Disney Dining Advice

[maleficent_man]

Some good choices Wayne - here's my thoughts:

Chef Mickeys - Contemp - have done the b'fast several times and enjoyed - it's more about the location and characters than the food though.

Trails End - Fort W

Ohana - Poly - love it - do it every trip now - such a great meal and incredible seeting.

Grand Floridian 1900 Park Fare - GF - did the dinner before and considering the b'fast for next trip - food for dinner was ok.

Mama Melrose - MGM - never been before but going in the summer - hope it's good!!

Hollywood & Vine- Fantasmic seating - MGM - I guess you've got more feedback on this than anything else. I didn't like it and turned down an option to do this. If you're doing it for the Package only then you'll be fine. If it's for the food with the package as the bonus it may be a different matter.

Whispering Canyon Cafe - WL - great location and a hoot - food was ok - I'm going again in the summer to try some other food options.

Crystal Palace - MK - never done, doing this summer (b'fast and dinner) - heard some great things about it.

Cape May Cafe - Beach Club

Le Cellier Steakhouse - Epcot - not everyone's cup of tea but I think it's amazing

Coral Reef - Epcot

Tepan Edo - Epcot

Rose & Crown - Epcot

Tutto Italia - Epcot - loved the old Alfredo's - can't bring myself to forgive them for getting rid of it!!!
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Disney's Spirit of Aloha - Poly(2 credits) - have been struggling as to whether to do this or not....just can't decide - have heard as many good and bad things about it.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for more comments. Not had much time at all these past few days, just got back from a great weekend away. Almost forgot what it was like to have a weekend away in UK, With so many trips to Florida and Holland last few years it was great to see a bit of English countryside again and travelodges at £9/night are a bargain. Also found 20 caches(geocaching.com) in 3 days, over 300 found now.
This week I will get to go thru all comments again and start make definite decisions.

Sharon, love all them places for CS, we have eaten in excess of 100 CS meals over 16 years so we have no problems knowing where to eat for lunch, my problem is TS, only ever had about 5 evening meals in Disney.

 

[penlanspice]

One of our places we always have to eat is Kona Cafe at the poly, the steak is to die for..mmmm

I might be in the minority here but we ate at R & C in Dec and loved it, we all had steak and fish and it was yummy..

Another new one on our list for next month is the Wave at the contemporary, read some pretty good things about it.

 

[jackieleanne]

I also loved R & C I had steak and fish when we went in September and loved it, boyfriend had the curry but didn't like it, however he did try my steak and chips and loved that.

 

[KimDis]

Hi Wayne - just my 2 cents

Didn't see dining in AK anywhere - I've heard great things about Tusker House. They now have a buffet for lunch and dinner and I've been told the food is great and freshly prepared.

Hoop Dee Doo - heard the food is fine, plentiful (and they can/will prepare some very good options for your wife), and the show itself is great!

 

[Shooby doo]

Wayne we only ate at 4 of your choices: Chef Mickeys for breakfast was really quite good,WCC was surprisingly good & we all liked it-the skillet!Coral Reef was also good but not huge portions BUT Ohana was easily the worst meal of the trip! Just to throw a spanner...Olivias at OKW was v.good,Kona Cafe we went back to & the Wave was in the top 2!
SD

 

[wayneg]

Hi Wayne - just my 2 cents

Didn't see dining in AK anywhere - I've heard great things about Tusker House. They now have a buffet for lunch and dinner and I've been told the food is great and freshly prepared.

Hoop Dee Doo - heard the food is fine, plentiful (and they can/will prepare some very good options for your wife), and the show itself is great!

No times yet for opening hours but AK I would expect to be around 7pm closing, we don't eat until about 7:30-8:30pm so will be cs lunch in there, if at all, prefer Busch to AK, its not my fave park.
Hoop is one of few places we have eaten, enjoyed but want to try new places.

