Dining - First Time Disney Visit

[tyandhailey]

My husband and I and our 8 year old daughter are going to be going to Disney World Jan 21st which we are really excited about... Does anyone have any suggestions for us when it comes to eating at restaurants, bringing own food, making reservations, etc etc... We are staying at the All Star Sports resort.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as we want to make this the best trip ever and not have to worry about where to eat, cost, etc...

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Have you considered or could you add on the Dining Plan? I think this is available if you book a package. I found that this was the best way to enjoy our dining experiences and not worry about what we were spending.

Otherwise, what has always worked best for me is to only eat 2 meals a day. We usually bring snacks for breakfast in the room, eat a counter service lunch an have a nice table service dinner.

If your daughter is into the princesses, she probably would enjoy the Cinderella Breakfast in the Magic Kingdom inside the castle. Be forewarned, reservations are a must and they are very hard to get from what I hear. Some other fun places to eat that our family enjoys is the 50's Prime Time Cafe and the Sci Fi Cafe both at MGM. I also really like the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. This is only a short boat ride away from the MK. There are several good restaurants at Downtown Disney too.

Here is a link to menus from all the restaurants. This will help you get an idea of prices and variety:

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[ciera321]

We always have breakfast in our room (muffins, doughnuts, milk, coffee) basically to save time. We also always make reservations (ADRs) as soon as possible. Some of our very favorite table service (usually for dinner) are:

Le Cellier (Canada- World Showcase)
Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) When you're done eating at the AKL restaurants be sure and stroll around the resort, it is beautiful!!!
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (Downtown Disney Westside)

Some favorite counter service places are:

Sunshine Seasons (Epcot The Land)
Tusker House, very good for table service!!! (Animal Kingdom)
Flametree BBQ (Animal Kingdom)
Columbia Harbor House (Magic Kingdom)

Favorite Places for a Sweet Treat:

Boulangerie Patisserie Wonderful pastries!!!!!!!! (France - World Showcase)
Main Street Bakery (Magic Kingdom)

Have a wonderful time!!!

 

[vicb]

Our upcoming trip will be our fourth in the past 8 years, my children are now 10 and 13, started when they were 3 and 6. I have a boy and a girl. I will share some of their fav places.

Le Cellier- dessert is a must. My DD loved the s'mores, it was so cute, so was the chocolate "moose"

Teppanyaki- they love the interaction with the japanese chef, the food is good too

ESPN- sports trivia contests and tons of TVs

Garden Grille - liked to rotation of the restaurant

Plaza Rest. in MK- great milkshakes and cute little bottles of ketchup


additional places DH and I enjoyed (with and without the kids):
Les Chefs-dinner
Spoodles-breakfast
Marakkesh-dinner


Places we probably won't go to again:
Chef Mickey- bad server, fair food
Tony's - YUCK!
Rose & Crown- was just ok
SAI- great atmosphere, so-so menu

Good luck, so many great choices!

 

[mainewmn]

My family likes to eat, especially experiencing new places when we are on vacation. We always budgeted $50 per day per person on food. That was enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at least one of these meals was at TS. Some days we would have left over money some days we used it all. We usually shared an appetizer and a dessert and that was enough for us. On our upcoming trip we will use the DDP and we are really excited to try some restaurants we would have otherwise skipped due to high praises. For me nothing starts off a vacation on a bad note like telling my kids we are having all breakfasts in rooms, and bringing our own lunch to the parks. They enjoy eating out and trying new things. However others like saving time and money on food by eating breakfast in rooms and by brining sandwiches to parks. And if it works for them that’s fine for us however not having to worry about food and prices is worth the DDP alone. Never mind it actually comes out cheaper then what we normally budget for food anyway.

 

[tyandhailey]

Thanks alot for the advise, I didn't realize that we had to book reservations for the restaurants and the web site you gave for info on all the restaurants and dining is great especially since our daughter is Diabetic and its good to see in advance what is available and we can plan our meals... Really looking forward to this trip... Less ground work we have to do while there the better...

 

[Big Daddy Incredible]

Congrats on your first WDW trip! Our family of five just went on our first WDW trip one month ago. I can't stress enough about making dinner reservations in advance, especially if you want a more ideal time (like 5:00PM for dinner).

I read in your first post that you are not too concerned with cost. If you can get it, I would highly recommend adding the Disney Dining Plan to your package. You get great value for your money. If you are going to have a table service meal everyday, the cost of the average table service with tax and tips is almost the cost per person for the DDP. We also found it was nice to sit down, relax and enjoy the Disney atmosphere. It is a great change of pace compared to all of the running around that you will be doing.

 

[tyandhailey]

Thats a good idea... Another concern we had was bringing food into the parks.. Is that allowed as we have to carry around snacks with us where ever we go with our daughter having diabetes. I have heard that they do not allow outside food into the parks... Any insight on this one...

