MK TS dining options stink, what TS would you like to see

Mike77

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Is it just me, or does the MK TS dining options stink. You would think there would be at least 2 more choices in that park. I hope with FL expansion they add a couple of options.

If you were a Disney executive. what type of TS dining would you want to see in that park?
 
Actually I think the options at MK are good.

But of course more would be better.

Not sure if you are aware but with the FL expansion they are adding a TS restaurant called "Be Our Guest" and a CS option as well.
Both are based on Beauty and the Beast, so people are hoping that the TS will be a character venue, as that would be great.
I feel another character meal would be an asset to the park.
 
I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.

The Plaza is a nice reasonably priced TS that hasn't ever had bad food when we have gone. it isn't the best or most exciting food at Disney but it is consistently good.

LTT had a very good meal when we ate there for dinner. Years agao I enjoyed a lunch there as well. I would say it is a bit overpriced since the characters left dinner but great food.

Tony's is okay- I am not big on any Italian food but the food I have had has been fine.

Crystal Palace has been very good the times I have been. I would say its breakfast buffet choices are some of the best I have been too. Lunch was fine as well and had a good selection of choices.

As well there are numerous counter service places with a variety of food.

If I don't want something at the park there are also a number of resort places that are in very easy distance to the park. While it doesn't have as many choices as Epcot it definately has more and better choices than either AK or DHS.
 
To me, MK is the play, play, play park... There are so many big ticket attractions that not having more TS options there makes sense. Plus between the monorail resorts there are more than enough close by!

EPCOT is the more leisurely touring park and makes more sense to have Soooooo many TS places.

I would like to see more TS in AK!
 


The Be Our Guest TS restuarant will be added with the expansion, and so will a CS restaurant, Gaston's Tavern. I don't do character meals, so I don't know if I'd end up trying BOG if it is a character meal.

I suppose if I wanted to see anything at MK (I prefer to eat CS there or go outside the park; I will probably be there Friday, but I'll go have lunch at The Wave) it would be the pirate meal, but only if they served rum (which they can't).
 
If we can't find anything we want to eat inside the MK, we just hop the monorail to a resort. That way, we can hop back and keep playing!
 
I hate to even tell people that LTT is actually quite good for lunch. We've never had trouble getting an ADR for lunch there and it is a really nice break at noon since we always get to MK an hour before rope drop. We're having a nice lunch just when the park begins to fill.

The pot roast is delicious and fork tender. It comes with crunchy fried onions on top which is perfect with the creamy mashed potatoes and very tender beef. The turkey is a real turkey dinner. My DD always orders it and I have to finish it. I shouldn't but I do! The salad with the strawberry vinegrate is as good as any signature restaurant and they had a crab cake at one time that was OK but the bean salad it was served with was TREMENDOUS!

Plaza, while probably one of the most boring restaurants, has excellent quality. Their club sandwich is excellent and the DH likes the cheeseburger. My DD's say the ice cream sundays are as good as beachs and cream.
 


We love CP, The Plaza and Tony's, and, of course, Chef Mickey's which we consider a MK restaurant cuz we always do it on our MK day.

If there was another one....how about something along the lines of a TOMORROWLAND TS - with 'future' themeing or outer space themeing. :)
 
I like our options for TS at the MK. Seriously lunch at LTT is really good. If you haven't tried it, it might be to your liking. The food was fresh and the service was really good. The server even offered to get me a copy of the recipe for the salad dressing I liked. We also like the dinner here, but we haven't been back for dinner since they removed the characters. I miss them. :sad1:

We think CP is quite good for breakfast, too. Okay, so we're not huge fans for their dinner or lunch, but that's our tastes. And in all honesty, after a really bad experience (not anyone's fault - I was sick) I would just prefer to go for breakfast.

We haven't tried Tony's yet.. But it's on the to-do list for a future trip. And we'll be trying CRT in September. I'm happy with the TS offerings. And honestly, if a restaurant doesn't "float our boat" that day, we'll hop on the monorail. Plenty of variety to choose from nearby.
 
It's never been a problem for us because there are so many TS options at the Monorail resorts...it's kind of a nice break to leave the park for an hour or so and relax over a nice lunch or dinner. :thumbsup2
 
Now, I don't see the current TS options as bad, but that doesn't mean I can't think of new ones to go alongside :).

One thing MK is really lacking is non fixed-price meals for dinner. There are only two (Plaza and Tony's) and neither of which is really a special meal. Also, all current (and planned) TS restaurants basically sit along a line straight from the entrance through the castle, then up into FL, adding something in Adventureland and/or Tomorrowland would help to spread that out a bit. (Even LTT is close to this line)

Adventureland is easy to come up with a theme/cuisine and I'd love to see a TS here with Carribean/Central American flare (more than just Tacos and Burritos!) They could theme it to tie in with Pirates pretty easy, and theming in general could be done without much effort to keep it fitting from the corners of Frontierland (Spanish Mission/Fortress?). The problem is space, there isn't much room left between the park and the backstage areas.

