"Fun" Restaurants with 8 Year Old

[Kdl]

Looking for opinions on "fun" TS restaurants. Travelling alone with my 8 year old daughter at the end of August on the free dining. My daughter is not one to enjoy a nice sit down restaurant - she is very on the move and when she is done eating, she is ready to leave. I, on the other hand, want to be able to enjoy a sit down restaurant. So, looking for good sit down restaurants that may have entertainment, etc to keep her occupied. Here are the parks I would like to go to each day and then what restaurants I am thinking for for evening. We are staying at the Pop Century and have no idea how the transportation works, so please help out if a restaurant would work better on a different day, etc....I am new at this disney planning and really don't want to be transferring bus after bus to get to dinner.

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 2 - AK - O'Hana
Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi
Day 4 - MK - maybe Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 5 - Epcot - Whispering Canyon

Any other "fun" restaurants anyone can think of? Any in Epcot? Then maybe I could switch around Whispering Canyon. What about Chef Mickey or 1900 Park Fare? Thanks for the help!!! I know I need to make ADR and I would like to do it soon!!!

 

[mcd2745]

Looking for opinions on "fun" TS restaurants. Travelling alone with my 8 year old daughter at the end of August on the free dining. My daughter is not one to enjoy a nice sit down restaurant - she is very on the move and when she is done eating, she is ready to leave. I, on the other hand, want to be able to enjoy a sit down restaurant. So, looking for good sit down restaurants that may have entertainment, etc to keep her occupied. Here are the parks I would like to go to each day and then what restaurants I am thinking for for evening. We are staying at the Pop Century and have no idea how the transportation works, so please help out if a restaurant would work better on a different day, etc....I am new at this disney planning and really don't want to be transferring bus after bus to get to dinner.

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 2 - AK - O'Hana
Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi
Day 4 - MK - maybe Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 5 - Epcot - Whispering Canyon

Any other "fun" restaurants anyone can think of? Any in Epcot? Then maybe I could switch around Whispering Canyon. What about Chef Mickey or 1900 Park Fare? Thanks for the help!!! I know I need to make ADR and I would like to do it soon!!!

Whispering Canyon is a good choice, but ideally, you'll want to do go on a MK day. So maybe you can do that on Day 4. On Day 5/Epcot, you can try Chef Mickey's - all you have to do is take the monorail (switching at T&TC, of course). The others are good choices. I would go for Crystal Palace over LTT.

 

[Sandy321]

Whispering Canyon is a good choice, but ideally, you'll want to do go on a MK day. So maybe you can do that on Day 4. On Day 5/Epcot, you can try Chef Mickey's - all you have to do is take the monorail (switching at T&TC, of course). The others are good choices. I would go for Crystal Palace over LTT.

ITA -

LTT doesnt have characters, but the food is what my DD enjoys

for Epcot - eating at Coral Reef in front of the aquarium - we enjoy that - check out the menus at allears and honestly Whispering Canyon isnt that much fun anymore - it is ok, the food is what we go for, and we enjoy other places - keep in mind how much time it takes to travel to WL, eat, then travel back - and it is "worth" it for many...

 

[wdw&sonny]

Agree w/ PP about Coral Reef at Epcot. Nice atmosphere for both of you to enjoy.

On AK day, maybe Rainforest. Right at main gate. More relaxing than WC and should keep her entertained w/ animatronic animals.

 

[mcd2745]

Agree w/ PP about Coral Reef at Epcot. Nice atmosphere for both of you to enjoy.

On AK day, maybe Rainforest. Right at main gate. More relaxing than WC and should keep her entertained w/ animatronic animals.

Unfortunately, not on the DDP though.

 

[Belle83]

Highly recommend Biergarten. The food is great and they have kid-friendly options. It's a fun/loud atmosphere, too. There's dancing/entertainment.

 

[kappyfamily]

I have a 9 year old daughter and this is what I would do (and will be doing in 8 months):

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Ohana's - take the boat ride over to the Poly. It takes 5 minutes. After dinner, walk around the grounds, rent a bike, rent a small boat for 2 they are a ton of fun.

