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

[kmdrago1783]

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.

 

[FelisLachesis]

That doesn't seem too far from the ordinary. I am planning on one TS a day, and a mix of QS/snacks should keep us from going hungry during the day. My girl and I aren't huge breakfast people, so we tend to not eat much in the morning, if at all. It might mean a muffin or a quick breakfast sandwich and run to the parks. Then we'll eat a hearty lunch, and use that to power the rest of the day.

If the ADR is for dinner, then we might find a slightly bigger breakfast, or split a CS lunch combo until dinnertime rolls around.

Your family like a big dinner, and that's how your family does it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Think about how you'll get to dinner, especially while rolling around in the parks all day. From what you've told me, it doesn't sound too bad. On those big breakfast days, you might want to consider if your family would be hungry during lunch?

 

[Nancyg56]

We plan a TS meal for dinner every night. I also may plan TS lunch if we are in the parks in the Summertime to give us a planned break from the sun. I plan at least one TS breakfast but will add more I have children in tow so they can enjoy the M&G.

Dining is personal so it is difficult to tell how much TS time is reasonable for any family. My family uses dinner as a time to regroup, relax and to catch up with each other, so a meal planned daily is just part of our vacation. For others the ADR's add stress.

 

[Surgie2]

I think it depends on whether there are young kids in your group or not. We will have four grandchildren ages1-5 so we are keeping ADRs to a minimum. Sit down meals in restaurants are not their favorite thing and it takes too much away from park time for us. We are already scheduling around FPs so don't want to be over scheduled by adding lots of TS meals. So on a 9-night stay, we will have one dinner ADR (1900 Park Fare on arrival day) and two later morning breakfasts (CRT and Tusker House). That is plenty for us! We are staying CL so that will help with breakfasts and snacks.

 

[Parker Clan]

I agree with the PP in that it depends on who is in your party.
It's just me and hubby and we plan a TS for each night. But that's just us...
It's a nice break from the summer heat (we go in August)

 

[jedi jen]

We go in summer (August this year) and do a TS lunch and dinner. We rope drop and use the TS lunch to regroup and get out of the heat and hydrate. We enjoy a sit down dinner too. Going to the restaurants is part of the experience for us.

 

[DisTXMom]

We are leaning toward TS lunch and dinner. DH doesn't like the CS restaurants, so this works for our family. Our lunches are generally either a late character breakfast or places like Via Napoli and Spice Road Table that aren't a ton of food.

 

[DrunkJam]

Don't do a TS on our arrival day (flying in so too risky)
Then, 2 TS (breakfast and dinner) every full day _ with some exceptions (Cali Grill Brunch)
And breakfast on the last day.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Generally, I like to plan one table service meal around 2 or 3 pm each day. Two of my teen sons and I are doing a very quick trip next month (three nights) and I have more ADRs than that--mostly because there are a few things that I just REALLY want to experience.

 

[stace1214]

We like to eat an early QS lunch, back to the resort to swim and nap and then an early TS dinner (5:00ish) each day before going back to the parks for the night. We usually do one character breakfast thrown in there somewhere too. I have a 5 and 7 year old, that seems to work best for us for right now.

 

[tndisney5]

We don't do character breakfasts because that eats into our riding time

We usually do 1 TS meal a day, dinner, and if we a visiting on holiday 2 TS meals - lunch and dinner. We have found that when we try to do more than 1 TS meal a day we spend more time dining than in the park having fun. We end up canceling one so we can rearrange our park time. In doing this we have found a lot of QS meals that we really like in each park and even at Disney Springs.

 

[Shanti]

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.

We usually schedule two ADRs per day, breakfast and dinner. My son is gluten free, & quick service is typically a pain with gf, as the gf order can easily take 20 minutes, and the person with the non-gf meal will not get their meal at the same time. Breakfast & dinner table service works out great for us.

 

[Ambehnke]

We do one TS a day. We have done more and it felt like too much. Either a PPO breakfast buffet, late breakfast buffet that doubles as lunch, or sit down dinner.

 

[captaindavidhook]

I have 7 planned for next trip. Two for breakfast, one lunch and 4 for dinner

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We go over the holidays and usually will have a TS for each day, but we will try to leave one evening open by doing a TS lunch or not even one to have some flexibility to go to a different park.

 

[JZCubed]

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.

Really depends how 'up tight' you are about planning.....

Because you have to eat!

And some of us eat to live, while others live to eat.

Having one ADR/day makes both possible.

But if you know Disney well enough, and your likely plans well enough, and/or if you're a self-described foodie (wanna' be), or having an older family member who might prefer table service, etc. - absorbing the (potential) added-cost of a sit-down that requires an ADR at The Plaza, for instance, may be no more a financial burden than what you might spend standing on line inside Cosmic Rays or at Flame Tree BBQ, etc. And if your Touring Plan includes getting, for instance, an 11am FP+ for Space Mountain, Everest, Etc., anyway - why not make the extra ADR now, when you have some choices?

I make the extra ADR's and get rid of them as soon as I can. Part of this plan is because Disney reserves their right to make changes to their schedule up to the same day (Parks do open earlier than scheduled - often).

You have no penalty for making and canceling ADR's, so better to have a few too many - with the expectation that you are going to cancel a few (and make another family very happy).

But more than one ADR each day can drive my wife nuts - and she is more particular than I am (and I am a Foodie!).....so it's usually two-ADR's/day for us (which might simply be breakfast on our off-day).

See how many details it took....really depends on your needs.

 

[Dsny4fun]

I do 2 TS each day, I like taking a break from walking so much and since I will be there in the beginning of Sept...I like to be in the air condition restaurants.
If I get hungry in between...I just snack

 

[Dsny4fun]

We go in summer (August this year) and do a TS lunch and dinner. We rope drop and use the TS lunch to regroup and get out of the heat and hydrate. We enjoy a sit down dinner too. Going to the restaurants is part of the experience for us.

We do the same for the exact same reasons...

 

[MrsDuck]

We like one TS a day - it's usually dinner. We are not opposed to a character breakfast but we try to spread them out and pair them with a lighter TS for dinner!

 

[Anniefrances]

We plan one TS about every 2-3 days - enough to hit our favorites while maximizing flexibility in our park/pool schedule.