You know the feeling… you stand in front of the fridge, but nothing grabs you. You close the door and walk away, only to come back a few minutes later to do the same thing. Well let me assure you that when you’re hungry at Walt Disney World, you WILL find something to satisfy every imaginable craving!
But like almost every other part of your Disney vacation, your meals must be carefully planned. Of course you can chose NOT to make an ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation), but “winging it” will most likely leave you with few choices.
If you’re staying on property, you can make your reservations 180 days (6 months) in advance – which basically means you have to decide what parks you’re going to on what day so that you’ll be in the right place at the right time to get to the restaurant for your reservation. Seem overwhelming? Your expert Travel Agent and I are here to help!
A few things to consider:
- Family habits: is a big sit down breakfast a must do for your family, or do you prefer to graze throughout the day?
- When does “hangry” time hit (aka “I get mean when I’m hungry”)?
- What kind of days are you planning… go go go or slow and stroll?
- Do you want to dine with the characters?
Personally, my approach is to only make dinner and breakfast ADRs. While there are tons of lunch options available, I feel it breaks up our Park groove if we have to stop what we’re doing to eat at a precise time.
Since we like to be at the Parks early, we typically will book a big breakfast – our favorites are Chef Mickey, O’hana or Tusker House — then snack and graze till dinner. It’s amazing what a snack credit will get you on the dining plan. What’s a snack credit, you ask?
Next time, we will talk about the pros and cons of buying the dining plan. Oh yes, we’re not done talking about food yet!
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Alysia has always been a Disney freak. From her first visit in 1974 to her most recent visit in September, she has grown up loving the experience that Disney provides its guests. Now with two children, she can proudly say she’s raising two little Disney freaks of her own. When she’s not planning a trip, Alysia has spent the last 23 years in marketing, working at both billion dollar corporations and small non-profits. It was during her time at one of those non profits, the Wildlife Conservation Society (parent company of the Bronx Zoo), that she took a side job at the Disney Store to supplement her income. Those five years as a Cast Member convinced Alysia that she would do whatever she could to work in and around the Disney company to marry her professional expertise and her passion for the Mouse! Writing for the Affordable Mouse brings her one step closer to that goal!
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That’s true in a not-so-magic kingdom! Thanks for the good advice!
I know I’m hungry when I start getting headaches–it’s the first symptom of low blood sugar in the brain. Then I’ll start thinking about lunch or supper. As for how I plan to do mealtimes at WDW, because I’m not staying at a Disney-named resort, I’m ineligible to participate in the Disney Dining Plan. So I’ll do what I usually do when I’m not on a cruise vacay: go in search of food at inexpensive places such as the food court or casual sit-down establishments that have no reservations system. That’s what will happen when I visit WDW this Memorial Day weekend. As for a favorite souvenir, it is my Indiana Jones hat I bought in the souk at the Morocco pavilion in June ’97. Other souvenirs have included lapel pins and lanyards. But the best souvenirs are the ones that cost little: photos and one’s memory of the trip. 🙂