Post Your Favorite WDW Restaurants

[klwa]

The one restaurant that gets the most love in our house is Garden Grill in Epcot. It's a family style character meal, so, unlike most of the character meals, you don't have to get up to go to the buffet, and possibly miss the characters. And, for the most part, the menu has something that each of us like. The characters aren't usually rushed there, and often you'll see each one 2+ times while you're eating, rather than sitting, waiting on that last one to come by.

[klwa]

Thanks for all of the replies! Some questions:

1. Does Aksherus have the Frozen princesses?

There were some reports a month or so ago that they did a brief trial run with Anna/Elsa as greeter at Akershus, but that trial appears to be done & Belle is back. The one time we were here, we had Belle as greeter, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, and Aurora.

2. I read somewhere that California Grille, Narcooses, and Citricos were good choices to watch the electric parade. If so, what time should your reservations be for and are all of the seating good for watching the parade or do you have to have certain window seating?

I assume you're talking about the electrical water pageant and not the Main Street Electrical Parade. If so, refer to PP's response.

3. Do you need reservations at the Epcot restaurants such as Le Cellier or the English fish and chips restaurant?

If it's a park area table service, yes. So yes to Le Cellier. For Fish & Chips, it depends on if you want the quick service version, or the sit down version. You're more likely to get walk up availability if you're looking at the resort restaurants, excepting the character meals & 'Ohana.

[anonomom]

Thanks for all of the replies! Some questions:

1. Does Aksherus have the Frozen princesses?

2. I read somewhere that California Grille, Narcooses, and Citricos were good choices to watch the electric parade. If so, what time should your reservations be for and are all of the seating good for watching the parade or do you have to have certain window seating?

3. Do you need reservations at the Epcot restaurants such as Le Cellier or the English fish and chips restaurant?

4. Has anyone done tea at the Grand Floridian? What's it like?

We've done tea at the GF twice. It's really nice and the food is good. One warning -- the last time we went (December 2013), they had added several tables to add more capacity. It's fairly crowded and a little hectic in there now. If you're going at a lower-crowd time that may not be an issue, but it's something to consider. It's still a nice experience, but not as calm and peaceful as it used to be.

I'm guessing the electric parade you're talking about is the electric water pageant that circles the lake (lagoon? I always forget) every night. IIRC, that happens late -- after 9 pm. I wouldn't think the Cali Grill would be ideal for viewing since it's so far up. And I'm fairly certain that Citricos is inside the GF and there isn't a view from the restaurant. Narcoosee's is right on the water and might be a good choice. Otherwise, you might consider just viewing it from the shore at one of the resorts in the area.

Depending on the time of year you're going, I'd get reservations for any restaurant you definitely want to try. If you're there during a time they offer free dining, you will definitely need ADRs everywhere. LeCellier tends to be extremely popular, so you'll almost certainly need a reservation there regardless of crowd levels.

[elbenn]

I was referring to the main street parade, but I must have it confused with the water one. Are there any restaurants that you can view the main street parade? Or what is the best way to view the main street parade? Our hotel isn't that close to MK, and the parade is pretty late so I figured we'd be tired by then. Is the main street parade a must?

[ray7694]

The Main St parade included the fireworks above the castle. At the entrance of MK is a train station. YOu can take the stair on either side to the top and it is a great spot. You have to get there early. We just took turn shopping/getting popcorn once we had our spot.

[elbenn]

The Main St parade included the fireworks above the castle. At the entrance of MK is a train station. YOu can take the stair on either side to the top and it is a great spot. You have to get there early. We just took turn shopping/getting popcorn once we had our spot.

This is a great tip. Thanks! How early did you get there?

[rkold]

I was referring to the main street parade, but I must have it confused with the water one. Are there any restaurants that you can view the main street parade? Or what is the best way to view the main street parade? Our hotel isn't that close to MK, and the parade is pretty late so I figured we'd be tired by then. Is the main street parade a must?

Sometimes. Depending on time of year and well just plain luck, you can see the Main Street Parade from the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party. The view is not ideal and definitely not as good as FP+ would be, but considering you're actually paying to get a good view of the fireworks, it was pretty awesome when we could see the parade as well. It's a little expensive, but I'm a fan of the party because the fireworks view is spectacular. Last time we did it, we had a perfect view and didn't even need to leave our table.

I have also gotten a distant view of the Main Street parade from the California Grill. I don't think you can see it from inside, but if you go outside to the viewing areas you do get a bird's eye view. I remember pointing it out to my Mom in Feb. Again, with the CG, even if you eat earlier, you can go back for viewing. I find most nicer sit down places in WDW will take 1.5-2 hours for a meal.

Re: PP and Citricos. I honestly can't remember if you can see the water pageant even from a window, because usually I end up seeing the pageant from near the VGF or the Poly. However, you can definitely see the fireworks from Citricos, which is why I would think there is enough of a water view to see the electrical water pageant as well. Victoria and Albert's is completely enclosed though and you can't see anything from it.

We actually once had Aurora as our greeter at Aksherus, but that was only once and all the other times it's been Belle in her yellow dress. (We probably ate there a good 5-7 times before our issues last Oct 2014.) If you want Belle in her yellow dress (specifically the yellow dress, not her blue+white one) I think Aksherus is the only place where she signs autographs. I've never had Belle as a princess at Cindy's though I once had Rapunzel there. I think it is hard to have A+E at things like that just because the crowds and lines for pictures are already enough of an issue, A+E would make it even more trafficky. Even at all the princess races, A+E were up on a platform waving to the runners and not on the ground where you could get your picture taken with them because of presumably traffic concerns. One interesting thing to note, Elsa does have a "Winter" version of her outfit, like most of the other princesses. I guess the cold does bother her anyway XD;

[kristenk]

We had a FastPass+ for a parade viewing location. It was great! It just worked out that we'd have an extra FP+ that day, so I decided to use it for the parade. I'm very glad I did.

The FP+ parade viewing location is in the grassy area in the center of main street. It's where the flag is. We showed up about 10 minutes before the parade started and had a great view without people trying to invade our space.

[candaceb]

My favorite restaurant at WDW is Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I love the whole thing - walking around the hotel, seeing some animals, and then the food at Boma is different but very good. Everyone in our picky group of 8 was happy there.

[elbenn]

I really appreciate all the replies. I'm checking into a bunch of these restaurants. More questions:

1. If you make reservations and cancel, any charges? How late can you cancel? (I'm sure this is available on their site, but am hoping for a quick answer from someone who already knows.)

2. Viewing online menus, what's the difference between the kids meals and the Check Mickey Mouse kids meals?

3. If you do Fantasma, what restaurant is best? Is it better for lunch or dinner?