How many ADRs is too many? How many TS Meals do you plan?

[Gophers]

We are doing more this time around. It will be my wife and me and we are at Disney 6 days and Universal one. Have 11 TS meals with 5 of them being character. We like meeting the characters and the meals are used to rest.

 

[thaggie1]

This is a girls trip of me, my niece (29) my twins (16). We are staying CL so will eat a light breakfast before we head out. All of our lunches and dinners are TS with several signature spots. Granted we are going in August so the A/C will be a plus. But besides that I am not a QS type of person. I like to sit and be waited on and in August don't want to stand in line and search for a table...I'd rather not eat. There is one night that I don't have a dinner planned. We are doing the MK dessert party so we will do CL appetizers and save room for the party. The days I don't have lunch planned are pool days that we will order food into the cabana. It's vacation!!! In all honesty I'm not a fast food type person anyway and even at home if I'm going out it will be TS. Do what makes you happy and what fits your group and budget. If making ADR times is too stressful then skip it and eat on the fly! Everyone has their own idea of vacation and there is NO right way to do it.

 

[mickeynut1]

So for our last WDW trip, I feel like I had too many ADRs. Def planning on scaling back this time but of course have my favorites and some new spots I'd like to try. Right now I have two character breakfasts planned and dinner planned every night except for one when will be at universal.

Too much??? What does everyone else do?

We do like to sit down and have a nice dinner on most nights to decompress... we typically hit the parks early, come back to the resort around lunch, and then go back out for dinner/more park time.

Everyone is different in how they vacation, but I don't think it's too much. We do a TS dinner every night, along with 2 (sometimes 3) breakfasts (one of which is at our resort on our check out day). With that said, I think your plan is fine.

 

[loves to dive]

We don't plan in advance but it usually turns out we have a TS every day, maybe one day of the trip is just snacking all day. We are kind of on the fly people, we decide when we are walking around that we want to go somewhere and hop on MDE and find something. It works for us because we are two adults but we did the same thing when my son was young.

 

[GillianP1301]

We (myself and DS9) do 2 - 3 TS a day, which I know is not the norm, but we love it. Most days have a character breakfast to start us off and a TS dinner planned. Lunches are a mix of TS and QS. Dining is a big part of our WDW vacation and I feel the restaurants are attractions in themselves. I also love knowing I have built in breaks and cool down periods planned (we travel in August) and I also generally really dislike QS (the food is fine, I just really dislike standing in line to order food and then trying to find a table).

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Two 30+ year olds here. We don't normally do a TS every day, for a 6 night stay we have 4 booked. They are all lunches. We like to eat a TS lunch in the park (or nearby hotel) and then head back to the resort for a swim and/or nap. By not having a set dinner time adr, we feel like it gives us more freeedom and time to relax before heading back into the park for the evening. DH like burgers and chicken tenders, so he doesn't mind QS at all. We often have QS dinner at Disney Springs, where I feel the quality of the QS is better. After sitting in a TS restaurant for an hour, we get antsy to start playing in the parks again.

We always eat breakfast in the room, which is especially easy since we drive down and are DVC.

 

[SaintsManiac]

In a week long trip we will do about 5 TS.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

The 2 TS I have booked over our 12 night stay are giving me anxiety. I hate being tied to a schedule on vacation.

We're the non planners who sometimes decide which park to go to by getting on the first bus that shows up. That's how my little family roles. Each party is different.

We travel with my best pal and her sister and they insist on at least one TS per day. We obviously have opposite touring routines and meet up when it works. Her touring style is too regimented for me and the thought of my touring style makes her break out in hives.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We do at least 1 TS planned per day either lunch or dinner. If we do 2 TS then it is breakfast and dinner. So I don't think that is too many TSs. You definitely need time to decompress. It helps us keep going.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

So on all our previous trips we have stayed on property and have had the deluxe dining plan. So we had 3 TS meals a day. We did many character meals, bc I felt like that was killing 2 birds with 1 stone, lol. That was ok for us bc my kids were younger and we used the dining as break time so we didn't have to head to the hotel for a break. We are planning a return trip in 2018 and we have not been for since 2015 I think lol. We are actually staying off property at a time share resort, but its super close to everything which is what I like. Anyways my kids are older now and hopefully will be ok with the quick service meals. Before they were not ok with the loudness and the trying to find a place to sit and everything with quick service so I am hoping now that they are older they will be ok with it. For the trip in 2018 we are planning TS for breakfast and dinner and then quick service for lunch. I think that will save some time and some money.

