Dining Alone or Lonely Dining?

[Dream 2015]

My family and I will be traveling to the World in June 2017. We will be on the standard dinning plan but they leave 3 days prior to me. I don't mind dinning at quick service to use up my dinning credits but am looking for recommendations on sit down dinning locations for 3 days of solo touring and dinning. I will be focusing on visiting Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.
We already plan to hit Chef Mickey, Tusker House, 50's Prime Time, Crystal Palace and Teppan Edo so I will be buffet and character outed.

Any thoughts on where to hit that a solo dinner would enjoy the atmosphere and decent food?

 

[vicb]

I enjoy dining at the bar when I eat alone so I would look for a restaurant that has a nice/fun bar area that you can still order a meal. I copied the following from a blog post I saw, hope it helps:
All of these lounges/bars either serve the full menu from the nearby restaurant, or offer a robust enough menu that you could make a meal out of it easily. (Note — if full restaurants are listed, e.g. Yak and Yeti, you can get the full menu at their in-restaurant bar)

Epcot
Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room
Teppan Edo
Tutto Gusto


AK
Rainforest Cafe
Restaurantosaurus
Yak and Yeti Restaurant


DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
’50s Prime Time Cafe


WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORTS


ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE AND VILLAS
Jiko
Sanaa


BEACH CLUB
Beaches and Cream
Martha’s Vineyard


BOARDWALK
Big River Grille and Brewing Works
ESPN Club


CONTEMPORARY
California Grill
California Grill Lounge
Cove Bar
Sand Bar
Top of the World Lounge
The Wave


CORONADO SPRINGS
Laguna Pool Bar
Rix Lounge


DOLPHIN
Cabana Bar and Beach Club
The Fountain
Todd English’s bluezoo


GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT AND SPA
Citricos
Mizner’s Lounge
Narcoossee’s


POLYNESIAN
Barefoot Pool Bar
Kona Cafe
Kona Island Sushi Bar
Tambu Lounge


PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE
River Roost Lounge


SARATOGA SPRINGS
Turf Club Bar and Grill


SWAN
Il Mulino New York Trattoria
Kimonos Sushi Bar


WILDERNESS LODGE
Territory Lounge


YACHT CLUB
The Crew’s Cup Lounge

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I eat alone anyplace I would eat with someone. If you start to feel lonely look around. Somewhere at every Disney restaurant is the family either having an active meltdown or with at least one member in "sullen silence". Trust me it will make you feel great about not having to put up with that

My current personal favorite is Boathouse. You can eat at the bar or get a table. Tables outside are especially nice!

That said the "eat at the bar chant" does nothing for me. I actually feel more "alone" at a bar and prefer a real table where I don't have my space infringed on by anyone else!

 

[Meriweather]

I eat alone a lot when I travel with DD............she doesn't like much and has very few TS she will eat at.
I go to the ones I like............Rose and Crown, Liberty Tree Tavern and Be Our Guest were the ones I did last time.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

I also like to eat at the bar when I eat alone.... Which happens VERY rarely, so I actually enjoy the time to people watch. I also like to talk to the bartender if they are not too busy.

The last time I was at WDW for the princess half-marathon, I dined at the Wave Bar and Kona bar by myself. Enjoyed both very much.

 

[Hopefully]

My family and I will be traveling to the World in June 2017. We will be on the standard dinning plan but they leave 3 days prior to me. I don't mind dinning at quick service to use up my dinning credits but am looking for recommendations on sit down dinning locations for 3 days of solo touring and dinning. I will be focusing on visiting Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.
We already plan to hit Chef Mickey, Tusker House, 50's Prime Time, Crystal Palace and Teppan Edo so I will be buffet and character outed.

Any thoughts on where to hit that a solo dinner would enjoy the atmosphere and decent food?

I'm confused. You say you are traveling with family on DDP. But you are staying 3 days solo on DDP. How can that be? Do you have a separate room? Everyone in one room has to be on the same DDP for the entire length of stay. So for what you describe to work you would have to be in a separate room for your solo stay on a new DDP & new tickets. What am I missing?

 

[TeresaWen]

The servers will help keep you company.

I ate alone once in whispering canyon. I was in Orlando on business & my husband was meeting me for a vacation at wilderness lodge. His flight was delayed due to a bad storm. I was starving and did not want to leave the hotel in the storm. I had a blast. My server sat with me from time to time and took my cell when my husband called with a travel update - had the whole restore yell "hello and safe travels" good memory!

enjoy! You will have tons of fun!

 

[yaksack]

T-Rex in Disney Springs was pretty neat.

 

[Dream 2015]

I'm confused. You say you are traveling with family on DDP. But you are staying 3 days solo on DDP. How can that be? Do you have a separate room? Everyone in one room has to be on the same DDP for the entire length of stay. So for what you describe to work you would have to be in a separate room for your solo stay on a new DDP & new tickets. What am I missing?

We are on 4 separate reservations actually. They have to return kids to other parent and I am taking advantage of unused 6 weeks of vacation and taking 3 extra days to explore on my own. After almost 10 trips with family this will be the first time I will have time to explore all my favorite rides. Another Disney bucket list item marked off.

Bucket List:
Disneyland - completed
Walt Disney World- completed
Disneyland Paris - completed
Disney Cruise - completed
Disneyland Tokyo - 2020
Disney Hong Kong - 2020
Disney Shanghai - 2020

 

[Dream 2015]

The servers will help keep you company.

I ate alone once in whispering canyon. I was in Orlando on business & my husband was meeting me for a vacation at wilderness lodge. His flight was delayed due to a bad storm. I was starving and did not want to leave the hotel in the storm. I had a blast. My server sat with me from time to time and took my cell when my husband called with a travel update - had the whole restore yell "hello and safe travels" good memory!

enjoy! You will have tons of fun!

Whispering Canyon is on my bucket list so I will add it to me list. Thanks

 

[luvmarypoppins]

You said you would be focusing on MK and Epcot so I would say

Epcot
Rose and Crown
Chefs de France
If you dont mind leaving the park Trattoria al Forno on the Boardwalk.
Captains Grille at the Yacht Club

Magic Kingdom
Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen
Plaza sit down one credit but casual not the best use of a credit
If you dont mind taking a monorail ride and leaving the park
Kona Cafe at the Polynesian

All of these are 1 dining credit I believe