Best Resort or Non-Park restaurant?

[AllesonWonderland]

Did a search, but couldn't find anything really recent. Looking for a place to have dinner one night of our trip. It will be the night before my brother's wedding, but it's not really a rehearsal dinner, just some family getting together. There will be a few kids ages 8-14. We're staying offsite, so not on the dining plan. Also, my family might not have park hoppers, so we need to choose somewhere other than a park. Suggestions for somewhere to go? This will be our third trip to Disney, but other that some CS meals, a couple of breakfasts at Chef Mickey's, and the HDDR, we haven't really eaten anywhere, so I'm clueless. Thanks in advance!

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Did a search, but couldn't find anything really recent. Looking for a place to have dinner one night of our trip. It will be the night before my brother's wedding, but it's not really a rehearsal dinner, just some family getting together. There will be a few kids ages 8-14. We're staying offsite, so not on the dining plan. Also, my family might not have park hoppers, so we need to choose somewhere other than a park. Suggestions for somewhere to go? This will be our third trip to Disney, but other that some CS meals, a couple of breakfasts at Chef Mickey's, and the HDDR, we haven't really eaten anywhere, so I'm clueless. Thanks in advance!

We love the Yachtsman Steakhouse, every time we've gone, it's really quiet (as in noise), and the food is great! Ohanas is another favorite, but pretty loud.

 

[shoney]

I have been to Disney several times, but never onsite....our first onsite trip will be in Feb. One non-park adr we are looking forward to is Raglan Road. The menu appeals to all of us and the stepdancing/irish entertainment sounds fun! Check their website for times!

We do have an ADR at Ohana which is very popular....quite honestly it doesn't appeal to me as much as RR. It fits our MK day and seems like the thing to do. I'm sure we'll like it...but RR seems to me to be more adult and child friendly at the same time, while the entertainment at Ohana seems more "kiddie" and my ds10 and ds12 might find too "kiddie".



Have fun and I'm sure others with more experience with chime in!!!

 

[SweetSpot]

I have been to Disney several times, but never onsite....our first onsite trip will be in Feb. One non-park adr we are looking forward to is Raglan Road. The menu appeals to all of us and the stepdancing/irish entertainment sounds fun! Check their website for times!

We do have an ADR at Ohana which is very popular....quite honestly it doesn't appeal to me as much as RR. It fits our MK day and seems like the thing to do. I'm sure we'll like it...but RR seems to me to be more adult and child friendly at the same time, while the entertainment at Ohana seems more "kiddie" and my ds10 and ds12 might find too "kiddie".



Have fun and I'm sure others with more experience with chime in!!!

My DD16 and I were looking forward to Raglan Road and it's a great place but we were seated near the music, across from the stage with the back bar behind us. Directly behind where I was sitting was a counter type seating area (attached the the back of the my seating wall) that bar goers could sit at to wait or eat. It was very, very loud and very strange having someone looking over your shoulder especially for my daughter who was looking at them. I will go back, the CM's there are great but my picky daughter had a hard time finding so she liked so check out the menu.

We liked O'hana and although seated next to the "entertainment" other than her annoying voice we didn't really pay much attention. You are inundated with such a variety of food so quickly the food tends to hold your attention. I thought that it would be a good restaurant for mixed tastes because you get such a variety there's bound to be something someone likes. It's just difficult to get a reservation and almost impossible to walk up.

Restaurants.com has some great deals (especially when there's a code to get them for $2) for restaurants on site and also in the surrounding area. Sometimes going there and looking at menus helps to decide.

 

[Hopefully]

When are you going? How many in your group?
What are you looking for? Quiet, Good Food, A Fun experience? All of these are available somewhere. A little more info will help us to help you

 

[Forever Fairy]

If in the Epcot area, I would like to suggest the Flying Fish at the Boardwalk. If in the MK area - how about Citricos at the Grand Floridian? Both have great food and atmosphere, in my opinion.

 

[AllesonWonderland]

When are you going? How many in your group?
What are you looking for? Quiet, Good Food, A Fun experience? All of these are available somewhere. A little more info will help us to help you

We're going the beginning of January. There will be at least 9 of us, though there's the potential to be 6-10 more depending on how jet lagged some of the folks are who will be arriving that day. Honestly, I don't know what my brother is looking for, I guess I should try to pin him down more! I'm the researcher in the family, so I wanted to find a few options to be able to suggest to him, since he's a little frazzled with all the wedding planning right now. If it were just me deciding, I'd want the most bang for my buck, good food is always a plus. We have some adventuresome diners and some not so much. Also, my brother has a severe peanut allergy--just looking over the menu of Ohana made me nervous with the peanut sauces. Quiet isn't a necessity. (Because, with quiet comes higher prices, right? ) Thanks again!

