Confued on where to eat?

[definately dory]

Hi everyone.. I need help with deciding where to eat. I have read and re-readpretty well all the dining posts I could find but I still don't know what to do. So I guess what I need is for someone to say eat here, here, and here! Cause I just can't decide. We are on the dining plan, going in February, 10 of us all together. Any advise would hlp, my eyes are getting sore from reading. I should also mention that this is our first time going. Maybe that why i find it so hard to decide. My husband says lets just go and eat where we end up. Does this make sense to do this or will we end up at counter service all the time? I've rambled enough

 

[CA Disney Fans]

It depends on what type of food you would like to eat and what type of atmosphere you are going for.

 

[ciera321]

I would never go to DW without ADR's because there are some restaurants that i just can't miss and probably would without ADR's. My "not to miss" places are:

1 - Le Cellier - Usually go here twice in a trip...Really good steaks, cheese soup, pretzel bread and maple creme brulee!!!

2 - Jiko @AKL - Such fresh food and so deliciuos, great atmosphere.

3 - Boma @AKL - I'm not a buffet person and would rather go most anyplace other than a buffet, but I CANNOT skip this restaurant on a DW trip. Really good soups, salads and desserts. I usually just have my DH roll me out to the car after dinner...

4 - Wolfgang Puck Cafe - Love to eat here for all the variety and the food is very tasty and fresh. The desserts (if you have any room left) are so wonderful. The creme brulee sampler is sooooo good!!!

Have fun planning!!!

 

[paslea_pooh]

for the first time and will do it over and over again as many times as we keep going... The food is awesome, the view is breathtaking.. the service is superb, I highly recommend it... It's costly , but well worth it.

 

[huskies90]

We just got back and were on the dining plan most of the trip. We ate at the following "can't miss" spots:

Cali Grill
Boma
Le Cellier

All were excellent.

My kids LOVED Whispering Canyon. The food was better than I expected and actually pretty good. We ordered off the menu. Our server was simply awesome. I could have eaten cat food and still had a great time. The kids were in hysterics the whole night. The kids also loved Chef Mickey's. We did breakfast this year and the food was fine.

We also ate at Spoodles and the food was very very good although our waitress was a b*tch. A second waitress kept coming around and helping us. I did not understand her position. But anyway the food was very good and I would recommend it. The atmosphere/setting was great.

The worst restaurant was the 50's prime time. It is a cute restaurant but the food was very blah. Just didn't match up with the other places.

I agree. Do ADRs. We were going to go to MGM the night we ate at Spoodles and we tried changing. NOTHING was open in ANY table service restaurants and this was last Sunday night after everyone cleared out from Thanksgiving. Although when we got to Spoodles it was empty so I am guessing ADRs are made and then not used. But either way, make at least one a day!!

 

[Marimar]

I know exactly how you are feeling!

What has helped tremendously is the poeple at this forum, so you are in the right place I haven't necessarily asked like you did, but rather just reviewed the posts and done some research of the menus at allears.com; link which I got from a post here!!

My general strategy is to include as many fun meals for the kids as possible; w/a couple of exceptions for dh/me alone dinners. However, we are going to be there 10+ days. If it was any shorter I probably would not have splurged on solo dinners.

 

[Fast Pass]

Since it is your first time I would go with Chef Mickey's, Ohana's(breakfast features Lilo and Stitch now),Liberty Tavern Inn,50's Prime Time,Chef de France,and Tusker House(they only have breakfast and lunch). We also liked 1900 Park Fare.

I would avoid Le Cellier-food is good but sometimes the wait for your food is horrible and I don't think many kids would like it.
Pepper Market at Coronado Springs- the food is wonderful but they are very inconsistent on what you can get on the dining plan.
CRT is okay for character interaction but the food leaves alot to be desired and if you want to meet Cinderella you can see her at Toontown(we saw her at the County Fair character area).(This was of September).

Like someone else said I would go to debs all ears.com and see the menus that she has.

Whatever you do get your ADRs or else you might end up without a place to eat. Even in September there were a couple of restaurants we needed our ADRs.

 

[frozone]

My advice, for what it's worth...

It's nice to have some sit-down places scheduled. You can always cancel the PS if you can't make it and hit a counter-service place, but they are there to help you structure your day. Plus, if you are on the dining plan, you will get more for your money at sit-down places and have an overall better experience.

If you are going with that big of a group, you are also probably putting together a schedule and deciding which parks to hit on certain days. Try to find good restaurants in those locations or at nearby resorts.

For example, schedule a lunch or dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern on one of the days you are at the MK. It's in the park (convenience), fun (character dining), and good food (not fancy, but tasty). Good for both kids and adults.

