Restaurant recommendations?

[KrystalS]

We have reservations at Cinderellas castle and the Liberty Tree Tavern when we visit MK. I haven't made any reservations for when we go to the other parks, but after reading other posts about the unavailability of walk ins I think we need to make more reservations. This is our first trip to Disney so I'm not sure if we will want a sit down meal at every park, what is everyones experience with this? I know we will be sick of walking so I'm thinking we will want to sit down. Is it better to just snack for lunch and eat an early dinner? I just have no idea what we should do. DD will be 4 when we go, she is already out of the nap stage, I know she will get tired but right now we are thinking that we won't leave the park for a midday break. Of course we may change that plan once we get there. So now my actual question, what restaurants do you recommend at MGM, Epcot, and AK? I've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe and I wasn't at all impressed with the food, but DD loved the restaurant, so I think she may want to eat there at AK. DD is a very picky eater, so definitely no international cuisine.
Our other option is to just eat after we leave the park(we are staying off property), is it possible to do the majority of the attractions at AK & MGM before 5pm, if we get there at opening? There several rides DD won't even be able to ride so we'll probably skip those altogether, as well as any water rides. We're going in January and I do not want to walk around wet.
Sorry that turned into a lot more the restaurant recommendations!

[Davids-Coco]

A personal fav (though not in a park) is California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Hotel... during fireworks if you can get it. They pipe in the music and the view is spectacular. My suggestion is to get a priority seating (reservation) for at least an hour before the fireworks. Then just stay at your table or eat slowly - assuming DD will stay that long.

MGM - I think your DD would get a kick out of 50's prime time cafe. The servers are great and the deserts are on a viewmaster! Brown Derby is good too.

Epcot - Where to begin? Teppan edo (Japan) is great. But you can skip it if you have a Bennihana's at home. They basically cook in front of you and do food tricks. But it is a lot of fun. All of them are really good in World Showcase... with one exception. If you like really good, very authentic mexican food, skip San Angel Inn. Just not worth it, IMO. Coral Reef in Future World is good and has a beautiful aquarium... but it is expensive.

AK - Rainforest is probably your best bet. There is a new place "Anandapur Yak and Yeti Restaurant " but I don't know anything about it. It is barely just open.

About AK & MGM, I do think you can do them in one day, especially since you are skipping certain rides.


Menus are available here if you want to look around and see if there is something you would like:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

Hope that helps some!

[bnme]

We just got back!

You can do AK & MGM & leave before 5pm. Good that you are eating dinner at MK so you can see Spectro and Wishes after. My 3 yo & 5 yo loved this. I'd say Spectro was on of the highlights for them.

On our MGM day we did a late breakfast at Hollywood & Vine to see Little Einstein's. It was good & fun. We then had a quick pizza lunch around 2 and ate back at our resort around 6:30.

On our EPCOT day we walked down to the Boardwalk (5 minutes from world showcase) to eat at Spoodles and it was one of the best meals of the trip. Most WDW restaurants have the same boring menu for kids (mac'n cheese, pizza, chicken fingers -which was perfect for my picky eaters) -but some of the more ethnic ones may not (China for example). Check out the menus.

Have fun!

[writermama]

If your picky eater likes pizza, then at MGM/Disney Studios I like Mama Melrose's for sit down meal and Toy Story Pizza Planet for counter service (thin brick oven "flatbread" style at Mama's, kind of bready individual pizza's at Planet).

Our DD#1 also likes the kid's meals that have Smucker's Uncrustables PB&J - I think it's generally about $4.50 for the sandwich, a small drink (juice, milk or soda) and 2 sides (we usually got carrots and grapes or apple slices). The counter service place next to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground has them at MGM.

I recommend the menus on allearsnet the PP recommended. Also, if you have an incredibly picky eater and need a reference, there's a guy who has printed a reference guide to the restaurants - I think it's organized by location and food (I'm in AK and I need chicken strips). I'm not a big fan of his books, but I can see where it would be helpful (after we looked all over for PB&J one day). Order it as close to your trip as possible so the menus will be most accurate. http://miceage.com/kevinyee/kybooks.htm

Uh oh - meltdown in progress. I'll try to post more with other parks later.

[gigi07]

If you decide to go to one of the sit-down restaurants on Disney property make sure that you get there before the main rush! I'd recommend 11:00 for lunch. 4:00 or 4:30 for dinner. If you wait until the usual noon or 5:00-6:00 eating times the crowds will be crazy!

[onjbj]

Hi- do you have the meal plan? Either way, here's what we've done on our last two trips. (my twins were 18 months for July 06 trip and 2 1/2 yrs old for Sept 07 trip)

Breakfast- the kids would have fruit cups, yogurt, or something small at the food court of the hotel- early (like 7am) One morning we also did Hollywood and Vine's breakfast with JoJo and Goliath and the Little Einsteins at MGM. Cute, but a lot to pay for breakfast if you aren't on the meal plan. The princess breakfast at Akershus Castle in Epcot is nice too, but same thing price wise.

We'd have a quick service lunch at whatever park we were in by about 11am, before the rush. Most places serve the same basic stuff, nothing really stands out to me for lunch.

For dinner, we'd eat around 5 or 5:30 (before the crowds). At MK, you'll love Liberty Tree Tavern- great food, fun character interaction. Some people recommend Crystal Palace at MK (Winnie the Pooh and friends). I found the buffet to be so-so. We love Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel. You can hop on the monorail from MK and be there in a flash. Again, a nice character buffet. At Epcot, we ate at Tepanyaki Dining Room in Japan which was nice b/c they cook at your table- entertaining for the kids, good food for the grown ups!! We've also eaten at 50's Prime Time Cafe (a really good time), Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge, 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian (Cinderella), and a few other places. I've never had a bad meal anywhere on property.

A great site for info on everything Disney is www.intercot.com
They've helped me plan many trips. I'd also recommend Birnbaums Guide. A great, detailed book.

Karin

[billysmommy]

Billy and I loved getting lunch at Casey's in the MK (right at the end of Main Street, near the castle). We would get corn dog nuggets, fries and apple slices to share ~ it was plenty of food for the 2 of us and was about $10.00.

You can also ask for large cups of ice water at any restaurant or anywhere serving food and they will give them to you free :)