Make Advance Reservations: Most Disney restaurants fill up fast - so make reservations as soon as you book your trip, or up to 180 days before you leave.
Advance reservations will make sure you get to the restaurants you want, plus they'll save you time. There's nothing like waiting for 45 minutes for a table with hungry, tired children to make your day.
Advance Reservations are especially recommended for dinner.
Have Your Meals At Off Hours To Save Time: If you want to avoid long counter lineups or even sit-down restaurant lineups, try having your meals at different times than everyone else.
How about lunch (or snack) at 10:30, then another snack at 2:30 or dinner at 4:00? Even if you do a late dinner after 8:00 you'll probably avoid restaurant lineups since most small children are probably nodding off to sleep at that time.
Use Your Table Service Credits for Dinner: If you're on the Disney Dining Plan, you get 1 Table Service (sit-down) meal per day. So use it on the most expensive meal - dinner.
Alternately, if you're not on the dining plan but still want to save, try making your biggest meal your lunch. Lunch menus are very similar to dinner menus but can cost much less.
Request A Fridge For Your Room: If you don't automatically get a fridge in your room, you can request one ahead of time. That way you can stock up on snacks and drinks at a local store and you won't have to pay park prices for them.
For example, you can save on breakfast costs by picking up some bagels, muffins, peanut butter and jam, juice etc. and just keeping them in your fridge.
Ask the Cashier what Constitutes a 'Quick Service' Meal Before You Order: In our experience, Disney cashiers have different rules for what makes up a 'Quick Service' meal.
(We had one cashier allow us to use 1 quick service meal for 1 cinnamon bun, 1 danish and a drink. We got the same food the next morning and a different cashier wouldn't allow it - we had to use up 3 snacks). By asking ahead of time, you won't waste time, money or snack credits.
Go Back To The Resort For Mid-Day Meals: If you want to have a nice leisurely meal, go to a resort restaurant for lunch.
Theme park restaurants will be jam-packed during the day. They'll probably want to rush both you and your food preparation.
Don't Skip Out On Your Reservations: The more popular Disney restaurants will sometimes charge you if you're a no-show.
If you make reservations and they ask for your credit card, make sure you show up or cancel well in advance.
Bored with Your Dining Options? Remember that in addition to the theme parks and the resorts there's also a multitude of restaurants at Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk.
From Irish pubs (Raglan Road at Downtown Disney) to some of the best seafood you'll find in Disney (Flying Fish Cafe at the Boardwalk), you don't have to suffer with the boring old theme park fare of burgers and fries.
