Help.. DH didn't like food... need suggestions!

[bobbieh76]

We are planning our second trip to WDW April 25-May 2, 2009 staying at POP or PORS. Our last trip (first time) was April 3 - 10, 2008 at POP.

Our first trip was ALL about the kids. My DH did not like most of the TS meals and I want to make sure he enjoys it this time or I am afraid he will not go back!!!

We ate at:
Donalds Safari breakfast: DH liked this ok (this was one of my fav)

1900 PF Ate late supper: DH did not care for this at all... but kids loved the step-sisters and cinderella! I thought the food was Ok not great though!

Akershus Breakfast with Princesses: DH was not impressed with this one! (This was my fav!)

Chef Mickeys Late supper: Dh was ok with this one, not my fav but ok.

The Crystal Palace Lunch: Dh liked this one.. By this time I felt all the buffets were the same like I was eating the same food here as 1900PF and Chef Mickeys.

Playhouse Disney at Hollywood and Vine: none of us liked this one at all! The wait was HORRIBLE compared to the others and the food was worse than any of the other buffets.

We will be buying the dining plan like we did last time it worked out good for us...
I want to do some character meals to make the kids happy but I also want to make DH happy.. He is a steak-n-potato kind of guy and only likes american or italian food... He seems to be ok with breakfast more than anything.. so here were my thoughts...

Character dining for the kids:
Liberty tree for dinner
breakfast at 1900PF, Ohana, Cape May, or Donalds Safari breakfast
Dinner at Cape May

The main thing is we will be there during my husbands birthday this year and I want to make sure he has a good meal IE: Steak on his birthday! Any suggestions for a good place for steak on the dining plan that my kids will be ok eating at????

Also if you have any suggestions for "the best" CS meals.. Is it just me or does it seem like food all over the parks and resorts taste the same?

I personally do not go for the food.. but DH, DS, and DD are all about food!!!!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Wow... looks like you ate mostly buffets your last trip. I'm not a buffet person so, I'd pick some more table service restaurants. Buffets are fun but they get old quick for me.

All restaurants at Disney are kid friendly except maybe Victoria & Alberts. I find most of the non-signature Disney restaurants are very quick and you are out of there in 1 hour to 1 hr & 15 mintues.

What I normally do is plan which day I plan to visit each park and then, go from there to pick where you want to eat. I try not to visit Animal Kingdom and then, have dinner in Magic Kingdom. I minimize as much as possible travel time.

Some places that I've eaten at the serve steak are Kona Cafe in the Polynesian hotel, Le Cellier in Canada's Epcot... There are bunch of 2 TS restaruants that serve steak as well. And, I'm sure there are more restaurants that serve steak too. YOu might want to check out the menus here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

As for counter service restaurants, I really try to make sure we don't always eat burgers and fries (not my favorite everyday). You can really mix it up by going to different places like Pizza in AK, Mexican in Epcot, etc... Just look at the menus above to figure it out.

Good Luck and happy planning...

 

[OurDogCisco]

Also, I believe Liberty Tree will no longer be a character meal.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I would splurge and do a signature for his bday dinner

Try Yachtsman, they have amazing steaks

Have you involved him in the planning? Make a list of a few places and have him take a look at the menu and see what interests him.

How about Teppan Edo - kinda neat to have your food cooked in front of you

Since he liked Tusker House, how about Boma?

Cape May has a fun character breakfast and a tad off the beaten path

 

[Dis31]

For a steak guy I would definetly make a reservation for LeCellier steakhouse in Epcot- its our favorite place and we've always had great meals and its great value on the DDP, Narcossees in the GF also great steak. Liberty Tree tavern will not longer have characters in 2009.

 

[RMulieri]

2 points to make you aware of...LTT is no longer a character meal ( as of Jan 5th), and Cape May is only characters at breakfast.

 

[w-family]

I would also second Le Cellier, we have never been disappointed there.

We went to Ohana on our last trip for dinner. My husband and the kids loved it, I thought it was ok.

Tuuto Italia also gets rave reviews, I have never been, but we have an ARd for Feb.

