Help me choose restaurants

[twinkies in WDW]

Hi all,
I am new to the board, TIA for your advice.
We will be at the parks 1/12-1/16/09. We are not doing the park hopper or the dining plan. Help me plan our food.

We will be there 5 days, so we will go to each park one day and then to MK an extra day.
We have a 2 year old and a 5 year old - so character meals are a must (at least 2, maybe 3).

I want to do 1 sit down meal/day most days and 1 counter service/day

Here is what I have so far for each day, but I am open to change

MK - Chef Mickey's for breakfast
Epcot - Akersus Norway breakfast with Princesses
Animal Kingdom - Boma for dinner
Hollywood Studios - my kids want to eat Pizza Planet for lunch
MK - undecided, but thinking Ohana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch - my 5 year old loves them.


Any suggestions for counter service in each of the parks (if you only had to pick one per park).
Any other character meals or sit down meals we should consider?

We are trying to do this on a tight budget, so that is a factor to consider for sure

Thanks

 

[faberj]

Sunshine Seasons a CS at Epcot is very good and lots of chocies
Pecos Bill's at MK is also a good CS choice, good burgers and sandwiches

 

[walt's assistant]

MK Counter Service suggestions: Columbia Harbor House (if you are on the westside--near Frontierland or Liberty Square) or Cosmic Ray's (if you are on the Eastside--near Tomorrowland)

EPCOT Counter Service suggestions: For World Showcase try Yakitori House (for authentic Japanese lunch), La Cantina De San Angel (Mexican), or Liberty Inn (American). For Future World, try Electric Umbrella (American) or the Sunshine Season Food Fair in The Land (food court layout).

Hollywood Studios Counter Service suggestions: Your kids have zoomed in on a spot we prefer--Pizza Planet. Another that we liked was the ABC Commissary.

Animal Kingdom Counter Service suggestions: Flame Tree BBQ is our favorite

As for character meals, aside from the Norway spot, try the breakfast at Ohana's with Lilo & Stitch at the Polynesian.

Have fun!!!!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Hi all,
I am new to the board, TIA for your advice.
We will be at the parks 1/12-1/16/09. We are not doing the park hopper or the dining plan. Help me plan our food.

We will be there 5 days, so we will go to each park one day and then to MK an extra day.
We have a 2 year old and a 5 year old - so character meals are a must (at least 2, maybe 3).

I want to do 1 sit down meal/day most days and 1 counter service/day

Here is what I have so far for each day, but I am open to change

MK - Chef Mickey's for breakfast
Epcot - Akersus Norway breakfast with Princesses
Animal Kingdom - Boma for dinner
Hollywood Studios - my kids want to eat Pizza Planet for lunch
MK - undecided, but thinking Ohana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch - my 5 year old loves them.


Any suggestions for counter service in each of the parks (if you only had to pick one per park).
Any other character meals or sit down meals we should consider?

We are trying to do this on a tight budget, so that is a factor to consider for sure

Thanks

CS
MK- CHH or Peco Bills
DHS- Rosie's Cafe
Epcot -Elec Umbrella

Sit down
Teppen Edo or Tutto in Epcot
Tony's in the MK
Prime Time in DHS - Good food & fun

WCC at the WL is fun to.

 

[perriwinkleblue]

Looks good so far. I would add O'hana if you have Stitch fans. I've only been for dinner but the breakfast always gets great reviews. Have you made adr's yet? Chef Mickey's can be hard to get. If you can't secure it, try Crystal Palace breakfast with Pooh and friends. An early reservation will get you into MK before the crowds. Walking down Main Street when it's relatively empty...