Day 2 - AK - Do your sit down meal at lunch time or dinner at Sanaa at the AK lodge. A 5 minute bus ride to the hotel from the park. You get to watch the animals while you eat. The hotel is AMAZING she will love it!

Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi---- I would keep Sci Fi. My daughter loves this place.

Day 4 - MK - Take monorail to Contemporary or take the walking path from MK to Contemporary (10 minute walk) and eat at Chef Mickey's or go to Grand Floridian (take monorail or boat from MK) and go to 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Great character dinner.

Day 5 - Epcot - I would do Coral Reef or Teppan Edo where they cook your food right at the table "hibachi style".

Hope this helps! Have fun!!!!!!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Highly recommend Biergarten. The food is great and they have kid-friendly options. It's a fun/loud atmosphere, too. There's dancing/entertainment.

I agree with this.

I also recommend 1900 Park Fare. It's a buffet, so your DD can eat as much or as little as she wants, and the characters (which include Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia) are a hoot!

 

[Quin]

Day 1 - MK including parade & fireworks - I'd do Crystal Palace or 1900 PF this day. Buffets let you leave whenever she is ready and you won't miss parade/fireworks.

Day 2 - AK - from AK I'd take the bus to AKL (less than 10 minutes). If the menu interests her, eat at Sanaa; if not, eat at Boma (buffet; huge array of choices including African-themed as well as basic chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese). You can't see the animals while you eat at Boma but you can go to the outlook areas either before or after dinner.

3 choices to get back to Pop: 1. take bus from AKL to Downtown Disney, then bus from DTD to Pop. 2. if Epcot or DHS is still open when you are done with dinner, take bus from AKL to that park and transfer there to bus going back to Pop; either of those is closer to Pop than DtD. Don't transfer at MK; for you, it's even further away and the crowd can be brutal if you get there just as the fireworks are ending. 3. taxi from AKL to Pop.

Day 3 - DHS - SciFi sounds great.

Day 4 - MK - Ohana is the best but is also the hardest to get in to; don't go unless you have been able to make a reservation (ADR). Whispering Canyon IF you both like the menu choices AND both like a really, really noisy environment. Otherwise I'd recommend Chef Mickey - or whichever CP/1900 PF you didn't go to the first night.

Day 5 - Epcot - the possibilities are endless. Coral Reef is fun for watching the fish but not so good if you get a table way up in back. Biergarten has great food, lots of choices, and an oom-pah-pah band that plays while the kids come up front and dance.

 

[Princess Vespa]

Day 1 - MK including parade & fireworks - I'd do Crystal Palace or LTT. Buffets are good with the children, although mine prefer LTT menu ( as do I) Since your child is 8, Winnie the Pooh may not be in the list of top characters to see. LTT had a very family oriented feeling to the place.

Day 2 - AK - My choice would be to eat at Sanaa;Check the menu, we ate here last time and all the children in our group liked it (4 of them age 1 to age 9).

Day 3 - DHS - SciFi is a great choice.

Day 4 - MK - Ohana is a good choice but very hard to get reservations. In my group all the children really like Whispering Canyon, but keep in mind it gets really loud and chaotic. The food, in my opinion, is just OK. Chef Mickey - is always fun. the kids are kept enterained by the charatcers coming around which is always a +

Day 5 - Epcot - my vote is for the Biergarten -it has great food, and lots of fun for the kids. Plenty of food choices so even picky eaters can find something.
I do not like Coral Reef, so no vote there!

 

[Edgehopper]

Here are my suggestions, but do you have to do evenings, and are you limited to 1 TS per day?

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 2 - AK - O'Hana
Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi
Day 4 - MK - maybe Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 5 - Epcot - Whispering Canyon

Day 1 - If you're there in the morning, do Crystal Palace breakfast. Since you're trying to hit the parade and fireworks, it might be easier to do a TS breakfast here rather than scheduling dinner (most of which aren't as good in the MK proper). CP is good at any time for your 8 year old, though, with Pooh characters and the character parade every half hour or so.

Day 2 - AK - Usually closes before dinner, so any resort will do. Boma and Sanaa are both good and convenient options. O'hana and WCC are both good options here, and Hoop Dee Doo is worth a look as well (note for Hoop Dee Doo that while getting there is a little tricky--bus to MK, boat to Fort Wilderness--they'll have direct special buses to get you back after dinner, which is more convenient for you).

