First timer and have no idea where to eat..

[sersee05]

Well we are checking in 11/2 and leaving 11/7...with dining plan..so I think that means we get 5 days of the dining plan?

We are also getting 4 day MYW no hopper passes for the 5 of us. We plan on visiting Seaworld one day also.

My daughter wants to eat at Cinderella's castle...If i can get a res which might not be possible..but I know that is two table service credits..Since we are going to seaworld one day...we probably will pay oop or go to a resort and get a CS meal for dinner..

I just have no idea where to eat....I have read the reviews..and I see some places get great reviews..I am thinking ohana for one and watching the wishes from the beach..can anyone do that?

I have 3 children..so I need to do a character meal..are they all 2 ts credits? There are some many restaurants that people like..but for someone who is new to all this..I just have no clue which one might be great for the kids and first timers..

Thanks for the advice!

 

[wolf2961]

Anyone can visit any resort, so no problem with watching Wishes from Poly. Most all character meals are only 1 credit. Check out the Allears site for menus in helping you with decisions. Make your ADRs asap, and be flexible. BTW, if you are doing an entire day @ Sea World, they do offer a pay one price for meals at their restaurants that is a decent deal, should you need lunch & dinner there.

 

[sersee05]

Oh thanks for that tip!! I will check into that... Do some of the CS places make breakfast also?

Yea I have been popping on the reserv. system to check..my daughter wants Cinderella's castle..but am not finding any availability...being so close..I am afraid I will run into that a lot. We are very flexible since we have no idea what we are doing. lol I have read on here..though to keep checking since sometimes cancellations occur..

 

[SarahD]

SeaWorld WAS offering second day free - I think you have to buy our ticket sonline an dprint them out at home. You might want to look into that.

Our favorite character meal is Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. You get all the classics character - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald - and Goofy, I think. It's a great breakfast buffet and a lot of fun. If you're staying on property, take the monorail. My kids always love getting on and off there. We took a bus from Pop to the MK and then hopped on the monorail line.

 

[wolf2961]

We took advantage of Sea World's 2nd day free deal. Buy online (more than 7 days prior to visit, adult tix @ kid's prices). Chef Mickey's is great, but very popular. My kids love Cape May & Tusker House breakfasts, as well as Garden Grill @ EPCOT. Boma is nice...good food and an opportunity to explore the AK Lodge. Crystal Palace always good (and popular) as well. Try to make ADRs at off-hours, and you'll obviously have better success. Don't give up either. You can even call the dining # during your visit and see if there are last minute cancellations. It is 2 credits, but Hoop Dee Doo Revue is a lot of fun. Not matter what, you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[sersee05]

good idea about off hours..I am more about using my ts credits for dinners..since that is my family's bigger meal..we are not huge bfast eaters....but I will have a counter service credit left for each of us since we are visiting seaworld one day and won't eat at disney..so may try and use it for breakfast...but i am not sure if the counter services have bfast..

I am in the process of booking my stay right now..it's in the hands of the TA...can I make ressies beforehand and change if need be when I am fully booked?

 

[mchelle77]

Yea I have been popping on the reserv. system to check..my daughter wants Cinderella's castle..but am not finding any availability...being so close..I am afraid I will run into that a lot. We are very flexible since we have no idea what we are doing. lol I have read on here..though to keep checking since sometimes cancellations occur..

Try calling the dining line 45 days before your trip. Someone may cancel. If not, and it's the princesses she wants to see, try Akershus at Epcot. If it's Cinderella, try 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian (both are only ONE TS credit) I didn't want to pay for CRT (or use two credits for one meal) so I've booked both places I mentioned.

 

[Yummy]

I will have a counter service credit left for each of us since we are visiting seaworld one day and won't eat at disney..so may try and use it for breakfast...but i am not sure if the counter services have bfast..
QUOTE]

Some of the counter services do have breakfast plates, including resort food courts. However, with a breakfast CS credit, instead of a desert, you get a second drink, which you can or can't substitute for something else (fruit, fruit cup, yogurt) depending on the CM you ask...

