Advance Dining Reservations| Disney Dining Plan | Resort Dining | Resort Character Dining | Theme Park Dining
Disney has a variety of dining choices. You have the traditional food court setting, counter service meals, and table service options. There are so many choices for the guests that sometimes there are not enough days in their trip to eat at every restaurant they desire.
You need to know where to start. The first thing you should do is to make your ADR’s (Advance Dining Reservations). What are ADR’s you ask? They are Disney’s version of reservations. You can make ADR’s for most restaurants 180 days prior to your trip. If you are planning on eating at most of the quality table service restaurants, it is a must to make your ADR’s that far ahead. Having ADR’s set before you get to Walt Disney World will definitely make your vacation run more smoothly.
For dining there are table service (sit down), counter service (walk up and order), and in some resorts, food courts. Some restaurants offer Character Meals, where various characters will come to your table to take pictures with you. Do some research and ask your children which characters they like. That can help you decide which meals they might enjoy. Planning these things many months in advance will alleviate problems when you arrive at Walt Disney World.
Table service meals are traditionally more expensive than the other types of meals. They can range from $15-$125 per person depending on the restaurant you choose. The average price for an adult at a table service runs about $25. These meals usually fill up first during the peak seasons as most guests would like to have nice dinners set up during holiday seasons, especially Christmas Eve and Fourth of July. When you call to make your dining reservations have 2-3 choices in mind, in case you don’t originally get what you want. Another good thing to know when making your dining reservations is to go ahead and set up your meals at the 180 day mark from your trip. Even though you may not know which park you will be at 180 days from now, there is no penalty for cancelling a dining reservation. (The exception to this would be a handful of restaurants such as Cinderella’s Royal Table & Victoria & Albert’s). You will know if there is a penalty by whether or not they charge you ahead of time. Table service dining though does have one negative aspect, time. A table service meal will usually last a family of four at least an hour to an hour and a half. That is valuable touring time in the parks. Many people prefer counter service meals because it’s cheaper and quicker.
The next type of dining is counter service. These are cheaper than table service and will range from $5-$15 per person depending on the menu. The average price with a drink is $10 per person. The good part about counter service is that you do not need to make ADR’s for them. Another good part is that Disney offers many different menus at their counter service restaurants. Sure some contain the usual burgers and fries, but each park offers several alternative menus. A good idea when eating during peak seasons is to try to eat at non-traditional dining times. Lunch is packed between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. For dinner the restaurants are usually full between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Try to avoid this mess, by planning your dining around these times. Eat lunch a half hour earlier than normal or get a late morning snack to tide you over and eat a late lunch at about 2:00 PM. For dinner you can use the same ideas. Eat dinner earlier than normal and snack late at night, or snack in the late afternoon, and eat a later dinner. Anything you can do to avoid dining during peak times will make your life and trip much more manageable. One final reason to eat at a counter service is that it is quick, compared to table service. You can order, eat and be on your way back into the parks in about half the time it would take if you eat at a table service restaurant. This makes for a much better touring plan.
The last type of dining is eating at your resort. Most resorts have some sort of food available to purchase. Several have “food courts” or small “grab and go” shops. These can come in handy if you want to eat early before you get to a park. Most are open well into the night so you may find a bedtime treat. Nothing is better than a Mickey ice-cream bar as a midnight snack. The cost of these types of offerings is as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. Most Moderate, Deluxe, and Vacation Club resorts have table service offerings as well.
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