Guys can someone explain the DISNEY MEALS to me while there

[NEVE three BUGS and a BEE]

That in itself looks like a college course.

I have ordered the book, should be here soon...but we leave tomorrow for four days so I wanted to have alittle knowledge under my belt here while I convince hubby that we should enjoy these meals and eating with characters etc...

What do I want????
What must I do????
Which character events a must do????

We are staying at the wilderness cabins so we have a kitchen so we have some flexibility but I also don't want to miss anything that is a must do.

Thanks,
Non of us are picky eaters...so bring it on if you recommend it and it is "different" food- this family will eat it!!!!

[Momof3Labs]

Neve, do you mean the Disney Dining Plan (where you pay a flat rate up front for your meals)? If so, I'd highly recommend skipping it. It gave me a headache to worry about using up the credits, wonder where we were going to eat, etc. Especially since you have the kitchen and will probably do more food in the room than others.

Or do you just mean the different food options at Disney? We love the character meals - IMO, Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is one of the best. Not the most amazing food, but great character interaction, and the monorails running along side it are a bonus. If you go for the breakfast buffet (you can go as late as 11am and make it an early lunch), it is a fair amount cheaper than the dinner buffet. But for quality of food at a character meal, the Garden Grill at Epcot won hands down for us on the last trip! It was all you can eat, but they bring it to the table, and the food was so YUMMY!!

For good sandwiches and a reasonably priced meal, I really like Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney. Not convenient to the parks, but good eating for a day off.

I've heard of a buffet at Fort Wilderness that is supposed to be reasonable and good - might want to check that out, too.

You can see menus for all of the the different Disney restaurants at www.allearsnet.com - worth checking before you make reservations (which I suggest making as soon as you decide where you want to eat)!!

[MelissaTC]

We have not done the meal plan yet (wasn't available on our last trip) and it is probably something we will skip. I have heard too many people complain about not being able to use all their credits.

We have really enjoyed eating at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. The food is good and I think the boys would love it. I also second the Garden Grill at Epcot (it is located in the Land pavillion). Patrick and I were "re-hitched" there last year and it was cute. The characters are dressed as farmers and the restaurant slowly rotates throughout your meal. The food is great and it is served family style.

For breakfast and Winnie the Pooh, Matthew has absolutely loved the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. It is a breakfast buffet with all the Pooh characters. Matthew was in pure heaven!

We have eaten in other restaurants throughout the park and have come to the realization that it is probably best to stick with the character meals. We paid a small fortune to eat at MGM's 50's homestyle restaurant (food was good and the atmosphere was a hoot!) but regretted spending so much when we could have eaten another meal with characters and had more fun, ykwim? I do think they do the character meals "right" and there are so many to choose from now.

The one place I do not recommend is Teppanyaki steakhouse in the Japanese pavillion. We were very disappointed in the meal, despite them having an excellent kids meal.

You MUST tell us how the cabin is! We were considering going (would have left tomorrow!) but decided to plan a bit more and go in Jan. instead.

[tarabenet]

I echo the PPs that I'd skip the meal plan.
Some of our favorites have been:
1 Crystal Palace, styled after Tony's from Lady and the Tramp, near the gates on Main Street. A barely-mentioned character experience, it was one of our best -- all the Pooh characters came by, took pictures, clowned. It was great. And the statue of Lady and the Tramp in the center is so sweet. 9Magic Kingdom)
2. The restaurant in The Land pavillion at Epcot was great. Family-style dining, with skillets of good stuff. The whole thing rotates, so the view changes and would keep the boys occupied. Chip and Dale are the featured characters, and sat down and pretended to eat with us! One of them wrote a love note to my elder step-daughter, who was awe-struck, even at 17.
3. The Drive-In Diner (if you do MGM). The tables are like cars, and they make the kids sit in front, the parents in the back. They show clips of old Disney cartoons, and the wait staff issues "traffic tickets" instead of bills.
4. Mom's Kitchen (I think that is the name), also at MGM. Lots of small dining rooms, each decorated like a different 50s/60s kitchen. All waitresses wear aprons and answer only to "Mom". The order people to eat their veggies, drink their milk, etc. And the signature dessert is a fabulous version of S'Mores.
5. We weren't impressed with Rainforest Cafe (Animal Kingdom and Sowntown Disney), but little ones would be so enamored with the setting. I f you don't have one near home, it would be worth at least going inside to see.
6. The "Living Seas" pavillion has a restaurant where one whole wall is an aquarium. Big, big sea creatures. A bit more upscale, though, and no characters.

DH is commenting from the couch. His main advice: if you can possibly swing it, do not miss the fireworks displays at any of the three parks that do them. Epcot's will make you cry. MGM's Phantasmic is an incredible experience, and you get to sit down! And of course, Magic Kingdom features Tinkerbell flying from the castle turret (a real person, on a zip-line down) -- sit by the Starlight Cafe or that vicinity (the bridge to tomorrowland) for a super view. DH is also unhelpfully suggesting you catch the speical "Drink Station" at Epcot and don't miss the drink called Beverly. Actually, they have sodas from around the world on tap, and it is a fun taste-testing experience (but Beverly is singularly vile! Tiny sip, not a big swig!).

