Last Minute Suggestions!

[Holli Hattery]

Help! My husband and I are going to WDW the week before Memorial Day. We will have 3 days at the parks plus one late evening when we arrive at Disney Springs. Since we were late in making the decision to go and book our trip, a lot of the must have restaurants are booked out. I have been to WDW several times, but my husband hasn't been in 23 years. What are some of your favorite underrated restaurants that we could try? I'm interested in The BOATHOUSE for a dinner or possibly Enzo's Hideaway for our first night. Any suggestions?

 

[gharter]

I would start with the restaurants that you know you want to eat at and see if reservations are available. You can try eating at off hours, ADRs are often available then. There are also sites you can use for reservation finders for WDW, that has worked for us in the past as well. They will notify you if something comes up.

I don't know that WDW really has many restaurants that are not busy most of the time.
Il Mulino at the Swan ws not very busy when we were there last time, really good Italian food.
Citricos at GF also was not crowded.
Good luck.

 

[NYCgrrl]

If it's any help, our first trip to WDW, was booked 2 weeks before we arrived so you are not alone on that score.
Look to opentable and tourfinder's restaurant finder for reservations at your wanted restaurants as well as my disney experience.

 

[Holli Hattery]

Have either of you eaten at The Boathouse or Enzo's? Interested in trying those and they have open reservations the night we will be at Disney Springs.

 

[KenHutch]

One suggestion get a Landry's card. That will get you into Yak & Yeti at Animal Kingdom without an ADR. And as an above poster noted TouringPlans has a free ADR finder that could be a life safer because many many people make multiple reservations for restaurants while they decide where they want to eat and just cancel the others a day or two in advance so if you keep looking you should get lucky on one or two. Also try for Ohana's families favorite place and another place is Jiko (2 credit place) at AKL. Good Luck and have fun.

 

[Holli Hattery]

Thank you! I have a TouringPlans account so I will definitely look into the ADR finder!

 

[CraigInPA]

And, let me throw out that same day and next day reservations are readily obtained through the Disney app for most restaurants. I've scored BOG, 'Ohana, and other hard to get reservations while standing in line to get on a ride. You might not always get your exact preferred time with these last minute reservations, but you'll get in.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Have either of you eaten at The Boathouse or Enzo's? Interested in trying those and they have open reservations the night we will be at Disney Springs.

We've eaten at the Boathouse a few times now. Our first trip in July 2017 and our Christmas 2017 trip.

Nice honest chophouse with a very fresh raw bar in a mechanical nautical setting (think boat cars and ChrisCraft). If you order the Porterhouse for 2 it's very filling but unlike some other steakhouses you have to cut the meat yourself. This is not a problem for me (I'm handy with a knife which keeps everyone outta my kitchen when I'm grumpy) but can be for those who are used to the waitstaff doing it for them. Order the ribeye for 2 (easier to cut) or NY strip for 1 if you feel your knife skills are rusty. Should the raw bar attract you I suggest you stay away from the house oysters and opt for the Atlantic Ocean offerings. The house oysters were too salty (albeit meaty) for our sensibilities. The calamari is nicely fried if that attracts yet I'd ask for the sauce to be placed on the side. Never had a salad there that didn't satisfy. We stuck to ice cream desserts (yummm!) so can say nothing about their cakes or pies. For the moment, the man's choice for dinner is to return to Boathouse this coming July. His choice is fine for me and the kiddos we'll be traveling with this trip.

Never eaten at Enzo's so am opinion-less.

 

[KenHutch]

Have either of you eaten at The Boathouse or Enzo's? Interested in trying those and they have open reservations the night we will be at Disney Springs.

Never eaten at Enzo's but I found The Boathouse to be to loud. Good food but noisy.

 

[RyMickey]

We very much enjoy The Boathouse particularly if you’re able to sit outside on their large decks. However, we have found that we enjoy their burgers and sandwiches a bit more than their steaks which, while good, were not quite up to the price point.

