by all accounts, never been myself.

 

[DarthVader]

Day 4 Epcot + ???

There's so many places to eat at Epcot, I think you're going to get reocmmendations galor. My family particularly likes the Rose and Crown (English pub), but there's also so many other great places to eat.

 

[WDWMPrincess]

H&V - It isn't the Disney Jnr characters either at lunch any more

Whoops. I thought it was. Not that we feel we HAVE to see those characters. Just thought if it was lunch + characters + Fantasmic that would be a good value. I also didn't realize Fantasmic and ROL dining weren't available at 180 days out. All the vlogs and websites I've been looking at said they were. Is there any advantage to going ahead with booking those restaurants for lunch and then perhaps calling asking to add the Fantasmic and ROL when they open? Guessing no but thought I'd ask just in case.

Mama Melrose's menu does look amazing so thank you for the suggestion. Looks like we'll be trying for that one instead.

Regarding this PPO breakfast for Jedi training are you suggesting we book a breakfast at Hollywood and Vine so that we have a guaranteed early entry to be first in line to sign up for Jedi training? My grandson would love the Jedi training but there goes my lunchtime cool off. Unless we perhaps book just my grandson and his dad in for the breakfast and Jedi sign up and then reserve lunch at Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic dining.

Thanks for the pub suggestion, Mr. Vader. My kids are probably going to push for their favorite in Epcot which is Teppan Edo but I'd like to try something different for a change. If we don't do the pub we will probably do Garden Grill. I'd love to introduce the grandkids to Chip and Dale.

 

[nickys]

Booking a "normal" table before the dining packages are available won't help in the slightest, sadly! They keep a separate inventory for the dining packages.

Sometimes the packages are available, but I have found I usually had a wait. You will find "watch" threads for these, plus the desert parties, on sites like Touring Plans.

Don't let that put you off. Just be aware. The chances are if you keep checking that you will get them. However, the last time slot will typically be around 2.5 hours before The show time, and usually the packages are only available for the first show of the evening.

H&V at lunch is a character buffet. Just not Disney Jnr, it's Minnie and friends (Donald, Daisy, Goofy, maybe Pluto?).

You don't need a PPO breakfast to sign up. But otherwise you (or at least grandson and an adult) would need to be there around 30 minutes at least before rope drop (or EMH). They usually let you in a bit early to sign up I believe, but not sure.

 

[WDWMPrincess]

Thanks. Hopefully since we want to do the actual eating at lunch time we'll get lucky. Or do I misunderstand? The Disney World website says we can book our meal at lunch, or even breakfast if the restaurant of choice serves it, and then just use our special viewing pass that night when Fantasmic or ROL is put on. I was hopeful we'd be able to get a 1:30 or 2 PM since we're planning the meal as a respite from the heat, but with carrying snacks we can be pretty flexible.

Also, thank you for the update on H&V buffet. I was wondering why all the places I'd looked were still listing it as a Character meal. I guess we'll think on whether to book it for the characters or somewhere else.

I was asking about the breakfast and sign up because I read elsewhere if you have an H&V breakfast reserved you can go sign up first, then go to breakfast thus avoiding the lines a the sign up.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Table service lunch isn't worth it IMO. That's a huge chunk of time taken out of the middle of the day.

 

[WDWMPrincess]

Table service lunch isn't worth it IMO. That's a huge chunk of time taken out of the middle of the day.

We didn't do it last time we visited Disney but we'll have young children with us this time.

Edit: and to be fair about this also because I'll be old this time. I do walk about 3-4 miles per day with my job but from what I remember Disney is a lot more walking and especially a lot of standing. For some reason I'm fine walking, but standing just kills me.

 

[nickys]

Thanks. Hopefully since we want to do the actual eating at lunch time we'll get lucky. Or do I misunderstand? The Disney World website says we can book our meal at lunch, or even breakfast if the restaurant of choice serves it, and then just use our special viewing pass that night when Fantasmic or ROL is put on. I was hopeful we'd be able to get a 1:30 or 2 PM since we're planning the meal as a respite from the heat, but with carrying snacks we can be pretty flexible.