Over in Tomorrowland, there's plenty of room on the other side of the tracks either north or south (with some filling in of the water there) of Space Mtn. The problem here is that no theme/cuisine jumps out at me, and MK already has the "standard fare" covered with The Plaza.

Now, I know the OP was just about MK, but I'm going to continue on to the other parks :p.

Over in Epcot (yes, Epcot, the park with 500 TS locations!) there is a niche missing in Future World lunches. Opening Garden Grill for lunch may help with that, but that's not very creative now is it? The issue is, the only type I can think of would be a primarily vegetarian place (something lacking on a whole), but that would really only fit The Land, which already has Garden Grill. Maybe do something with all the excess space in the Imagination Pavilion, something akin to the Animator's Palette on the Magic (minus the stage show).

Would also like to see The American Adventure get as TS meal (it's the only country without one, though I'm sure there was a reason for that, probably in the same vein as the reason there was no PoTC in WDW at first...). Toss in a mix of iconic foods from around the states (St. Louis BBQ, New Orleans Cajun, New England Seafood, etc). The mix of different localized foods would be the key here, to reprsent the diversity of the country. (I know this idea has been tossed around a lot).

Heading over to DHS, they just need something good :p. Seriously though, I'm pretty sure that one of the old soundstages near TSM is being used for storage (and maybe even temporarily). Perfect place for a 3 meal (B,L,D) Pixar themed meal. I'm sure this would be a huge hit and would tie in very nicely to the current theme.

Last, we have AK. This is another tricky one to fit in with theme and cuisine. It would certianly have to be a bit more on the exotic side to fit with the current offerings, but the two remaining locations don't really suggest anything at all. Expansion here would be easier than the other parks though, as there's a ton of land that's available with little to no backstage "reoganizing" that would have to be done (that swath south of Camp Minnie-Mickey, behind RFC, or the large area North of Everest are two examples). An Amazon style area would work well someplace (for geography's sake, probably in that Camp area rather than north of Everest), or even something based on the Galapagos (granted, they couldn't import animals from there, so that may also not work.)

At any rate, there's a lot of areas where Disney could fill missing gaps in their offerings and as the parks get busier and busier, they're going to have to either open another gate (huge cost, but huge gain) or expand other existing parks (less cost (still huge), less gain (still sizable)).
 
Disney's not really interested in running restaurants anymore. Be Our Guest looks like it will be run by Disney (although we don't know for sure). It's the first new restaurant like that since Sanaa. Kouzzina is Disney-operated but took the place of another Disney-operated restaurant, Spoodles. The other new restaurants at WDW, Via Napoli and La Hacienda de San Angel, are not operated by Disney. Yak & Yeti is not operated by Disney. None of the new restaurants that may open at DTD will be operated by Disney.
 
I agree about most of the TS options. We usually end up at CP simply for the ease of seeing characters. We tried LTT last November and really enjoyed it, but wished they'd bring back the characters. Then I think LTT would be our number 1 choice.
I'd like to see something with Buzz and Woody, served family style. Maybe Buzz could have diner type food like ribs and burger (pizza like Pizza Planet?), and Woody could have country style food and you could chose which platter to have.
I really think the boys character choices are lacking. I'm hoping one day, Disney will realize boys account for half of the fans!! :confused3
 
So many great ideas here. I think Disney TS at MK is not so bad. It seems that Disney has done a great deal in the last few years of getting the characters out and about, so I think another character experience in edition to the BOG restaurant would be great. I think any additional TS should focus more on the characters that appeal to boys, maybe something near Pirates or maybe a Cars themed one over in tomorrow land.
 
i agree with the OP...the TS options in mk imho are remarkably average. As some of you have said, the food at some of the TS restaurants isn't bad....but it's not good enough to warrant multiple visits.

Honestly I enjoyed CS restaurants like Cosmic Ray's more than any TS restaurant in mk. Just my opinion...
 
I don't know...between Main St. Bakery for breakfast, Columbia Harbour House for CS and The Plaza for a TS - I am a happy person. ;)

There are also lots of choices just a monorail ride away - LOVE Kona for dinner.
 
Agreed, although I think it would make more sense in Disneyland and at POFQ. I would definitely like to see an upscale option in the Magic Kingdom, but I concede that Disney has to play to their audience (and I'm not necessarily it).

Well, considering that French Quarter is, of course, French Quarter-themed, they've had Princess and the Frog tie-ins in the past, and the fact that they have a whole table service restaurant facility already built into the hotel that is not being used at all except as a test kitchen, I can't imagine a better place on any Disney property to place that idea.

I'm really surprised that Disney wasn't all over the restaurant tie-in idea on this one before the film even premiered. I mean, they could have at least been in the planning phase.
 

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