Pittsburgh Nesties
MandyMilller
member
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Disney meal advice
I'm starting to feel like we should be thinking more about where we're going to eat when we go in May. Anyone care to suggest any place in particular, or share their overall dining philosophy?
Re: Disney meal advice
Do you have a meal plan...is it free? That would dictate some of my answers. We had free meal plan when we went.
favorite meal for dh and I was Ohana's at the Polynesian. We know several people that loved it too. Dd wasn't too thrilled with the food though.
Favorite place for dd was the Norwegian place at Epcot. I can't remember the name but it has several princesses and she loved that. She also really liked the dinner at grand Floridian with Cinderella and Prince Charming and Evil stepmother/step sisters. It is easier to get reservations here than at the castle and it was still nice.
the character stuff can be fun but expensive if you are paying on your own.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
I was too, but trying to find a reservation time online the week we are there is proving to be impossible. We are getting a meal plan and feel like we should be making these decisions now. But honestly planning where I will eat lunch and/or dinner for a week 90 days from now is kinda annoying.
We're paying on our own.
We're only going for 5 days. Our plan is to go to the MK the afternoon/evening of day 1, day 2 Animal Kingdom, day 3 break (swim at hotel and Downtown Disney for dinner), day 4 MGM and day 5 MK again.
We did make the reservations with the dinner at the Castle our last night. I was also considering doing one character breakfast and one character lunch, but I'm not sure if that's too much character stuff or not. I've never done a character meal!
This is one of the very reasons that the whole idea of a Disney trip makes me all twitchy...and we pushed it back again. We think we're going next year - if I can handle the stress of picking places to eat that 1)I've never been and 2) is still 3 months away! Vacations should be relaxing, yo.
I usually pick the park I want to be in each day (based on hours, special events, etc), then choose the place to eat based on that. The popular places are going to book quickly, but keep checking in case of cancellations. The kids enjoyed character meals, so we did a lot of those last time since we had free dining. If you are paying out of pocket, you may want to limit those since they can get pricey.
Off the top of my head, I think we all enjoyed Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Coral Reef, Ohanas, 50s Prime Time. Most of the table service places are good - the only really bad one we had was at Raglan Road in Downtown Disney.
I couldn't get reservations for Be our Guest last time and thought we might do lunch there, but no way was I waiting that long for table service. I'll wait til next time!
Since you are paying out of pocket and have young kids, I'd do mostly counter service. A good character breakfast is Ohanas. Downtown Disney has TRex Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe and a few others - unless you love one of those places, I'd skip eating there. You could always eat at one of the resorts and then head to Downtown Disney.... Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge is fun for kids.
Definitely plan ahead. We didn't when we went but we were two adults who could eat whenever. We ate most nights after 8 since that is when we could get reservations (we were on the concierge level, so they did it all for us). But if you have kids and need to eat before 7 or 8, definitely make reservations. We also had a meal plan, so price was no issue.
My favorites:
Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) African food with wonderful wine selection
Le Cellier Steakhouse (Epcot/Canada)
Coral Reef Restaurant (Epcot/Future World). The food was good but it was a super cool experience
Teppan Edo (Epcot) Japanese Hibachi
Sci-Fi Dinner Theater (Hollywood Studios). It was good but the experience is awesome, it is set-up like a drive-in movie theater.
50s Prime Time Diner (Hollywood Studios) 50s kitsch
O'Hana was wonderful. I really liked it.
I loved the look of Be Our Guest, but I was underwhelmed by the food. It wasn't bad, but I expected better.
We did a Fantasmic Lunch package at Mama Melrose's, and I really liked the food.
I'm also a huge fan of Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.
Quick Service at the land in Epcot is probably my favorite park quick service. I like pretty much anywhere in the World Showcase, but of all the parks, with the kids we're currently in Epcot for the least amount of time.
There are certain places that you aren't going to get an awsome meal but you will get an awesome experience. Sci-fi is one of them. The food isn't that great but it's just fun to be there.
