How are my dining choices?

[laughinplace199]

Our family consists of me, DH, DD15, DS13, & DS7 and we're staying at the Villas at GCH.

Right now, I've booked:

Blue Bayou (dinner)
Storyteller's Café (breakfast)
Carnation Café (dinner)
Goofy's Kitchen (breakfast)
Steakhouse 55 (dinner)
Wine Country Trattoria (dinner)

This is our first trip, so I have no idea if these are good choices or not. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

Blue Bayou (dinner) - I like the BB and have enjoyed my meals there. It's worth noting that the Monte Cristo is not available on the dinner menu.
Carnation Café (dinner) - Tasty food and fun setting. Much of the seating is outdoors, so it can be weather affected.
Wine Country Trattoria (dinner) - okay food, again a lot of the seating is outdoors and weather dependent.

 

[BriannaRuth]

Blue Bayou (dinner) - I like the BB and have enjoyed my meals there. It's worth noting that the Monte Cristo is not available on the dinner menu.

Exactly -- we always do BB for lunch for this reason ... also because it's less expensive at lunch and makes for a great break in the heat. Book 20 minutes earlier than you actually want to eat, arrive at your reservation time, and ask to wait for a table by the water.

How many days are you staying? I personally wouldn't do more than one reservation breakfast because it takes up the most valuable time in the parks, EE when you're staying onsite. We always do our character meals at lunch.

 

[tiffjoy]

My one comment is that is a lot of reservations. Do you have multiple ones a day, or are you staying for a long time? When are you going? We typically have only have a couple reservations for 3-4 park days. CS at DLR is really good, and TS takes away a lot of park time, so it's just something to be aware of.

We do our out of the parks character breakfast on our departure day (but we don't care for Goofy's Kitchen- we do Surf's Up). It's a nice way to leave.

BB is pretty. We went once when the kids were younger, and they didn't enjoy it, but I think for older kids, it's a nice one. I'd second considering it for lunch instead because of the better chances for a waterside table if you book first seating and arrive early. It really makes all the difference.

We are going to Steakhouse 55 on this upcoming trip for the first time, so I can't comment on that one yet.

WCT is a pretty area to eat. We found the food to be average, but I do enjoy the ambiance. At DCA, we like Flo's, which is CS but the food is like TS.

 

[cmpeter]

My only concern is that is a lot of TS which = a lot time spent eating when you could be riding.

 

[Astylla]

Our family consists of me, DH, DD15, DS13, & DS7 and we're staying at the Villas at GCH.

Right now, I've booked:

Blue Bayou (dinner)
Storyteller's Café (breakfast)
Carnation Café (dinner)
Goofy's Kitchen (breakfast)
Steakhouse 55 (dinner)
Wine Country Trattoria (dinner)

This is our first trip, so I have no idea if these are good choices or not. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Love BB. I think I prefer lunch now personally but can't go wrong either way ! I always enjoy our meals there and we typically go 4-5 times a year.

Never done Storyteller's but booked dinner for DH and I for this Sunday..

Carnation Cafe is great for dinner. I love their turkey sandwich and our party of four loved everything last fall.

Never done Goofy's so can't comment.

Steakhouse 55 - What is there to say that isn't amazing. We have gone as a couple and with friends and the feedback is always the same - WOW. I recommend highly the Filet Mignon , Seven onion soup , mac and cheese side m smoked ahi appetizer creme bruelle and root beer baked alaska for desserts.
We will be there Monday the 21st!

Wine Country - I hear really mixed things here and I haven't been willing to chance it. As we have a local Italian place that blows most places out of the water I think it could be hit or miss. But then again we love Naples in DTD and some people say the same so YMMV.

I do think this can be many reservations if it's everyday or such. In a typical 4 night trip we as a couple will make 2 table service reservations so we have some flexibility. Of course your family and style will dictate what is best for you but it does take time is all.

 

[SweetAlex]

My only concern is that is a lot of TS which = a lot time spent eating when you could be riding.

This . Unless this is over a 1-2 week period, I personally wouldn't book so many sit down reservations especially since this is your first time and there is SO much to see and do. We book only one or two reservations for our 5 day trips and the rest of the time, we just swing into any nearby CS. We stay too busy to spend hours eating inside all day. I got rides to go on!

 

[SMD]

My take on Wine Country Trattoria is that the food you're served never looks or tastes as good as it sounded on the menu. My personal preference is not to go there, but I have been a few times when it was raining (good indoor seating and not very popular, so available) or because they could take a large group without a reservation (again, not very popular). DLR isn't really known for it's dining, and in some cases, the same food or even better can be found near the resort for less money. I'd point to Wine Country Trattoria as the prime example.