 

[JLitfin]

It's just my DH and myself, all my kids are adults now. For me, eating in Disney restaurants is part of the WDW experience, and my DH does whatever I want when we visit WDW. So I like doing 1 TS each day for dinner and I also enjoy doing character breakfasts to see the characters. Our upcoming 8 night, Dec trip I have 3 character breakfasts planned before park opening and 1 TS each night for dinner. I'm leaving our arrival and departure days open with no TS meals, that way we won't feel rushed and can relax on those two travel days.

 

[kiford]

Two a day: breakfast and dinner. If we're hungry we'll snack in between but usually it's just a drink, no food. We eat a big breakfast so I don't get hungry until much later in the day.

 

[jennilee17]

I'm starting to think we are crazy! We usually do 3 TS a day. My daughter has Celiac and we just find it easier to sit down and have our meal. Easier for us to explain to the staff when we are not rushed. That being said my kids LOVE character meals. They are obsessed with meeting characters. So we try to pull off all of our sit down meals being character meals. Makes it fun for them. They get to meet the characters and we use our FP for rides only. Also, the TS meals are air conditioned. : )

 

[littlbugmom]

We do like to sit down and have a nice dinner on most nights to decompress... we typically hit the parks early, come back to the resort around lunch, and then go back out for dinner/more park time.

This schedule is basically, us.

We usually eat one meal a day in the parks. Depending on the park schedule and our plans, it could be QS, TS, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Our upcoming trip will be during the busiest time of the year so we'll do a TS every day and also throw in a QS when necessary.

 

[Pennstate6411]

I don't think we could even possibly handle 3 TS a day - I don't think 2 TS a day we could handle. We have Tusker House and Chef Mickeys scheduled for our next trip and my DW and I have date night scheduled at Sanaa right now- still looking every day for Ohana. Other than that we are good with QS- especially with a 2.5 yo we don't want to spend an hour + eating every meal as we will lose park time with a mid day nap for her. TS isn't that important to us. Last time we went it was all adults and we did a TS every night for dinner- which worked out because it was so cold out the parks were dead and we were done by dinner time anyway, but it was kind of a pain in butt knowing what and where to be at every moment of the day so its nice not having to be somewhere specific for every single meal.

 

[Arielfan98]

It depends on your family. My family does the regular dining plan. We pay out of pocket for a cheap breakfast, use our QS credit for lunch, then our TS credit for dinner. We enjoy using a TS credit for dinner because it allows us time to wind-down and relax, and sit down as a family to discuss our day. With that said, some families still find this to be too much food. If you're not Disney Dining snobs/foodies, less TS meals may be more appropriate.

 

[denise5374]

We are doing the DxDP this time around, so the plan is a late TS breakfast/early lunch and a signature dinner. However we are a group of adults ranging in age from 60 to 21 and food is a big part of the WDW experience for us. In addition, we go in the summer, June 2018, so eating gives us a chance to get out of the heat.

 

[rebelbuddhist]

So for our last WDW trip, I feel like I had too many ADRs. Def planning on scaling back this time but of course have my favorites and some new spots I'd like to try. Right now I have two character breakfasts planned and dinner planned every night except for one when will be at universal.

Too much??? What does everyone else do?

We do like to sit down and have a nice dinner on most nights to decompress... we typically hit the parks early, come back to the resort around lunch, and then go back out for dinner/more park time.

As you can see from the other posts, there is a world of variety in answers to your question. My wife and I go during Christmas when it is very crowded. We get the DxDDP so we have 3 credits a day plus 2 snacks. We eat a late brunch around 10 am after doing a few things in a park. Then we don't eat dinner until late at night at a signature restaurant-- using our 3 credits for 2 sit down meals/day. We use our snack credits during the day should we get hungry- but we seldom do. We are older and not into many of the thrill rides and we take our time leisurely enjoying the park attractions as well as people watching!

All that said, only you can decide how you and your family want to eat. For many, like us dining is the fifth park at WDW.

 

[clarklink]

We go on a relatively slow week, sleep in, eat breakfast in our room, then usually have a TS meal as a late lunch in the park. That way we can leave early if necessary without a no show fee or have QS for a late dinner. The exception is date night at 'Ohana while our daughter is at Lilo's Playhouse. Our QS that day is lunch at BOG.

 

[hmcater]

We plan 1 TS dinner everyday and for this trip I also have 2 breakfast on our non-park days. We all (even the kids) enjoy the break of a nice sit down meal, to relax and enjoy the air-conditioning. It helps everyone to refuel for the remainder of the night. We generally eat lite for breakfast and if we get hungry around lunch, either do quick service or just a snack, depending on how everyone feels from the heat.