Give me some ideas for where to dine! I'm open to all suggestions--character dining, sit down dinners, great casual places. Please say whether you like it for the food or the atmosphere or both. Thanks!
Give me some ideas for where to dine! I'm open to all suggestions--character dining, sit down dinners, great casual places. Please say whether you like it for the food or the atmosphere or both. Thanks!
We really liked Sci Fi in DHS. The atmosphere was really fun with the movie playing, etc. And, it was so quiet inside! The food was nothing spectacular, but was good.
We also enjoyed both dinner shows - Hoop Dee Doo Revue and Spirit of Aloha.
Kris
We just got back! We did two character meals. Ohana at the Polynesian for breakfast and Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom for lunch. We thought the food was good at both places.
Another highlight was San Angel Inn in Epcot. We sat by the railing and watched the volcano erupt and the boats pass by. That was a lot of fun.
In Animal Kingdom we ended up eating at Yak & Yeti. Portions were huge, but the food was very good. We were planning to eat at Flame Tree Barbecue, but it was closed for renovation.
In the Magic Kingdom, our favorite is Be Our Guest for lunch when it is considered counter service. We also enjoyed Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree Tavern.
At Epcot, our absolute favorite is Le Cellier. We also were surprised by how much we loved Coral Reef. Rose & Crown is consistently good as well.
At AK, the only place we've really enjoyed was Flame Tree.
At the resorts, we LOVE California Grille, Flying Fish, and Artist Pointe.
All of these were for the FOOD, but you can't beat the view at California Grille.
DS1 age 21 years
DS2 age 11 years
Chef Mickeys breakfast for the fun also Beach Club breakfast
Hibachi place in Japan was delicious. Especially fun when we went because it was kids first time.
Paradiso at DTD. Great food, I may have the name wrong.
I like Olivia's and turf Club as relaxing resort restaurants with good food.
Columbia Harbor house for a quick meal at MK
We did three character meals and the Cinderella was the best. The seafood reasteraunt at Epcot was the best food.
Our group is a group of vegetarians, so please do take that into consideration. We were last in WDW in Feb 2015.
My favorite character meal is hands down the Disney Junior Play -n- Dine at the Studios for Breakfast. I think the food selection is surprisingly good (and if you don't care about your diet the warm chocolate kahlua sauce is amazing) the characters are good, and the cast members there have a lot of energy. There are a lot of group dances, which is great for antsy little kids who don't want to just sit while they wait for characters. If your kids are old enough that they don't care about Disney Jr or you don't have kids, I would skip. It's great if you have a 4 or 5 year old though.
I've also tried: Cindy's (food is disappointing, I tried it both in the Castle and when it was temporarily in Citricos), Aksherus (will never go back there again after they forgot DD's birthday cupcake. She was heartbroken.), Crystal Palace (waited 45 minutes on our ADR and they took groups the same size as ours who got there after us before us. DD had a meltdown because they kept us waiting, and then I ended up spending the night being ill because they didn't mark which meals contained meat.) Chef Mickey's (It's fun and loud, but it's sort of expensive, and it's not so hard to meet the fab 5 otherwise.)
My favorite breakfast you can get in without ADRs is Kona Cafe. I had red velvet pancakes last time I was there. I also liked the new Italian place that replaced Cat Cora for Breakfast when we stayed at the Beach Club in January.
When you don't mind spending money, I adore: Jiko's, California Grill, and Citrico's. All 3 had some delicious food and really work with dietary requirements. Citrico's has possibly my favorite dessert ever as a chocolate lover. I ate in Citricos in Jan 2011 and had not been impressed but the food was so much better when we were there in Feb 2015!
For "moderate" priced food, I like Sanaa in Kidani and Tokyo Dinning in Epcot. The quick service there is also good, though DD didn't like that they added pickled ginger directly tot he veggie rolls as well as having it on the side.
Columbia Harbour House is probably the best main course food in MK, but I just don't like eating in MK if I can help it. I've been to Be Our Guest for lunch and dinner, and while it's gorgeous inside the food is just all right, and not worth the difficulties in getting a reservation. I was disappointed that they couldn't do a dinner size portion of some of their salads, which I think is superior to their ratatouille with quinoa. The Wave and Kona Cafe can alter some of their main courses or change things up more.
I'm also really not as fond of the food in AK, though I'm hoping to at some point try some of the new veggie options. DD likes pizzafari because she is 4.5 We're going to possibly try Tusker's next trip, as we might do the dinning plan for 2 days of our split stay.
Mother to DD 10/2010
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?
1. As of Feb. 2015, the Frozen Princesses did not ever meet at Aksherus. Generally, you get: Belle in her yellow gown, Human Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella. Sometimes Mulan subs in for one of those princesses. I've never seen any other princesses there. It's unlikely the Frozen princesses are going to start meeting there because they're a little too popular right now, if that makes sense. Having them there would be a little too disruptive.
2. Yes, you can see the pageant. In the case of Narcooses and Citricos, I think you need a seat near a window. For California Grille, there are outside viewing areas for all guests as well as lounge with viewing areas. I want to say the pageant starts around 9:45. With CG eve if you eat early, you can come back later for viewings. I love CG, but the view is very different than from Citricos and Narcooses, because it's 14 stories or so up, while the others are pretty much on level. I admit, I tend to just watch it from various look out points around the GF. ^^;
3. Last I heard, Le Cellier is up there as one of the hardest ADRs to get. I think Be Our Guest is the hardest, and then possibly Le Cellier. The Rose and Crown Pub isn't so hard to get depending on time of year. The actual fish-n-chip only shop is QS so there are no reservations for it.
4. We nearly did tea there last trip, but canceled because I was exhausted.
I have eaten in Victoria and Albert's. The food was outstanding, but the dessert was disappointing. I had a Tables in Wonderland discount at the time and I am not sure I would go back without it.
Mother to DD 10/2010
We did the Perfectly Princess Tea. It's very expensive, but we enjoyed it for a one-time thing. They really treat the little girls like royalty!
Our favorites include: Via Napoli, Raglan Road, Akershus breakfast and Hollywood & Vine lunch. Columbia Harbor Hoise and Flame Tree Barbeque for counter service. Jiko is also fabulous.