Post Your Favorite WDW Restaurants

[kristenk]

The Magical Express is what gets you from the airport to the resort.

You don't need park tickets to use the WDW buses or to get to the Grand Floridian. They drop off/pick up outside the park gates.

About what time is your plane scheduled to land at MCO? Maybe we can come up with other non-park ideas for that day!

[elbenn]

About what time is your plane scheduled to land at MCO? Maybe we can come up with other non-park ideas for that day!

I'm glad you asked, because I was thinking we were getting in at noon. It turns out we get in around 3:00, so no go for tea that day. We are staying at the Boardwalk so we'll be by Epcot.

[kristenk]

We were just at WDW a few weeks ago and stayed at the Beach Club.

If you are supposed to arrive at MCO around 3, then I'd guess you'd be at the resort around 4:30. You could always walk around the Boardwalk area or take the boat that goes to Swan/Dolphin/BC/Hollywood Studios/Epcot for a ride if your kids like that. You could get off at Beach Club and go have ice cream at Beaches & Cream. You could also see about eating dinner there (get a reservation). Or head down to the pool for a while.

[rkold]

It's not so hard to get a dinner reservation at the Trattoria on the Boardwalk either. Beaches and Cream is really good, but it is also really burgers, ice cream, and grilled cheese so it sort of depends on what you want to eat for dinner. The quality is definitely higher than the QS burger places though. But it also gets crowded because it is near the pool and a popular place to get ice cream. I'd recommend dinner reservations because I think the QS is not as good as the QS elsewhere IMHO. We've always wanted to rent one of the 4 seater bicycles to ride around the lagoon. I'm sure it is pricey but it always looks like fun.

And since I don't think anyone else has mentioned it... I've also eaten at the Flying Fish the Signature restaurant for the Boardwalk. It's relatively easy to get a reservation there. If you like seafood, I think the food is probably very good. Their veggie options vary depending on the chef. Our waiter in January was very nice and gave us free champagne but our meal took 2-3 hours! People do bring kids to Signature restaurants, we were near a table with young kids, or if your DCs are older than 3 you can have the visit the Sandcastle Club babysitting service in the Beach Club. (you don't need to stay there to use the service.) My DD loves the kids clubs. If the kids stay there at least 2 hours their stay includes a dinner for them. It does get pricey, but I admit, it's a treat I always indulge in every trip to Disney now.

Disney public transportation is free, but without a rental car it can be a pain to get between various hotels. It took 30-40 minutes to get by boat from The Contemporary to Wilderness Lodge and by car it took more like 5.

[elbenn]

More restaurant questions:

1. Can you be a little late for a reservation? For example, if you are waiting in line for a ride and it takes longer than expected, how late can you be and still get your reservation?

2. I booked a table service for Yak & Yeti. About how long should I plan to be at the restaurant? I'm trying to figure out if I booked a fast pass too close to the reservation.

[rkold]

More restaurant questions:

1. Can you be a little late for a reservation? For example, if you are waiting in line for a ride and it takes longer than expected, how late can you be and still get your reservation?

2. I booked a table service for Yak & Yeti. About how long should I plan to be at the restaurant? I'm trying to figure out if I booked a fast pass too close to the reservation.

For question 1, judging from my experience it depends on the restaurant. >>; We were 15 minutes late to Aksherus and the staff was quite rude about it. We did still get a table. But the whole experience was disappointing and they forgot DD's B-day cupcake. Yes, I know I've complained about this elsewhere, but DD still is mentioning how sad she was about this, particular since another nearby child got her. Other restaurants have been a lot nicer about it. Hollywood and Vine, just laughed with us. If you can, get the restaurant's # and maybe call? I found that helped when we were late to Citricos when Cindy was temporarily there. Usually you have a 10 minute leeway for running late.

I've never eaten at Yak+Yeti, but find most sitdown places take 1-2 hours. If you made your FP+ ressie within 1 hour of your dinner ressie I think that is really cutting it too close. If you want your meal to be about 45 minutes to 1 hour, you need to order everything you want: drinks, appetizers, dinner, dessert, all at once and let the waitstaff know you're not looking for a leisurely meal experience. We've done this a few times when going out with DD, just because 1 hour she can manage, longer is hard on her. I think unofficially you have a 10 minute grace period post your FP+ time. It also just depends on the attraction. I've shown up late for FP+ ressies (more than 10 minutes) and sometimes they've just let me through and other times they have not. It doesn't hurt to ask a CM. I think it depends on how busy the attraction is and the CMs on duty.

[elbenn]

I've never eaten at Yak+Yeti, but find most sitdown places take 1-2 hours. If you made your FP+ ressie within 1 hour of your dinner ressie I think that is really cutting it too close. If you want your meal to be about 45 minutes to 1 hour, you need to order everything you want: drinks, appetizers, dinner, dessert, all at once and let the waitstaff know you're not looking for a leisurely meal experience. We've done this a few times when going out with DD, just because 1 hour she can manage, longer is hard on her. I think unofficially you have a 10 minute grace period post your FP+ time. It also just depends on the attraction. I've shown up late for FP+ ressies (more than 10 minutes) and sometimes they've just let me through and other times they have not. It doesn't hurt to ask a CM. I think it depends on how busy the attraction is and the CMs on duty.

Thanks for this info. I think the FP is about 1.5 hours after the reservation, so will probably be fine. Approximately how long does it take to get from attractions at opposite ends of the parks?

[rkold]

Depends on the park, your walking speed, and the crowds, because no matter how fast you walk, if surrounded by slower people you're just not going to go too fast. >>;

[kristenk]

We recently ate at Yak & Yeti. The food came out incredibly fast. We were surprised by that. Remember that you will still have a little bit of a wait for seating, even with a reservation. It seemed like most people with reservations had about a 10-15 minute wait the day we were there.