How many PS's do you make?

[JennyAnne]

I know this is a matter of personal opinion, and it depends upon your touring style, but I'm wondering how many PS's you all usually make for your trips. I don't want to overplan, but on the other hand, I don't want to spend a ton of our precious touring time standing waiting for restaurants that I could have made a PS for.

There will be two of us (adults) for a total of seven days. We will have five days in the parks and two out of the parks. So how many PS's would you shoot for for this length of time?

[Rosebud]

The only time we pre make PS is for special occassions like birthdays or CRT.

I will generally go on a trip knowing I want to eat at a certain couple of places, but have no idea when I might want to do that. We also hardly ever eat at the Fast Food places. However, I hardly ever just walk up at the last minute to try to get a seat either - although I have done that with much success depending on time and season and place.

We will sometimes decide the night before or in the morning and then call and get a PS. Other times we will decide during the day and stop at Guest Relations to make the PS. Often we'll be at one park and decide we want to go to another park to eat, so we stop at GR and make the PS making sure we have enough time to get there. This works really well for us. If you are trying to get into a busier place for a busier time of day like say Mexico, you might not be able to do it quite so last minute, but the morning of or the night before has never been a problem.

Of course with more than 2 people I wouldn't wait too long to decide, but I still don't do them prior to going. I know a lot of people will make the PS they think they want and then often change their minds when they get there. That is fine, but too much extra work and thinking for me. I have a problem knowing an hour before I eat what I'm in the mood for, never mind 90 days ahead.

[NavyDotz]

i make @ least 1 PS per day, this last trip i made two per day, breakfast & dinner
i like knowing i will be able to get photo ops w/ the characters & not have to stand in line waiting when in the parks, & i have to eat anyway!

the only time i will stand in line is for a character that we must get that we know wont be @ 1 of our meals: Lilo & Stitch, ect.

on that subject - we had a PS for PSB for the last seating, Jasmine had already left for the morning by time the princesses started coming to our table :devil: we went by Morocco about 50-11 times the rest of the week trying to catch her (did get Aladdin & Genie together :-) ) - finally our last day in MK, Adventureland we stumbled upon her & I was not happy about that line either (esp. worse was that Aladdin's ride was broke down too)!!!

[cshore]

For our upcoming trip I have ps's for lunch and dinner every day plus one breakfast. If we use them, fine, if not we cancel, but at least they are planned. If we decide to wing it, no big deal, we just do it. That way I get to plan my heart out, and still be spontaneous if that suits our mood that day.

[Stinkerbelle]

When I go to WDW on a package with "magical wishes" I make 2 PS per day. If I go without a package I make 1 PS per day. I am not a breakfast eater and I don't eat fast food when I am at home so counter service is not very appealing to me on vacation- unless of course its Columbia Harbour House. I could eat there everyday of my vacation and have a very happy tummy!

[Joe]

For our upcomming trip, I have only made 3 PSs. And those are special ones that can be hard to get on short notice. For the rest of our dining, we do what Rosebud does; make a decision about where we want to be the next day and make the PS then. With 3 of us, it's not that big a deal, and we typically travel during the off-season so PSs are easier to make. You just need to be flexible for times and have a couple of acceptable places in mind. One of them will work out.

[MissBianca]

We used to make several per trip but got tired of having to spend so much time getting to our next PS. We found out that, with some flexibility and avoiding the very most popular restaurants, the two of us can almost always get what ever kind of meal we feel like. So now, we make about 2 per trip. Of course, it hasn't hurt that we've stayed concierge for a couple of trips in a row--they do have the inside line on late PSs!

[Sheryl]

Jenny,

Last year we made quite a few Ps's. We were at Disney for 2 weeks and there were a lot of places I (we) wanted to try. None of us eats a big breakfast, so we only had two for breakfast. Most of ours are for lunch were we tend to eat our big meal, with picking up dinner later at night. On the days that we had a PS for both lunch and dinner, it was too much food. For that reason, I will probably only make one PS a day the next time. I want to mention that we are NOT commando tourist, but happily members of the Lazy Butt touring. 8)

I also make it a family decision were we want to make those PS's. Everyoine has their favorites and I try to work them all in somehow.