My personnal experience with breakfast in WDW is this: We hit rope drop every day on our first trip, so we always ate breakfast at our resort food court (All-Star Music). We were two adults, and not big breakfast people, so we usually got one breakfast plate with one of our CS credits (ex: 4 choc chips pancakes w/saussage, or a Mickey-shapped wafle with strawberries) and got two water bottles for our day in the park, and used one snack credit to get a fruit cup, and shared that, and each got coffee of hot chocolate with our refillable mugs (they're free with the Quick service plan which we were on, but 13$ if you buy them).

We also got breakfast once at Epcot's Sunshine Seasons, but I didn't enjoy it much. Way too fat and salty. The rest of our 7-day trip, we ate every morning at our resort's food court, and was fine by us.

As someone else said, www.allears.net is a great place where to look for menus, including breakfast menus. You'll see that many CS places do have a breakfast menu. I suggest starting with your resort's food court menu; we ate more meals there than we'd planned.

Good luck!

 

[TDC Nala]

Only Cinderella's Royal Table is 2 credits. All other character meals are one credit.

 

[Microcell]

My DH doesn't like the menu at the Castle, so when DD was 6 we went to 1900 and got to schmooz with Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming there.. she was exited and knew no different!

Food wise our favorite is Crystal Palace in MK. It is a character restaurant with Pooh, Tigger, Eyore and Piglet. We have to go there every visit, so it might be something to think about! We like to go there for breakfast at 8 on a non Early Extra Magic Hour day and you get to the park early, get finished by rope drop and you can take pictures with virtually no one around in front of the castle!

 

[TwoTinkersMom]

Oh thanks for that tip!! I will check into that... Do some of the CS places make breakfast also?

Yea I have been popping on the reserv. system to check..my daughter wants Cinderella's castle..but am not finding any availability...being so close..I am afraid I will run into that a lot. We are very flexible since we have no idea what we are doing. lol I have read on here..though to keep checking since sometimes cancellations occur..

Try Princess Dinner in Norway at Epcot! We did both CRT and Princess-Noway Dinner last year and my DD's 4 & 7 liked both, but the character interaction was better at Norway! And, it is only 1 TS credit. It also includes a nice picture package (Ours was with Belle), just like CRT does. Give it a try, it should be easier to get than CRT. We had dinner there, but haven't tried lunch or breakfast. I have heard good things about them all.

 

[creativeamanda]

I'll third (or 4th/5th) the Princess Storybook Dinner at Epcot--The best character interaction by far at any character meal.

We do our CS breakfasts at the resort--it makes for a relaxing first day.

We also like (TS-wise):
Grand Floridian Cafe at the Grand Floridian--easy to get ressies and great meal
Crystal Palace (Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet--Magic Kingdom)
Mama Melrose's (Hollywood Studios)
Liberty Tree Tavern (Magic Kingdom)
Ohana (Breakfast)
Tutto Italia (Epcot)
Captain's Grille (Yacht Club)

HTH.

 

[Hootch]

to be hard 60 days out, but keep trying. We saw a mother and daughter get walk up seating when we went in June. The princess meal at Askerhus would be the most alike replacement. There is a princess to meet you as you enter and four that move around the room. That's the same set up as CRT has for breakfast and lunch. You'll have an easier time getting Askerhus.

1900 Park Fare dinner would be the other like substitute. It centers on the Cinderella story so you have Cindy, the prince and the step mother and sisters. We haven't been as my daughter is into the princesses. I hear the steps are quite funny.

CM can also be hard to get after the first few days. I was able to get a late breakfast reservation less than a month out after I realized I had made out other on the wrong day.

An alternative to CM would be Donald's Breakfastsaurus in Animal Kingdom if you're going there. It has many of the same characters.

Other restaurants kids like; Biergarten in Epcot. There is a band (which can be loud) that plays periodically and a small dance floor where kids can blow off steam. Others in Epcot are Coral Reef which has an aquarium. There are some seats next to it but those are hard to get. Teppan Edo does teppanyaki style cooking which usually catches kids attention.

Someone mentioned allears.net for menus. This site also has menus. Just click the dining tab at the top of the page. One part of allears that I like is the rate and review tab at the top of the home page takes you to a set of reviews by restaurant. It's a bit easier to get a cross section. And you will get a cross section. Somebody has had a bad experience at almost every restaurant at WDW.

