50's Primetime or Sci Fi Dinner?

[carimar]

What do you recommend for kids up to grandparents....food vs. atmosphere/experience. Thanks!

 

[bennifer]

What do you recommend for kids up to grandparents....food vs. atmosphere/experience. Thanks!

I like them both, here's my take. Sci Fi is quiet, cool and dark. You can't really carry on a conversation because of the way you sit in cars. I'm ok with that, because when you're traveling together, it's nice to have a little break from one another. I have boys who LOVE the movie clips, etc. It's still my 19 yr old's favorite place. Prime Time is fun and the food is better. But, my surly teenager really did NOT like the whole "elbows off the table" atmosphere. If I would have warned him, it may have been different, but I didn't have the DIS when I was planning that trip and I didn't know exactly what it was all about. IMO, both are great! Good luck deciding!

 

[AeroKU]

Our Family much preferred 50's Prime Time to Sci-Fi. The food at Sci-Fi is not as good (basically just burgers and fries), but the biggest reason is that you are sitting in a car facing the movie screen. It's loud and you can't hear each other. Meal time for us is family time and we like to be able to see and hear each other. With 3 little kids, we were constantly having to turn around to help everyone get what they needed (I was in the front seat with our daughters and my wife was in the back seat with our son). If your kids need even minimal attention during meal time, I would suggest not going to Sci-Fi. At 50's PT, you are all sat at a "Kitchen Table" and served by your Aunt or Cousin. The food is great and there is something for everyone. Our kids requested that we visit 50's PT again on our upcoming trip in November.

 

[anjalee6]

I would agree. If you are looking for a place everyone can enjoy, then it's probably going to be Prime Time. At Sci-Fi sitting in rows in the cars is very hard to carry on any type of conversations and the food is not as good.

Prime Time is more of an old kitchen table type of feel. Everyone can talk, see each other, and the food is better.

 

[NC Disney Fan]

I agree about the seating situation with the other posters but where I differ is that our family hated Prime Time Diner. We unfortunately had a waitress who didn't do the "act" and the food was just not that good. None of us left liking our food.

However, Sci Fi is a must do for our family. We love the food. My husband always ends up with a steak and I get a chicken pasta. Milkshakes are included as your drink if you want. And the desserts are one of our favorite. Honestly, it is among our favorites. And one thing that the others haven't mentioned is that there is a table or two for bigger parties that is not a typical car situation. In this seating, the whole family is together and facing each other. But it is dark and loud in that the campy science fiction movies are playing.

Hope that input helps.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I never been to 50's Primetime but I really enjoyed the Sci-Fi atmosphere. The food is your typical restaurant food but we had so much fun sitting in our car and drinking our milkshakes while watching the movie clips. It is pretty laid back.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We love both of them. I will say like a previous poster - Sci Fi is great because it is dark, cool and quiet and while walking in the heat all day we LOVE it. We go to Sci-Fi every time.

We enjoyed 50s but you really have to like that sort of teasing. I could see people not enjoying it. We get into it and give it back to the servers. We LOVE their desserts.

If I had to pick just one it would be Sci-Fi. It is unlike any other restaurant experience. It is so weird to eat in a restaurant with no one talking. We went with all sorts of ages and we all loved it.

 

[carimar]

Wow! Thanks so much everyone!!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Wow! Thanks so much everyone!!

Enjoy!!!

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

SciFi is my single favorite dining experience in all of WDW. Yes, I get better food elsewhere, but I love the whole experience. For our upcoming trip I have an ADR for lunch there, where I'll probably only have fries and a shake, just so I can spend some time there.

 

[DizDaD7]

While I've eaten at both, Sci-fi 5 times, and 50's p/t 8 times, they're totally opposite experiences. Oth equally entertaining. As most of the pp's have stated, Having dinner n conversations is kinda hard to do at sci fi. Food there is traditional burgers dogs chicken fries n stuff.
While at 50's it has homestyle meals, which are delicious. Especially the sampler platter,which has 3 of my fave. Fried chicken, meatloaf, and pot roast, along with veggies. Finish that off with a black n white shake and you have yourself a PARTY..LoL.

