1st Time on DDP~Where should we eat?

[Snuffy5]

My family LOVES to eat! There isn't a restaurant we won't try, although we are not BIG fans of shushi, sorry!
We have never stayed on property and have only eaten at the Crystal Palace (2002) & the Princess dinner at the Grand Floridian (2004) and quick counter service. Just booked the DDP at CSR in August for 5 nights and I need LOTS of help planning where to eat.
I have 2 girls (10 & 7) who are no longer big Princess fans and a 1yr old boy who doesn't have any favorite characters yet. I don't mind having to pay OOP for a few TS meals in order to have a fantastic experience.
Please give me some recommendations on where to eat in all the parks! Also a few off-site recommendations would be great as we are staying off property to go to SeaWorld for 3 days!
Thank you for all your help!

 

[exwdwcm]

My family LOVES to eat! There isn't a restaurant we won't try, although we are not BIG fans of shushi, sorry!
We have never stayed on property and have only eaten at the Crystal Palace (2002) & the Princess dinner at the Grand Floridian (2004) and quick counter service. Just booked the DDP at CSR in August for 5 nights and I need LOTS of help planning where to eat.
I have 2 girls (10 & 7) who are no longer big Princess fans and a 1yr old boy who doesn't have any favorite characters yet. I don't mind having to pay OOP for a few TS meals in order to have a fantastic experience.
Please give me some recommendations on where to eat in all the parks! Also a few off-site recommendations would be great as we are staying off property to go to SeaWorld for 3 days!
Thank you for all your help!

we have so many favorites, although we have almost always travelled with adults and just now are travelling with kiddos.

We have done the Norway princess breakfast which was a fantastic alternative to cinderella. But if your girls aren't into it anymore- maybe they might like some other things......our favorites

Chef Mickey's buffet character dinner- great food selection, good characters

Ohana at Polynesian- great food for dinner- coconut races for the kids- love the food- timed it so we had a table near hte window to watch wishes!

Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL- love the platter here - all you can eat barbeque. and it is LOUD. which works for us, cuz we are LOUD! lol- fun interaction with the servers- ask for ketchup- they bring you like 10 bottles of it. the girls might find this a fun place.

Crystal Palace breakfast- we always do this one with Pooh

Liberty Tree Tavern dinner at MK- we like the thanksgiving style food here and the characters.

Le Cellier at Canada/Epcot- love the food here!

Beaches and Cream at Beach Club- you can exit through the back way at Epcot and head over for a quick hot dog, burger or just some ice cream- they have fabulous sundaes and it is a fun atmosphere that the girls might like.

Hoope Dee Doo Revue- we love this one too- food is good and the show can't be beat. We try and schedule it everytime. it's nice to get over and see Fort Wilderness too.

Sci Fi Dine Inn at HS- we love sci fi anyway- so this is great- food is okay, nothing spectacular, but love the cars and environment.

50s Prime Time at HS- love the food here- huge portions and the server interacts with you. no elbows on the table, no tattle taling......my sisters and I (adults) got into trouble everytime- great fun.

those are just a few of our favorites! We also love California Grill but it's pricey and usually not a kids favorite. but offers great views of WISHES if timed right.

 

[heavenleigh412]

My family LOVES to eat! There isn't a restaurant we won't try, although we are not BIG fans of shushi, sorry!
We have never stayed on property and have only eaten at the Crystal Palace (2002) & the Princess dinner at the Grand Floridian (2004) and quick counter service. Just booked the DDP at CSR in August for 5 nights and I need LOTS of help planning where to eat.
I have 2 girls (10 & 7) who are no longer big Princess fans and a 1yr old boy who doesn't have any favorite characters yet. I don't mind having to pay OOP for a few TS meals in order to have a fantastic experience.
Please give me some recommendations on where to eat in all the parks! Also a few off-site recommendations would be great as we are staying off property to go to SeaWorld for 3 days!
Thank you for all your help!

We were in Disney in December, some of my family's favorites were:

Le Cellier in Canada- the food was just as incredible as everyone says it is... and it was one of the places we had no intention of booking until the CM who booked my trip told me I should reserve it as soon as possible because it really is that good.

The Brown Derby in MGM - DF had no interest in this restaurant when we showed him the menu, but it turned out to be his favorite.

The California Grill - The food is excellent and they have a child's menu... also a really nice selection of wine if you are inclined to have a glass or 2 with dinner. You can't beat the view...

