What do SOLOs do about Dinner

[FierceAXboi]

Do you eat alot of counter service? Or would you actually go to a sit down restuarant?

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I eat sitdown when I want it. Why torture yourself with counterservice only?

 

[Taja]

What ever appeals at the moment! If you aren't accustomed to dining alone, take a book or magazine, or work on your trip report while waiting for your meal!

I'm one of those odd people who doesn't worry too much about food while at WDW. I try to hit the nutritional basics each day, but I don't torture myself about food. I tend to graze, then eat one "meal" every two days or so. I can dine at home; I can't experience WDW there!

 

[disneyworld!]

I do not eat to much, I love my breakfast, then usally just a cheeseburger from soemwhere...so it really is not an issue for me!

 

[maine_jennifer]

My experience for my first trip was about half and half. That's one of the perks about going solo - you get to eat when you want wheve ever you want. Even made a couple PSs to the places I REALLY had to try like Sci-Fi Dine In and Alfredo's (which I found very uncomfortable as a solo diner.)

Here's an excerpt from my trip report summary:

"Eat at sit down restaurants and strike up a conversation with your server. Ask for their recommendations. If the people at the next table catch your eye, say hello and ask them a question, any question. “What did you do today?” “Where are you from?” Anything. The key to conversation is to get the other person/people to talk about themselves.

If you’re not an outgoing person, bring a book, but you need to realize that once you stick your nose in the book, you’ve cut everyone off who may have spoken to you. People are less likely to interrupt a person reading than they are a person who's just taking in the scenery. And since you’re staring at a book, you have no opportunities to reach out to others. I think if I had brought a book with me, I would have missed a lot! Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a big advocate of reading. My nieces and nephews get books from me for Christmas and birthdays. Just save the books for your hotel room, or relaxing by the pool. "

 

[Miramar]

I travel by myself all the time (not necessrily Disney, but cities for vaction etc,) and have no problems eating in sit down restaurants by myself. I was just at Disneyland a week ago and ended up touring the park by myself much of the time even though I went with people. I'm not sure why people make such a thing about dining by oneself????
I think dining alone is great, especially if you are not one who likes to linger over meals; if you're not spending a lot of time talking, you can be done more quickly.

 

[taswira]

Do you eat alot of counter service? Or would you actually go to a sit down restuarant?

Rob, for many people, sit-down meals are a part of the whole WDW experience because most of them are themed in some way. Then there are the character meals. Now that Epcot's Garden Grill has been revamped into what I consider an "adult character dining experience," I recommend it to any adults who enjoy character encounters.

Counter service is fine but can get boring if you are at WDW more than a couple of days. If you would like to do sit-down but prefer not to dine alone, I'm sure you could find some company for dining from among the many of us here who are local passholders.

 

[scoutsmom99]

On my last solo trip i did about half sit-down half counter service. One of my favorite things about going solo was not having to plan anything in advance so if i wanted to eat somewhere I would just call the day of and I always got in. I think I kinda stumped them a few times when I said for one, but I found my servers to be very talktive towards me (especially at Ohana's!). I would also take that time to update my trip notes and I also people watched.

 

[BriarRosie]

I usually like to have one full service meal a day. If it's at a theme park,
I shoot for lunch. At a resort, the likely choice for me will be dinner (as most
don't offer full service lunch. Whispering Canyon is my fave of the resorts that
offer full service lunches.)

I've been pretty comfortable doing things solo. I just saw "Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy" by myself. I dine by myself at WDW, too.

Some of the resorts have "open kitchens" where you can sit, bar style.
It's a great way for solo diners to begin dining solo. I've eaten at the
open kitchens of Jiko: The Cooking Place, California Grill (on my birthday,
no less), and Flying Fish Cafe. I've also eaten at the sushi bar at Wolfgang
Puck's on the West Side (Downtown Disney).

The best part of dining solo is variety of choices. I didn't feel like having an
entree at Jiko, so I had an appetizer (duck and pork firecrackers, yum!) and
soup, plus dessert (Tanzanian chocolate candies with dipping sauces).
The starters sounded appealing on their own, and I knew that I'd feel too
stuffed if I got the monkfish or the filet.

Heck, even when I didn't eat at a full service restaurant, I decided to have
an ice cream cookie sandwich on Main Street as my lunch.
Gotta love answering to nobody but me.

I even had been stuck in a rut when I ate at Beaches and Cream for three
meals in one week about 5 years ago.

One of these trips, I've got to try Todd English's® bluezoo at the Dolphin.

And it's likely I'll eat there alone, unless I can convince a couple of locals
I know to go there with me.

 

[spiceycat]

disney has more solo travelers than you think.

this last trip (last week) I walked up to Cape May Cafe around 10:15 and ask if they could work me in - no problem I was told - I was in the gift shop when less than 5 minutes later - the thing went off.