The big kicker here is the interaction you get. Its almost like being part of a 50's sitcom....But make sure your polite* or else.....( I'll leave it at that) This place is top3 of all TS for our family out of all possible restaurants in WDW for sure.

 

[sephorachick]

50s food & atmosphere is better unless you want $20 burger?

http://yohoyohobloggerslifeforme.blogspot.com/2012/11/primetime-50s-diner-review.html

 

[mom2of2]

50s food & atmosphere is better unless you want $20 burger?

http://yohoyohobloggerslifeforme.blogspot.com/2012/11/primetime-50s-diner-review.html

I like the food at both places. Sci Fi burgers are up to $16.99 and that's with everything on it, including a hot dog.

 

[frozenchick]

50's Prime Time, definitely. While the atmosphere at Sci Fi is great, the food is so-so. At 50's, the meal is so delicious, it tastes just like grandma's home cooked ones Plus, the experience is unforgettable

 

[kg66]

Another vote for Prime Time 50's Cafe....but that said, don't go just for the experience..we had been there twice before and loved it, and our last visit 2012 there was no interaction with our server. We asked at the counter on our way out, and the manager told us that due to the popularity of the free dining and Prime Time being a popular pick they had to scale it back to keep the ressies flowing smoothly....gets backed up quickly if guests are having too much fun! Kind of sad, as this was our 1 must do each trip before.

 

[XtraEdGe]

We are in the same dilemma on whether to ADR 50's or Sci-Fi. Hearing from everyone here, I'm glad we're going with 50's for dinner during our DHS day. It sounds like it's alot like Mel's Diner. Would I be right to make that assumption?

 

[DizDaD7]

We are in the same dilemma on whether to ADR 50's or Sci-Fi. Hearing from everyone here, I'm glad we're going with 50's for dinner during our DHS day. It sounds like it's alot like Mel's Diner. Would I be right to make that assumption?

Yes n no.... it's not necessarily a diner type atmosphere. Its like being in the kitchen of a typical 1950's house. Metal everywhere old tv's. Decor to match too. Also while you are waiting to be seated, they put you in the parlor/ living room.... nice old style bar there too.
It's the antics that are really fun here though. You aunt takes your order, & mom's been slaving in the kitchen all day to prepare the meal.LoL. You'll understand. But remember, no elbows on the table, always say please n Thank you, eat all your veggies.

 

[iteachlit]

We ate at both just last week. My son picked PTC; my daughter wanted to go to Sci-Fi.

We had a much better meal at PTC than at Sci-Fi. If you don't want to be teased, the server will typically leave you alone. They are pretty good at telling what kind of experience you want.

Also, Sci-Fi has mostly sandwiches, aside from a New York strip steak.

One difficulty -- as others have mentioned -- at Sci-Fi is seating. Our party of four was seated in a car. We ordered fried pickles, which had to be passed back and forth between the seats. That was pretty awkward. It was also impossible to talk to my wife. (Wait, I guess that could be a positive! )

There are a few tables in Sci-Fi that allow you to face each other. It's like a table sandwiched between the front and back of a car. You can probably request one of those tables at check-in, but your wait may be long.

 

[XtraEdGe]

Yes n no.... it's not necessarily a diner type atmosphere. Its like being in the kitchen of a typical 1950's house. Metal everywhere old tv's. Decor to match too. Also while you are waiting to be seated, they put you in the parlor/ living room.... nice old style bar there too.
It's the antics that are really fun here though. You aunt takes your order, & mom's been slaving in the kitchen all day to prepare the meal.LoL. You'll understand. But remember, no elbows on the table, always say please n Thank you, eat all your veggies.

Thank you for the reply. Sounds like alot of fun!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We tried 50's for the first time this year and DD and I loved it. DH not so much. He was not into the whole shtick. DD and I will be back as we really enjoyed the whole package. The food is really good and a neat atmosphere.

We all love Sci-Fi, the food and atmosphere. If sitting in a car table, there is room for 6, three benches for 2 people. It is hard to talk to the people behind you. You can ask for a regular table.