What do you folks think of TS (meaning indoor) dining these days? I know a lot of people have gone lately, and the Trip Reports I’ve read make it sound like plenty of people are comfortable eating inside.
We’ve been to an indoor restaurant exactly once since March, and it was an accident. (They had outdoor seating the week previously, but it was mid-October and getting cold). Neither of us felt all that comfortable with it, but it was our anniversary, so we stuck it out.
I’m starting to think about plans for our (hopeful) March trip and it’s difficult to take the TS off the list. We had such great ADRs for last March that we didn’t get to use. I SO want to put them on the to-do list for this coming trip. Also, CRT. I’d NEVER do it with the princesses. My kids dislike the face characters. But without? This might be our only chance to enjoy a meal in the castle.
We still feel uncomfortable eating indoors but have gone to the Kona Cafe and Ale/compass… felt ok but menus are limited/reduced offerings. We walked away from a reservation at GF cafe cuz it didnt’ feel safe. TRex was a reduced menu and poor quality, slow service. I think CRT has reduced its price.
We just experienced Chefs de France, The Wave, Skipper Canteen, Yak & Yeti, Trattoria, Hollywood & Vine, and Kona Cafe. At every single one, there were empty tables between us and anyone else, and we didn’t have to get too close to anyone on either the walk to our from our table either. I was surprised how distanced and private it actually was. I would guess it was about 12 ft minimum from anyone else in pretty much every case. Everyone has their own comfort level, but we were pleasantly surprised and never felt unsafe in those settings.
We did Liberty Tree Tavern (but were seated in The Diamond Horseshoe), The Wave (twice) and Beach Club. We felt comfortable. Plenty of spacing between tables. We did keep our masks on when not actively eating.
And for those who have felt comfortable (@Tall_Paul1, @meekomist), if you don’t mind my asking, what’s your comfort level at home? Paul, I know home is WI, for you. Would you go out (indoor dining now that it’s cold) at home?
btw: we do NO indoor dining in FL other than at WDW. I can’t really reply to why my DH felt uncomfortable at GFC, but he did and so I honored it. We were in a corner away from everyone at Kona and DH commented on that sense of security. I didn’t feel ok at TRex cuz I didn’t think they seated everyone spaced out enough but DH was ok. He is my barometer. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
We have done some indoor dining out, but have been more selective about it since the cases exploded and the risk went up. It’s been awhile now since we sat and ate in a restaurant, other than WDW. So many of our favorite local places have adapted well to takeout, so we’ve mostly been fine with that and being able to eat comfortably and safely at home. I would still go out if I had a sense that the place would be of the type to care about and have the space to distance and clean things properly. Some places you just know to avoid.
I will also note that in addition to the spacing out of tables they generally have right now, if you go during ‘off’ prime dining hours, you will have even more space. For example, we ate at Le Cellier in August around 11:15am and there were just a few tables in the entire restaurant until around noon when we were wrapping up and heading out.
I have done indoor dining just a few times since this all started. Definitely selective. Our numbers are edging up so its take for me till I feel comfortable again. I felt uncomfortable only one at WDW. We only did indoor dining 3 times though, twice at YC and we ate at a table in the hall well away from people so I was fine there. It was backlot we got a bit ancy about. There is a step up part. We ate lower and did not realize the table on the other side of the wall was usable. It was and I dont think we were 6 feet apart. We were almost finished when people sat down but needless to say we didnt linger at all.
I have done indoor dining twice at home (in NJ) both before our recent WDW trip. At WDW, we ate at quite a few indoor spots and felt that it was mostly fine. We ate at Kona, Beaches & Cream, T-Rex, Tony’s, Sci fi, Contempo Cafe, Splitsville, Whispering Canyon…
The only one that was borderline for me was Tony’s. Even with the spacing, people still had to walk by tables and I could see it being potentially a problem. Funnily enough, the one I was expecting to be problematic, Sci fi, actually was one of the best. They created a one way circuit so that people going to the bathroom or entering/exiting had to traverse one route that didn’t directly pass by any cars in use.
Now that we’re back (although still in quarantine for a little bit longer) we will probably do indoor dining on a limited basis (we have a few birthdays coming up) and only in places we already know are adhering to standards. It’s too cold to eat outside now.