Day visit to a Disney resort? Dinner rec. for a large family?

[Penmac]

We are an offsite family. We have 5 young children and need more space than what the Disney resorts can offer within our budget. I would love to stay on property, but it's not financially responsible for us at this time of life.

With that said, I was thinking we could use our day off the parks this summer to explore a Disney resort. I think my kids would love to check one out! We will probably swim for a few hours after a late and leisurely breakfast at our condo. The original plan was to head to Disney Springs for dinner. Wondering if we should head to a Disney resort instead. We can explore the hotel in the afternoon and maybe have dinner.

Any recommendations for which Disney hotels would be fun to explore? My sister recommended Wilderness Lodge. I am a bit interested in Contemporary. Also, where would be a good spot for dinner with 5 small kids?! Our oldest is only 9 and youngest is 2.5. So, fine dining is not our thing! Would love a relaxed atmosphere that won't break the bank. I would like to avoid $60pp buffet prices.

Thanks!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Animal Kingdom Lodge, dinner at Boma.

 

[StageTek]

Wilderness Lodge is beautiful and fun to explore.

Contemporary is nice to see but not much to explore.

Art Of Animation would be fun for the kids.

There is a lot to see over at Fort Wilderness and Trails End is a great place for dinner. $30 adults $17 kids.

All Stars Movies is fun to see and their food court is quite good - especially for kids.

 

[chalee94]

You cannot use the pools unless you are a guest at that onsite resort. (Just to be clear - I think you mean you are swimming at your resort but not sure.)

There are a lot of great dining options but not a ton to do besides eat. Parking may also be an issue at certain times of day. (Might be better to park at DS and catch a bus to the resort for near-park resorts.)

Visiting the AKL before the sun goes down is a good idea to see giraffes and zebras on the resort savanna (just walk straight through the lobby and out the back.) You can also talk with the cast members who are typically from Africa. I love eating at Boma but since expensive buffets are out, Mara as quick service might be the only option. For table service, you could also check the menu at Sanaa nearby at Kidani Village (not kid friendly IMO but opinions vary). The KV building is a short walk from the AKL building (Jambo House).

The Grand Floridian is pretty. You could get there early and eat at the Café and then walk over to the boat dock to watch the higher fireworks over the MK (the projections cannot be seen from here, though).

You could also eat at Art of Animation (shouldn't have parking issues either). Excellent quick service options IMO (try the surf and surf burger) and there are Lion King and Cars statues and theming out back to see and take pictures (assuming it is still daylight). I also like the art on the lobby wall...

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Couple options come to mind...

-Contemporary, dinner at Chef Mickey's and then take a ride on the monorail. My kids also loved the arcade there, but I think it's maybe being used for kids club now?
-AKL, dinner at Sanaa or Boma, then check out the animals
-Fort Wilderness, dinner at HDDR or Mickey's Backyard BBQ
-Polynesian, dinner at Ohana, Dole Whip for dessert

 

[bffdisney]

Taking a ride around the monorail loop might be fun, but I think kids might get bored looking at a hotel when they see the pool but can't swim. You know your kids though. Animal Kingdom they can at least look at the animals. You could go see the animals and go back to DS to eat. Free parking at DS.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I agree that having 5 kids is financial craziness. Wait till they hit college. The cost of Disney will be nothing.

You can get so much Disney just by resort hopping and dining. It will still be special and fun.

 

[Huff]

Ohana at Polynesian is a fun family experience, coconut roll for kids etc. Time it right and you can watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom before or after dinner out on the beach (Have heard on crowded days they won't allow non-resort guests on the beach but we've never had that issue). Kona next to Ohana is also good food with great desserts kids will love.

Boma at Animal Kingdom is fun to watch animals outside before or after dinner. At night there are CM's with night vision binoculars to use. The food is excellent but for the adventurous only although kid items are available.

Many of the resorts will have movie nights outside where families can enjoy watching. Campfires and smores occur at some of them. Summer can be hot and sticky for that though.

Park at Disney Springs. Enjoy a leisurely boat ride up the river to Port Orleans French Quarter or Riverside to dine at one of the restaurants or the food court at Riverside is excellent, especially the create your own pasta bar. Stop at French Quarter and get a bag of fresh made baguettes for a dessert snack.

 

[sharadoc]

Fort Wilderness has a ton of stuff to do.

You can do pony rides, horseback riding, archery, canoeing, boat rentals. There's activities around the pool that I'm sure you can participate in, just can't swim.

At 7:00 (usually) is a campfire show and a free movie. At 9:45 on the beach you can watch the Water electrical parade and then the Magic Kingdom fireworks in the sky at 10 - they pipe in the music.

From Fort Wilderness, you can also take a boat over to the Contemporary and ride the monorail or go to the arcade, or over to Wilderness Lodge and see the geyser.

