Best three choices for our family OOP?

[aes74]

We are going to Disney for a week next week. We are not going to do the DDP. We just weren't that happy with it last time. Plus, we have three kids--10,7, and 2, and since our oldest is now ten, we'd have to pay adult prices for her and she eats like a bird and begs for the kids menu.

So, we've decided to do OOP, and my husband said to pick two or three restaurants. What would you suggest? We want to have a fun time, and not have icky food. Sound reasonable??!!

We have never eaten at Ohanas or Chef Mickeys. Ate at Biergarten years ago and thought the girls would love dancing to the show. I'm worried about CM's, as I know they would love the characters, I've heard the food is not so spectacular.

So what do you think!!??

 

[disneyj914]

My picks would be.....

1. Akershus (Norway in EPCOT) - from the pics in your signature, looks like you have a couple little girls that love princesses!! If you do breakfast, it won't be super expensive and I've heard the food is pretty good! Pretty much the same experience as Cinderella's Royal Table with probably half the price!

2. Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge) or 'Ohana(Poly) - WCC will give you unlimited barbecue and pony races for the kids along with crazy antics from the servers. 'Ohana will give you unlimited meats and coconut races for the kids -have had great experiences at both and really its up to your taste buds on which one appeals more.

3. Crystal Palace or Tusker House for breakfast - lots of characters either way and pretty decent buffet lines that will offer a little something for everyone.

 

[pixiemeg]

I would recommend Crystal Palace for dinner as your big CM experience. Suggest an early dinner around 5 so there is less wait time and more time with Characters. We liked food much better than Chef Mickey's.

I have also heard terrific things about the Ohana breakfast if you want more characters or dinner if you want fun food.

Another fun dinner if you are looking for a different non character experience is Tepan Edo. Watching the chef is loads of fun.

Have a great trip!

 

[aes74]

I totally forgot about Akershus. They have breakfast, right? I need to update that photo, because I have a boy now, too! He's personally offended, I'm sure.

 

[amy-momofthree]

Tusker House breakfast has characters and would appeal to both boy and girl.

Whispering Canyone Cafe would also be a good choice. My kids dd6 and ds8 LOVED it. Lots of fun! And very good food. They also have bottomless milkshakes

 

[Alabama Minnie]

If you are going to DHS I would say either Sci-fi or 50's. Both places are reasonable IMO. Your 2 older ones could even share a meal. The burgers are huge (and they will give you extra frys) at Sci-fi and the fried chicken at 50's is enough to share.
If you have never been, Sci-fi is a fun place. I think they would like sitting in the little cars while watching the movies.

 

[jandm]

We are going to Disney for a week next week. We are not going to do the DDP. We just weren't that happy with it last time. Plus, we have three kids--10,7, and 2, and since our oldest is now ten, we'd have to pay adult prices for her and she eats like a bird and begs for the kids menu.

So, we've decided to do OOP, and my husband said to pick two or three restaurants. What would you suggest? We want to have a fun time, and not have icky food. Sound reasonable??!!

We have never eaten at Ohanas or Chef Mickeys. Ate at Biergarten years ago and thought the girls would love dancing to the show. I'm worried about CM's, as I know they would love the characters, I've heard the food is not so spectacular.

So what do you think!!??

We are paying OOP as well and here is what I have planned for our trip for character meals: (we have 2 girls and a boy ages 10, 7 & 3)

Breakfast at 'Ohana --thought this would be a good mix for all the kids-getting to see Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare--this has Cinderella, Prince Charming, the wicked mother and step-sisters. I have heard this is A LOT of fun for both boys & girls. (i was trying to decide between CM and this--heard the food is much better here)
We are also doing 50's Prime Time & Sci-Fi Dine in at HS.

Good luck---When we started planning this trip, I never thought the majority of my time would be spent planning meals!

 

[Ksquared]

We are paying OOP for our upcoming trip as well. At this point I have 3 reservations booked although we may only do 2 of them.

We have a breakfast at Tusker House in AK. We booked a later breakfast so we could do a few rides first.