Day 3 - DHS - SciFi is a great choice, 50's Prime Time Diner is also a good choice depending on what kind of food abd atmosphere you want.

Day 4 - Epcot - Biergarten, Teppan Edo, and Coral Reef are all good choices depending on your food preferences, but my preference would be for Biergarten, which has actual musical entertainment. Definitely don't leave the park for this one; Epcot has some of the best restaurants on property, and if you leave, it's a long walk to the monorail and a long trip back for Illuminations.

Day 5 - MK - Here's where you'll want to do O'hana and/or WCC, and since this is your second MK day, you may want to start a little later in the park and relax with a full breakfast, probably at WCC. O'hana has the better fireworks view, and is better for dinner relative to its breakfast than WCC (unless your daughter really likes Lilo & Stitch characters).

 

[ChefDisneyLu]

I have a 9 year old daughter and this is what I would do (and will be doing in 8 months):

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Ohana's - take the boat ride over to the Poly. It takes 5 minutes. After dinner, walk around the grounds, rent a bike, rent a small boat for 2 they are a ton of fun.

Day 2 - AK - Do your sit down meal at lunch time or dinner at Sanaa at the AK lodge. A 5 minute bus ride to the hotel from the park. You get to watch the animals while you eat. The hotel is AMAZING she will love it!

Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi---- I would keep Sci Fi. My daughter loves this place.

Day 4 - MK - Take monorail to Contemporary or take the walking path from MK to Contemporary (10 minute walk) and eat at Chef Mickey's or go to Grand Floridian (take monorail or boat from MK) and go to 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Great character dinner.

Day 5 - Epcot - I would do Coral Reef or Teppan Edo where they cook your food right at the table "hibachi style".

Hope this helps! Have fun!!!!!!

I totally agree with everything here. Just know that Sci-Fi has not so good food. Stick with burgers and Milkshakes and you will be happy. The atmosphere is great!!!!! Another thing about Sci Fi...It is always soooooo cold in there so have a sweatshirt handy. We go here every trip. If you are not in to Sci Fi 50's Primetime Cafe is great too. Fun interaction with the wait staff and GREAT food.

I would choose Chef Mickey's over 1900 Park Faire if it were me but I am a Mickey nut!

Have a great time!

Lisa

 

[brymolmom]

Not to rain on your plans...but I would go with backup plans - it's a bit late to get a couple of your reservations for end of august, specifically Crystal Palace and Sci Fi - the others you could probably get, but have backups that do not fill up as quickly.

Another option for MK day is Tony's - My kids love the food there. The Plaza has yummy stuff but is generally considered a 'bad' deal on the DP, but then again, you're not paying for it so it's still a great deal.

For the DHS day, maybe try boating over and getting a reservation at Cape May Clam Bake or Captain's Grille? Or, maybe Beaches and Cream which doesn't take reservations - this is what we're doing in August on our DHS day...having a very early dinner there (in case we have a long wait for a table) then heading back to DHS for F!

Take a look at the online ressies and see what is even available before you get your hopes up for a plan.

And if you can get into Chef Mickey's - my 7 year old dd and 9 year old ds love it there.

 

[rznhal]

Coral Reef is the only place my DD 5 requested for our next trip...she was mesmerized by the fish tank! The server gave her a little coloring sheet with all the animals in the tank printed on it, she colored them as she saw them in the tank...it was great

 

[tjlemkuil]

I would go with the Biergarten. When the band is playing the dance floor is open. I have always observed several kids out dancing.

 

[akhenaten]

MK--- we are doing CRT for dinner on our first night... EMH so we are eating during wishes and seeing the electric parade at 11..

HS-- 50's Prime time ( My 22 year old said when we went to Sci Fi when she was 7 the film clips scared her... funny thing is now she loves horror movies)

Epcot- Garden Grill, character meal and revolving restaurant... over looking The Land Ride..

AK.. Rainforest Cafe

On a previous trip we did Spirit of Aloha... lots of fun.. love the fire dancer..

