Dining Recommendations for Covid Conscious Trip?

[DisneyMom53]

We are approaching our 60 day mark and thinking about reservations. We are staying off site this trip so will be taking it day by day with reservations. We are all vaccinated but very Covid conscious. What are your favorite spots to eat with this in mind. We are prepared to do mostly counter services if it is safest to do so however we'd love to make some reservations. Are there any places you can reserve outside tables? or where you are not on top of others while you eat? Any tips to snag Rose & Crown or Spice Road Fireworks reservations - I understand those are outside? I'd love some recommendations for where to eat this trip. Also open to off-site options ! We are staying at Sheraton Vistana Villas.

 

[emilyann704]

I haven't visited since Covid but I have a trip coming up soon and am in the same boat as you. I found this list of outdoor (on site) Disney dining: https://disneytrippers.com/outdoor-dining-at-disney/

I think Disney Springs has a decent amount of outdoor dining spots as well. I have a reservation outdoors at The Boathouse I'm looking forward to.

Edited to add: I don't think there's a way to specifically request/reserve outdoor dining at Disney but I've seen advice on these boards recommending you visit the day-of and speak to the host and note your request. When I made my reservation at Boathouse through OpenTable in the notes section I asked for outside and bar seating. Their outside area looks pretty expansive so I'm not too worried about it but if I was I would visit the day-of (or try to call, if possible) to speak to someone to confirm my request.

 

[lorenae]

Remember that March starts spring break, and it will be crowded so even the outdoor spots may feel very close. We are doing Rose & Crown next week on Tuesday at an off-time of 3:30 so hopefully it will not be overly close.

You can always ask for outdoor dining, but that may not happen.

 

[disney castle days]

I definitely recommend CityWorks in Disney Springs, great brunch and you can choose to sit outside. The area is pretty spacious and covered as well.
Boathouse's outdoor seating was good.
I believe Topolino's has outdoor dining for dinner (it may only be for the bar), the food there is incredible.
Otherwise, QS is going to be your best bet.

 

[CynBeth]

We do some early breakfasts at other resorts and is usually not very crowded first thing when they open. We were at WCC, Ale & Compass, and Boma around Thanksgiving. For Boma certain sections of the buffet they serve you but other you do yourself but have to be masked each time you go up.

 

[AussieFan8]

It is my understanding you can't reserve Rose & Crown outdoor seating; you just have to ask for it when you check in for your reservation. We did that and got outdoor seating with no problems. We also ate outside at Nomad Lounge and Hollywood Brown Derby. All meals were excellent!

 

[igrsod]

We did take out at Olivias and ate outside.
Otherwise we did QS and just ate outside all week. We didn't want to risk testing positive for covid for travel back home.
I have a feeling that many resort restaurants will have a take out option. At Olivia's there were plenty of outdoor tables to eat our take out at.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Disney Food Blog has a chart of all of the outdoor dining in the parks, resorts , disney springs . I’m technologically challenged so I can’t post it here ! Please look it up . It’s a good one !

 

[tguz]

We found a nice little gem of a place for qs at the Poly. We decided to monorail over from the MK and try Capt. Cooks and found the pulled pork nachos very good. This was in early december but at lunch it was not very busy at all (nobody sitting by us) and they had outside seating options. Also, outside right around the corner is the Lanai for a dole whip dessert, they had reg and lime.

 

[loves to dive]

I was there in Dec. when it was pretty crowded. I ate at Nomad Lounge outdoor, you can request it. HBD outdoor lounge, walk up list, corn dog nuggets at Caseys outdoors. If you are there during Festival of Arts use the booths for at least one meal (I tend to eat at least one meal a day at the festivals). I got breakfast one day and lunch one day at my resort (CSR) QS and took it outside. Three Bridges at CSR is all outside, you can get on wait list or reserve. It was my favorite place and meal the entire trip. I grabbed QS breakfast in the parks a few mornings. A lot of the resorts now have to go orders from their TS restaurants so you can order something and take it with you. Spice Road Tables at Epcot has outdoor seating, small plates and I love it.

I will just add, I was there in Sept. and did eat indoors a few times and never felt unsafe and came home fine.

 

[lilmc]

We just forgo table service dining right now. We eat counter service or food booths at whatever festival EPCOT has going on.

 

[Jennasis]

We ate at Homecoming and requested outdoor seating. Man I love that place.

 

[lostprincess_danie]

I haven't visited since Covid but I have a trip coming up soon and am in the same boat as you. I found this list of outdoor (on site) Disney dining: https://disneytrippers.com/outdoor-dining-at-disney/

I think Disney Springs has a decent amount of outdoor dining spots as well. I have a reservation outdoors at The Boathouse I'm looking forward to.

Edited to add: I don't think there's a way to specifically request/reserve outdoor dining at Disney but I've seen advice on these boards recommending you visit the day-of and speak to the host and note your request. When I made my reservation at Boathouse through OpenTable in the notes section I asked for outside and bar seating. Their outside area looks pretty expansive so I'm not too worried about it but if I was I would visit the day-of (or try to call, if possible) to speak to someone to confirm my request.

I hope they have cleared this up by now, but we tried eating outside at Boathouse last November and the birds are EVERYWHERE! Landing on tables, perched above you (really gross thinking about what could fall onto the table), swooping all through the area. We had to move inside to finish our meal, which was delicious.

 

[crickee]

We mostly did qs also but did eat at 2 table service, Wine Bar George and Jaleo. We specifically chose those as they had outdoor dining. We did late lunch for each and did have to wait a bit for tables but it worked well for us. Both restaurants also had great food.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

if you are looking for outdoor dining, you may have to stick with Disney Springs and QS dining in the parks.

 

[lovethesun12]

I went a few years ago during easter and found boatwrights (port orleans resort) to be much less crowded than other restaurants at that time. We really liked it there.

 

[CynBeth]

I hope they have cleared this up by now, but we tried eating outside at Boathouse last November and the birds are EVERYWHERE! Landing on tables, perched above you (really gross thinking about what could fall onto the table), swooping all through the area. We had to move inside to finish our meal, which was delicious.

We had an early dinner at Boathouse during Thanksgiving week and were outside with no issues.

 

[sdk1231]

Just back from a New Years trip. I had reservations at the Plaza (glorified quick-serve IMO) on 12/30 with the intention of requesting outdoor seating. Was told at check-in that they were not doing outdoor seating. I was surprised. I failed to ask if that was just because it was NYE weekend or if that's the norm. I always thought you could request outdoor seating at the Plaza. Ended up canceling the reservation. As mentioned by others, there are lots of quick serve places with outdoor seating in all of the parks.

 

[kylenne]

With due respect to pp who suggested it, Disney Springs is absolutely not a place I would go if covid conscious, regardless of the plethora of outdoor dining. It is far too crowded at dinner hours with far too many cavalier locals. I’ve been down twice since the parks reopened and both times I deliberately avoided it.

I did a lot of my own outdoor dining by mobile ordering from resort TS and eating on my balcony.

 

[FSU Girl]

I feel like quick service would be your best bet. You can eat outside and sit wherever you want away from others. Sit down dining will be tough. Many of the restaurants that have outdoor dining you can’t request ahead of time and might not get. I went just before Christmas and none of the restaurants I went to social distanced tables. Probably the best of the bunch was chef Mickey where our table was farther from others. Kona cafe we were about a foot from the table next to us.