Dinner Recomm - good meal w/ kids and want to see a nice Disney resort

[seemickeysoon]

Hi -

We are going to Disney soon and staying off-property for a few days. We would like to eat dinner one night at a Disney Resort. We wanted to see a nice Disney resort plus have a good dinner - something manageable with two little kids (2.5 and 1). Tried to get a reservation at Chef Mickey's but can't. What do you think of Cape May Cafe? Is the fish good quality? Is the resort nice and a good one to check out? - I think it's at the Beach club.

Would love any recommendations!

Thanks!

 

[Ti2gerrr]

Cape May is really good. I don't eat seafood, and there was plenty for me to choose from. My Partner loved the steamers, so much I had to remind her to eat some veggies too. We usually hit Cape May on a day we spend at MGM or Epcot. It's a nice break to leave the parks. We usually get PS for around 6pm and have had plenty of time to eat, check out the resort, and still make it back to Epcot for Illuminations.

One of our other favorite meals is at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. One day, we will stay there, right now its just not in the budget. I think Wilderness Lodge is the most attractive resort on site(and I'm almost sure we have been to all the Deluxes, and Modorates just to check them out or to have dinner). The food at Artist Point is wonderful. Wilderness Lodge is just a short boat ride from the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Grumpy92]

I love the mussels at Cape May and you could walk the boardwalk after dinner.

But I would suggest Ohana's or Whispering Canyon. These are both very guest interactive restaurants and the food is pretty good at both of them.
At the Poly you could then ride the monorail or go out to the beach and watch the electrical water pageant. WL also has the water pageant,, a geyser, beautiful lobby and a boat that you ride either to other resorts or to MK.

Website with all the menus
www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[zulaya]

Cape May was great! They put paper on the tables and the kids go to town with the crayons. Plus the food was great.

'Ohana is my all time favorite! I love the food and the kids activities - hula hoops and coconut races, were fun!. That being said, my picky little daughter only ate the meat and not the fried rice - she likes white rice only, the little stinker. But I hear you can order off of Kona's kids menu if your kids are picky.

 

[crisi]

The nice thing about choosing a Boardwalk/Beach Club restaurant is you can get a chance to scope the whole area - BW, BC/YC and Swan/Dolphin if you wish.

Wilderness Lodge has fantastic theming, as does the Poly. Both are worth visiting.

We also enjoy eating at the restaurants at the GF - we've never stayed there, but have been able to sample the ambiance of the place by eating there. Narcoosees is good.

You may want to try for Chef Mickey's again. A lot of people have good luck day of.

 

[ducklite]

IMHO you're LUCKY you can't get Chef Mickeys. The food is terrible, the service is iffy, and it's LOUD! Not to mention that the CR isn't one that particularly good to "check out".

The Cape May would be a great choice, keep in mind there are no characters at that meal. It's very kid friendly, and you can checlout the YC, Swan, Dolphin and BW after dinner.

Anne

 

[cd&kids]

Cape May is okay, but sounds like you want more than just a good meal ... also an experience seeing a resort. For that, you cannot beat Wilderness Lodge. It is just absolutely stunning. The looks on my kids' faces (and me and my wife as well!) when we first walked in the lobby was priceless...it just takes your breath away. It's built like a giant lodge....plenty of wood....an enormous ceiling...and a huge stone fireplace that goes from the lobby floor all the way to the ceiling (8 or 9 stories up). The giant totem pole will also blow everyone away!
Artist Point is a very good restaurant...Whispering Canyon might be better for the kids, though. Informal food...very kid oriented...(a little loud!!!)...but fun for kids.
Cape May, in my opinion, while very pretty, might be a little stiff for the kids. And even if you don't end up choosing Wilderness Lodge, I would recommend you spend a half hour there walking around at some other point in your trip.
Have fun...enjoy!!!

 

[Erikarate]

Anne aka "ducklite":

Usually I am in agreement with you, but not in regards to the Contemporary. I think it is a COOL resort, esp. the monorail running through it.

I DO agree that Chef Mickey's is loud, we didn't eat there, but asked if we could walk through and check out the buffet. It was a madhouse - kids running around in all directions, people crowding at the buffet (one of the reasons I avoid buffets in general...except maybe for breakfast).

Seemickeysoon:

As we are DVC, we stay often at WL and BW. We usually go to BW for our July trip with the kids...which is our "big" vacation and then take "mini" vacations a couple times a year at WL or OKW.

The reason we spend more time at BW is because of it's location (even though we LOVE WL for it's beauty and accessibility to MK). You can walk from BW to EPCOT and to MGM (a little longer walk though). You also have lots to do at the boardwalk (i.e. shopping, games, entertainers, bikes, good restaurants and take-out) and it is also a short walk (or boat ride) to the Yacht and Beach club and Swan/Dolphin (DH calls it the "Swalphin"!!!).

