Help with where to eat please:)

[mommypenguin29]

So I have been reading and reading all about different places to eat while at Disney...I need some help! We will be there in less then 2 weeks and I still can't figure out where to eat...We are not on the dining plan - It is me, dh, ds (5) and dd (3)... We have one reservation for a breakfast character meal at Hollywood and Vine - kids pick! We don't plan on really doing alot of table service meals - I just don't think my kids would last I do want to try TRex at Downtown Disney...

Anyway, my questions:

1. What QS places do you recommend at each park?

2. How hard is it to do meals at some of the hotels? (We will be relying on Disney transportation) Any that you recommend? Might be a nice mid day break???

3. What are the best snack/special treat places in each park?

Any other tips are appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[graceesmom]

At MK almost any counter service is fine. If you want a bit of a quieter CS meal, Columbia Harbour House is a good choice. It's fish and chips kind of a place, so if that menu doesn't work for you, then choose somewhere else.

At Epcot, we like Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavillion for variety, but it is hectic. We also enjoy the sandwiches in Norway, ham/cheese croissants in France or Morrocan platters at the counter service there if your children are a little more adventureous.

At HS, we tend to eat at Starring Rolls. The sandwiches are good and the cupcakes are awesome.

At AK, we usually end up at Pizzafari b/c it has indoor air conditioned seating. The italian sandwiches are yummy and my dd loves pizza so it works for us.

I don't always choose CS based on food. Sometimes, the atmosphere is more important for us. A quieter place, or a place with a/c, etc.

If you want to get out of the park and go to a resort for lunch, the MK is the easiest to do this. You can quickly get to CR, Poly or GF. They all have decent CS places that will be much quieter and less hectic than the parks.

 

[crabbygal902]

1. What QS places do you recommend at each park?
MK: I like Cosmic Ray's for the large selection of foods. My kids are entertained by Sonny Eclipse and his corny jokes during the meal, too.
AK: Flame Tree BBQ for the gorgeous setting. I can't think of a prettier place to each lunch.
DHS: The QS is pretty crummy, IMHO. Backlot Express is the best of the worst.
Epcot: Tangierine Cafe (in Morocco) is AWESOME!! Best QS on property, hands down.

2. How hard is it to do meals at some of the hotels? (We will be relying on Disney transportation) Any that you recommend? Might be a nice mid day break??? The monorail hotels are very convenient to MK. We especially like The Wave (Contemporary) 'Ohana (Poly), and Chef Mickey's (Contemporary). 'Ohana and Chef Mickey's usually don't serve lunch, though. If you are at Epcot or DHS, you can walk/boat over to Beaches and Cream (yum!) or Cape May Clambake-dinner only (Beach Club.) I haven't tried any of the other Boardwalk area restaurants.

 

[minnie mum]

I agree with Graceesmom's advice.

Also consider these: MK: Cosmic Rays. A very good selection
DHS: Backlot Express
AK: Flame Tree BBQ

Which resort are you staying at? Will you go back each afternoon for a break/nap ?(I highly recommend this with young'uns) In this case maybe eating in the park or at your resort is the easiest solution. As the PP said, MK is the easiest park to leave for lunch. Much more time consuming to do this from any of th eother parks.

We love eating dinner at the restaurants at the deluxe resorts, but I never gamble on getting a 'walk up'. Especially with little ones who might not be able to handle a long wait. Makes life a lot easier to have an ADR. That goes for TRex too by the way.

We never go out of our way for snacks (except dole whips or funnel cakes ). The parks guides are pretty good at listing where the main snack places are, and there are always carts with popcorn and frozen treats sprinkled thru the parks.

 

[mommypenguin29]

Is ohana worth the money? For my family it would be around $100...alot more then we usually spend eating out, but it looks fun...

 

[brookmey]

At MK Pecos Bill's is really good, it's in Frontierland. We also like Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland. DH loves eating in Frontierland because he can get a huge turkey leg at one of the vendor carts along the river.

At HS we usually eat at the ABC Commissary, Backlot Express or Pizza Planet. Depends on what you're in the mood for.

At Epcot you can eat all kinds of cuisine around World Showcase, but we usually stick to Liberty Inn at the American pavillion and the food court in The Land. The Land is probably our favorite place to eat of all the parks.

We usually don't eat a meal at AK since it's only a half day park for us.

As far as snacks, there are a lot of snack vendor carts around all the parks that have popcorn or ice cream snacks, like an ice cream bar in the shape of Mickey. Aloha Isle in Adventureland at the MK and the Main Street bakery in MK are our favorites.

It's not hard at all to have lunch or dinner at other resorts. We love to resort hop and rarely eat at our home resort. If you're at a park, you can just take the bus or monorail or even boat to the resort of your choice. After you're done eating, you can then take Disney transportation back to a park.

The food courts at the value resorts are pretty much the same, the moderates have a little more variety and the deluxes are hit or miss. Some are pretty lousy with their CS food, while others aren't too bad. The CS choices at Poly are pretty good while the choices at BC are limited. But if you want somewhere mid-day as a break from a park, I'd try one of the moderates. POR has a great food court and it's only a 10 minute walk from POFQ, so you can try either place.

The only other thing I'd say about eating is to try to eat lunch earlier, like around 11 am or dinner after 7 pm. Noon and 5-6 pm can get super busy and it's sometimes difficult to find a place to sit down. Or if you decide to leave the parks mid-day, leave at lunchtime and eat at a resort instead of the park.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[mommypenguin29]

I agree with Graceesmom's advice.