 

[mello]

Looking for opinions on "fun" TS restaurants. Travelling alone with my 8 year old daughter at the end of August on the free dining. My daughter is not one to enjoy a nice sit down restaurant - she is very on the move and when she is done eating, she is ready to leave. I, on the other hand, want to be able to enjoy a sit down restaurant. So, looking for good sit down restaurants that may have entertainment, etc to keep her occupied. Here are the parks I would like to go to each day and then what restaurants I am thinking for for evening. We are staying at the Pop Century and have no idea how the transportation works, so please help out if a restaurant would work better on a different day, etc....I am new at this disney planning and really don't want to be transferring bus after bus to get to dinner.

Day 1 - MK (for parade and fireworks) - Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 2 - AK - O'Hana
Day 3 - H Studios - Sci-Fi
Day 4 - MK - maybe Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree?
Day 5 - Epcot - Whispering Canyon

Any other "fun" restaurants anyone can think of? Any in Epcot? Then maybe I could switch around Whispering Canyon. What about Chef Mickey or 1900 Park Fare? Thanks for the help!!! I know I need to make ADR and I would like to do it soon!!!

I would choose Crystal Palacers over Liberty Tree because of the characters & action - they do a little "parade" through the restaurant, and there's lots of ups & downs & distractions with the characters coming around, the buffet and all.

Ohana is good too - the kids get to get up and do a "parade" there too, and do the limbo, etc.

Sci Fi could be entertaining to her, depending on if she'll watch sci-fi clips or not, my dd 8 isn't terribly fond of a lot of the movie clips because they're so weird - older b&w freakish type sci-fi. But, it's probably the best choice in Studios. Or maybe 50's - if you get a good server it can be very entertaining too.

Whispering Canyon is full of fun and action, but I'd do it on your other MK day because it's easier to get to from MK.

For Epcot you could try Garden Grill for dinner - there are characters and the restaurant rotates. Or there's always Akershus with the princesses, or Biergarten with the entertainment - they usually have the kids get up and dance, and of course she could hop up and down to go to the buffet. Teppan Edo is pretty entertaining as well - you get to watch them cook your food, and the chef does little things that are fun for the kids, and brings them special chopsticks to use, etc.

Chef Mickey and 1900 Park Fare are good choices as well - both are full of fun! My kids (even the teens) all love Chef Mickeys. And 1900 in the evening can be really funny with the Step Sisters - they were hysterical the night we were there!

Good choices all... the hard part is narrowing it down!

 

[crostorfer]

My daughter is 8 and we always travel alone together. We are big Ohana fans for both breakfast and dinner. We also really, really, really enjoyed the Polynesian Luau. It wasn't cheap, but my daugther loved all of the dancing in the second half of the show, and the food while we were there in May was really good. She stood up and screamed and clapped after each of the dances.

We've done every character meal except for Garden Grill at Epcot, and our favorite is Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom, but we are big 1900 Park Fare fans too. We also had a great meal at Cinderella's Royal Table. There is a table for 2 that is parked directly in front of the window looking out on to Fantasyland, best seat in the house. It couldn't have been better. (Although I paid $50 for a bowl of yogurt, I'm never doing breakfast again.)

Don't be afraid to try signatures either. We've eaten at both the Flying Fish and the California Grill, and at both places the staff went out of their way for us, and it was fun to get all "dressed up" and go out to a "fancy" dinner.

 

[rznhal]

I have a sci fi reservation for August 28th i was going to cancel tonight.....would you want to sign on at the same time and try to snag it when i give it up? don't know your travel dates, PM me if you want to give it a try I'll hold off for a day or two before i cancel!!!

 

[mommycrawford]

Just to clarify...do you have the QSDP or DDP? Staying at POP, I think the "free dining" is QSDP, which will not cover the price of your table service meals. IF you paid to upgrade it...that's different!

I just would hate to think my meals were covered and be hit with the bill, so I just wanted to be sure this was understood!

That said, I think O'hana is the best! 1900 Park Faire and Sci Fi are good picks, and Whispering Canyon is supposed to be fun (I have not been.)

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great place to walk around, even if you just go to Mara quick serve to eat!...The animal savannahs and art in the lobby, and amazing staff are worth the trip!