 

[Lynne M]

Wow, looks like you only hit character meals. They're about the characters,not the food, and generally feature some of the worst TS food on property.

IMO, the best table service is to be found at the resorts. I've had excellent meals at Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe, and Olivia's. All were reasonably priced (for Disney), family friendly and not-too-fussy food. At Epcot,I particularly enjoyed Le Cellier, also very meat-and-potatoes.

Other places that might be good choices:

Narcoossee's
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Spoodles
Flying Fish
Raglan Road
Wolfgang Puck
Mama Melrose

 

[Tricia1972]

I would try to sneak in a signature or two (Jiko has fabulous steaks and is a great dining experience), and I'd also try to do more regular TS and fewer buffets.

Some of my suggestions are:
Le Cellier - Good Steak
Beaches & Cream - Fun and has good burgers and onion rings
Jiko - Great Steak and a more adult atmosphere

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

We love O'Hana and Cape May!

 

[SGMCO]

Like everyone else said the buffets are mostly for the
Character interaction and don't really have the best food.

For a Character Meal Breakfast that isn't a Buffet I would
go to "Ohanas Best Friend Breakfast" at Poly.
Ohana for Dinner is also a good choice there are
activities that get kids involved with like Coconut Races--
and the food is good--Grilled meat(steak, chicken, Shrimp)
and several side dishes are brought to your table then the
dessert.

The TS Restaurants in Epcot have good food and Atmostphere--
and if your worried about your kids liking it--I see plenty
of kids eatting at these restaurants with there parents.
Tutto Italia was excellent and they have a kids menu-
they give kids crayons and the table cloth is paper so
I saw kids coloring on the paper.
I would choose something like "Coral Reef" because the
kids will be kept busy looking at all of the fish in the
large tanks and you will get much better food than the buffets.

 

[catne]

Mama Melrose in DHS...good Italian, no characters but it's a family place so kids will be o.k. with it.

Kona Cafe (Polynesian) or The Wave (Contemporary) for one table credit good steaks...not ultra fancy, so kids will be o.k. both places (were plenty of kids at these places when we went in 2008.) If you want something that looks a little fancier & may be a little quieter for his birthday celebration, try The Wave...it looks a bit more modern/upscale (but regular park clothes are fine, and kids are fine there.)

My suggestion regarding the character meals--limit 2 in one week, and go for breakfast buffet...skip all other buffets unless you really, really love buffets.

 

[BCV23]

Tutto Italia in Epcot is excellent for Italian.

All of the signature restaurants have excellent steak. But if you want to stick with one credit spots, Le Cellier is a good choice. So are Kona Cafe, Grand Floridian Cafe and Captain's Grill. He might enjoy Boma too. It serves some more exotic dishes but also has plenty of other choices. Wolfgang Puck Cafe has a great variety of food.

I would do one breakfast character meal for the kids and then try some of the many really good restaurants for dinner. I always thought the character meals were more fun for my kids when we limited them.

As for counter service, we used ours for breakfast in the room and sandwiches for the plane trip home.

 

[bobbieh76]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!!! Keep em comin! I do not want to do so many buffets this time ... I want "real" food! LOL!! I did not realize last time all the character meals were buffets or we would not have done so many! LOL!!!

Anyone stayed at PORS and POP is the food at both pretty much the same or is PORS better in anyway? I cannot decide which resort to stay at.. we really enjoyed pop but DH again did not like the food there.... I was curious is the food any better at PORS I know they have a TS but we would mostly eat CS at the resort.

I am going to look through the menu's and try to come up with a plan!

Anyone have any comments about 50's prime time cafe? Looks like it would be a fun atmosphere but I do not want to go there if the food is bad!