For CS, here are my picks:

MK - Columbia Harbor House. Grab your tray and head upstairs for a little peace and quiet. My favorite is the tuna on multigrain bread and the veggie chili. They also have fish and chips and chicken nuggets.
EPCOT - Sunshine Seasons inside the Land: a great little food court with nice choices. Also worth noting; an actual bakery counter with great desserts.
HS - Pizza Planet is good if your kids will like it there. We don't do much CS at HS except Starring Rolls - which has nice big sandwiches and a little outdoor patio.
AK - Pizzafari: not a real popular choice on the boards but we've always liked it. The food has always been good IMO. Pizza, chicken parm, Italian sub, and caesar salad w/chicken and a really fun, colorful atmosphere. (When I was there, for some reason PIZZA was not a kids meal choice (?) but 2 little kids could split.) I love the murals on the walls and the carved animals. If you go, check out all of the rooms.

Good luck and have a nice trip!

 

[LaurenMic]

Let's see...if I had to pick one CS for each park it would be Pecos Bills in MK (love the food and atmosphere), La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot for Mexican food (if your kids are picky then Electric Umbrella is good there too), Pizzafarri in AK, and Backlot Express in DHS-i love to check out all of the props while we eat lunch.

Pizza Planet in DHS is really fun for kids so that is definitely a good choice, and you might want to consider Pinnochio's in MK if you have little kids because you can watch It's a Small World while you eat.

50's Prime Time is great in DHS for TS, and for character meals you should also consider Crystal Palace, they have the Pooh characters and awesome food.

 

[dad2t&e]

Looks good so far. I would add O'hana if you have Stitch fans. We've been for dinner and for the breakfast. My daughters absolutely LOVED the breakfast. Make sure you make your adr's as soon as you can because Chef Mickey's can be hard to get. We love the Crystal Palace breakfast or dinner with Pooh and friends. An early reservation will get you into MK before the crowds. Walking down Main Street when it's relatively empty...looking at the castle is unbelievable.

 

[BoosGram]

Hi all,
I am new to the board, TIA for your advice.
We will be at the parks 1/12-1/16/09. We are not doing the park hopper or the dining plan. Help me plan our food.

We will be there 5 days, so we will go to each park one day and then to MK an extra day.
We have a 2 year old and a 5 year old - so character meals are a must (at least 2, maybe 3).

I want to do 1 sit down meal/day most days and 1 counter service/day

Here is what I have so far for each day, but I am open to change

MK - Chef Mickey's for breakfast
Epcot - Akersus Norway breakfast with Princesses
Animal Kingdom - Boma for dinner
Hollywood Studios - my kids want to eat Pizza Planet for lunch
MK - undecided, but thinking Ohana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch - my 5 year old loves them.


Any suggestions for counter service in each of the parks (if you only had to pick one per park).
Any other character meals or sit down meals we should consider?

We are trying to do this on a tight budget, so that is a factor to consider for sure

Thanks

I wasn't sure if you were aware of this from your email, but I just wanted to be sure that you knew that Boma is not at the Animal Kingdom park, but at the Animal Kingdom Resort and you'd need to travel to the resort from the park (it's my understanding that the Tusker House buffet, which IS in the park, is kind of like Boma lite).

Boma is one of our very favorite restaurants at WDW (soups! stews! wonderful!). If you go there, I hope you enjoy it.

 

[distherapy]

If Chef Mickey's doesn't work out, I wanted to recommend Crystal Palace in MK for your MK day. Try for an EARLY reservation (they start at 8:05) so you can get in the park early and see it all quiet and lovely...
Also if you don't linger too long, you can stroll out before the park opens, get to the rope in Fantasyland and walk right on to Dumbo after rope drop - probably a big hit with a 2 and 5 year old.

Crystal Palace has Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore...

 

[twinkies in WDW]

Thanks so far for the recommendations - I am writing them all down.
I do know that Boma is at the AK Lodge - I am guessing it will be easy to get there after we leave Animal Kingdom.
My kids are not big Winnie the Pooh fans, so that is why we are not doing Crystal Palace.
Trying to decide whether to do Chef Mickey's for breakfast the first day we are there, or hit the parks and do an early dinner there - any thoughts?
Dianne