 

[JandD75]

I agree with the other posts--table service takes up a lot of time. Breakfast is so time consuming that we always eat in our hotel room. Cold cereal, juice and fruit are just fine for us. Also, many of the counter service/quick service meals are great, and you'll probably want to try a couple. My family and I usually plan on only 1-2 table service meals in a 4-5 day period, and at least one of those will be lunch. The Harbor Galley, Bengal Barbecue, the French Market all have great food, and will save you time. Hope you enjoy your vacation!!

 

[danceanddisney2010]

I agree with what many people are saying... Blue Bayou for lunch. It is mainly for the atmosphere... so with lunch being cheaper.....I'd say no to dinner.

Storytellers for breakfast is a great idea! We stayed at the GC as well and we loved how close it was...plus we loved the offerings!

 

[dsny1mom]

Our family consists of me, DH, DD15, DS13, & DS7 and we're staying at the Villas at GCH.

Right now, I've booked:

Blue Bayou (dinner)
Storyteller's Café (breakfast)
Carnation Café (dinner)
Goofy's Kitchen (breakfast)
Steakhouse 55 (dinner)
Wine Country Trattoria (dinner)

This is our first trip, so I have no idea if these are good choices or not. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

I'd do BB for lunch. Replace WCT with Big Thunder BBQ. And make a lunch ressie for Café O. Dinning is a part of the Disney experience for us so I don't feel you have too many TS ressies.

dsny1mom

 

[Californiacicle]

I'd do BB for lunch. Replace WCT with Big Thunder BBQ. And make a lunch ressie for Café O. Dinning is a part of the Disney experience for us so I don't feel you have too many TS ressies.

dsny1mom

I agree with this. Also I see you have Stitch in your siggy, Stitch is at Surf's Up. We just did that breakfast earlier this month and it was awesome.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Consider Cafe Orleans over WCT. We had an awful experience at WCT service wise with mediocre food at best & while it might have just been a bad night we tried Cafe O on our next trip and loved it, can't believe we didn't try that one sooner. They also serve the Monte Cristo at Cafe O. Big Thunder is great if your crew eats a lot and you all like ribs and chicken, check the menu if interested in that one and go prepared to eat a lot.

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks everyone, I'll look into the menus at the other places mentioned and see how they'd work for our family. I was on the fence about WCT, so I'll see what else might work for us.

We will be staying in Anaheim for 7 nights (and in San Diego for 3 nights) and we have 4 day park hoppers.

The two days we're eating big breakfasts are non-park days. We'll probably do some touristy things in the LA area or the beach on those days and are looking for a filling meal to start the day.

 

[algae]

Hmm. yes, you are going to be spending a _lot_ of time in restaurants.

Nevertheless, I'd skip WCT and CC. Replace them with Napa Rose and Carthay Circle if they are open when you will be there. I think Napa Rose was going to get a refurb later this year and may be closed.

Goofy's and Storyteller's can be a quick meal since they are buffets, but the high cost and all the characters running around will make you want to stay longer

 

[DDhunter]

We eat at Wine Country Trattoria on a fairly regular basis. The food is good, not phenomenal, however, wine with dinner seals the deal for us. Clearly we are in the minority on liking the place

 

[Drinehart811]

My fave is Cafe O so I would definitely recommend that over WCT just for the Mickey Beignets. Yum.

IMO DCA has much better CS meals than TS. Although doing a world of color meal isn't a bad deal

 

[JasonShannon76]

I love Blue Bayou for dinner because the Surf & Turf is delicious! Monte Cristo is not at BB at dinner, but you can eat Cafe Orleans at dinner and get the Monte Cristo.

Steakhouse 55 is AMAZING! And you MUST try their Creme Brûlée for dessert. They are known for their Creme Brûlée, and it's honestly the best Creme Brûlée I've ever had.

Carnation Cafe is more of a lunch place vs dinner I think.

Storytellers is a good breakfast, and so is Goofy's Kitchen.

 

[BayGirl22]

We like to do one TS per day as a break so our schedule looks like yours for a week at DLR. My comments:

I'd do Goofy's or Storytellers or Surf's Up on a non-park day, as you have planned.
If you want another Character breakfast do Plaza Inn, but either before park opening (although if you have EE that won't make sense) or do it at the end of breakfast for an EE day, so like 10:45 and it will cover you for lunch.

Since you are doing TS you might as well do a World of Color Meal IMO. Either Carthay Circle or Wine Country Trattoria for Lunch are my choices. We really enjoyed the food at CC but I was surprisingly satisfied with WCT last time, especially since we ate outside.

Agree with Blue Bayou for Lunch not dinner, and with scheduling early and planning to wait for a water table.

 

[tinibee]

If you are doing PP+, I would suggest the Surfs Up breakfast over storytellers. They don't do photos as you enter at storytellers. The only reason I did storytellers my last trip was because I'd never been. It was okay but with the photo pass+ I'll do one of the other character breakfasts next time.