Dining - What would you do?

[HookPan]

I am having difficulty finding dinner reservations in MK. Our options are Tony's or counter service. What would you do?

 

[PrettyFlower2]

Try to find dinner ressie for grand floridian contemporary or polynesian

 

[PrettyFlower2]

Just hop on the monorail and you can hop back to the park after dinner if you want something other than quick service.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

If it's Tony's or counter service, I'd take counter service. I do like the monorail idea, though, or just walking over to the Contemporary and having dinner at The Wave, which typically has availability.

 

[marissamayhem]

Agreed with everyone's suggestions. The monorail resorts have great dining options.

If you definitely want to stay in the park, I'd pick Columbia Harbour House over Tony's any day.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Counter service Pesco Bill's is pretty hard to beat we quite often eat there if we want to stay in the park.

 

[DisneyFive]

I would do counter service out of those two options.

...but as other's have said, look for TS locations at the monorail resorts like the Contemporary, Polynesion, and Grand Floridian. There is also a boat ride to Wildnerness lodge I believe. This is a very fun way to have dinner or lunch and you get to check out the resorts in the process.

If choosing counter service, my vote goes ot Columbia Harbour House or Be our Guest (lunch) if you want counter service. I love that they added a grilled salmon entree to the menu at Columbia... lighter and healthier.

Dan

 

[momof1princess]

There's some pretty darned good counter service options in MK. I'll second Pecos Bill's. Their pulled pork BBQ sandwich is usually what we get, but the burgers are good too. I've also heard Cosmic Ray's is good, and that Casey's has great hot dogs.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I would do counter service at Columbia Harbour House. Some of their entrees are table service like. Eat upstairs where it's relatively quiet and ambient

 

[shyjade]

If you definitely want to stay in the park, I'd pick Columbia Harbour House over Tony's any day.

Absolutely!! This is what I would (and plan to) do in November.

 

[GillianP1301]

I generally try to avoid CS anywhere, just not my cup of tea. So for that reason alone, I would choose Tony's. I've never actually eaten there though, so take that with a grain of salt, but it is on my list of places to try.

I've eaten at both Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays. IMO, Pecos is just passable, food quality wise and Cosmic Rays was a once and done for me, it was pretty bad. I like Casey's for hot dogs and their corn dog nuggets though, so that's another CS option.

 

[HookPan]

Thanks for the ideas!! Off to look up ADR for off property. We are going with my (22 month old) DS so we will already have limited time in the park. I'll look into Pecos and the other place. Thanks again!

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Magic Kingdom has some very solid counter service options. I wouldn't do Tony's unless you really enjoy it, rather than just filling an ADR quota. For my upcoming trip, I have ADRs at every park except the Magic Kingdom, that's how reliable their CS is.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

I would hop the monorail and head to the Contemporary or Polynesian.

I would try for:
- Chef Mickeys (likely booked as it is very popular, but worth a try)
- The Wave
- Ohana (also likely booked as it is very popular, but worth a try)
- Kona

 

[EMode]

Agreed with everyone's suggestions. The monorail resorts have great dining options.

If you definitely want to stay in the park, I'd pick Columbia Harbour House over Tony's any day.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Many have mentioned the monorail resorts. Another great option- don't know where you are staying- is almost always to eat at your home resort at least one night. It often pairs well with a MK day because MK is open late. You get the chance to stop by your room, change clothes, maybe swim, eat stress free, then head back to MK for the evening. Even the values have nice dinner specials!

Beyond the monorail three, all the MK area resorts are pretty close via boat. (or bus) There's good dining at WL, Ft. Wilderness.

Another consideration- if you have been looking at dinner ADR's is to consider a lunch ADR. Some places are not open at lunch, but many are. It can be really great to escape the parks for a bit, slip in to a nice air conditioned resort, have a nice lunch.

Of the monorail places, we're not too big on chef Mickeys...Kona is nice, 'Ohana may have availability at breakfast. The Wave and Grand Floridian Café are both decent and almost always have availability.

And if all the above suggestions don't appeal....We don't happen to think the MK QS are all that great, but- the monorail resorts all have great QS places.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

And of course there is the tried and true recommendation to just keep trying. I can't tell from the post what dates you are looking at (how far out you are), but if you don't find something and are resigned to CS, don't give up, just keep checking, especially as you get into the 60-45 mark. Approaching the paid in full deadline, people cancel, and usually also cancel their ADRs so not to forget and get hit with the fee. Patience might pay off.

Now if you are talk about going in the next week or two...not as likely, but stranger things have happened.

 

[csmith041177]

Columbia Harbour House is one of my favorites restaurants, counter service or table service.