First timer needs help with restaurant choices:

[Picabo]

What do you think of these dining choice for a family of 4 (2 adults/2 girls age 2 1/2 and almost 4). First time ever to Disney World....


Ohana (dinner) - we're staying at the Poly so this just makes sense to me. And DH is a big meat-eater. But lately I've heard mixed reviews on the meats so I'm a bit nervous....

Kona (dinner) - again, since we're staying at the Poly it seems now is the time to go here. And DH is a big seared tuna fan and I keep hearing how good the Tuna Oscar is. And, well, my kids would faint if they were to see a KONA KONE!

Akershaus (bkfst) - We're not on the dining plan so bkfst was a better choice here, plus the lunch/dinner food are NOT appealing. BUT DD3 is a huge princess fan so this seemed like a good one to do.

Chef Mickey (bkfst) - Again, chose this b/c it's less expensive (not on dining plan) and DD2 is a huge Micky and Minnie fan. And, from what I've read dinner there is not so magical. Please tell me that bkfst there is going to be decent.

Crystal Palace (lunch) - didn't want to do a 3rd breakfast (and take away from valuable morning ride-time!) and lunch is lots less pricey than dinner. And, I hear Crystal Palace is a must-do! Is it??

These are in question - opinions would be helpful:

1900 PF (dinner) - DD loves the Cinderella movies but I'ev heard very IFFY things about the food there and I'm a bit afraid that the mean stepmom might be a big "much" for a 2 and 3 yr old. I'd have to pop out $90 on dinner there only to have my kids freaked out and all of us feeling like the food was disgusting.

Whispering Canyon (lunch or dinner) - We're going in early Dec and I would LOVE to see the WL all decked out for the holidays. And, DH and I love ribs. So would this be a good idea to head over there - is it difficult to get to from the Poly? Are our girls old enough to participate in the pony races, etc that they do there?

So what do you think? Shoudl we switch anything around or take anything out? Am I missing something we should be doing? (Keep in mind, not on dining plan-and we can't add it on due to the type of rate we got at the Poly.) THANKS!!!!!

[Bertie131]

I can respond to the ones I have experienced. I am a die-hard Poly fan and we always stay there. I personally loved Ohana. The food was good, the entertainment was fun--although it is a loud, busy restaurant. As far as the meat, ask for it not to be as well done and it will be more tender. I personally love the wings and the noodles and the dessert!

I ate at Chef Mickey's for bfast. There was a ton of things to choose from. I thought the interaction from the characters was great. Each one of them came to the table and were very willing to do pictures. Honestly, that was my big reason for going there--I wanted good pics with the characters. The food was decent. I am sure you can find something you like and not go away hungry.

Hope this helps somewhat!

[stephie1012]

Askerhaus bfast was just bfast to me nothing special other then the princesses and how its served. I took DD there for a girls only thing and left the boys to wonder and she loved it, everytime she saw a princess she was in awe. We are doing it again in sept.

Whispering Canyon we personally loved. DD had fun running around. It was good for DS bc lets face it hes a boy and hes loud! We loved the area it was in. we are also doing that again.

We are doing 1900Park Fare for DDs 4th bday this time. We have never been there. We have never seen a prince in the parks and dd has been dying to see prince charming and she thinks the steps are funny now lol.

We did Crystal palace for bfast to get the empty main st castle pic. The food was good. Characters took a lil too long for me. We skipped out on Piglet and tigger bc it was taking too long. We had an 8am ADR and it was nearing 850 and they still werent back out yet, we didnt want to miss rope drop.

[Planogirl]

While the Crystal Palace is a character place, I find it relaxing which is nice after being in the frantic atmosphere of MK. The restaurant is big though so it takes a while for the characters to get to you. We always like the food here.

Chef Mickey's is more busy and loud and definitely is fun. I think that the food is mostly so-so but the atmosphere is a lot of fun.

Ohana and Kona seem to both get a lot of mixed reviews. It's been years since I've been to Ohana so I don't know how it is now. It is logical to eat so close to your room though and the Polynesian is lovely so it's fun just to hang out at the hotel IMO.

I only ate at Akershus when it was still a real restaurant so I won't go into that.

Keep in mind that many small children are afraid of all of the characters at first. The characters are good at sensing this but be prepared for the kids to be a bit leery.

[mdoc]

We had dinner at 1900 Park Faire last November and I thought the food was pretty good. The character interaction was great (the best we've had at any character meal) and I didn't find the stepmother to be scary, although my kids are older so I probably wasn't focused on it. I don't know if the menu has changed in the past year, but if it has not, it's a meal worth adding. We had lunch at Crystal Palace about a year ago as well, and while I thought the food was quite good, the lines were huge and the character interaction not good at all. The place was just too darned crowded. It's been years since I've been to Chef Mickey's - the food was mediocre (we had breakfast) and the character interaction only so-so, so we never went back. I did get some great photos of my youngest at Chef Mickey's, though. She was about 18 months at the time and terrified of all the characters. We laugh every time we look at those pictures.