Also, thank you for the update on H&V buffet. I was wondering why all the places I'd looked were still listing it as a Character meal. I guess we'll think on whether to book it for the characters or somewhere else.

I was asking about the breakfast and sign up because I read elsewhere if you have an H&V breakfast reserved you can go sign up first, then go to breakfast thus avoiding the lines a the sign up.

About the timings for the dinner packages. You have to book it as a "dining package" on MDE. So if you look at DHS, it will be listed as "Fantasmic dining package". You can book for breakfast, lunch or (early) dinner, depending on what the particular restaurant offers under the package. H&V is the only DHS breakfast choice, the others just do lunch and dinner. You will see the times it is offered finishes early. You can look just now for any dates, to see what kind of hours there are.

The H&V breakfast is probably the easiest way to sign up for Jedi Training. But it is still possible to sign up without it. I've not been for breakfast, but I would think it is pretty standard fare. Hard to go wrong with breakfast.

The Backlot Express is a huge indoor / outdoor QS at DHS, with unlimited drinks (a rarity). You could plan for a lunch there perhaps, if you did the PPO breakfast at H&V. Or there's the Muppets pizza place, forget it's name. Same as the old Toy Story one in all but name - standard individual "deep pan" style pizzas, salads, the usual stuff.

 

[DarthVader]

We didn't do it last time we visited Disney but we'll have young children with us this time.

Table service for lunches can make a lot of sense for a number of reasons. Yes, they do take a chunk of time, but not everyone wants to jam so much activities that becomes a virtual blur. I think there's something to be said for some downtime, especially when you have little ones. Having them sit and enjoying the charachters that come will go a long way imo.

I think if you're gone to Disney in the past, there's nothing wrong with a slower approach, which includes TS lunches.

We have a TS lunch at MK, but then we also have three days dedicated to MK during our visit, so its not a huge deal imo. I'm also expecting large crowds at MK for our time there, so having some time to sit and decompress is a big plus.

 

[randomsoulshine]

As for carrying in snacks we always do. We eat a lot at Disney so the extra snacks are great. I always make my own trail mix (minus chocolate it melts) and put the trail mix in snack size baggies. We also take in granola bars that don't have chocolate. I carry in a couple of bananas as well. We take water bottles which are insulated and get the free water refills which saves a ton. The snacks come in handy especially when we are in line and someone is hungry. As for table service meals we enjoy the break because we do not go back to the hotel room. At Epcot however we actually like Sunshine Seasons which is quick service in the Land pavilion. Having a lunch and dinner meal at HStudios has made planning the day a bit more difficult but we have a good solid plan in place and will go in with a great attitude and some flexibility.

 

[WDWMPrincess]

Thanks for the banana idea, randomsoulshi. We hadn't thought of that. Coming up with new no refrigeration required snacks is always a challenge for us.

We always take some sort of water bottles. I've got a set that attaches to any belt loop with a carabiner and rolls up when empty. Great for rides since there's no worry they'll slip off. I haven't been in Sunshine Seasons somehow. Probably because we spent too much time in World Showcase before. I've seen videos and it looks like a great place for a large group since everyone can choose whatever they like.

Darth we've definitely made the mistake of trying to cram far too much into a day at Disney World before. It worked out at the time with everyone in their prime and used to a lot of physical activity outdoors in the Texas heat. This time we'll have two kids under 6 and three adults over 55 in our group so I don't think it would be wise. Plus the younger set will have an entire day to themselves to run around and do as much as they want in the parks.

nickys thank you for setting out the facts on the Fantasmic dining and Jedi training sign ups. After conferring with our little Jedi's parents we've decided I'll book them an H&V breakfast on our free day and we'll all try to go watch the show, and on our group HS day we'll do a Fantasmic lunch at Mama Melrose's.