You MUST try Beaches and Cream with the kids at Yacht club, located near the pool. It has very few tables, so get there early or put your name in and walk around the resort a bit. Here's the menu:

http://wdwig.com/menu/menu_bc.htm

I also agree that Whispering Canyon is great, though you will hear mixed reviews on that, but we love it. Here is the menu:

http://wdwig.com/menu/menu_wc.htm

Good luck and have fun...

 

[PrincessAurora]

I would vote for Whispering Canyons at Wilderness Lodge and OHanas at the Poly for a great combo of decent food, very kid friendly / interactive restaurants and fabulous resorts.

While Artists Point is one of my favorite places to eat, it may be too "boring" for children this young. They will love the games at Whispering Canyons along with the water pagent (think mini electrical parade on the water outside the Lodge).

OHanas has the coconut races, hula hoops and a wide variety of food. The resort is wonderful and both choices are tons of fun for the whole family.

I have not been to Cape May but found Beach Club and Yacht Club both more "high end stuffy" for little kids. I think the other two places are much more fun. Flying Fish is a bit more pricy but they are kid friendly and while they cant run around and play games, there tons of cool things to see. The upside here is you can go run around on the Boardwalk afterwards.

 

[Hollymom1229]

My recommendation would be 'Ohana, the food is fantastic, the view of the castle is great and they have a lot of fun activities for the little ones. Also the Polynesian is a really beautiful and special resort. Art and I spent quite a bit of time just hanging out here before our dinner at 'Ohana.

 

[Gillian]

I think Ohana might be easier than Cape May with 2 little ones. No need to take turns running back & forth from the buffet - they bring it all to you! Whispering Canyon is this way as well.

About Chef Mickey's, I've never had the chance to eat there. I thought maybe on my trip next week, with my mom & DS 2. But mom, dad & friends went there last year and such an awful experience (noisy, long wait, bad food, charged for lunch when they had breakfast PS) that mom won't go back. Even for her grandson. Even though I begged a little.

If you eat at Ohana you can always take the monorail over to the Contemporary to to check it out!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by PrincessAurora
I have not been to Cape May but found Beach Club and Yacht Club both more "high end stuffy" for little kids. I think the other two places are much more fun. Flying Fish is a bit more pricy but they are kid friendly and while they cant run around and play games, there tons of cool things to see. The upside here is you can go run around on the Boardwalk afterwards.

Aurora--the YC is a tad "stuffy" IMHO, but the BC is definitely not! In fact IMHO it's probably one of the most kid friendly of all the deluxes! Do yourself a favor and check it out on your next visit, it's really wonderful

Anne

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Another suggestion would be the AKL with dinner at Boma--you simply can't beat the theming at the AKL

Anne

 

[BCV23]

Another idea would be Kona at the Polynesian. It is very casual, service is fast and good, and dinner is excellent. You can then explore the Poly grounds, stroll over to the GF, monorail to the Cont., etc.. Have fun whichever you choose.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I would like to make another recommendation just to make it more confusing We were blown away with AKL when we stayed there in August. They have children's activeties planned throughout the day such as storytelling, animal track tracking, also native Africans that bring so much charm and depth to the lodge and of course the animals. In our opinion the lobby is breathtaking. We did not eat at Jiko's, Boma's or Mara's because we were too full from the concierge's lounge, but they get very good reviews.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Ducklite: I was there last time. I walked through Beach Club on my way to Yachtsmans Steakhouse. I saw Cape May (which was different than I imagined). I guess I pictured an outdoor clambake kinda thing. Beach Club did have more kids and of the two I agree that Yacht Club is more "stuffy".

I guess by means of comparision, I thought they were both more high-end from a kids pov than the Poly or Wilderness Lodge and their kid-activity meals.

On my next trip, I will give it another look.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by BCV23
Another idea would be Kona at the Polynesian. It is very casual, service is fast and good, and dinner is excellent. You can then explore the Poly grounds, stroll over to the GF, monorail to the Cont., etc.. Have fun whichever you choose.

Oh yeah!

Anne

 

[zagafi]

Another nod for 'Ohana! It's one of our "must dos"; the food is great, the view fabulous and service has been great each time. We loathed Whispering Canyon (but adore Wilderness Lodge). The food was mediocre at best and the much vaunted "interaction" was non-existent. Sure, it could've been just an off day, but we're not interested in trying again with so many other places to conquer!

As for missing out on Chef Mickey's? Unless you'd like to relive your college cafeteria days, you're not missing much. Food is nothing to write home about, service only so-so and the chaos outweighs any character interaction.

I have to say that Boma is at the top of our list as well. And the kids would LOVE looking over the savannas!

 

[eeyore0062]

My DD's 2 favorite resort restaurants are 'Ohana at the Polynesian and Cape May Cafe Clam Bake at the Beach Club. With the monorail attached to the Poly, you could not only explore it, but after dinner you could get on the monorail and see the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary as well.

As for the Beach Club, it is attached to the Yacht Club, and only a short walk from the Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin. A good way to walk off your meal and see beautiful resorts at the same time!