Orlando: Disney & Universal: Offsite Hotel: Where Do You Have Dinner?

[roses2]

We're planning a trip to Disney next year and will split between two hotels: one near Disney and the other near Universal.

What is the "norm" for where you eat dinner? It seems many of the hotels are not near main restaurant areas from what I can tell on a map. Is it normal to eat dinner at Disney/Universal? At your hotel? Do I need to find a hotel that is near a busy restaurant area so we can easily have dinner in the evenings?

We plan to hire a car for 3 days in the middle but not the rest of the trip.

For us (and most others, it seems) the norm is to have dinner at Disney. Either in the park if we’re waiting for fireworks/a show or at Disney Springs. Apart from Animal Kingdom, most parks shut at 9 or later so you want to stay as long as possible to get your money’s worth.
Also, sometimes it can take a while to get back to the hotel (we normally stay on Int. Drive) and we’d be hangry by the time we got back. Same applies for Universal.
Plus, dining at Disney is all part of the experience.

Either in the parks or Disney Springs. We usually take a packed lunch with us to the parks and then eat a dinner there, either chicken and chips or hot dog and chips. We find a child's portion is plenty big enough and is obviously cheaper!

There’s a brilliant group on Facebook called It’s Orlando Time that’s full of info like this. Highly recommend it.

The Universal parks have Citywalk just outside, which has loads of restaurants.

Disney Springs is not as convenient for the Disney parks but not far away. Or just eat in the parks if you are staying for the evening, or your hotel if you are not.

Either drive for dinner (we’ve always stayed in a villa and hired a car), get take out, eat on the way home or eat while we’re out. There are loads of restaurants near both Disney and universal. The table service options in the parks are very overpriced and not as good as normal chain restaurants.

Thanks, this is super helpful. I was originally planning on split hotels and using the shuttle buses but the more I look into it the more it seems to make more sense to go to an eg Hilton Villa and hire a car for the whole period.

Most hotels charge $20-$30 per day parking whereas the villas are free. Although of course if you drive to Disney to have to pay to park there also.