Dinner suggestions - Boardwalk area

PenguinWaiters

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
We arrive at WDW this Friday :yay: and I'm looking for dinner suggestions for our arrival night. Our flight is due in at 6:30pm. I don't want to make an ADR as I'm not sure when we will get to the hotel or how everyone will be feeling after traveling all day. We are a party of 4 - Dh and I plus DD14 and DS10. DS is a vegetarian but if he can get pasta or pizza he's fine. We are not on the dining plan.

What would you recommend for us for dinner that night in the Boardwalk area where we can either grab a decent dinner from quick service or where we have a reasonable chance of getting a table without a reservation? It is the half marathon weekend so I'm guessing that second option would be pretty slim but I figure if anyone knows a place it will be those here on the DIS.

Thanks!
 
The boardwalk pizza window is good. We are doing ESPN club for our arrival dinner next week - we just wanted something casual and relaxed after a day of traveling and it seems to fit the bill. We were also considering Ale and Compass
 
You could go over to the Dolphin and eat at the Dolphin Fountain.
 


ESPN Club is likely to work... DH and kids walked-in when staying at the Boardwalk, and we checked one other night and it was walk-in with no wait (first one was around 6:30, second around 7:45).
 
We arrive at WDW this Friday :yay: and I'm looking for dinner suggestions for our arrival night. Our flight is due in at 6:30pm. I don't want to make an ADR as I'm not sure when we will get to the hotel or how everyone will be feeling after traveling all day. We are a party of 4 - Dh and I plus DD14 and DS10. DS is a vegetarian but if he can get pasta or pizza he's fine. We are not on the dining plan.

What would you recommend for us for dinner that night in the Boardwalk area where we can either grab a decent dinner from quick service or where we have a reasonable chance of getting a table without a reservation? It is the half marathon weekend so I'm guessing that second option would be pretty slim but I figure if anyone knows a place it will be those here on the DIS.

Thanks!

I would simply go to Boardwalk Bakery and grab some QS. They have good salads and sandwiches and a pizza window right next door. ESPN and Big River Grille may be options if the lines aren't long (ESPN was virtually impossibly to get into this past Saturday night). If you are up for a little walk, the restaurants at Swan/Dolphin are excellent and most are available via opentable.com which offers reservations without penalty - you can always modify or cancel right up to the time of the reservation. You could also probably do a walk up at the Fountain at the Swan.
 


We walked up to the brewery and waited about 20 minutes for a table - big river grille. They don't seem to take reservations. We did do this at an odd time, but same as you, it was arrival day and we didn't want a reservation. Food was good. Tables are close together, but I think that is the case all over Disney.
 
2nd recommendation for Big River grille.
If you have kids young enough to get a kids meal, steal a bite of their chocolate cake dessert, it's way better than it deserves to be.
 
We do not really enjoy ESPN that much, but we do like Big River Grille.

We always like to eat at Hurricane Hannah's for QS. It's a quick walk over to the BC pool.
 
Options shouldn't be too bad - ESPN is very large so as long as it's not a big game you shouldn't have too much trouble getting in. Big River seems to be overlooked quite a bit and I have walked in a few times with no resize without difficultly. I'd recommend Picabu's at the Dolphin - it actually has a fair amount of vegetarian options.
 
We do not really enjoy ESPN that much, but we do like Big River Grille.

We always like to eat at Hurricane Hannah's for QS. It's a quick walk over to the BC pool.

Hurricane Hannah's closes at 8, so with their arrival time they likely won't make it--we ran into this one our last trip with a later arrival.

I'd suggest just pulling up the app on the ride form the airport to WDW and seeing what ADRs are available. There is usually something!
 
Options shouldn't be too bad - ESPN is very large so as long as it's not a big game you shouldn't have too much trouble getting in. Big River seems to be overlooked quite a bit and I have walked in a few times with no resize without difficultly. I'd recommend Picabu's at the Dolphin - it actually has a fair amount of vegetarian options.
All these work. Also, we sometims do carry-out from Big River to eat back in our room, splitting one of the dinner salads between the two of us (asking for two containers of dressing on the side so we each get our choice).
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top