[Dizneydaz]

Originally Posted by Picabo

What do you think of these dining choice for a family of 4 (2 adults/2 girls age 2 1/2 and almost 4). First time ever to Disney World....

Ohana (dinner) - we're staying at the Poly so this just makes sense to me. And DH is a big meat-eater. But lately I've heard mixed reviews on the meats so I'm a bit nervous....

We're one of those we didn't like dinner here. But we really enjoy breakfast and this year will be our 3rd time having BF there on our last day. If you are paying OOP, maybe this is a better option

Kona (dinner) - again, since we're staying at the Poly it seems now is the time to go here. And DH is a big seared tuna fan and I keep hearing how good the Tuna Oscar is. And, well, my kids would faint if they were to see a KONA KONE!

One of our favs. We usually eat 2 dinners here each trip. And the Tuna Oscar is sooo goood! My DM had it on our last trip. It was so good I had to order it at our 2nd dinner. So did she!

Akershaus (bkfst) - We're not on the dining plan so bkfst was a better choice here, plus the lunch/dinner food are NOT appealing. BUT DD3 is a huge princess fan so this seemed like a good one to do.

The breakfast is good. Princesses are great-but be prepared for them. They come and go very quickly and only visit once. Also, be prepared that the girls won't really eat until all the princesses have stopped by. I like the food here, all meals. The cinammon rolls are delish!

Chef Mickey (bkfst) - Again, chose this b/c it's less expensive (not on dining plan) and DD2 is a huge Micky and Minnie fan. And, from what I've read dinner there is not so magical. Please tell me that bkfst there is going to be decent.

Never have done it. Too many so-so reviews.

Crystal Palace (lunch) - didn't want to do a 3rd breakfast (and take away from valuable morning ride-time!) and lunch is lots less pricey than dinner. And, I hear Crystal Palace is a must-do! Is it??

We're doing CP for the first time this year on DD's 10th birthday. Early entry. I want to be in MK before it officially opens (just once!)

These are in question - opinions would be helpful:

1900 PF (dinner) - DD loves the Cinderella movies but I'ev heard very IFFY things about the food there and I'm a bit afraid that the mean stepmom might be a big "much" for a 2 and 3 yr old. I'd have to pop out $90 on dinner there only to have my kids freaked out and all of us feeling like the food was disgusting.

I haven't been since the mice were out and steps were in. The food prior was very good. I've heard it's not as good. If you're worried about the steps being too mean, maybe breakfast would be better. Pooh, Tigger, Alice and the Mad Hatter with Mary Poppins in the lobby. We've done BF here twice (last day) and always had a good time. Granted, we had late ADRs and the place was basically empty. Alice and the MH were very funny with their interaction. MP spent quite some time talking to DD in the lobby.

Whispering Canyon (lunch or dinner) - We're going in early Dec and I would LOVE to see the WL all decked out for the holidays. And, DH and I love ribs. So would this be a good idea to head over there - is it difficult to get to from the Poly? Are our girls old enough to participate in the pony races, etc that they do there?

Sorry, haven't been yet.

[KatMark]

I like your choices. I would NOT do Whispering Canyon--the worse meal of our trip last year (DH got sick on the food) and it is now in category with Hollywood & Vine -- you couldn't pay us to go back. We've never done lunch at CP--we prefer breakfast (since our bad experiences at H&V, we don't do anything but breakfast buffets with the exception of Biergarten which we will do for lunch or dinner.

[B-Ride]

The only ones we have tried are 'Ohana, Kona and Crystal Palace and we like the so much we eat there every trip. We are also Poly people but would eat at both 'Ohana and Kona even if we didn't stay there. We love the starters at 'Ohana and usually go easy on the meats saving room for the incredible dessert.

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

i've only ever tried cp....and loved it!!! i am a huge pooh fanatic! while we were there in 05 there was a family in front of us who told us of this wonderful restaurant...now i've been to disney 5 times and had never heard of it! plus when you don't have kids you really just tend to eat at qs when you're hungry!

we booked a ressie for our last evening a few nites before. it was wonderful! one character did blow us off, think it was eeyore...and altho i missed it- nature called!- they had a little parade around the restuarant with the kids! this time were enjoying a lunch there.

[pixie08]

Your plan looks good. I think with 2 girls go for 1900 park fare...they will love it and the food is pretty good. I ,just love going to the GF too- such a nice dinner imo.