 

[BathelB]

Ohanas is great because they keep the kids entertained. While not a show-stopper EPCOT restaurant, my kids liked SCI FI theater.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Add me to the list of Akershus fans!!!! My daughter (6) and I had breakfast there in January 09. We were in a party of 8 and this was our only Mommy-Daughter time. Not only was it very cool inside, but the princesses were great! Belle was beautiful! Also, the food was BY FAR the best breakfast we had the entire week.

There is a cold buffet with some stuff that is probably weird for the kiddos. Smoked Salmon and the like. However, once you are back from that, they bring to your table all you can eat hot stuff: scrambled egg, bacon, link sausage, and the best hashbrowns in The World.

Sidenote: My daughter was wearing a black tshirt with a pink glittery skull and crossbones wearing a tiara. She calls it her "Princess Pirate" shirt. Jasmine comes over and says "I like your shirt. Do you like pirates?" INSERT AWE STRUCK HEAD NOD HERE "That means you like to sword fight, huh. Me too! I'm not snooty like the other princesses."

Needless to say, Jasmine is now the favorite.

 

[karly05]

Food wise our favorite is Crystal Palace in MK. It is a character restaurant with Pooh, Tigger, Eyore and Piglet. We have to go there every visit, so it might be something to think about! We like to go there for breakfast at 8 on a non Early Extra Magic Hour day and you get to the park early, get finished by rope drop and you can take pictures with virtually no one around in front of the castle!

I completely second this! We (all adults) did an early CP breakfast on both trips, and I think it is a must-do from now on.

 

[jojomoore]

I completely second this! We (all adults) did an early CP breakfast on both trips, and I think it is a must-do from now on.

I third this!!! Crystal Palace is great for breakfast. When I went there 3 years ago for the first time, I was completely impressed with the quality and variety of food and characters. It was my favorite meal of our trip. Also, it is in Magic Kingdom. It was a real treat for me (ive always loved pooh and friends eversince I was a kid myself) and my daughter asked to go back to CP during our trip in November. She was 6 yrs old then and is 9yrs old now. I have reservations for 8:05 am.

 

[Jeanieblue114]

Keep in mind that you can also use some of your snack credits for breakfasts...for pastries, milk, juice, cereal.....at most CS park and resort locations.

 

[Aliceacc]

We were there in August. As you can see, "we" is myself, my husband, my 11 year old son, and my 9 and 6 year old daughters. One of my kids has a real fear of characters in costume, so after last year's Chef Mickeys fiasco, we don't do typical character meals anymore. We also don't do 2-credit meals-- there are more than enough wonderful one-credit meals. And saving that last meal for a breakfast at Chef Mickey's (either on your last day or on your Sea World day) is a great use of the credit.

We ate at:

Kona Cafe. We liked it and would go back

Sci Fi Diner (Hollywood Studios) The food was good and the atmosphere is a lot of fun. The only down side is that you all eat facing front, so conversation is very limited.

Yak and Yetti (Animal kingdom.) LOVED IT for lunch!!! The steak and shrimp was wonderful, my son RAVED about his ribs, and the dessert was fabulous!!

Akerhaus (breakfast) Most definitely, skip Cinderella's castle and eat here!!! You see 4 princesses, it includes a photo package, and the breakfast was fabulous!!!

1900 Park Fare (Dinner w/ Cinderella and the stepfamily) Another Great alternative to Cinderella's castle!!! Cindrella not only appears, but she dances with Prince Charming. The stepsisters bicker, the step mom is a riot, and everyone circulates for autographs!!!

The Coral Reef. We LOVE it!!! It's beautiful, entertaining, and the food is great!

LeCellier. Another restaurant we LOVE. The steaks are fabulous!!

 

[cart-mom]

Just got back from our trip doing the DP for the first time. The places I would recommend would be :

Liberty Tree Tavern (MK)
Ohana (Poly) Love the Wings and Bread Pudding!
Le Cellier (Epcot, if you can get it)
Tony's Town Square (MK)
Luau (at the Poly, but it's two TS)
Wolfgang Puck - Express or Cafe (DTD)
Kona (Poly) Tonga Toast rocks! Macadamia Nut Pancakes rule!

We tried The Brown Derby but wasn't really impressed for 2TS, Cape May Cafe was good but typical buffet - quantity, not quality.

Good luck. It's not easy choosing places that you haven't been to before and trying to trust other people's opinion.