Wayne we only ate at 4 of your choices: Chef Mickeys for breakfast was really quite good,WCC was surprisingly good & we all liked it-the skillet!Coral Reef was also good but not huge portions BUT Ohana was easily the worst meal of the trip! Just to throw a spanner...Olivias at OKW was v.good,Kona Cafe we went back to & the Wave was in the top 2!
SD

Rarely eat breakfast but we are considering doing one, will probably be either chef Mickeys or Crystal Palace

 

[heatherbelle]

Hi wayne

Of the places you've chosen, we didn't like H&V, we have eaten here three times now, the first time was great after that it went downhill. What about the Sci-fi, they do burgers and chicken and you get large portions. There are of course the old favourites of Mama Melrose, I've never eaten here, so can't comment, but lots of people like it.

Grand Floridian was okay too. We went for dinner and saw the ugly sisters and stepmother. Again food just okay. If I was paying I would have been disappointed.

We also didn't care for the poly, we had a breakfast and it was one of those skillet things, that they keep filing up. It was okay.

We like buffets too as DS can be picky about what he eats and DH is like you needs lots of food.

I would add cape may to your list, we had breakfast there and it was better than Chef Mickey's which is another favourite of ours for breakfast. I haven't tried dinner at either. But if breakfast was good, I suspect dinner will be good too.

Also you haven't got beaches and cream down. You can't make an ADR, but again, good choice of food, burgers etc, and big portions. Nothing fancy, just good american style food. We ate here a lot, as DS and DH like it. DH likes the puddings!!! In fact I gave up a ressie at Cindy's for them to eat there. I also wanted to try Cindy's but the love for my boys, made me give it up. Maybe next time.

The Whispering Cafe was a hoot and the food was good here too. Our best discovery was the buffet at the Wilderness Campground, which I see you have got on your list. We will go back there too.

It's so hard making the choices. Where ever you go, have fun planning.

Don't forget to look for the bargin places to use your snack credits. The bakery on main street is good, as too is the bakery on the boardwalk area. If you ask anywhere where they sell food, you can get a cup of water for free, without using your credits on water. We bought some crystals from walmart that you add to the water to make lemonade, a great tip picked up from here somewhere.

You now need to start a thread for snacks and a thread for CS. A good place for us British people to use these is Harry Ramsdens, for CS. You will not go hungry, enjoy.

 

[PChef]

We loved Boma (dinner) Crystal Palace (breakfast), Ohana (dinner) and Le Cellier last trip. Would do all of those again. Tusker House in AK is similar food to Boma, and is a buffet, might be worth a try, or the new Yak&Yeti in AK?

 

[Tink2312]

Hi Wayne,
Can't comment on all your choices as we've only eaten at a few (that'll change when we do free DDP in Nov!)
We also love buffets and have been to:

Boma (which I know you loved too)

Hollywood and Vine - which we thought was great. Very good chicken, as I remember was cooked in some sort of blackberry sauce and lots of variety of dishes (meats, pasta dishes, rice and potatoes) which were all well flavoured and an excellent dessert bar.

Biergarten - I'd recommend this instead of R&C. The buffet was possibly the best we've had at WDW. Lots of variety, although it is quite meat-heavy (particularly red meat), but my Mum who's a staunch chicken-lover commented on the rotissierie chicken and chicken breasts. The accompaniments are fantastic too - cheesy potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato wedges, mash, rice dishes etc. There's also an excellent salad and desset bar. The entertainment is good fun too.

Ohana - although not a buffet, the food is served on an all-you-care-to-eat basis. We found the quality of the food to be excellent and the dessert is gorgeous.

Whispering Canyon - same deal as Ohana in that it's served family style, but here there are also entrees that your DW could have is she didn't fancy the skillet (as I remember it was very red-meat heavy). We all loved the skillet and the restaurant has a fun atmosphere.

Trails End - I don't know if I remember you mentioning you'd eaten here before, but persoanally, we didn't enjoy our meal. The ribs were absolutely faulltess, but other than that, there was no variety and the few dessert options there were were tasteless. I'd say don't waste your credit and try Raglan Road or Olivias. We loved RR the two visits we've had. There posh pan chicken is delish and they do a great mixed grill. As for portion sizes - I challenge you to get though Ger's Bread and butter pudding alone - it's huge!

We also enjoyed Tusker House - excellent variety of foods and different types and tastes to anything else we've eaten on property. We did the Nemo package this time at TH and thought it was well worth it.

