One of my favorite things about Walt Disney World is the food. Like with everything else at Disney World, it can be expensive. Also, many times when you hear about Dining at Disney, the focus is on Table Service Restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having a meal at what we lovingly refer to as the “Sit Downs” because there are a lot of cool ones (which we’ll go over many of them in detail as we go forward). However, Counter Service restaurants provide many great options at a much more reasonable price, and I believe using this option is one of the main reasons that we have been able to visit Walt Disney World at least once a year over the last 15 years or so.
As mentioned before, Counter Service restaurants provide many different options. Options include being able to sample the many different types of cuisines in the World Showcase of Epcot to enjoying an awesome Hot Dog at Casey’s in Magic Kingdom with many different options in between. A bonus of this is that you can pretty much find something for everyone even for those that can be on the picky side, as there are usually “normal” options to choose from, especially for kids.
One note about the Counter Service restaurants is that they can become very busy during the normal lunch times–usually from about 11:30am to 1:30pm, and when it is a busy time for the parks in general, some restaurants can be pretty busy even at non-peak times. What we normally try to do is schedule our time to either eat an early lunch around 11am or a late lunch at 2pm or after to help beat the crowds a little bit. Another great option, regardless of the time, is to use the mobile ordering through the My Disney Experience App if available for the restaurant of your choice. This can save some time, or at least keep you from having to wait in a long line.
Utilizing Counter Service restaurants can be a great strategy for many when it comes to your Walt Disney World vacation. I strongly believe you can get a great meal at a great price (at least by Disney standards) and be able to sample many of the great things Disney World has to offer in the way of food. In the future, we plan on going over many of the individual Counter Service restaurants, as well as some of the Table Service restaurants as well. Let us know in the comments what some of your favorites are.
