First trip to WDW ~ Could use some dining recommendations!

[ameraumi]

We are making our first ever trip to WDW the first week of April and I cannot wait! I have been glancing at some of the posts, but now my head is spinning! We do have the dining plan and I was hoping to get some good recommendations on what's good at each park. We do not need anything fancy and there will be 6 of us, 4 adults, 12 yr old and 4 yr old (DH is a picky eater so I should refer to him as a "kid"). TIA!

 

[pezpam]

Food is such a personal thing..... and you'll probably hear good and bad about any restaurant.

What worked for me was checking the menus on allearsnet - I found some places with dishes I really wanted to try that I would not have visited otherwise and found some restaurants that I thought I wanted to try didn't have anything I could eat. It''ll take a little time to flip through, but it's a way to start.

 

[ameraumi]

Ok, another question. Is it a must to get advance seating? I know we want to do a meal wiht Pooh at CP so I need to call for that now, but what about the non character meals?

 

[cara loves the poly]

'Ohana at the Poly is our favorite, Cinderella's Royal table is another favorite, Coral Reef at Epcot was our biggest disappointment. Good luck! We will be there in April also!

 

[TMTIP]

Just retured on Thursday for WDW. My kids (dd's 11 & 9) always love Sci-Fi Drive in Theater (food is ok). We always eat at O'hanas also (menu has changed though). We also love LeCellier (kids love the pretzel sticks). The one we tried this time and will definetly go back to was Trails End Rest. at the Camp Ground--great food! There are many others but these are our favorites.

 

[cara loves the poly]

Yes, I would recommend reservations. April is a very busy month. Trust me.

 

[ameraumi]

I guess I need to go look at menus and start figuring out all of this now! We are at the 90 day mark, is it too late to get reservations at the non-Ptincess meals?

 

[1000th happy haunt]

When we were there in October, all the MK sit-down restaurants were booked and not allowing walk-ins.

Other than that we had no problem getting seated. We book Sci-Fi the day we decided to go there, walked into Cape May Cafe for breakfast (although we did have to wait a while to be seated), and booked Cape May Cafe for dinner two days beforehand, and got seated very quickly at Rose and Crown even though we didn't have reservations. However, we ate at Rose and Crown about 5:30. We tried to get reservations for 7:30 several days before but couldn't (if you get seated around 7:30-7:45 you can watch Illuminations from their patio).

 

[budbeerlady]

We went 12/10-12/17 and DH thought I was crazy and I in turn threatened to leave him behind several times, he didnt get the whole adr or dining plan busy thing. In his mind the parks wouldnt be at capacity, why would a resturaunt? After the 2nd night when he saw many unhappy people turned away at Le Cellier at 6:30 on a Sunday he saw the results of my hard work. I tried to get him to look at menus but he didnt want to hear about it untill we left. So I made the decisions and figured since he eats almost anything he would be fine. He enjoyed all his meals and didnt complain anymore.

We made ADRs corresponding to the parks we would be at incase a park was busy we would have to use transportation to get around and through.

Sat. 1900 park fare dinner, DD (5) loved this and it was very good food!
Sun: Le Cellier, awesome, had a great server!
Mon: Mama Melrose, good veal at mgm
Tue: LTT at MK, didnt really like this one. Food was bland and service was poor. Characters were ok, pluto was fun and around the most.
Wed: Yatchsman for 2, neverland club for 1
Thurs: Captn Jacks. wouldnt eat here again, on a whim before Cirque
Fri: Boatwrights, very good prime rib!

I made ADRs figuring they can be cancled and others made if available once you get to your hotel. I did cancel Boma for friday and made Boatwrights instead.

Have a good trip, these boards are really helpful!

 

[cara loves the poly]

Also, we are trying the Hoop Dee Doo review this time after reading such wonderful experiences with it. It is at the Wilderness Lodge. You might want to research that.

 

[ameraumi]

At least with us being there 6 days/5 nights I can try a different park each day! Thanks a lot for the suggestions, my head is spinning now!

 

[TigerCheer2009]

Rose and Crown is fabulous, as is Whispering canyon cafe at Wilderness Lodge...Le Cellier was alright for us...we also really enjoyed Liberty Tree Tavern. We had an ADR for Boma but missed it due to not enough credits.

 

[katallo]

Where are you staying? If you enjoy seafood, Flying Fish is great. That's at the Boardwalk. Our favorite in Epcot is Le Cellier. Palio's at the Swan has very good Italian food and the ice cream is great at Beaches and Cream. One of our favorites is the Grand Floridian Cafe. The best thing to do is review all of the menu's before you choose. I agree, please make ADR.

We recently booked CRT (breakfast) for April and didn't have any problem getting the date and time requested.

 

[ameraumi]

We are staying at CSR. I made sure to get the hopper passes so jumping around to different parks won't be a problem.

What Character meals are good? I thought about CP for breakfast and 1900 Park Fare for a dinner.

 

[M*2]

Hi Ameraumi. I have been to WDW only once, but I used a technique that I liked so well, I'll definately use it again. I made reservations (or whatever we're calling them these days! ) for each day, for as many meals as I thought we'd need, using various restaurants. That way, we'd always have someplace to dine. I carried my cell phone, so if we happened upon a cool-looking restaurant that wasn't too crowded, I could change plans, call the WDW reservation number, and cancel our res. I got tired at the parks (though we had a fabulous time!) and it was great to always know we could fall back on our plans.

We LOVED the Crystal Palace. Healthy lunch, light and cheerful setting.

Have a good time!

 

[cara loves the poly]

'Ohana has one w/ Lilo and Stitch, food is great, interaction is great, Chef Mickey's is suppost to be AWESOME, we are doing that one for the first time this April.

 

[Stacerita]

We loved Ohana, 50's prime time, Whispering Canyon, and Chef Mickey's (for breakfast). I would also suggest Sci-fi Drive in, not for the food though, just the atmosphere and getting to eat in the cars.

 

[Kick Save]

The one thing DW and I do while we're there is eat...and eat...and eat. Adding our kids to the forumla hasn't changed that (both boys, 6 and 2 on the last trip). So, here's our favorites...

1. 50's Prime Time Cafe - We LOVE the experience here, great time for adults and kids alike. Also, the pot roast is to die for. (And S'Mores for dessert...can't miss there. )

2. Marrakesh - This is the sentimental favorite because we went there on a whim on our honeymoon, so we always return. My wife is a rather picky eater, but she enjoys the food here.

3. Crystal Palace - In addition to feeding the Pooh need of son #2, the food here is pretty darn good. Only done it for dinner, and enjoy it every time.

We've also done Chef Mickey's for dinner, and Cape May Cafe and Donald's Breakfast-o-saurs for breakfast, and enjoy CP the most overall.

Those are just our favorites. I've also heard great things about Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge for families with kids, and that's on our list for the next trip.

 

[jgreen]

Our three favorites in no particular order were Kona Cafe, Mama Melrose and Olivia's. All had very good food and service.

 

[lustergirl]

Try the ESPN Club on the Boardwalk for lunch, great food. We also ate at the Concourse Steakhouse, was also awesome. We tried lunch at Casey's Corner in MK, Main Street. We had dinner at Ohana's at the Poly. I would suggest The Luau show as we are trying this next trip- hearing great stuff about this dinner and show. Good Luck in your decisions.