Those who are unfamiliar with visiting Disney World or Disneyland are usually unaware of all the glorious food options that Disney has to offer. On this page we’re going to talk about the difference between Quick Service (QS) and Table Service (TS) restaurants.
Quick Service Restaurants
Also known as Counter Service restaurants, these restaurants are more like your typical fast-food places. You order your food at a counter, wait for them to prepare it and then you carry it to your table (if you can find one).There are a variety of these QS restaurants all over the parks and even in the resorts. These are great for a quick bite, and if you have limited time to explore the parks, then we highly recommend eating at one of these places.
These restaurants are on the Disney Dining Plan. They cost less “credits” than the Table Service Restaurants, you can typically go to two QS restaurants in place of one TS restaurant. You can click the preceding link for more info on the Disney Dining Plan.
One last thing we want to point out about QS places, some of the restaurants change from QS at breakfast and lunch, to TS at dinner. So be sure to watch for that when you’re doing your planning/reservations. This can mean a rather dramatic price difference, which is why we don’t want you getting caught unawares.
There are a variety of these QS restaurants all over the parks and even in the resorts. These are great for a quick bite, and if you have limited time to explore the parks, then we highly recommend eating at one of these places.
These restaurants are on the Disney Dining Plan. They cost less “credits” than the Table Service Restaurants, you can typically go to two QS restaurants in place of one TS restaurant. You can click the preceding link for more info on the Disney Dining Plan.
Another cool feature about (many) QS restaurants is that you can now use Mobile Ordering to place your order right from your phone! This has saved us a ton of time and headaches and we highly recommend it. If you’d like to know more, you can read about it HERE.
One last thing we want to point out about QS places, some of the restaurants change from QS at breakfast and lunch, to TS at dinner. So be sure to watch for that when you’re doing your planning/reservations. This can mean a rather dramatic price difference, which is why we don’t want you getting caught unawares.
Table Service Restaurants
These are the sit down restaurants at Disney. It means you sit down and someone comes and takes your order and brings the food to your table for you.
Most of these restaurants will require Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) because they fill up quickly, especially the really popular ones. We recommend deciding ahead of time what places you would like to eat at so you can make your ADRs as far in advance as possible, trust us, the good places fill up fast! You can try to just “wing it” but you’ll either be turned away from most places because the restaurant is booked or at best, you’ll wait a very long time to get a table. If you’d like help with booking your ADRs we recommend using a Certified Disney Planner. They can hep you book your trip and your ADRs (and Fastpasses even) and the best part about it, is it’s free to you! For your free, no obligation quote, click HERE!
Some of the TS restaurants are also Character Dining restaurants or “Dinner Show” restaurants. These restaurants typically cost more either out of pocket or on the Dining Plan (and some require a deposit to reserve your table). You will need ADRs for these as well. Just be sure to look closely when booking, they’ll tell you if they cost more or if they require a deposit when booking. These types of restaurants also cost more credits if you’re on the Disney Dining Plan. Again, be sure to look closely when booking to see what the costs will be.
Quick Tip
Wherever you decide to eat, whether at a QS or a TS restaurant, schedule it or go early or late compared to the typical meal times (so for lunch go before noon or after 1:00 p.m. and for dinner go before 6:00 p.m. or after 7:00 p.m.). The reason for this is that there is always a lunch and dinner rush. Most people will be going during this time. If you eat early or late, not only will you beat/miss the food rush, it also means the ride lines go down as well! It’s a win-win.
Our article wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t at least mention Disney Springs. There are some restaurants here that take the Disney Dining Plan but not all do, so be sure to find that out prior to making a reservation or eating at one of Disney Springs plethora of restaurants if you need to use your Dining credits.
And one last thing about Quick Service and Table Service Restaurants at Disney, they go above and beyond when it comes to accommodations and handling allergies. If you or anyone in your party needs special accommodations or has any food allergies. There is a place on the ADRs to note those. We highly recommend doing so. Disney has a lot of great allergy accommodations but they usually don’t offer them unless you mention it. If you forget to mention it on your ADR or you don’t make advanced reservations have no fear! You can still tell your server you have an allergy and they will happily tell you about their allergy-free options!
Other Disney Content
Along with tips about dining at Disney. We offer other advice for traveling to Disney. If you’d like to see our other food related Disney advice, check it here: Treats and Eats.
Interested in making Disney food at home? We’ve got a lot of Copycat Recipes on our site that you can check out. Once you’ve tried Disney food, you’re gonna want to make Disney Treats and Eats at home too. A lot of people don’t realize how much great food Disney has to offer. But we are here to right that wrong. We obviously love Disney, the rides, the atmosphere, the magic, but the food, oh my Disney, the food! So if you’re in love with the food as much as we are, you aren’t gonna want to miss all our copycat recipe videos. Wait, you didn’t know about the epicness of Disney’s food? Then you need our videos even more so you can check out what all they have to offer.
We’ve got a lot of other great Disney content too besides food. We also have DIY cute Disney Crafts that you can make at home too. So if you enjoy craft time as much as we do, you’ll love making our fun Disney crafts.
And you can’t forget our Tips and Tricks for visiting the parks. We’ve got a lot of great help that can make you next Disney vacation the best one ever! Along with advice about Disney food, we’ve got other great info you won’t want to miss.
There’s also our YouTube channel that is positively bursting with Disney happiness. So be sure to check it out and join our YouTube family!