Good places to go on the standard dining plan

[mickeeemouse]

Time for a new trip!!!! I'm so excited. Last one was in 2010. Going Feb10 through the 19. Last time we did quick service dining plan, this time we are doing the standard dining plan. There are five kids age 4,8,9,10 and 13 and four adults. Since I have never been anywhere besides Chef Mickey's. Give me some ideas of must does. We also plan on having one adult night. What is a good place to go too? Thank you so excited waiting for must does on the dining plan!!!!

 

[Quin]

You have several kids right around Disney's magical 'child v adult' dividing line. At a TS with a regular menu the "children" must order from the kiddie menu while the "adults" must order from the adult version, even if the 10 year old only eats cheese pizza and the 8 year old can polish off a whole steak. You might therefore want to stay with buffets and family-style meals.

In the MK, Crystal Palace is good breafast, lunch, or dinner, and you get the characters from Pooh. At Epcot if you need more character time there's Garden Grill, but I think the group would have much more full at the Biergarten in Germany. For an HS day, H&V is a very generic buffet; unless you really need the F! seating package, go instead to Cape May at the BC/YC resort for dinner (all you can eat crab legs and other seafood, as well as some standard meats and sides). In AK Tusker is great for breakfast; lunch and dinner are more Indian-themed which does not appeal to me so much. After your AK day if you'd rather take the bus to AKL, though, Boma (also a non-character buffet) has both standard foods and some really interesting choices - different spices, but mostly not fire-engine-hot ones.

Ohana at the Poly is one of the best 1-TS dinners, I think. Beautiful theming, great food that they bring to you (you get apps and sides family-style, and servers continuously circulate the tables with skewers of beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp), plus the best dessert in the world. It's a hard reservation to get, though, so make your ADR as soon as your 180 day window opens.

For an adult night, Signatures are lovely but pricey. I'd probably go with whatever type of cuisine appeals most in one of the countries in Epcot. Tokyo Dining is a much more quiet, adult experience (everybody takes the kids next door to Teppan Edo) if you like any type of Japanese. I prefer Tutto Italia for Italian but lots of folks like the pizza at Via Napoli. Restaurant Marrakesh if you want something really out of the box. Or just grab snacks and then have an adult evening at the Rose & Crown with Pub Grub rather than making an ADR at all.

 

[6elginfans]

To keep your sanity, be careful how many charachter meals you schedule in a row. There is no doubt the little kids will love them, but the bigs ones might get bored. The other issue is that these meals are NOT relaxing. Since the characters rotate to your table it is a mad dash to get food, get more food, eat and make sure you are there when the charatcers come by.

I would interlace some non chacarter meals so you can have a chance to rest.

Although the food is basic, Hamburgers, the Sci Fi diner is a hidden Parent's dream. The kids get mesmorized by the Sci Fi movies and you get to enjoy your meal.

If you have girls, the Princess meal is Norway is a great option to castle at MK. Our younger ones love Hollywood & Vine and Crystal Palace.

 

[mickeeemouse]

Great info so far, thank you so much. We defianantly want to do 2 or 3 character meals spaced out. I told my husband about the Biegerton in Germany and kids loving it there I think we may try that one when in Epcot. Keep the suggestions coming.

 

[Roxychica7]

Definitely Ohana's for dinner! SO good, and SO much food.

I think the kids would enjoy Garden Grill for a character meal and definitely Sci-Fi, the kids would love the movie screen at Hollywood Studios.

As mentioned above, signatures are pricey. To stick with 1 credit table service meals, I would lean toward Raglan Road at DTD, Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or something like Via Napoli at Epcot.

 

[Ksquared]

Our must-do dinner is definitely O'Hana's. Food is served family style and we just love the atmosphere. They usually have a parade around restaurant that all the kids have fun participating.

We tried breakfast at Tusker House last time and it's our new fav. breakfast option.

I don't think you can go wrong with a meal at 1900 Park Fare. We've done both breakfast and dinner and the character interaction there is great. I believe dinner is with the step sisters and cinderella and it's always fun. Decent buffet too.

We also have done both dinner and breakfast at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge. It's a fun family atmosphere there. We did breakfast last time so we might try dinner our next trip.

We don't often reserve meals in Epcot although we did Tepan Edu and really enjoyed.

 

[Pakey]

If you are wanting to go with a 1 credit meal for your adult dinner, I think Sanaa is the best bet; I actually prefer the food here more than several of the signatures that take 2 credits.

My favorite character buffet is Tusker House breakfast at Animal Kingdom; I think it has the best food of any character meal.

Biergarten's food is pretty decent and is a lot of fun.

Sci Fi is a great place. The food is not the best but my entire family loves eating here for the great atmosphere. The cars seat 6 but with the younger ages of your children, 3 should easily fit into one seat of the car so that your family would have an entire car to yourselves.

At MK, I'd probably pick Crystal Palace.

At DTD, Raglan Road has music and dancing in the evenings (except Sundays) and it's a nice family place early in the evening.

 

[cmh314]

Here are my suggestions:

Tusker House Breakfast: Really good breakfast buffet with good character interaction.

Biergarten: Not hard to get an ADR for, but we really loved it and it is a must do for us. The food was great (lots of variety - kids liked it too) and there's a band. The tables surround the dance floor, so the kids enjoyed dancing while we finished eating.

Tepan Edo (Epcot): Good hibachi style restaurant (less food than the hibacci places we're used to going to, but it was good and entertaining. The kids loved that one).

Akershus Breakfast (with princesses) - great interaction with the princesses and good food too.

 

[disneydreamkate]

I'm throwing out another vote for Tuskerhouse at AK. We love the breakfast buffet. The food is very good and the characters are great.

Boma is a must do for us. For a buffet, the quality of food is solid and the resort is a destination itself.

My older two children like Cape May Cafe Clam Bake, and after your meal you can walk the boardwalk.

We always like the buffets with the older kids because, as already mentioned, the kid's menus are pretty limited.

DH and I have a date night each time we go. We eat and drink around WS in Epcot and relax. Our upcoming trip we have two nights planned-one at EP and the other at DTD with an ADR at Raglan Road.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[mowatm]

With kiddos that age, 50's Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios is a must!!

 

[mickeeemouse]

Anymore suggestions, hoping to do my ADR when the reservation system is back up. I'm hoping its really soon. Another question how is Coral Reef? Worth going to or no? Thank you

 

[KTJAY]

My family likes buffets too-just easier with kids and picky eaters.

We love for breakfast:

Character: Crystal Palace...... Non-character: Boma

Dinner:

Character: 1900 Park Fare... Non-character: Cape May Clambake

Other favorites from our last trip in August-T-Rex, 50's Prime time, Via Napoli