Just one more thing, don't feel like you've got to take out buffets from your plans - we've found that buffets contain some of the nicest food in WDW.

 

[fairytale]

Hiya Wayne, I'll put my two pence worth in here for you

Chef Mickeys - Contemp
Always a family favourite of ours, food is nothing to write home about but certainly plentyful and pity much what you would expect of a Charactre Buffet

Trails End - Fort W
Last time we were at WDW we stayed at FW and heard a lot of mixed reviews. I had a wander around the buffet one night whilst waiting for our Take out Pizza and personally thought it looked a bit on the dry side, but that may have been due to it been quite late, maybe 9 ish.

Ohana - Poly
Loved it, loved it, loved it. For Breakfast or Dinner both was fantastic, Great food too much to eat, and the "house bread"
If I had to choose I would say go for Dinner. They come round your table constantly serving Beef, Prawn, chicken on skewers along with noodles and vegetables. I have pictures but can never managed to post them

Grand Floridian 1900 Park Fare - GF
Good Fun. Tigger and the Mad Hatter had a food fight whilst we was there which got quite messy. Dh loved the Strawberry Soup. Other than that the food was identical to Chef Mickey.

Mama Melrose - MGM
Never been.

Hollywood & Vine- Fantasmic seating - MGM
Never been.

Whispering Canyon Cafe - WL
One of the best meals we had during our 3 week stay. Huge portions, and absolutely gorgeous. We are going to make ADR's again this year for Breakfast and Dinner this time.

Crystal Palace - MK
OK. Nothing spectacular. We usually make a point of getting an 8am ADR just to be in the MK with out a sole in sight. I would certainly give it a miss if it was'nt for that

Cape May Cafe - Beach Club
Never Been, but thinking about this one myself.

Le Cellier Steakhouse - Epcot
Small portions but enough for us. Saying that DH is not a "dessert man" but ended up having 4 Creme Brulees. Food Was lovely though. Definately worth a visit if you can get a reservation.

Coral Reef - Epcot
Visited last year and was'nt impressed. Small ish portions, OK if you like fish as there did'nt seem to be much more choice. Waited an hour passed our ADR time, overall thoroughly disappointed with this one.

Tepan Edo - Epcot
Fantastic experience, but teeny weeny portions when we visited. I think we even had a CS when we left.

Rose & Crown - Epcot
Mixed reviews, but never been.

Tutto Italia - Epcot
First visted in 2006 and loved it, went back last year and both DH and I said we would give it a miss this year. Basic Italian food, poor service, really rich food that leaves you feeling sick, if you know what I mean

My additional recomendations would be the Sci Fi Diner at HS, Raglan Road in DTD, Garden Grill at Epcot, Kona Cafe at the Poly and The Turf Club at SSR. I am also hearing that the new saana restaurant at AKL is set to be amazing, the menu looks very yummy
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[wayneg]

Hi wayne

Also you haven't got beaches and cream down. You can't make an ADR, but again, good choice of food, burgers etc, and big portions. Nothing fancy, just good american style food.

Our best discovery was the buffet at the Wilderness Campground, which I see you have got on your list. We will go back there too.

Been to B & C twice, once for Kitchen sink and once for Burger & fries, one of best burgers I have ever had but not an eve meal place for me. OK for lunch. If we were stuggling I would go but enough places without it.

We loved Boma (dinner) Crystal Palace (breakfast), Ohana (dinner) and Le Cellier last trip. Would do all of those again. Tusker House in AK is similar food to Boma, and is a buffet, might be worth a try, or the new Yak&Yeti in AK?

Boma I loved the 1st visit last August but went back again at Xmas, didn't enjoy half as much(probably becuse we ate too much at beaches and cream for lunch) looking at Tusker house but I guess opening times of AK will be against us.

Biergarten - I'd recommend this instead of R&C. The buffet was possibly the best we've had at WDW. Lots of variety, although it is quite meat-heavy (particularly red meat), but my Mum who's a staunch chicken-lover commented on the rotissierie chicken and chicken breasts. The accompaniments are fantastic too - cheesy potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato wedges, mash, rice dishes etc. There's also an excellent salad and desset bar. The entertainment is good fun too.


