Curious about this, how many meals do you eat at WDW

[pigletto]

Counter service lunch occasionally and MAYBE one or two ADR’s. We’ve eaten in many Disney restaurants when we were habitual onsite guests but since we have moved offsite we eat in restaurants outside the parks. I just can’t stomach the Disney prices for mediocre food most if the time. For example we used to love Ohana. These days it would be about $240 for my family of four. If that’s not bad enough, once you exchange that , it’s about $315 in our currency. We can go to Celebration or elsewhere in Orlando and have several excellent meals for that price.
We did onsite and the dining plan for many many years.. those days are over and we are loving exploring new places on our trips.

 

[KStash]

This is our first time staying offsite, but as we are all adults and teenagers, we have no plan to rope drop. Most of our days will start around 1-2, so we plan on eating breakfast and lunch at the rental house. We have 4 table service dinners planned, then will eat quick service or go eat outside the parks for the rest of the dinners.

 

[kathy884]

If we do a table service meal at WDW it's usually for the ambiance and enjoyment of the resort where we are eating our meal: eg. Boma and spending a little time at the Animal Kingdom Lodge looking around or Ohana to enjoy the Polynesian hotel and grounds after (nice break for a busy day the MK). I've taken family groups of 10 to 14 to these places before on offisite visits as my one splurge meal of the trip. These days we usually do counter service when at any WDW park and typically just do one table service meal on the trip. I think it's that we've just been so many times, are doing budget trips (so looking to not spend too much on food) and for that occasional splurge have relatives in the area who have exposed us to the non WDW dining scene which is pretty good in Orlando and that we just find Disney table service dining overpriced.

Something else too is that my son who is the person I travel with to WDW isn't much of a foodie. Ever since he turned 10, most of the table service WDW places just felt like a big waste of money to me if going with him. My next trip is a budget mini trip with really only one meal that would be classified as table service (higher end) and that's going to be offsite (taking my nephew who is a local out to dinner offsite to a place that will appeal to both my picky son and foodie nephew).

I'm probably the wrong person to add anything on this thread given that you want to do more table service at WDW. One justification for the meals you want to do, though, might be the money you are saving by staying offsite giving more in your vacation budget for food and wanting to do the meals for that onsite Disney ambiance/theming. I probably should just be posting on the budget board. We've been known to cook a big breakfast at the condo, come into the park with 20 sandwiches, juice boxes, fruit, and cracker snacks for our party of 14, then on our way home, get some things from the dollar menu at the Wendy's drive though and supplement that with salad and fruit from the grocery store for a late dinner.

For me Disney table service meals we plan to do are expensive enough that they are line items in any vacation budget that I have. Some of the WDW restaurants do, though, sound pretty darn appealing. I've always, for example, wanted to take my husband to JIKO if the opportunity ever presents itself. But taking a large group there or my son who I don't think would care for the food doesn't work for me at all. My husband and (nephew who live in Orlando) are people who would really enjoy something like the tasting menu at Victoria and Alberts too, but they are really the only ones in the family who would really appreciate something like this, and I just can't justify it budget wise.

 

[Bete]

For us if we are offsite, table service has to have a perk to it like character dining. Also, we like to do the Fastasmic show/meal package. The same is true for the River of Lights show/meal package. If we are there for Xmas time then we will do the Candlelight Processional meal/show package.

We eat a bountiful breakfast offsite which is included in our case at the resort. Then, we really don't need another meal to way later on. Actually, I don't want to waste time eating at the park; I'd rather enjoy the attractions.

We do stay on offsite with the free dining plan; so, then we indulge. Our schedule is flexible.

 

[Yarbogash]

Next trip all off site.

Always do breakfast in the condo. Saves money and I find it easier and more relaxing. Makes for a less rushed morning. We typically do a few resort days and on those days we do 1 meal out.

We will take some snacks into the parks ,usually do dinner and lunch in the parks. 1 character meal. Couple TS in a 2 week visit.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We are looking at doing maybe 2 TS meals on our next trip. We used to do 1 a day, even on offsite trips, but now I can't justify the high prices for Disney TS meals for what you get. We do breakfast at the condo/house the way many people have suggested. Then we'll do lunch and/or dinner as CS meals while in the parks depending on when we leave for midday breaks/for the night.

Dining used to be a big part of our Disney vacations, but the cost to quality ratio just is not there for us anymore. Same with staying onsite.