I'm a big fan of the Hoop-dee-doo revue. I loved it as an 8 year old and I still love it now.
We were pleased with every meal we had when we went a few years ago. Tutto Italia, Coral Reef (Giant fish tank to entertain the kids!), Kona Cafe
You can also get a pretty decent meal via counter service. Several places had "Boston Market" type meals. Half a chicken, green beans, potatoes.
Oh no, I was planning to book Raglan Road! There is practically nothing else available at Downtown Disney at this point. Is there somewhere else we should consider eating on our off night instead of Downtown?
The Quick Service Wolfgang Puck express there was pretty good. We really liked the pizza and sandwiches if you don't want to do a sitdown dinner there.
You can always eat at another resort on your non-park day too.
well we did several since we had free dining. Crystal palace at MK with Winnie the Pooh characters. Was decent. Princesses at Epcot (great). Tusker house breakfast at AK with Mickey characters. Grand Floridian with Cinderella (great).
If you are paying for meals yourself I would get some breakfast snack stuff to have on hand in your room so you don't need to eat out all the time. Like some cereal, etc. lunches...the quick service meals were a lot of food so you could probably split some and not have to get full meals for everyone.
And ditto pp that on your off day you could eat at a resort. You could do Ohana's that night since its at the Polynesian if you were interested in there. We ate there our first night since we weren't doing a park that night
Is that the Irish place? We ate there years ago & it was fine. You didn't need a reservation back then either. What about Rainforest Cafe? Chainy but fun. There's also some other chain with dinosaurs or something right there as well.
You know you can always call that day and put your name in and then walk around. They move people in and out quick.
We also did Chef Mickey's, Pooh's Crystal Palace (good for really little ones), Cinderella's castle for lunch (b/c they said that its just the Fairy Godmother & Cinderella at dinner) & the Cinderella/Stepsister dinner at Grand Floridian. It was a hoot but there were 4 girls totally into Cinderella at the time.
ETA - we also paid on our own & stayed off property. So we went to MK one day & Sea World another, Downtown Disney another & at the pool the rest of the time. Prepare to be exhausted. The ins and outs of just getting into the parks can be a hassle to deal with. Anyway, we would go to the walmart the day we got there and get food for bfast & lunch and a pasta dinner one night (we stayed a week). We may have taken stuff to the park to eat too. Definitely snacks & drinks.
How time flies! Caileigh (9), Keira (6) & Eamon (3)
Yeah the Rainforest and TRex are booked. We're staying on property, but I'm trying to figure out a way to get some food for breakfast. I'm the only one in the family who's a big breakfast eater, so it seems like a waste to eat that meal out everyday. I don't know if it'd be easier to bring stuff down in a suitcase though, or send DH to a grocery store in a cab. I have no idea how far off the beaten path these resorts are.
our last trip we stayed on property at a place with a kitchen & ate breakfast in every day. I ordered diapers, wipes, fruit & breakfast food & drinks from garden grocer & everything was in our room when we got there. It wasn't super cheap but it made my life easier. I also got fruit snacks, juices boxes & such to pack as snacks in my bag for the boys.
Did my message spark your thinking about dining? I know so many places book and fill up 180 days out so I wanted to go into our trip planning knowing our general itinerary and plan (at least for where we will be and what days) so we could book accordingly. If you are planning character meals, I think looking at each places' prices, the Disney dining seems like a good deal bc I'm sure lunch in the park and and a dinner come pretty close to the dining plan price (but I'm hoping for a great room deal or free dining when we go)
I found this helpful: http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm
my choices for next year (based on reviews ive read so can change): Ohanas, Tusker house, chef mickeys, cinderella's royal table, 1900 park, Hollywood and vine, Sci fi or 50s Pop, be Our guest, akershus, coral reef, hoop de doo
Yes, it gave me the reminder I needed to think about this! I have Tusker, Cinderella and Hollywood on my list. I'm trying to keep it to one sit-down meal a day so I have a few more to add, but not many.