Five Common Mistakes Made when Choosing Walt Disney World Restaurants and How to Avoid Them

First time visitors to Walt Disney World have a multitude of decisions to make. When to go? Where to stay? What tickets to buy? What rides to go on? And then there is the foodie's favorite question. Where to eat? The official Disney website can help with the choices, as can many other unofficial sites. Restaurants are described in detail with photos, prices and menu items. The Disney Dining Plans are debated and discussed and websites offer more information now than any guidebook of yesterday ever did. Information is plentiful, so how can there still be mistakes when planning meals? Read on and find out.

Not understanding your dining plan. There are three main dining plans to choose from. From a counter service heavy plan up to a table service credit rich plan, each one is different. Pay attention to the details of the one you end up choosing. Knowing ahead of time what is included in your meals will help you plan accordingly. Credits are different between counter service and basic and deluxe table service. In addition, the items you can choose from even differ from breakfast to lunch. A counter service lunch or dinner meal typically includes a non alcoholic drink, entrée/combo and dessert. Breakfast forgoes the dessert for an extra drink. A table service meal on the basic plan includes a non alcoholic drink, entrée and dessert. The deluxe plan adds an appetizer to this. And there are differences at breakfast here as well. When you plan your restaurants, make sure you know what you're able to get based on the plan you choose.

Too many buffets. Buffets are great, right? Plenty to choose from and something for everyone. And Disney restaurants are rarely slow so the food is replenished quickly and often. Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are offered across property with and without characters allowing guests the perfect compromise. But when do these all you care to eat meals become too much? If your family enjoys this style of eating, make sure you space the meals out and don't have too many too close together. There is a good chance that after too many large and varied meals, your family may feel a bit "buffeted out".

Character meals. This is a tough one. Characters at Disney are plentiful and character meals offer a great opportunity to visit with them. Your children may take to these familiar friends like ducks to water and want to maximize as much "face" time with them as they can. Or they may feel that Pooh is a lot scarier when he's the size of Mom and Dad and may prefer to view from a distance. Try to gauge the situation before you go. If there is a local amusement park or restaurant with characters, assess your children's reaction. How are they sitting on Santa's lap? Does the Easter Bunny make them run for cover? If they have been skittish about large plush characters in the past, booking lots of character meals has disaster written all over it. On the other hand, if they love interacting with fairy tale creatures, this is a great way to spend time with the characters they love. Just keep in mind the "too many buffets" mistake when booking these meals...

Too much same old, same old. Disney has a variety of places to eat with many different choices to pick from. But guests with non varied tastes will not be out of luck looking for the basics. You can literally order a steak and potatoes at restaurants specializing in Italian, French, Mediterranean, African, Asian and seafood cuisine. Rest assured there is no reason to book back to back steakhouses for your picky eaters. Try to pick new places so there is the option to try new and interesting flavors and combinations. It's vacation! Live a little, while still often having the "safety net" of the comfortable and familiar.

Too much exotic and unusual. Here's the opposite side of the same old, same old coin. Plan those unusual ADR's and try new and interesting foods. But make sure every meal isn't a new and different choice. In addition to the new experiences, plan to have a few traditional breakfasts. Book one of those steakhouses. Make plans to suit everyone's tastes and preferences. Strike that balance between attempting new experiences while still enjoying excellent examples of comforting experiences.

The best way to avoid these restaurant mistakes is finding the right balance. Not too much of one thing, not too little of another. Know your family and know your vacation styles and plan accordingly. Understand your options and you'll find that food becomes a delicious highlight of an exciting vacation, rather than a tired disappointment.