Your Favorite First Dinner In WDW?

[tink606]

DH and i have formed a tradition. One trip we have Chef Mickey's for our first dinner and our other trip we have Crystal Palace. We switched back and forth between those two for our first night dinners.

 

[Mr Man]

Last trip (Spring Break 07): 1st meal was at Sci Fi Dine In Theater. Final meal Biergarten.

Next trip (Sept 07): 1st meal Wolfgang Puck's. Last meal. Boma.

Still have quite a few restaurants to eat at before we can get any kind of tradition going. hehe

 

[TiggerAlli]

Because we frequently arrive late on Fri. night & we're tired after working at least part of the day we like to have our favorite cheeseburger/onion rings/shake combo to start everything out.

It's a nice casual start to the trip plus we get to visit a favorite resort!

It also gets us ready for all the other overeating we'll be doing!

We save our Signature dining for later in our trips.

 

[pta-mom]

Well, being Canadian.....LE CELLIER of course!!!

 

[Mickey-4-Me]

Any character meal.

This year we have chosen dinner @ Chef Mickey's.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Great replies, everyone. I'm having a hard time fitting in all of the places my family wants to go to. Of course my 4 other family members have opinions (how dare they). After realizing that most of the restaurants we want to go to are in Epcot is making things more complicated.

It's fun seeing how others like starting off their Disney vacations, plus I am getting some good ideas.

 

[SandraVB79]

Our first day we don't want to waste it on a park, we head to Downtown Disney and eat at Earl of Sandwich.

That's what we'll do too. i don't want to waste a park day, since I have no idea by what time we'll be off th cruise - back at MCO - get on ME - arrive at resort.
And we plan on a trek from DTD to the grocery store anyway. If we're there late: sandwich at Earl of Sandwich, if we're early: sandwich + ice cream from Ghirardelli's (or whatever it is called).

On our first park day, it'll be 50PTC, just as on my previous visit! And I already know what i'll be eating
(I also know what sandwich I want and which ice cream... just a little over 2 more months to go, lol!)

 

[ParkPrincess]

Ours changes every time, but the most memorable was when we took our DD when she was 3 for her very first time. We ate at Crystal Palace, and she had a blast!! (so did we) She got to dance around the restaurant with the Pooh characters. It was a great time!

 

[clownfish1452]

This year we did the Yachtsmans Steak House and it will be our first dinner for every trip for now on. It was the best meal I had at Disney the Brown Derby was a close second.

Sarah

 

[MontanaKtsMom]

For our first big trip to the World this May, we ate at Askerhus for dinner with the princesses as our first meal---I didn't tell my 'princess' that was the plan, in case our flight arrived late and we missed our ADR, but we made it on time and she was impressed! I thought the food was fun (she could've cared less-there were princesses to meet!) and the atmosphere was lower key than other character meals.
It was nice to stroll the WorldShowcase after and then see Illuminations on our first noght there. Then strolled back to the BC and slept well!

Have fun!!!!

 

[maraki527]

Our first meal this time is going to be dinner at CRT, it is our first weeding anniversary.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We always eat dinner at California Grill on our first night.

 

[nanadeb]

When we are on the free DDP, the first night is always Le Cellier! When we are OOP, it's the Biergarten or Crystal Palace.
We do tend to make the most of the DDP!
We lived in Germany for 6 1/2 years, so eating at the Biergarten is a favorite for us. The grandkids loved the Biergarten on our trip last December, but they loved Crystal Palace even more. Since ages ranged from 2 to 12 on that trip (don't worry--their parents were along!) both make great places to eat for families.

 

[jimmytammy]

We always enjoy Ohana as our 1st meal. We are usually tired after traveling, so we unwind in the room. Then we go enjoy the meal with hopes of catching Wishes while at Ohana. It has become tradition for us.

 

[kellypooh]

Our arrival night is Boma, then Epcot for IllumiNations -- didn't used to like wasting a day just for the fireworks but for the past few trips, the tickets were pay for 6 days, get 1 day free so it works out!

 

[MakingScrapbooks]

This year we're going to start with Crystal Palace. Last year we started with Pizza Planet, and the year before we started with the Polynesian Luau.

Our family tradition has been to end with Chef Mickey's the morning we go home. We love having one last hurrah with Mickey before the drive.

This year we're changing it up with a last meal at Cape May for breakfast before the drive home. This will be our first time eating at Cape May. Hope it's good!

 

[KatMark]

This year we're going to start with Crystal Palace. Last year we started with Pizza Planet, and the year before we started with the Polynesian Luau.

Our family tradition has been to end with Chef Mickey's the morning we go home. We love having one last hurrah with Mickey before the drive.

This year we're changing it up with a last meal at Cape May for breakfast before the drive home. This will be our first time eating at Cape May. Hope it's good!

We have not had the breakfast at Cape May, but we did have the dinner and we thought it was outstanding. Our first meal this year will be lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern and our last meal will be dinner at Boatwright Dining Hall.

 

[thejollyfinn]

Our favourite (can there be only 1???) meal from our very first trip last fall, is going to be our very first meal for our 2nd family outing this fall!
Our welcome back to WDW meal will be at Ohana's!

I don't know your traveling particulars (driving/flying - ETA, etc...), but Ohana's is great for giving everyone at your table their own decision on how much, and of what they want to eat that very first night. If you plan it so you're finished for the Magic Kingdom's Wishes fireworks (great spot to view outside the park), its a nice end to a first night. Eating here is a bonus if you plan on not using park passes until your first full day at WDW!

Notable nods go to:
LeCellier and Liberty Tree Tavern - both excellent in their own rights.

Hope your first meal will be "magical"!

 

[bcsmom]

Our first dinner was at 'Ohana in 2002, & now we eat there 1st on all our trips.

 

[N10CJT]

I can't say which restaurant is a must for a first night because I haven't been to Disney in a long time, but from my extensive traveling experience I will offer some advice:
Be very careful about making "must-have" reservations on a first night, particularly if your arrival is planned for the afternoon. Things do happen to delay trips, and if you're booked out on reservations for your trip and are forced to miss a restaurant that you're excited about, you'll be very disappointed.
My suggestion is to make a late-ish reservation at a place that's down a few notches on your list, or one that you love so much that you plan to go there twice during your stay... that way if you miss it, it's not devastating. I'd also recommend a place that's pretty close to your hotel..... if your plane trip takes 6 hours longer than you planned or if the interstate was a parking lot, you may not be so keen on traveling some more just to eat. And for Disney, my suggestion-- if it works into these precautions-- is to choose a place where you can either watch the fireworks (either Epcot's or the Magic Kingdom's) or the lagoon show from the restaurant or before or after you eat... that seems like a great way to begin a wonderful trip. And that should give you a pretty good list to choose from!
Have fun!