At MGM, Prime Time cafe is a good choice. It's a fun experience, and the food is great...comfort food like fried chicken, meatloaf, mac and cheese...all the traditional favorite, plus you get to have fun with the performers/wait staff.

For Animal Kingdom day, no need for PS. It's all counter-service lunches (except Rainforest Cafe); my favorite is the Tusker House

Epcot has the most choices because of the World Showcase. My two favorites are Le Cellier and Rose and Crown. But, it is also nice to take the boat from the International Gateway to the Boardwalk for some place like Spoodles.

If you want a really fun, non-park night, don't miss Boma's at the AKL. Huge buffet of excellent food, lots of choices (some tame for the less adventurous), and beautiful theming. Plus, the kids can go outside and watch the animals after dinner or hear stories by the fire pit.

 

[GMS]

We have teens and smaller kids and are not real picky eaters:
Chef Mickey's
O'Hana's- and watch MK fireworks
Biergarten- live german music for supper.
Sci Fi- cool atmosphere

we've enjoyed Norway, Mexico, morracco-(belly dancers)
and Teppanyaki but don't go to these every time.

 

[jann1033]

our fav. are Brown Derby in mgm...really i 'd have to say the only good meal we have ever had at mgm. the others are cute but imo food is not very good and imo again scifi was terrrible( expensive burnt hamburgers)

Mk day our last couple trips we have eaten at somewhere out of the park. again imo the themeing is cute but the food just not that great. we might try liberty tree again next time or crystal palace( it's been yrs since i got a fried spider in my potatoes so i think i can eat there without picking every morsel apart). we liked plated meals at wcc, kona was pretty good, artist point food was good but service stunk. Ohana is way overrated imo but might be fun with a large group and i think you'd get better
service than we did ( 2 adults)since they figure on a better tip

epcot we like Lecellier, Beirgarten and chefs although we didn't eat at chefs last time and some have said it's gone down hill.

we always make at least 1 adr a day . the only one we have ever skipped/ canceled is Boma dinner cause our brkfst there was a real disappointment ( we expected "exotic" and got Trail'sEnd with a few more selections so might as well go to te and save the cash imo) i might try dinner there sometime but really am leary about it cause i listened to too many reviews before i went and was so disappointed i'm afraid it'll be a repeat of brekfst and i'll be kicking myself

a word to the wise. you are better off just going by the menus and taking reviews as what they are, opinions of a single meal (imo ) cause you will hear good and bad reviews for everyplace and it can drive you nuts! and with a group of 10 someone is bound to hate it/love it where ever you go!

 

[tndisneyfan]

I would suggest going to allearsnet.com. They have a section with menus from all the restaurants. It will give you a better idea of where to eat if you know what kind of food they serve.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Here are my don't misses:

Breakfast at Crystal Palace - MK
Lunch at Sci Fi - MGM
Dinner at LeCellier - Epcot

Kid's love Chef Mickey's and the food is pretty good as far as buffets go
I also loved Boma at AKL
Definitely do ADR's. My parents didn't this last trip and they regreted it.

 

[definately dory]

Wow, everyone here is so awesome!!!! Thank you for all the input, I am so glad I found this board I don't know what I would have done without it!!

 

[annej]

We just got back and our surprise favorite and best meal of the whole 10 days was at Boatwright's at POR. Wonderful food, large quantities and good service. Make sure you have an ADR as they were turning people away. We had canceled one at the Primetime for that day and called about 2 hours ahead and were able to get one at 7pm. I had the pork loin with the cheese grits. DD 13 had the pot roast. DS 10 had the 4 cheese ravioli which they will bring with a white or red sauce and DH had the steak with chipotle sauce. All were excellent. Don't be put off by the descriptions - we decided to be brave and eat very differently and boy were we glad we did! EXCELLENT!

 

[mrzrich]

With a party of 10 you MUST have ADR's. You will not get into a table service restaurant without an ADR with a party that big..(well, maybe, but probably not at a really popular place) This would be a waste of your dining plan. The best part of the dining plan is getting to eat at places you wouldn't try otherwise

I suggest that first you figure out what which park you are visiting on each day and then make one ADR for each of those days either in that park or at a resort very close to that park. Example MK to Chef Mickey's, or 1900 Park Faire

People who have never been to WDW sometimes don't realize the enormous size of the place and think they can leave MK at 4:45 for a 5:00 ADR at Boma.

If your plans change, you can cancel the ADR, but at least you have some sort of plan.

As said before allearsnet.com has the menus. Look them over to help you decide. You don't mention the ages of your party members, but even if its all adults, you should try to hit at least one character meal, just to say you did it once and have the pictures to prove it!