Trails End - I don't know if I remember you mentioning you'd eaten here before, but persoanally, we didn't enjoy our meal. The ribs were absolutely faulltess, but other than that, there was no variety and the few dessert options there were were tasteless. I'd say don't waste your credit and try Raglan Road or Olivias. We loved RR the two visits we've had. There posh pan chicken is delish and they do a great mixed grill. As for portion sizes - I challenge you to get though Ger's Bread and butter pudding alone - it's huge!

We also enjoyed Tusker House - excellent variety of foods and different types and tastes to anything else we've eaten on property. We did the Nemo package this time at TH and thought it was well worth it.

Just one more thing, don't feel like you've got to take out buffets from your plans - we've found that buffets contain some of the nicest food in WDW.

Biergarten, having another look at now, DW like look of there.
Trails end, been 3 times and love the food there. Ribs are perfect, peel and eat shrimp, only a small choice but really enjoyed every visit. Leaving on list for now.

Thanks again everyone, been taking buffets off now more pics I see of small meals I add buffets again, never seen so many photos of food.
At least on the cruise I just ask for another meal if I am still hungry.
Never have a problem offsite, order salmon & steak combo chilis or Steak and rib combo Texas roadhouse and the portions are great.

Off to look at even more pics.

 

[jackieleanne]

I'm like your wife Wayne very fussy I also love the look of the biergarten it looks to have a very wide choice of nice foods that I actually enjoy.

 

[happyj]

Hi Wayne
So good to give you some help ! I have many times asked for yours !
We are like you in the planning stage ,we have 1 week in BCV then 4 day cruise on the Wonder ( first time cruiseers ) then 1 week at the BLT.

Although this is our first time on the DDP we nearly always eat disney as we have done Tables in Wonderland .
My input
If you do too many buffets near each other you become buffet'd out. So spread them about.
We also like to go places we are not staying to get the feel of the places .
I noticed you are not doing any signature retaurants .
Californian grill on top of contempory is not to missed when the sun goes down and also to watch wishes from a different angle ( I still like them in front of the castle ) .
Mamma melrose wonderful
Cape may Cafe our favourite buffet (we like fish )
You could also do the hop de do
Narcoosee's great place and food
Thisyear we are going to try Citricos
We enjoyed german buffet
Crystal palace first thing in the morning magical at night not to magical ,Liberty Tree Tavern good and lots of food .

Canada great
love France
corel reef great for food and atmosphere
Whispering Cafe wonderful for food and atmosphere

We are trying Chef mickey ourselvesthis year as we are staying next door

Well that is my input
hope it helps we all have different ideas

Maybe I ill be asking you some questions on the cruise
Janet x

 

[wayneg]

If you do too many buffets near each other you become buffet'd out. So spread them about.

You could also do the hop de do

love France

Maybe I ill be asking you some questions on the cruise
Janet x

Don't think its possible for us to do too many buffets, although we like TS on Disney cruises when we cruise RCCL(2 so far) we do buffets every night, was same in Vegas, only ate in buffets, some people don't like them we do.

Done Hoop about 3 years ago, really good but thought we would try Aloha at Poly, only concern is the heat in August there, reading the reviews its not the best of places in middle of summer.

Sorry, not a fan of France.

Get the cruise questions flowing.

 

[UKDEB]

Are Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex on the plan? I've always found the portions there to be huge. We ate at T-Rex for lunch in November and, wanting something light as we had dinner reservations, opted to order from the appetisers menu. This is what we got!

Over the years, I've learnt not to read too much into other people's reviews, but you obviously know what you like and you seem to have made some well-informed choices.

Is Le Cellier a 2TS place, or does it not work like that these days? It's not a bad choice, as such, but hugely over-rated in my opinion. We used to enjoy it as a place to eat if we happened to be in that part of Epcot when we were hungry, but since the inception of the DDP, it seems to have become the holy grail of dining - I don't get it. If you can get Yachtsman Steakhouse for the same "cost", that would be a better choice in terms of quality and quantity.

