This is a discussion thread. The following is to all interested in reading, not just the original poster.
To answer the question about Take Out at Table service, it will likely take longer than you want to spend in getting the food if the idea is fast service.
Take Out is not their highest priority, that's why it's called Table Service and is what they will spend more time on. Something about teaching a pig to sing comes to mind.
If interested in anything else regarding the title of this post, "Chill.", read on. If not, stop reading here and don't post anything suggesting anything unnecessarily rude.
That said...
The subject of the thread is Sit Down Meals for DDP and enjoying them is perfectly within the realm of a reasonable response.
WDW can be hot. It can be crowded. It can also be very humid.
It can be all of the above at the same time.
It's supposed to be a vacation.
Believe me, we also want to see/do as much as possible and not waste unnecessary time, especially if you've ever taken the time to figure out how much it costs per hour just to be in any of the Disney parks if you're not an annual pass holder
.
On our last trip, with two small kids, we spent 7 nights/8 days and each day was full. Almost every day, we were on the first bus from Pop Century and most nights we didn't get back to the room until after 10 pm, sometimes past 11.
Even with that, get this:
We missed a full 1/2 of World Showcase at Epcot, Buzz Lightyear Spin, Hall of Presidents, Grand Prix(Autopia). We did go to Blizzard beach for 1/2 a day, but we only were able to spend about 2 hrs. in all of Downtown Disney.
Then again, we did other things 2 and 3 times, because we could.
Our kids don't need naps in the middle of the day at all, just FYI.
For part of the trip, my head was exploding inside because of all that wasn't being done. I kept it to myself,though.
But, we were on the Dining Plan (free
).
We ate well and leasurely. Never underestimate a relaxed meal in nice surroundings (with A/C
) while doing all that you're doing.
The dining plan offers that without the need to worry about the cost of the meal. To me, that's vacation, right there.
With all that, we missed Illuminations due to an unnecessarily lengthy meal (slow server) at LeCellier. Now, as parents, we were disappointed. But, we never told the kids about the show. They saw Wishes, Fantasmic, Spectromagic, and a host of other shows during the rest of the trip.
We could have very easily been upset, since we had no other opportunity to get back for Illuminations. But, dinner was great. It was comfortable.
Instead, due to the late meal, we ended up being some of the very last guests at Epcot and were able to experience a deserted Epcot, something some here have done, and something many people will never experience. It was really nice.
There were some other shows missed as well. That's OK. We enjoyed what we did see.
Not a week has gone by since our trip last October (the kids' first and only trip to WDW so far) where there hasn't been some reference by them to WDW.
"Remember when we did ________" or "Wasn't it cool at Disney when we saw______"
They don't ask when we're going back to see the stuff we missed because they saw how big the place was and we also didn't really tell them about what we didn't see.
We do have the WDW Explorer CD that mentions attractions not seen. They play with it. They know there's other stuff to be seen. They also know WDW changes.
We have multiple books collected by me over the years about WDW they are free to look at whenever they want.
They see the TV specials on Discovery, Travel, and Food. All of those mention things we didn't do.
Unless you're planning to spend a solid two weeks ($$$$) at WDW, there's
no way you're going to be able to do everything and enjoy it. The key there is enjoy it.
For us, this means another trip in the future (maybe distant, maybe not) to catch up on what we missed and also redo some favorites.
It was said earlier in this thread to stop and smell the roses.
The fact that we went on Space Mountain 3 times in a row toward the end of a night meant that we didn't do some other things, but we all had fun.
At first, the littlest one was a little nervous. By the third time, she sat in the front of the front car and loved it.
That's what we remember most as a family about Space Mountain. Nice roses to smell.
Why are you going to WDW? For fun, right? Over the years, they've made the place so freaking huge compared to the mid-70's, it's not possible to do it all unless you've got a lot of time on your hands and a really fat wallet.
With all of that in mind, enjoy WDW. If you're on the Dining Plan, great. If you're on the Free Dining Plan, even better. For us, the free dining plan was the scale tipper in being able to afford to go.
Enjoy the time with your kids. It goes very fast. Very fast. Did I mention it goes fast? Oh yeah, it doesn't come back. Even if you go with them again, the time spent at that age won't come back, and that goes for both of you, kids and adults.
And the time they spend with you there is just as valuable to them. Make it special.
As much as it can be stressful to try and not waste valuable time at WDW, there are many others who would very happily trade places with you.
This is not just to the original poster of the thread.