Dinner at O'Hana on our arrival night. We love dinner there (breakfast too) and this was my DH's request.

One I'm not sure about is Via Napoli at Epcot. Wanted to try this new restaurant but our ressie is for later in the week so we'll see how things are going.

We are staying offsite and have a condo w/ full kitchen although I said I'm not cooking entire week either. But we'll have a car and there are lots of offsite restaurants in the area that will be cheaper so we'll do a little bit of each for this trip.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Akershus - breakfast

O'hana - dinner

1900 park fare - dinner f/girls or breakfast f/everyone

 

[DCDisney]

When paying OOP we love Sci Fi, 50's Primetime, Liberty Tree Tavern lunch, and Tusker House breakfast. Les Chefs de France has very reasonable lunch prices (and some days Remy) but neither of my kids liked the food much. Whispering Canyon is only a DDP place for us as it was one of our most expensive TS meals in the past. We also often do Yachtsman's steakhouse OOP because it' s not much more expensive than Le C but uses 2 credits and the food is SOOOOO much better than Le C. They have the coolest kids dessert there too--white chocolate Mickey puzzle that comes with edible paints and a tiny brownie and cupcake.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We didn't like Whispering Canyon. The ketchup thing was funny, the food was not. LOL

 

[obxlover]

I second the Akershus and Crystal Palace ideas.

My DD and I ate at Akershus for breakfast in January 2010, my DH and DS didn't, we thought the DS wouldn't like the princesses, but looking back, I know he would have loved it and the food was wonderful!!

In November 2010, my entire family ate at Crystal Palace for dinner. The characters were GREAT as well as the food. I was worried since my DS is 8, I thought he would not enjoy the Pooh characters, but they were great. Giving him high five and playing around with him. My DH has requested that we eat here next time we visit the world.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[aes74]

You guys, these recommendations really help a lot. I forgot that Ohanas does breakfast as well. And I've read that Cape May has a good breakfast. But we have never done the Akershus....it is an American-style breakfast, right? And I think they would love Sci-Fi.

Do they let you share food at Sci-Fi?

 

[aes74]

According to allearsnet, it seems like the breakfast menu is basically scrambled eggs and potato casserole? Is this right?

 

[EvilQueenT]

if you're not on a dining plan and not at a buffet they shouldn't have any reason to stop you from sharing a meal.

 

[FamO'5disnuts]

IMO we would not go back to 1900 park fare, the characters were good but the food was not. The best CM meal (again IMO) is the Pooh Breakfast at the Crystal Palace. We have not tried O`hana`s for their CM breakfast but the dinner is Fab. Our two must do`s are O`hana`s and Hoop dee doo.

 

[Tara922c]

We did the ddp last year, but stopped in at Rainforest Cafe in AK for lunch one day. We were leaving AK, and really just wanted to get out of the heat for an hour. DD3, Dh, and I all split an appitizer sampler. It was plenty of food, and it was actually pretty good!

If I had to pick one sit down meal for a family, I would probably do Cape May Cafe Clam Bake dinner inside the beach club. It was a such a calm atmosphere compared to the buffets in the parks, and the food was really good. (and I do not eat any seafood). It was nice to be sat right away, and not feel like I was eating on top of the table next to us. Dh wants us to go back there agian because it was such a relaxing dinner.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Ohana, Sci-Fi, and Crystal Palace breakfast buffet..

 

[SusieBea]

We did the Cape May breakfast in Sept. with our DGS 2 and would do it again. There are fewer characters - Daisy, Donald, and Goofy, I think - and the food was very good and plentiful. It's a little more sedate there than at some of the other character meals.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We did Akershus last time we were there OOP for dinner and it wasn't too bad $ wise and the food was pretty good - and the princess interaction was excellent

another option is to do CP for breakfast and you can schedule it before the park opens. this way you can get some photos in front of the castle with no one else in the park and you can finish up your breakfast and get walking in the park even prior to rope drop

Another idea, though would be a little more $, is California Grill. They have really good food and a lot of people bring kids there and you can watch the fireworks over the MK from their rooftop deck