I think you'll probably like 'Ohana. A bit of a change from a buffet, but still plenty of food. Mama Melrose is okay - nice atmosphere, but last time we ate there (in November) I was disappointed that my shrimp pasta came with a measly 4 shrimp! A fairly hearty portion of pasta, though. Bread costs extra!

Someone mentioned The Wave at the Contemporary and whilst we loved the whole experience, including the food, I think it would fall into your "arty-farty" camp. The first four photos are from our first outing one lunchtime (starters and entrees). We liked in so much, we returned for dinner (final two - we had soup for starters, but the earlier photo is representative).

 

[Karenpowley]

Hi Wayne,

I think this is a difficult one really - it's different horses for different courses i think as far as Dining is concerned - here's my list tho.

Crystal Palace - Breakfast - 1 TS -absolutely loved it -good start to the day ( we always get the 8.00am res - sounds early, but it's great once ur there and u don't miss time on the park) nice surroundings - i thought food was great for breakfast - buffet style and so much choice and lots of it. It is a character breakfast, but i don't think it feels as manic as some of the others- Booked this time

Chef Mickeys - we went there because that was the one to do, but didnt like the food, and the surroundings just looked and felt like a business hotel to me - it didnt feel magical, altho did love seeing Minnie and Mickey.

Le Cellier - 1TS -Quite nice, food ok although i do think it's got it's excellent reputation as a must do from the boards, and not realy from the food or surroundings . Have booked again tho.

Teppan Edo - 1TS -have gone on reputation and novelty factor from the boards - New for us this time

50's Prime Time - 1TS -We love this - food old school american, novelty factor of waiting staff being your mum/brother etc , and you must eat your greens -but if you don't like to be included in the banter - don't go.Booked this time

Mama Melrose Fantasmic - 1TS-never been

Brown Derby - (2 TS) loved it last time, upmarket, excellent food, but not big portions

Sci - Fi - 1TS - Food mediocre - you go because of the replicated Drive in Cinema - booked this time

Yachtsman Steakhouse - never been - 2 TS - booked because going on the illuminations cruise after which leaves from there. Upmarket, was highly recommended - Our posh restaurant of the holiday!!. Booked this time.

Coral Reef - went last time - lovely surroundings. Food good but small portions

Whispering Canyon - Went last time for lunch and for novelty factor - altho they must have been having a off day because there was NO novelty factor whilst we were there, think evenings must be better- Didnt think much to the food - Lots of it - had the skillet, but i thought it was cheap cuts of meat, quite fatty and greasy.

Beaches and Cream - Last time - will go for lunch while we're there this time, food good for a burger bar, and i don't normally like burgers- loved the atmosphere altho very busy, and novelty factor was how they announced to everyone that we'd ordered the 'kitchen sink' and exactly what was in it

Rainforest Cafe - last time - bit manic , we went for lunch, but once your seated it's fine - food ok, big portions (Debbie ur pics look fantastic, can't remember mine looking like that! So will try T-rex next time!!!)

Anyway, thats my take - but we're all different and it's good to hear everyone's opinion of places.

Kx

 

[UKDEB]

Whispering Canyon - Went last time for lunch and for novelty factor - altho they must have been having a off day because there was NO novelty factor whilst we were there

I read somewhere recently that they've been forced to dum it down big time. Shame.

 

[heatherbelle]

I read somewhere recently that they've been forced to dum it down big time. Shame.

My DS will be disappointed, he loved Hickory! At first we didn't have a clue what was going on, we just thought they were mad. Do they still bring you a very large refill of coke, when you have drunk your first one?

 

[Karenpowley]

My DS will be disappointed, he loved Hickory! At first we didn't have a clue what was going on, we just thought they were mad. Do they still bring you a very large refill of coke, when you have drunk your first one?

It was 2 years ago when i went - I'm sure they still do most things, tomato ketchup, buckets of coke etc - it just didn't seem to be happening on the lunchtime we went - We were so disappointed, as were the children. I'm sure somebody on the boards would have said by now if they'd stopped it alot, i wouldn't worry - might be best to pick an evening though.

Kx