Coral Reef - I know it gets mixed reviews but we really liked the food, we had a diver in the tank holding up a sign for DM and DF 30th anniversary, and it is amazing to watch the fish swim by while you eat.

Wolfgang Puck Cafe - had some very yummy family friendly choices... think Fridays or Applebee's but more upscale ... we were here for lunch

Crystal Palace for breakfast is a great buffet
and so is
1900 Park Fare

Garden Grill in Epcot has some really nice food too, plus character interaction.
The restaurant slowly rotates and gives beautiful views of the gardens where the veggies are grown.

Bistro de Paris - has very good french food... however we did not enjoy Chefs de France

Tappan Edo - has very decent Japanese food

Kona or Ohana at the Polynesian has very good breakfast... we have also had lunch at Kona and enjoyed that as well

My daughter loves The Rainforest Cafe (she is 14)- think again of Fridays or Applebees this time with jungle theming... and we don't have a Rainforest Cafe located near us


That's all I can think of off the top of my head!

 

[Wife2Grumpy]

Our Favorites from the last two trips:

Table Service:
1. Crystal Palace for Breakfast
2. Chef Mickey's for Dinner
3. Le Cellier in Canada for Dinner
4. O'Hana's for Breakfast
5. Boma for Breakfast
6. Beaches and Cream at Beach Club
7. Sci-Fi Dine in at DHS
8. Tony's Town Square

Counter Service:
1. Cosmic Rays (LARGE amount of food)
2. Flame Tree Barbecue
3. Yorkshire County Fish Shop in UK

Snacks:
1. Dole Whip in MK
2. Churros in Mexico
3. Mickey Ice Cream
4. Mickey Rice Krispie Treats
5. Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches from Main Street Bakery

 

[Snuffy5]

Thank you to everyone for your reply's! I am soooo excited to be going!

 

[mommyaof2]

Okay, my 2 dds are about the same age as your's and their favorites were:

TS: Liberty Tree Tavern, Kona Cafe, Ohana, and Crystal Palace

CS: Cosmic Rays

I hope this helps! I hope you have a magical trip!

 

[mdoc]

My two younger girls are close in age to yours (11 and 8). Their favorite of the restaurants we've been to at WDW is Boma. They also like Sci Fi Dine-in, Crystal Palace and the Trail's End Buffet (we stay at FW so eat here a lot). They greatly enjoyed the Hoop de Doo at FW also.

 

[ImaFunMom]

We really enjoyed Flame Tree BBQ and Earl of Sandwich for CS. TS we liked Le Cellier, Coral Reef, and Boma (breakfast or dinner). We liked Donald's breakfast at AK (character) and Crystal Palace wasn't bad - okay, IMO, but loved the Pooh characters.

 

[beroh2253]

These are the places we are going this year June for our sons college graduation and September for Bounce Back. And most places we are doing for a second or third time.

June 08

6/1 Le Cellier
6/2 Coral Reef
6/3 Teppan Edo(new for us)
6/4 Rose and Crown
6/5 Kona Café
6/6 Capt. Jacks

Sept. 08 Bounce back
9/21 San Angle
9/22 Coral Reef
9/23 Spoodles(new for us)
9/24 Chefs De France
9/25 Hoop De Doo (OOP)
9/26 Capt. Jacks
9/27 Le Cellier
9/28 Crystal Palace for breakfast (new for us)

 

[tlriv5]

MK- we liked Crystal palace lunch and this year we are trying bkfast. We like Cosmic Rays for CS

Epcot- Coral Reef is good and our dd's loved watching the fish and the big sea turtle. This year we are trying Biergarten, it sounds like a lot of fun.

HS - Our dd's enjoyed 50's Primetime. They thought it was funny when their daddy kept getting in trouble for putting his elbows on the table. We loved it that they got in trouble for tattle telling! This year they wanted to try Sci-fi.

Resorts: These were some of our favs.
We loved Whispering Canyon. THe girls insisted we go back this year. THey have a stick pony race and it's just a hoot to watch the waiters. We loved the food too!
Ohana character breakfast was great too. Loved the food and Lilo and Stitch, Mickey and Pluto were great!
We are looking forward to Chef Mickey's, Ohana dinner, 1900 Park Fare dinner this year. Good luck with all your planning.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Make sure to make those ADR's ASAP. I've been told numerous times by Disney Dining that 5 is the hardest # of people to book. (Even though the baby is not on DDP, they need to have a place to sit. ) Many of us going in August made our ADR's back in Feb. Good luck.