 

[HollyP]

Your hubby sounds a lot like me and my hubby after my first trip to the world. By the end of the week I couldn't look at another CS hamburger. I'd suggest you check out the menus at www.allears.net you can see what they serve as well as the price range and then check out reviews here. My 2nd trip to WDW I ate 1 hamburger in my 2 week trip. I was a much happier person. As for your kiddos...you didn't say how old they are but, there really is not reason they can't go to any of the resturants with you. I took my daughter at 5 months and if she got to screaming I politely stepped outside for a few min to soothe her. If they really are not able to sit and enjoy a grown up meal with you there are a lot of C/S resturants with variety such as Columbia Harbour House, Cosmic Rays, Pecos Bills, Sunshine Seasons. As for T/s My hubby is a very steak and potatoes type guy and he really enjoyed Marrakesh, Tepan Edo (Teppanyaki), Le Cellier and Liberty Tree Tavern. I know LTT is not going to be a character meal anymore but after a week of new "adventurous" food he enjoyed the plain ole turkey dinner.

 

[Wendi2000]

Maybe take him to Jiko for his birthday so he can have the amazing Filet with Macaroni and Cheese...

He might like Le Cellier (we disliked it a lot, but most steak-lovers seem to like it). My mom much preferred the steak at Kona Cafe when we were there.

For a character breakfast I would go with either Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare, or Donald's Safari.

I would NOT do Liberty Tree Tavern as there will no longer be characters and the food is not good.

The Hollywood Brown Derby is excellent, but we also had fun at Sci-Fi Dine-In - the cuisine is on different ends of the spectrum, but so is the atmosphere!

For counter service in Epcot, we love Sunshine Seasons and must eat there every trip.

You might enjoy 'Ohana, it is fun for the kids, and the food is decent, but I think the food used to be much better - if you want a more appealing meal, go to Kona Cafe, but if you want something more fun for the kids, take them to 'Ohana.

Yak & Yeti is amazingly good... take him for lunch on an Animal Kingdom day.

 

[DisMomAmy]

We'll be there that week and I have the same problem. DH says that the trip is about the kids so he doesn't expect good food, but I know a great meal would make him really happy and help him enjoy the trip too. (Because as we all know - it isn't JUST about the kids!) There are some great suggestions here - I think I'll surprise him with an ADR that he'll really enjoy.

We ate at The Yachtsman Steakhouse last year when we had a babysitter with us - but I don't think we will have a sitter with us this year. DH LOVED that place!! He's always wanted to eat at Le Cellier - but we haven't been able to get an ADR in the past (since we didn't plan far enough ahead).

One question about Le Cellier - how is it with the kids? I ate there with my mom for lunch last year in April and I didn't see any kids... we were there at the first ADR of the day so it was pretty empty inside in general - but it made me wonder. Would they be too disruptive? It seemed so quiet in there... I'd love to do it, but I'm nervous - we don't have quiet kids.

 

[budbeerlady]

The buffets, 1 a trip is enough for us. Dh likes his steak!

WE love Coral Reef, Le Cellier, Chefs de France, etc.

Check out the menus here http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm and let your Dh pick. That is what I did with mine, he wont go unless he can eat at Coral Reef and Le Cellier. He gets his food and I get Disney, win, win.

Le Cellier is fine for kids, its Disney! The only place I wouldnt take a kid is V&A, otherwise its all fine with me to have kids where we eat.
We have had to take lunchs in order to eat at Le Cellier but its a similar menu.

Coral Reef, the fish will keep the kids happy. This oddly is one of DD's requests each time, she has to see the sea turtle while she eats.
Chefs De France has a wonderful kids Mac and Cheese, its not very quiet and is very kid friendly.
Le Cellier, DD gets a huge Choc shake here everytime and loves the pretzel bread sticks.

 

[TinkerBelle920]

I would try Ohana and Coral Reef. Both are great options for kids and adults. Ohana has entertainment for the kids and great food. The Coral Reef is one of my favorite restaurants and I was suprised to hear that my 7 year old said it was his favorite as well. The atmosphere with the fish tank is great and really keeps the kids occupied.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Maybe you can limit your kid meals and try more adult places like Flying Fish, Jiko, Citricos etc.....awesome food!

DH loves Tutto Italia, Yachtsman, Chefs de France, Boma breakfast, Cape May breakfast and dinner, Tonys on Main Street