Trail's End buffet is great at Fort Wilderness; Whispering Canyon Café is a lot of fun at Wilderness Lodge; or Chef Mickey's at Contemporary.

Fort Wilderness is really a gateway to a ton of fun!!

 

[Penmac]

You cannot use the pools unless you are a guest at that onsite resort. (Just to be clear - I think you mean you are swimming at your resort but not sure.)

We will swim at our condo. We are staying at Windsor Hills and hopefully the new water slides and splash area will be open by then. Lots to do there!

Thanks for all the great tips!

 

[Penmac]

Sorry, I have this quote thing all messed up! My oldest is adventurous. The rest not so much!!!

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I agree with Fort. We all love the food at Trails End. Great place to eat, there is a playground out front of the restaurant.

You can go see the horses and go for pony rides (less than 48"),https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/campsites-at-fort-wilderness-resort/pony-rides/
you can fish off the dock but the locations are much less than in the past but you can still rent poles and get bait at the Bike Barn

you can rent a canoe or a kayak for $13 a hour,
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/canoes/ https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/kayaks/

If you are up for a late night you can stay for the campfire and s'mores with Chip and Dale/ and a movie

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/chip-n-dale-campfire-sing-a-long/

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would suggest going to WL or Ft. W for dinner. At WL, I would eat at Whispering Canyon. The food is good and it's so much fun! The servers do all kinds of antics with the guests - ask for ketchup! Or, eat at Trail's End at Ft. W. There is a playground there and you can visit the horses at the stables just nearby. Smaller children can even take pony rides. Whether you choose Trail's End or WCC, I would still visit the other resort! You can take a boat between Ft. W and WL and that's an adventure on it's own. THEN you can take the boat over to Contemporary and ride the monorail all the way around the resort loop, even stopping at each resort to check them all out. At that point, you've had a nice, not terribly expensive dinner and used two, fun modes of transportation to visit 5 resorts!

 

[sbd78]

We will swim at our condo. We are staying at Windsor Hills and hopefully the new water slides and splash area will be open by then. Lots to do there!

Thanks for all the great tips!

Are the pool upgrades not completed yet at Windsor Hills?! I thought they were supposed to be completed by the end of winter? We were originally going to stay there for our upcoming trip but ended up switching to onsite/POR. Now that our trip is less than 3 weeks away, I would not have been happy if the pools weren't complete had we stuck with Windsor Hills!

As far as your original question, at Contemporary Chef Mickey's is a lot of fun for kids. Some people say the food is not good, I think it is fine and my kids love it. They insist on going every trip. You will meet the fab 5 here. At the Polynesian, O'hana is a lot of fun. Characters are only at breakfast, but the dinner food is really good and served family style. They do fun stuff for kids like coconut races. At the Grand Floridian, 1900 Park Fare is fun. It's a character meal with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Step Mother and Step Sisters. The characters are a lot of fun. At the Wilderness Lodge, Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun. They have an all you care to enjoy BBQ platter that is served family style and sassy/funny employees. They also have wooden horse races for the kids. I would choose the hotel you most want to explore!

 

[SharonZ]

I would stay away from the character buffets that have been mentioned ($$). You could do the monorail loop and check out the Contemporary, Polynesian and GF. I would try and avoid the sit-down restaurants for dinner, but maybe have a quick meal at one of the resorts.

 

[happymommy]

While Boma may be fun, it's also tough to do a buffet with young kids. I rarely got anything to eat for myself sometimes! I'd have to go with the kids to make their plates (I'm one that insisted on doing that when they were really young, as I've seen kids use their hands and spill, and my oldest would have done that!).

If you wanted to save some money (who doesn't with that many mouths to feed), you could look at counter service. The Mara at AKL has some more interesting choices on the regular (adult) menu.

I agree, Wilderness Lodge may be fun, and Ft. Wilderness I've heard has really good fried chicken. If you went to Ft. Wilderness there are things to do and see there for the kids.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I agree with Fort. We all love the food at Trails End. Great place to eat, there is a playground out front of the restaurant.

You can go see the horses and go for pony rides (less than 48"),https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/campsites-at-fort-wilderness-resort/pony-rides/
you can fish off the dock but the locations are much less than in the past but you can still rent poles and get bait at the Bike Barn

you can rent a canoe or a kayak for $13 a hour,
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/canoes/ https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/kayaks/

If you are up for a late night you can stay for the campfire and s'mores with Chip and Dale/ and a movie

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/chip-n-dale-campfire-sing-a-long/

Yes, I absolutely agree with this!
We are a family with 4 kids and when they were younger we also had a very tight budget, so I get it.

Trails End is a very good bargain for a buffet, but if you need to bring the price down even more you can look at the P and J's take out menu which has some family size meals (fried chicken, ribs, and sides) https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/d...d-js-southern-takeout/menus/lunch-and-dinner/

and if you also wanted to check out the Contemporary, there is a boat that goes from Fort Wilderness to the Contemporary (blue flag)