Also consider these: MK: Cosmic Rays. A very good selection
DHS: Backlot Express
AK: Flame Tree BBQ

Which resort are you staying at? Will you go back each afternoon for a break/nap ?(I highly recommend this with young'uns) In this case maybe eating in the park or at your resort is the easiest solution. As the PP said, MK is the easiest park to leave for lunch. Much more time consuming to do this from any of th eother parks.

We love eating dinner at the restaurants at the deluxe resorts, but I never gamble on getting a 'walk up'. Especially with little ones who might not be able to handle a long wait. Makes life a lot easier to have an ADR. That goes for TRex too by the way.

We never go out of our way for snacks (except dole whips or funnel cakes ). The parks guides are pretty good at listing where the main snack places are, and there are always carts with popcorn and frozen treats sprinkled thru the parks.

We are staying at CBR...not sure if we will go back mid day or not...depends on when we get to the parks, how the day is going, and what not...we will have stroller for both kids and they nap anywhere... For MK days, we may take a mid day break - possibly just a relaxing walk at one of the deluxe resorts or who knows...but for example - AK day - probably just do 1 day here and not go back to the hotel...just take a break at the park...we ar not too scheduled oriented of a family since you never know how the day will go and plan on taking our cues from the kids We will have breakfast food at the hotel and snacks with us as well, but I remember the dole whips from when I was there a long time ago and definately plan on getting one of those

 

[mommypenguin29]

Is ohana worth the money? For my family it would be around $100...alot more then we usually spend eating out, but it looks fun...

Oh well, can't get a ressie there anyway when we are coming...

 

[hunter1722]

Counter Service @
MK - Cosmic Rays
MGM - Starring Rolls or Pizza Planet (hated ABC Commish)
AK - Yak & Yeti for Chinese or Flame Tree for BBQ
Epcot - Electric Umbrella (future world side) and France Bakery or American Pavilion *for the kids (world showcase side)

If I had to only do one table service, I would have to go with Crystal Palace breakfast. Love Tigger!

 

[DEA]

Anyway, my questions:

1. What QS places do you recommend at each park?

MK: Columbia Harbor House is very good for a QS place. Casey's Corner is fun if your kids like watching the cartoons over in the bleacher section.

Epcot: Sunshine Seasons has a lot of great stuff. Tangerine Cafe is wonderful, I've found, but the selection is more limited than at SS.

AK: We have only eaten at Tusker House there, but I hear good things about Flame Tree BBQ.

DHS: I really like Fairfax Fare, which is a mostly BBQ place.

2. How hard is it to do meals at some of the hotels? (We will be relying on Disney transportation) Any that you recommend? Might be a nice mid day break???

If you are at MK or Epcot, it is pretty easy to get to SOME of the hotel restaurants. The monorail resorts have some good options, and are easy to get to via monorail or launch (or a walk to the Contemporary). Captain Cook's at the Poly is the best QS I've had around the monorail loop. You can also get the elusive Dole Whip there.

At Epcot, you can take a Friendship boat or walk to the Epcot area resorts around the Boardwalk area, but the QS options there are not spectacular, I've found. I'd rather stay in Epcot. You can also take the Friendship boats from DHS over to the Boardwalk area (or take a longer walk). Again, though, the QS options are not spectacular.

At AK, the Mara at AKL-Jambo House is a very good QS place, in my opinion, and about a 5-10 minute bus ride from the park.

3. What are the best snack/special treat places in each park?

MK: Sleepy Hollow, Popcorn cart, Main Street Bakery, and Main Street Confectionary are all good options. And, of course, Dole Whips at Aloha Isle.

Epcot: Karamel Küche at the Germany Pavilion is phenomenal. There are also the Crepes over in the France Pavilion and the Bakery counter at Tangerine Cafe (mmmm... baklava).

DHS: The Writer's Stop has a lot of cookie options, but nothing else really stands out here for me for snacks.

AK: The Anandapur Ice Cream Truck makes ice cream floats, which might be a good pick on a hot day.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[litlkar]

I think a great CS option at DTD is Wolfgang Puck Express. The menu is quite large & the food is Fabulous!! BBQ chicken pizza is my fav.

 

[litlkar]

The Plaza at the MK is also a good choice, although it is TS, it is rather inexpensive. Also, you can sit down inside & take a break.

 

[Quin]

OP: I think for your family/situation you are right not to try to overschedule, and especially since you are not on any of the Dining Plans, the cost of TS meals will be quite high. On the plus side, since you are not on a dining plan it's easy to check with a TS restaurant at an 'off' time and make a meal from apps, desserts, and shared plates. If they think old monster movies are funny, a mid-afternoon ice cream break at Sci-Fi in HS is a winner - but I would not pay for full meals there.

Ohana is indeed great fun and I feel it has very good food. Check online at least once or twice a day until you leave; cancellations do pop up. But if you miss it this trip, it's all the more reason to come back for another visit! Also, your kids are great ages for character meals; you might consider a second one of those instead. Breakfast is always the cheapest option for OOP. Some people really like to get breakfast with Pooh at CP in the MK before rope drop; other people schedule a late breakfast on what they plan to be a late/slow morning (especially good after a late night parade/fireworks show), or as the start to a water park day (food at the CS locations in the water parks, IMHO, is not nearly as good as other park CS - have a big breakfast and just snack until dinnertime).

You've gotten lots of good advice about CS places at all the parks. We generally stay at CBR. The food court does have a lot more choices at dinner than at lunch.

For your MK day, think about taking the monorail to the Poly and having one meal at the CS place there, called Captain Cooks. It is the only place in WDW besides the MK that you can get a Dole Whip. If you really need to get out of the mid-day heat, take a long bus ride from any park to CSR (so long as the busses are not standing room only ) and eat at Pepper Market. It is CS but feels more like a sit-down restaurant, and again has lovely air conditioning. To me it has more food choices than most places.