 

[Lynn57]

January 2012? I think I would do a search on WDW dining reservations and see what is available for that many people. I think you can only book up to 14 people through that, so there may be a special number to call for larger groups. I honestly, don't think you will be able to find reservation for Ohana's for that many people with just a month until you go.

Find out what is available for you during the time you are interested in and then we can help you pick out of those choices.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Depends on what atmosphere and level of dining you're looking for:

At the Dolphin, Todd English Blue Zoo, really great food and ambiance, a bit pricy!
At the Yacht Club, The Yachtmens Steakhouse, love the Tartare.
At the Beach Club, Kouzina, We think the food is really different and very good, affordable!

At SSR-The Turf Club has good prime rib and the restaurant has a nice look to it!

At DTD, Portobello's Italian, Fulton's, great seafood, Raglans, the bread pudding alone is worth it.

More and more I think the non-park restaurants have better food!

 

[JanB]

Two of our favorite off-property restaurants ----

Tony Roma's on International Drive. Ribs are the specialty, but the menu is varied and should have something to appeal to everyone. Great food in a casual setting.

Kobe Steakhouse ---- Japanese hibachi style --- The food is very good and much better than Teppan Edo, in our opinion. You have built-in entertainment with the cooking "show", which typically appeals to all ages. The location that we go to is on Palm Parkway, which is a very short drive (maybe 1 mile) from the Crossroads shopping center.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Some of the restaurants are now requiring a credit card # and will charge $10 per person if you don't show up or cancel under 24 hours before the ressie....Ohanas is one of them. I wouldn't make a reservation for any of those places, in case people are tired after traveling.

'Ohana is a first-night family tradition for us....it just gets us in the vacation spirit. I was a little wary myself booking it, because if our flight runs late, it'll cost us $40 for not giving them enough notice! I'm not positive which restaurants do this now, but I think it's 'Ohanas, LeCellier, Crystal Palace, Cinderella's Round Table...and a few more Im not sure about.

Since your not staying on site, a real fun place to eat, with decent food is Margaritaville at Citywalk (Universal)...good food, good music, good drinks...and a lot of places for celebrating the pending wedding!!

If you don't mind noise, I like Planet Hollywood at DTD, it would be a good "night before" place for the groom, and they have a huge menu.

As to peanut allergies, I think Disney restaurants are the best places to eat, as they are used to catering to many special dietary needs.

 

[SweetSpot]

I have a seafood allergy so I always try steakhouses which would also work most times for peanut allergies. If you are a large party without a definite size do yourself a favor and find a great place off-site. There are many great places in Orlando and they are more accommodating to change and reservation and the price is significantly less without much different in quality. Hit TripAdvisor. You get a list of restaurants in the area with valid reviews to aid in your selection.

 

[ShariVT]

I was going to suggest the grand floridian cafe it has a nice atmosphere and good food moderate price point. I like alot of the other places suggested but they are much higher priced. It is usually pretty easy to get adrs at the floridian cafe.

 

[AllesonWonderland]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I did a search, and all the places mentioned in this thread are available that night. (Except I'd have to call about Flying Fish, it says our party is too large there. They do have times available when I lowered the number of guests though, so it may be an option.) It shows 51 restaurants we can choose from. Of the 23 that show up that I can't reserve, 9 are because I'd need to call due to party size, and 10 are in parks, so I wouldn't have wanted those anyway!

I did do a little research on Trip Advisor a few weeks ago, not too much though, because there are so many restaurants in Orlando! I'll go back and do some more, trying to narrow it down to things that are close to the parks or near our rental home.

Thanks, Scrappy, for reminding me about the credit card guarantee. I did notice that when I booked a lunch at Crystal Palace later that week. Didn't think too much of it, because I knew we'd show up or I'd cancel well before the 24 hour mark. But, you're right, for this dinner there's no way I'll know in advance if those traveling will be too tired. Reading the policy, it says the fee is charged if you cancel less than a day ahead or are a 'no-show.' I guess I would have to call to see if we could just drop a few people off the reservation with a few hours notice. Also, thanks for the Citiwalk suggestion. We're going to Universal for the first time this trip, I'll be able to scope things out there a few days ahead of time. It does sound fun!

Again, thanks everyone for taking the time to lend your insight. Keep it coming!

 

[lemondog]

Ohana in the Poly. It's our first night tradition -- so much fun and we love the food. Great for larger groups!

 

[skunk]

Il Mulino at the Swan for great food and service. Should not be a problem for a large party. Free limoncello after dinner is a nice touch too!!