Family gathering at Disney -- need restaurant suggestions!

[autismgoesdisney]

We are having a family gathering for my mom's 60th birthday party at Disney in December, it is *almost* our 180 days and we are starting to look into which restaurants to book! Feedback on the guests going!

Mom -- soon to be 60, been to Disney before but not in a long time! She says she wants fun restaurants, she loves to eat, and loves good food but fun is on top of her list!

Aunt & Uncle -- never been to Disney and says they just want to see the grandneices and nephews having fun

My family -- Family of 5 -- kids are 6, 4, 2 (2 year olds first visit)

My sister's family -- Family of 5 -- kids are 10, 8, 4

For the most part we are doing all our meals together, we all have the dining plan and are not interested in ANY restaurants that use 2 dps We plan on doing a meal for each park we go to, we are open to going to other resorts as well on the days that we are visitng a nearby park! We will have 8 days worth of meals

For starters, my sister insists on wanting to do Chef Mickey's for dinner one night (that will be one of our MK days)

My kids insist on going to Asherkus one day for lunch or dinner (which is better) during one of our Epcot days

Other than that I am all ears!!!! Any suggestions?

 

[iluvhawaii]

We're not on the dining plan, but here's a sample of what we're doing for our party of 10 (3 generations = 6 adults, 4 kids 14, 11, 11, and 4). Early on, decided on just one character meal. We did Chef Mickey's a few years ago, so we changed it up this year.

MK: B Crystal Palace w/ Pooh and Friends (note: 8 am resv to get into the park and walk down Main Street w/o the crowds)
AK: Just doing counter service here.
DHS: L Sci Fi (we also considered 50's Primetime and Mama Melrose--been to all, and they're all good w/ different themes)
Epcot: D Le Cellier (we also considered Coral Reef)
Poly: D Ohanas (a family favorite)
Beach Club: D Cape May (the men in my family are into the all you can eat seafood buffet)

My family is pretty easy-going and let me do the planning. I came up with options and then sent the adults the link to the menus, asking if they had a preference between choices A and B (i.e. Chef Mickeys or Crystal Palace; Le Cellier or Coral Reef). Usually the answer was "whatever," but sometimes they surprised me with opinions, which helped me make decisions when I really didn't have a preference myself.

Good luck with the planning. Sounds like a fun and wonderful trip...

 

[pauly's girl]

50's Primetime is great as well as Sci-fi these are two of our favorites! Les Cellier would be a nice dinner for a birthday celebration! For fun..... we enjoy the breakfast at the Tuskar house and Whispering Cayons! Good luck with your choices.... there will be 10 in our party on the dining plan and we all made some good compromises.

 

[dgagnon519]

We are also doing a group trip this year. I picked some new ones to try and some Favs...

Animal Kingdom - Yak and Yeti is really good. It was nice inside, some nice phot ops. Our service was good and food was great. Nearby, Boma is excellent too and you can tour the Animal Kingdom Lodge while there.

Hollywood Studio - 50's Prime Time and Sci Fi Dine In. Food better at 50's but atmosphere is fun at Sci Fi.

Epcot - Alot of goodies, but Akershus is a good one. Ohanas is nearby at the Polynesian, great character breakfast. It is my fav breakfast. Il love Stitch.

Magic Kingdom - Crystal Palace is our favorite here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. LTT has great food.

 

[ElizabethB]

You may want to read the long thread about a disappointing birthday celebration at Chef Mickey's.

Given the fact that all Disney restaurants are packed these days due to the DDP, and asking for special help for a celebration can be a losing proposition, it's hard to know what to recommend.

We had an 80th birthday party for my dad at Narcoosee's. It was lovely. The restaurant made up special menus noting his birthday and gave us a table with a nice view of the fireworks. But, of course, that is 2TS per person and you said you don't want that.

Thinking about 1TS restaurants, in the parks you could consider Tony's at Town Square. We've found the food there to be pretty good as a rule, although the ambience is theme-park insanity.

You might consider the Grand Floridian Cafe, which probably would be somewhat quieter and more private for dinner than one of the theme park restaurants. I realize your Mom wants fun, but the "fun" restaurants can be so noisy and packed that they end up not being very fun.

Another place we like that is a bit less frenetic than some is Turf Club at Saratoga Springs Resort.

If you want a buffet, many like Boma, although we weren't crazy about it when we ate there.

Olivia's at Old Key West has been tasty when we've dined there and, again, a bit more relaxed than the theme park restaurants.

Sanaa might be nice if you ask for tables near the savannah view to be put together, although the Indian-inspired food may not appeal to everyone.

In Epcot, I might consider Marakesh. It's usually not as crowded as the other restaurants, there are musicians and a belly dancer, which are fun, and the food is good, although, again, the food is somewhat exotic and may not appeal to everyone.

At DHS, we've had pretty good large family group meals at Mama Melrose.

One off-beat suggestion -- you could consider a birthday celebration at breakfast rather than dinner. We've had nice breakfasts at 'Ohana at the Polynesian. We go later, around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. The food is tasty, including fresh fruit and pineapple bread. The characters spend a good deal of time at each table. And, every 1/2 hour, or so, Mickey leads the kids in a cute parade around the restaurant. Your mom would probably have a lot of fun at this one.

That's about it for my 1TS credit suggestions.

 

[aidandmommy]

MK Crystal Palace
Epcot Teppen Edo or Tutto de Italia
HWS 50's Prime time love the background
AK agree counter service
Resorts Kona's breakfast no characters but great

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

Just say NO to CM for supper, seriously If she insists try to talk her into breakfast, the lesser of the two evils

I'd recommend for a crowd of 13:

AK - Donald's Safari
MK - Crystal Palace
EP - Norway Breakfast
DHS - Prime Time 50's

For a fancier dinner, depending on budget maybe Cal Grill and watch wishes or pick basd on your Mom's tastes since it's her celebration The dinner shows are fun too. We enjoyed Poly's Aloha Show and are looking forward to trying Hoop Dee Doo next time. Something like that might be fun for a big family

Good luck, I'm sure you'll have a great time