I have had a ps here and had to wait 20 minutes.

and it gets better - the last time we were here (6 of us) we waited, and waited and waited for Goofy (my favorite). this time before I even seat down - he grabs me and gives me a hug!!!

so yes I will definitely go solo dinning in the future!!!

most of my meals are in the resort - I own and generally stay at a DVC resort - the studios have a mircowave and under the counter refrigerator -the 1-bedroom and up have a full kitchen. (I don't get a 1-bedroom unless I don't have a choice - too many points)

I tried to get Canada (I asked and was told that they could do speciality meals - I am allergic to pepper). but they were completely booked.

so that is on for the next time!!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Sometimes I actually enjoy counter serve dining solo, I don't consider it "torture". That's because I can spend as much time as I want on my favorite hobby-people watching. I love sitting outside at Pizzafari, right there on the corner, where I can see everyone go by. I love to get my food at the French bakery, and sit outside on a park bench, or Tangerine Cafe outside facing the WS walkway. In MK, it's alot of fun to snag a window table at Pinocchio's VH and wave to the IASW boats. But sometimes, I do like sit down-I carry a small notebook and take trip notes, what I've done and eaten, my impressions, memorable events, etc.

 

[bavaria]

If you’re not an outgoing person, bring a book, but you need to realize that once you stick your nose in the book, you’ve cut everyone off who may have spoken to you. People are less likely to interrupt a person reading than they are a person who's just taking in the scenery. And since you’re staring at a book, you have no opportunities to reach out to others. I think if I had brought a book with me, I would have missed a lot! Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a big advocate of reading. My nieces and nephews get books from me for Christmas and birthdays. Just save the books for your hotel room, or relaxing by the pool. "

I respectfully disagree. I travel 95% of the year for work and/or vacation, and much of that is alone. Yes, I enjoy my team dinners 5x a week, but also relish the alone time. I devour books, and enjoy classic literature in particular. I have spent many hours parked somewhere in World Showcase reading one of my pre-loved books. I don't think that I am closing myself off to others - in fact, it often invites conversation. I enjoy it when others approach me to ask me about a particular author.

One of my most pleasant dining memories is at Alfredo's. I was re-reading Steinbeck's 'The Moon is Down' as I had finished about 5 books already that week, and it was all I could find at Virgin in DTD. The server asked me to tell her about Steinbeck, who she recalled having heard about once before. She was so sweet that when I finished the book later that day, I left it for her to enjoy.

If you are intimidated about eating alone, check out the dining posts on the Solo board - I have met up with many others for a meal, and some of those meetings have become great vacation memories and even post-vacation friendships.

 

[Mykelogan]

As a solo tripper, I definitely enjoy doing both Counter Service and Table Service meals. I like to write postcards/letters/etc when I am at a Table Service. Last trip I wrote postcards to friends about funny things I was witnessing during my meal, like the 16-17yo girl at the table next to me at San Angel Inn going on and on about how her mom lied and "this place is soo not as good as Taco Bell like you said," who the proceeded to tell the man I assume was an Uncle or Family Friend to "Hurry up, hurry up!!! We have fast passes for Test Track, you can't ruin this for me!" The post card helped me get past my desire to toss a glass of water her way! hehehe

The other thing I enjoy is that I am more apt to make some adventurous meal choices while my family gets scared even being near most of the Epcot World Showcase restaurants. So alone, I can enjoy Morrocco and Japan.

Hope all this great feedback people are giving is helpful!
Mike

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

I have done both counter service and sit-down places. Sci-Fi at MGM is the most perfect place for a solo. I also ate at Prime Time Cafe in MGM, and I was quite comfortable on my own. The breakfast buffets at the resorts are all wonderful, but I tend to prefer it to be NON-character if I am by myself.
I don't want to bring a big book because I could possibly miss a good conversation I could have had. And I also don't want to carry around a book.
I prefer to take my park map of the day, and make notes in my mini notebook. I have also written poetry in my mini notebook while I was in a sit-down place. I would not want to do a fancy expensive sit down place by myself, though.

 

[Carl]

I rarely do counter service either at home or at Disney. I enjoy the sit down meals.

 

[MrIncredibleFL]

I do both, depending on what I am in the mood for. I have no problem sitting by myself, watching the people around me can be pretty good entertainment.

 

[crazyj4488]

The one place that was quite nice to dine at alone was at the bar at the rainforest cafe in the AK. In fact, sitting at the bar and eating your meal is a great SOLO place to have a sit down meal.

I've started some very detailed SOLO reports from my recent trip (1st time SOLO)....some of the reading may answer questions and help peeps out with the whole alone in the parks deal. Links are below. Enjoy.

 

[Forevryoung]

On my trip a few weeks ago I was solo for 2 days and on those 2 days I had a tendency to FORGET to eat. I would look at my fast pass time and say "wow its 2pm and I didnt even eat breakfast"

I think I learned that if I go solo in the future (which I am very interested in doing) I need to make PS's for at least one meal a day

 

[dznyntnh]

I prefer to do sit downs. When I travel by myself it's the chance to dine at those places I like and not worry about the prices. Others I travel with tend to want to be 'cheap' at meal time and cling to the food courts and counter service. I look at dining as just as important as the parks and attractions on my vacations.

 

[RobtG]

I do both however I save the counter service for a quick meal at the parks. I don't usually plan on it. I always make sure to schedule sit down for almost everyday including breakfast and either late luch or dinner. Eating at the restaurants is part of the Disney experience and I usually plan my park visits around my dinning choices. Going solo is a great time to try out different places especially the Resort restaurants. If your at one of the parks all you have to do is catch a bus , monorail or boat head to the resort, eat and go back where you came from, or somewhere else.
So if you want to sit down and eat just go and do it. It's your vacation. You'll probably enjoy it more if you do.