 

[pixiepower1971]

If your DD has any dining restrictions make sure you let them know when you make your reservstions(ADRs) and again when you check in and if need be to your server as well before you order. They will send someone from the kitchen out to talk to you about adapting a meal if necessary.

From my daughters(7 and 9)and vets of now countless trips to the World

MK

Crystal Palace
Taco Place(el pireto)sp? when open
Cosmic Rays


EP
Garden Grill and Biergarten
The food court where Soarin is

MGM
Sci Fi or 50s
Commissary

AK
Pizzafari

DTD
Rainforest
Earl of Sandwich

they said not to waste $$ on CRT. They didn't like the food, it took up a lot of time and they got little time with the princesses. In Jan you will see the princesses out all over the place and get to talk to them as much as you want. (Lines are short!) Hope this helps some!

 

[tyandhailey]

Well I guess the kids are the experts of WDW trips.. Afterall, its all for them... Thanks for the info... We will definatly take a look at those places...

 

[princesslisa]

I always bring granola bars with me into the parks. My fiance eats constantly, I like to stay away from fatty snacks, and we like to feed the ducks while we wait for the boat from MGM to Epcot, so granola bars are a must!! You should have no problem with snack in your purse, if they ask just let them know why, but I highly doubt they will say anything.

Make sure you sign up for the allears.net newsletter that comes weekly through e-mail, it's fun to read and keeps you on top of all of the latest Disney News.

Here are my favorite restaurants -
Epcot:
Chefs de France (personal )
Alfredos (Italy)
Cantina de San Angel (counter)
any country will be great!

MGM
50's Prime Time
Sci Fi Dine-In

Animal Kingdom
Flame Tree BBG
Donald's Breakfastsaurus

MK
Dole Whip (snack)
Pecos

Have fun on your 1st Pixie Dust Trip!!

 

[vicb]

We always bring small snacks in with us, peanutbutter crackers, granola bars or fruit snacks etc... I think if it is small and reasonable they won't object, that rule applies more to picnic lunches! Also in each park there are fruit stands, we have bought apples, bananas, carrots etc... at Toon Town in MK, Annehiem Produce in MGM, I think it is the outpost area of WS in Epcot. Also, can get fresh fruit salads and yogurts at the BW bakery etc... All good for healthy alternative!

 

[mommyintn]

I know I've read this in one of the Disney guides that they changed their policy and now allow soft-sided coolers into the park. Here's what I got off another site:

Here's the *official* cooler policy for each of the parks:

Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney-MGM Studios
Epcot
Magic Kingdom
# Small coolers (that one person can carry) that will fit into guest lockers are allowed. Coolers will be inspected for glass and alcoholic beverages which are not permitted.

Water Parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon)
# Coolers are permitted, including wheeled coolers
# No wagons are allowed
# No glass containers or alcoholic beverages allowed
# No storage areas for coolers

Disney's Wide World of Sports
Coolers are allowed in at Disney’s Wide World of Sports® Complex. However, alcoholic beverages and glass containers are not permitted. (Please be aware that these rules may be different at the various off-site facilities.) The Cooler Policy is subject to change anytime without notice.

 

[mommyintn]

Hope someone corrects if that's wrong! Thanks

 

[Buckleigh]

I've been looking for an answer to this question for two days, so please forgive me if its here and I'm missing it. I am planning a trip that includes my diabetic 12 yo nephew. His mother asked me to see if I could find out nutrition information for the food at the restaurants. He needs this info to adjust his meds. I told her at the time that my nephew can't be the first visitor that would need this information, but after 2 days, I'm getting frustrated. My sister says that he needs to know the amount of protein in the meal, but doesn't necessarily need a special meal prepared. Can anyone help me with this?

 

[tyandhailey]

My daughter is 8 years old and just recently found out she is diabetic so we are having the same issues... We count carbs in everything she eats and we were told to just ask for the chef at each restaurant and they will be able to help out as much as possible... other wise we would just have to guesstimate how much for her. We are going to Disney with the expectation that she may be a little high some days and little low some days with her blood sugar because of everything that we will be doing and all the changes to her normal routine... We just have to control it the best we can while we are there and hope for the best... Not sure if this helps... But good luck and hopefully we both have a great trip even with all this happening...

 

[crisi]

My advice is not to "overbook" yourself in restaurants for the first trip. Particularly in January when the parks close early. (Or consider some resort restaurants for days when you are in parks that close early). We LOVE eating at Disney a do a sit down meal each day - fairly common for this board. But so is "we've been to Disney several times over the past few years and really don't care if we make the Jungle Cruise this trip or not." You'll find there is so much to do and see that you can't possibly do it all - and while Le Cellier serves a darn good steak, so does your local steak house, but you probaby don't have a local "Pirates of the Carribean" attraction.

However, DO take advantage of a few sit down dining opportunties - you'll be grateful for the change in pace and its nice to try new things.