 

[Ametista]

When my daughter was little we would do character meals. Other than that we almost never eat anything at the parks except maybe popcorn, a beer or Dole Whip, and if at Epcot an occasional food treat from somewhere exotic. The only reason I ever paid for the character meals was because it was so magical for her (and me LOL). If somebody forced me to go to Tusker House again I wouldn't complain though.
The part I love about off-site condos/houses with kitchens is I can go by Publix on the way from the airport, buy all of our snacks, drinks, sandwich and breakfast stuff. Usually for dinner we will go to Disney Springs and eat at Blaze or Earl of Sandwich, which may or may not count as eating at Disney but probably not. I am not one of those people who likes spending a ton on restaurant food. Oh yeah, I used to take her to T-Rex once per trip but she no longer finds that as cool as she did before.
When I go to the Uni parks I always eat at Three Broomsticks or the Leaky Cauldron. It's not expensive and the food is awesome. To me DW has bad and expensive food, by comparison.

 

[DizzyDis]

Generally, 1 meal per day onsite. Either TS breakfast, which takes care of most of our food for the day, or CS lunch on the go. We love WDW snacks, so have those throughout the day.

My kids are still small, so we may pick up readymade meals to have at condo (fruit and veggie trays are easy and great to have on hand for snacks and to add to every meal). Then some yummy takeout options to enjoy at a relaxed pace back in the room and we are all happier. We will do a couple nice offsite dinners on lower schedule days when we will enjoy them.

 

[lovethesun12]

I've done a bunch of ways - dining plan onsite, off site, onsite no plan. I don't think I'll ever do the dining plan again unless I end up getting a great deal on it (or free somehow, but I rarely travel at a time this would be likely).

I'm from Canada and I think partially because I'm not use to the heat I just want to eat fruit and drink water all day long. Then when dinner rolls around we're ready for a TS or QS meal. This year we are staying 11 nights, and I currently plan on booking 1 TS lunch at MK and 4-5 TS dinner's at HS, AK, Epcot and disney springs.

 

[MrsPete]

This is our comfort-zone while staying off-site ... assuming, of course, that we have a kitchen:

- Big breakfast at the house or condo ... we might go out to breakfast twice over the course of a week.
- Late table service lunch at the parks, which serves as a respite from heat and walking, and offers a chance for us to refresh. We might not eat all that much, but I'll always down at least two big glasses of iced tea or water.
- Light dinner (or heavy snack?) upon returning to the house or condo. This could be a frozen pizza, sandwiches, etc.

Just about none. We pack almost all of our own food. On our last trip, which was very long, I think we bought WDW meals twice.

Just my own opinion, but I don't get the "we refuse to cook on vacation" thing. If you were talking about spending 2 hours a day slaving over a hot stove, sure, I get it. But we "cook" easy and simple things that require just about no work. Crock pot things, things we can just stick in the oven and let bake while we sit and relax, etc...we only cook once every 3-5 days and cook enough to last. Clean up is just as easy...the dishwasher. If we're packing a dinner for WDW, I doubt we spend 15 minutes getting it ready...probably far less. It saves us a fortune. We spend 70%+ less than most people. Our way is unique, I know, but it works fantastic for us.

I feel the same way. I enjoy cooking at home, and I don't want to eat substandard food on vacation! What I often do is prep food at home so cooking on vacation is very quick and easy. Ideas:

- Prepare all the stuff for a breakfast casserole at home: Brown /crumble sausage, chop peppers ... package this together in a ziplock with hash browns and cheese ... add a note saying, "Add six eggs, bake 350 for 45 minutes". At the condo, it'd take all of five minutes to put this together and pop it into the oven. I make a baked oatmeal that works similarly.
- Chop all the stuff for a good soup or maybe beef stew ... package together with spices folded up in a bit of aluminum foil ... add a note saying "Add six cups of water", and it's ready to pop into the crock pot.
- My family loves chili fries, and they're a good heavy snack ... I'd make chili at home, freeze it in a ziplock ... at the condo, just bake French fries and top them with the homemade chili and cheese.
- Similarly, I always make homemade spaghetti sauce in big batches and freeze it ... that's a good meal that only requires boiling noodles.
- My family loves tacos, and we almost always take them on vacation ... I'll cook /freeze the meat at home, then at the condo, we only need to chop the vegetables.
- Homemade lasagna freezes nicely.

I always take paper plates and disposable aluminum pans on vacation -- less to wash.

I'm from Canada and I think partially because I'm not use to the heat I just want to eat fruit and drink water all day long. Then when dinner rolls around we're ready for a TS or QS meal. This year we are staying 11 nights, and I currently plan on booking 1 TS lunch at MK and 4-5 TS dinner's at HS, AK, Epcot and disney springs.

I'm from the American South, so you'd think I'm used to the heat, but I am like you: in the Florida heat, I want fruit and water during the heat of the day. I don't want big meals three times a day at Disney.