we are going 5/21-5/27. It will be two adults and 1 child (age 11). We are up for trying new things but want to make sure we don't miss out on the must sees and must try things....
Sorry so long, but I didn't want to leave out any information, I know how it is planning the first trip.
You won't want to miss Crystal Palace for breakfast in the Magic Kingdom MK. Plan for a 8:05 a.m. ADR, this way you'll get to be in the park before it opens. This is so much fun to be there before opening because you can get your picture on Main St. and in front of the Castle without the crowds! Fun, fun, fun! Also if you don't want to leave MK for dinner, then TS at Tony's Town Square should be a lot of fun, just ask to sit in the front of the resturant to see out the windows. This is located almost as soon as you come in the park to the right of the gate entrace. Ask to be served by Dirk, he's a old time favorite and he's VERY entertaining and lots of fun. The dessert here is not to be missed! I know this place can be a hit or a miss, but they will do what ever they can to please you if something goes wrong with your food. It's usually more a hit than a miss here.
You Might want to do Ciny's Royal Table in the castle, not sure if you can get it at this point, but worth trying although this is two of your Table Services, down side if you ask me, and I hear the food isn't all that great for the amount of TS's being spent.
My favorite and an alternative to Cindy's Castle Is 1900 Park Fare (for dinner Cindy is here), it's in the Grand Floridian Resort (soooo pretty), you can go over there for breakfast or dinner, I make our ADR's for late in the evening or morning so it gives us a much relaxed atmoshpere and lots of time with the characters, You get to see Cindy and the prince looooots more here than at the Castle (the characters might sound cheesy but they are a lot of fun, even my 14 DS got into it if you can believe that! LOL) the buffet is very good, here and at Crystal Palace (breakfast in CP,I don't know about dinner reviews are very mixed about dinner). I planned two meals here at 1900 Park Fare, both breakfast and dinner, I planned our ADR's for 11:10 a.m. and 8:10 p.m., and I will never do it any other way, the time with the characters was soooo worth it and not feeling like we were rushed was outstanding! This was the biggest suprise of our trip eating here because we weren't expecting anything outstanding. Boy were we wrong!
If you go here for breakfast I would make it your MK day to go here and take a boat from MK, this way you will get to walk from the back of the resort where the boat docks to the front and see the beautiful resort grounds.
Another can't miss is Coral Reef, in the Living Seas building in Epcot, this is a gorgeous resturant, one whole wall is the aquarium and you can't beat the atmoshpere here! Try and make your ADR's early enough so you can enjoy the park and some rides before Illuminations that night.
Do not! Do not! Miss Boma's in the Animal Kingdom Lodge! This African themed buffet was a big thrill for us to go to! Try and make this on your Animal Kingdom day, The Lodge is just beautiful, you might get to see some of the animals out in the back on the Savana, the food is nothing like you've ever had before, (they still have things you would recognize if your not into something different) and if your not planning on going to the Africa region any time soon this is the place to experience! I love the resturant, it was so pretty and the kitchen is open for all to see what they do back there, fun for those who are foodies. And don't get me started on the desserts! You have to try a zebra dome! Ummm, ummm, ummm! Someone gave a review on this place that use to live in Africa, and he said that it was very authentic and very good, the only complaint he had was they didn't have one dish he thought should have been a staple for african food.
I would avoid Hollywood and Vine (at HS), there aren't to many places in Hollywood Studios that I would recommend for Table Service. Mama melrose's is not bad, but stay away from the pasta seafood dish if you can. The steak was awesome, and the flat bread I hear is pretty darn good. The dessert is not bad here either. 50's prime time cafe gets very mixed reviews, and so does the Sci-Fi theater, if you do the theater I would stick to burgers and fries and shakes, but to me soooo not worth a TS to stay at this park to eat, I love the park, but didn't care for the lack of good food selections. I wouldn't even do CS here, we wen't to a late breakfast at 1900 Park Fare that day and then ate at Mama Melrose's for dinner so we didn't eat CS here, and I'm glad for it. LOL
In Epcot, avoid San Angel Inn, very bad food. Atmosphere was beautiful, but food and service was awful. You'll get a lot of mixed reviews on this. I will give you a web site you don't want to miss to see reviews of these places.
AllEarsNet.com bit the rate & review icon at the top, and it will take you to the different resorts and dining reviews, you will thank me for it later.
Ummm if you want a list of great places to go for Counter Service, I can put that together for you, I made sure I knew all the choices before we went because I didn't want my family to eat burgers and fries the whole time we were there, I found some great places to get really good food at the CS. Just let me know if this is something you want.
I forgot to mention Ohana's at The Polynesian resort, you don't want to miss this! Try and plan for your dinner to be close to Wishes (fireworks show at MK) and to please be seated near the window so you can see the fireworks, if you don't get the time, then go down to the beach and watch with a after or before dinner drink.
Hope I helped you. LOL Again sorry for such a long response/post. he he