Gotta add: especially with boys, the Buzz Lightyear ride is a lot of fun. You shoot at various targets, helping Buzz save the universe, and you get to spin the care around and all to get better shots.

I've heard repeatedly that Mickey's Toontown Fair is a great experience for small kids (Magic Kingdom).

[searchdog]

I just wanted to say that we love the 50's style restaurant. It is called Prime Time Cafe. We love the onion strings.

Rainforest is also really good in my opinion, but the only time we get to eat there is on vacation since we don't have one close to home. I highly recommend the pot roast!

No matter where you plan to eat get reservations before you go, since they fill up quick. Make sure if you make reservations that you tell them you have an infant, because they will count Baby B in your count because of Fire Code issues. Our DD was 6 months last year when we went and they told us just to make reservations for 4 and a highchair whether she used the chair of not they new what they were getting.

[NEVE three BUGS and a BEE]

I just hung up the phone and booked several things...

Thank you for recommending the fireworks at EPCOT for we made dinner reservations around them.

and tinkerbell flying- who would know!!!!- gotta see it!!!!

This is what we booked (keep in mind we have a kitchen in our place)

On Reichen's birthday

"chef mickey" for a late breakfast at 10:50 (will have a bagel or something before we leave our place)

That night (cha ching!!!!) some Christmas celebration from 7-midnight that set me back a good $150 but I felt for his first "real birthday CELEBRATION" that it was worth it.

other days

Boma for dinner at animal kingdom

another day late breakfast with mary poppins and the alice and wonderland group

another day breakfast with pooh and friends

Then a moracan meal at Epcot.
my rationale for that was the kids will experience Italian, Mexican "real" dinners in their lives but can't promise them they will ever ever go to Moraco...so that was my rationale.

I so hope I am covered.

That is three character meals
and two dinners

[Momof3Labs]

The Drink Station at Epcot is currently closed, and so is the Living Seas pavillion. Crystal Palace was mobbed last week, even though the parks were near empty, so it definitely is beyond barely-mentioned now! In fact, that was our worst character meal (we did quite a few).

[Momof3Labs]

Neve, Boma is quite good; I think that you'll enjoy it. Allow yourselves enough time to walk out the back patio of AKL and check out the savannah - we saw all kinds of animals before dinner last week!

About the fireworks at MGM, they are quite intense for little kids, with many villains and such. Plus, everyone has to fit into a stadium area (meaning you have to get there early to get a seat, and get stuck in bottlenecks coming out). At Epcot and MK, you can stand almost anywhere to enjoy the fireworks (at MK, we like Main Street and at Epcot, get a spot on the lagoon).

[NEVE three BUGS and a BEE]

enough???

I did late late breakfast so we could have something in us to get us thru the first 1/2 of the afternoon!!!

[psophia17]

Whatever you do, don't go to the Liberty whatever cafe in the Magic Kingdom in (I think) Frontierland. The only good stuff we had there when we went was the bread and apple butter. In fact, it was so bad that I sent my food back to the kitchen before I gave up and ended up with no lunch.

Also, if you can squeeze it in there, I highly recommend going to Mexico in Epcot for the atmosphere. If you don't have dinner there, no biggie, but the place is gorgeous, and they have a boat ride that goes past a volcano, too.

I'm so jealous - I want to go with you!

[mom2kandj]

Neve -

DH and I were in Orlando in March and loved BOMA! Tell Steve that their head chef (or it might be their pastry chef) is filipino and they have a really yummy cassava(sp?) in the dessert section! :)

We are going back in January with the kids and I can start my obsessive planning in about 18 days! ;P


Rose
mom 2 Katie 12/02/00
& Jack 04/16/02

[Momof3Labs]

Yeah, the Liberty Tree Tavern was a letdown food wise. Heck, we didn't even get apple butter with our bread, but we were there for dinner.

[mmaimp]

We love Morocco! The food is great and the belly dancers are lots of fun.

Have a great time,

[pritchettzoo]

Oh no! We have ADRs for there one night. I'd heard it was pretty good. :( Maybe we'll try Chef Mickey's that night...

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03) and Eli (July '05)

[aliceinwonderland]

I have never been, and doubt I will ever go (never say never, have eaten my words before), BUT the breakfast with Alice and the other characters sounds like SOO much fun!!! Will the mad hatter, etc. say crazy things like they do in the book? LOL.

Sounds like this will be a memorable trip for the kiddos, what great fun :)

[Momof3Labs]

No, the non-face characters do not speak, so if the Mad Hatter is there, he will not speak.

[aliceinwonderland]

bummer. I love the Mad Hatter.

Still sounds like a good time though, LOL, I am such a geek :) :)