:mickeyWalk: Sheryl :minnie:

[Moley]

I make a PS for hard to get peak times of the day. Sometimes I don't make them until I get there, if the restaurant is not a high demand one. I've found Le Cellier is one which can be hard to get into.

I also make in park breakfast arrangements ahead of time to see if I can get in at the earliest serving. They really should make a rope drop for a breakfast buffet. I think I would excell at it. :shock:

For a week trip, I'll average 4 PS appointments before I leave the house.

[pixi]

for our 7 day trip, I will be making 8 PS's at least. This is my favorite part of planning! I like to work in a bunch of different restaurants that we haven't tried yet....
and unlike the others who don't want to do it before the trip & like to call the morning or night before,... I don't want to have to THINK about doing that during our trip- all I want to think about is enjoying myself & knowing where I need to be! Our family does not do well trying to make decisions at the last minute, because we would tend to disagree on what we want to do & then everyone would end up grumpy! So it's better for us to plan ahead, then everyone knows what to expect- plus we don't waste time thinking about where to go, calling to get a PS, etc...

[BriarRose]

We also make ours ahead of time because when I'm hungry I'm grumpy and then so is everyone else. DH and I are going in a few days and we have made 4 PS for our 4 day trip. On a 7 day trip we do about 8. We aren't big breakfast people so we try to eat early lunch and Late late dinner. If we decide that doesn't sound good we skip the PS. It makes for much less arguing in our family and who wants to fight at Disney.

BriarRose

[pixi]

If we decide that doesn't sound good we skip the PS. It makes for much less arguing in our family and who wants to fight at Disney.
My sentiments exactly BriarRose- and I forgot to mention that we, too, skip the PS if that particular restaurant is extremely inconvenient or someone really doesn't want to eat there that day.

[Bookwood]

On a trip that we stay in a regular resort room (no kitchen facilities) I make one PS per day (usually a late lunch) to see a particlular restraunt or set of characters. When we stay with a kitchen we just pick a couple of "eating out things" the whole group wants to do. Last year with Girl Scouts (teenagers) we ate at Prime Time and Sci Fi. With my family we ate at Garden Grill (DD#3 choice), Poly Luau (For DH and our Hawaiian "honeymoon" coming up), Lunch at the Castle (niece wanted to eat there- but not breakfast), and Prime Time (my favorite place). This summer we are looking at possibly Princess Breakfast at the castle for the girls and Donalds Restrauntasaurus for the boys.

I hope that helps!!

Pam :mickeyWalk: "Bookwood"

[Pocahantas]

I made 2 PS's per day for our upcoming trip - Breakfast and Dinner. We aren't really big eaters and don't eat out very often when we are home. Normally about once per month so we really enjoy trying different resturants during vacation.

[MissBianca]

Welcome Pocahantas! What a lovely avatar you have!

[BetsyAnn]

Another Welcome Pacahantas

So glad you came in and let's talk about Disney! Your trip is really soon! I bet you are excited! Once again welcome!

And PS - only one before I leave home (and I didn't make that one :lol: ) then maybe a few more after we get there -- usually the night before or that day in the Park!

[Lady]

we make all our PS ressies for dinners and lunches where we are sitting down to eat : )

[Cinderella]

Hi Pocahantas and welcome on board. Glad to have you here with us.

I'm one of those planaholics as well as a Disneyholic so I plan everything. Our last trip in Dec. though I made PS's for dinner's and one lunch (we were getting rehitched at Garden Grill for our 10th anniversary). WE ate most of our breakfasts in our room and then had light lunches but I always like to have a PS for dinner. DH is a diabetic so I don't want to take the chance that we'll have to wait in a long line. Of course, it also depends on the time of year. We've been in the summer's with the crowds and we were able to walk into Prime Time for lunch and got seats at Brown Derby once for lunch with no wait. Other times, like at LeCellier, we had ressies for dinner and still had to wait at least 30 minutes to get in (after the Candlelight Processional).

It all depends on the people you're with, the time of year and how much you eat.

Cinderella (who comes from a long line of eaters!!)

:eat: :burger: :popcorn: :drinking: