OK Now for some restaurant help....

[bisous]

I've scoured the disboards, and allears and have come up with a list of restaurants we might want to try. We'll have credit for five dinners.

So far, we definitely want to do Boma's and Ohana's. We like the AYCE aspect and the purported environment. They seem to be highly recommended.

We are also considering:

Chefs du France (I LOVE french food!)
Coral Reef (DH would love the ambiance but I'm pg so I'm not sure...)
Cape May Buffet (AYCE but again sea food so???)
Biergarten (lots have recommended this)
Marrakesh (sounds fun, exotic food--yum!)
Flaming Tree BBQ (because DH loves him some BBQ)

There's a BBQ place that has been recommended that has a "lively" atmosphere. We like BBQ (especially DH) but don't like being "joked with" during dinner. Not sure if we'd like it...


Our concerns are, size and portions of food served (don't want to be hungry), quality of food and quality of ambiance. No kids so that's not a consideration.

Which 3 of the above would you pick in addition to Boma's and Ohana's?

TIA,

Jen

[JTsMom]

Flame Tree is quick service.

ETA: It's good though! :)

[clc053103]

Here's my thoughts on your choices. FWIW, we never have been hungry after a meal in WDW, and we aren't big on buffets.

Chefs du France - our meal was disappointing- served cold!
Coral Reef- for dinner, it can be VERY loud though the food is good.
Cape May Buffet- we like this, good variety. take a walk to Boardwalk after dinner!
Biergarten -we don't like German food- if you do, then go for it!
Marrakesh -we tried this last year and were not impressed.
Flaming Tree BBQ - QS

My suggestions not on your list (and this is 1 TS credit- if you are interested in 2 TS my list would be longer) would be: Tutto Italia, The Wave (at Contemporary).

The BBQ place It hink you are referring to is Whispering Canyon Cafe. The antics are beyond stupid. Thought the food was gross though they do serve an AYCE skillet that some people rave about. That being said, I ate breakfast there in January and it was really good, very calm. But I would never go back for dinner.

[egoldber]

The problem with Boma and Ohana is they are in hotels, which can make them hard to get to. Personally, we just don't like wasting that much time on meals when we are at WDW. We'd rather be touring than eating. :)

Some of our favs include:

Garden Grill
Crystal Palace (food is meh, but it is so convenient and character meals all day long)
Sci Fi DineIn (fun, but some kids are scared by the cheesy movies)
Hollywood&Vine

Biergarten is fun.

We also really like the Rose&Crown for the beer and ambiance.

The Mexico restaurant in the pyramid is just what the doctor ordered on a hot day.

[bisous]

Awesome info, guys! DH and I had the best time perusing the menus, pictures and recommendations and we've come up with the following schedule:


Monday night we arrive, dinner at Cape May buffet.

Tuesday at AK, Dinner at Boma's (and lunch at Flaming Tree, lol!)

Wednesday at MK, Dinner at Ohana's

Thursday at Epcot, Dinner at Coral Reef

Friday at HS (I kind of don't think we'll be there all day--I'm least excited about this park!) Dinner at Tutto Italia.

Saturday we'll depart. I'm planning on saving up two CS meals for Saturday by forgoing a CS on the day of one of the buffets (Monday or Tuesday) by using the snacks we plan to bring in our suitcase.

It is so true, looking at our selections that our dining choices will take some time to fulfill but DH and I are slow and laid back on vacation which we know is different than many others! :)

Thanks again!

[egoldber]

Where are you staying again? Will you have a car?

Again, just my thoughts, your plan involves a LOT of traipsing to hotels from parks for dinner. If it were me, I would move your dinner reservations to inside the park.

For example, when at the MK, maybe do dinner at Crystal Palace (also buffet) vs. Ohana. And have dinner in the AK vs. going to Boma.

[crl]

If you mean the Whispering Canyon for the BBQ place, I agree that it wasn't that great. LOUD and mediocre food and service.

Catherin

[bisous]

Okay, Beth well I made my reservations and I am a little worried. I definitely bow to your vast WDW experience, lol, but I think this MIGHT work. I'd be curious about your thoughts.

Here we are: Arrival at 4:30 p.m. Monday, staying at POP Century, dinner res. at Cape May Buffet 7:10. We are west coasters so we are doing dinners as late as we can and heard check in and travel can take some time!

Tuesday: Animal Kingdom. Park closes at 6 p.m. Dinner res. at 7:20 at Boma's.

Wednesday: Magic Kingdom. Dinner Reservations at 8:45. Park Closes at 10:00. If we could do later reservations we would have but 8:45 is it. I'm a little worried about cutting MK short but figure we can go back another day as it is usually open latest.

Thursday: Epcot. Dinner reservations at 7:05 Tutto Italia. We'll be on property.

Friday: DHS. Dinner reservations at 8:40 at Coral Reef. DHS closes at 7 p.m. Coral Reef is at Epcot.

Our plane departs at 7:30 the next evening so we can ostensibly go back and visit any park we wish on that last day. We won't have TS credit remaining so we can just eat wherever we are.

I'm actually thinking of leaving Friday reservations open until we experience more of the parks. That way, we can do DHS for part of the day and go back to our favorite park and eat dinner wherever that may take us.

DH REALLY wants to do Boma's and Ohana's so even though they are not in a park, we'd want to be heading there anyway.

Thanks for reading this much!

[egoldber]

With reservations that late it will probably be OK. And you are driving to the parks?

But I think you may have a VERY hard time actually making that dinner reservation at Cape May on your first night. If you "arrive" at 4:30, then after getting your bags and a rental car, it will seriously be tight to make that reservation. You might need to go straight to the restaurant. It would be really tight to check in, go to your room and then go the other hotel.

And on your MK day, why not eat at the Crystal Palace? Maybe go to Ohana the first night instead. There is really nothing special about Cape May for dinner. JMO.

[TwinFoxes]

If I were you, I think I'd just grab something fast at your hotel that first night, and use that TS credit on your last day. I agree, you will be really pushing it to get to your hotel, check in, and then get to Cape May by 7:10. It takes about 40 minutes to drive from MCO to WDW with no traffic. Plus, getting your bags, rental car if you're getting one (or waiting on the Magical Express). Check in can take awhile. I mean you MIGHT make it, but I'd be stressing the whole time, not a good start to your vacay.

I liked Boma, the food was OK, but I loved AKL.

[bisous]

And that's why your experience is invaluable!! You know, if we did CS on Monday night, that would make me feel better about the other days having "enough food" if you will.

Maybe I'll cancel Cape May and see if I can get Ohana's for Saturday and then figure something out for our MK day. Crystal Palace seems to be getting some good press...

[bisous]

Okay. Looked at all our options and decided I wanted maximum flexibility on Saturday to do whatever we wanted so I opted not to have TS reservations that day. Instead I'll do:

Monday Arrival at 4:35, dinner reservations at 9:30 at Ohana's

Tuesday AK Dinner at Boma's at 7:20

Wednesday MK Dinner at 4:40 at Crystal Palace

Thursday Epcot Dinner at 7:05 at Tutto Italia

Friday DHS Dinner at 8:40 at Coral Reef

Saturday, OPEN

Thanks for all the tips!

BTW we WON'T have a car so we'll be dependent on Disney transportation. We have preplanned the "hour and half" travel time throughout the parks into our schedule.

Does anyone know if walking is possible at WDW? I always opt to walk rather than ride the tram at DL...