I haven’t been to Enzo’s, but the initial reviews on several sites were quite poor. It just opened so they may be experiencing some early jitters, but I’d maybe put that on the back burner for a bit. Maria and Enzo’s, however, was quite good. I was honestly a little surprised how much we enjoyed it. Yes, it’s a bit pricy, but it was a good meal. The veal parm was great (although I have issue with having to pay extra for spaghetti with a veal parm dish) and the “fake lasagna” dish — that’s how it was described to us! — made with a variety of pastas and zucchini was delicious and a great price point.

 

[loves to dive]

And, let me throw out that same day and next day reservations are readily obtained through the Disney app for most restaurants. I've scored BOG, 'Ohana, and other hard to get reservations while standing in line to get on a ride. You might not always get your exact preferred time with these last minute reservations, but you'll get in.

This. We never make ADRs any more in advance than a day and usually day of and have never had any problems getting something. We enjoy kind of just putting in a specific time frame in MDE and see what pops up or putting in a specific park or resort. We have found many great places just playing ADR roulette.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Help! My husband and I are going to WDW the week before Memorial Day. We will have 3 days at the parks plus one late evening when we arrive at Disney Springs. Since we were late in making the decision to go and book our trip, a lot of the must have restaurants are booked out. I have been to WDW several times, but my husband hasn't been in 23 years. What are some of your favorite underrated restaurants that we could try? I'm interested in The BOATHOUSE for a dinner or possibly Enzo's Hideaway for our first night. Any suggestions?

We've eaten at the Boathouse for lunch and dinner and really like it! We haven't eaten at Enzo's.

In terms of good restaurants in and around the parks that aren't terribly hard to get into:

EP - we love Spice Road Table and have been successful with walk-ups on many occasions. They usually have ADR's available. Right outside of EP are some of the best restaurants on property, IMHO (at the Swan/Dolphin) and some are available on opentable. We love bluezoo, Il Mulino and Kimono's (if you like sushi). Dinner at Trattoria al Forno is good and not typically hard to get. I would give Ale and Compass at YC a shot as well. The great thing about EP is, there is also great QS everywhere, but I have no doubt you will find something in EP as there are so many restaurants available. We also like Monsieur Paul in EP.

MK - we love Skipper Canteen. The Plaza also takes walk-ups during prime dining hours, so you can always try that. If you are willing to leave the park, The Wave at CR is excellent and typically easy to get an ADR for. For a great signature meal (typically with a lot of availability) try Artist Point at WL.

DHS - we love Hollywood Brown Derby - again, not a hard ADR to get. They also have a nice lounge with a good menu. You could also take a boat to the EP area and follow the suggestions above at the Swan/Dolphin, BWI or YC.

AK - as others have suggested, if you get a Landry's Select Card, you get priority seating whenever you walk up at Y&Y and Rainforest. Tiffins is also very good. We also love Nomad Lounge which doesn't take ADR's at all. They have a fantastic drink and app menu and you can order the full Tiffins menu in there.

As others have suggested, you can simply go on the MDE app day-of or even the day before and you will find all kinds of ADR gems!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

What are some of your favorite underrated restaurants that we could try?

The Wave. Skipper Canteen. Boatwright's. And for good counter service, there are Satuli Canteen, Contempo Cafe, and Sunshine Seasons. Also looking forward to trying the new Edison restaurant on my next trip.

 

[pickers1982]

We very much enjoy The Boathouse particularly if you’re able to sit outside on their large decks. However, we have found that we enjoy their burgers and sandwiches a bit more than their steaks which, while good, were not quite up to the price point.

I haven’t been to Enzo’s, but the initial reviews on several sites were quite poor. It just opened so they may be experiencing some early jitters, but I’d maybe put that on the back burner for a bit. Maria and Enzo’s, however, was quite good. I was honestly a little surprised how much we enjoyed it. Yes, it’s a bit pricy, but it was a good meal. The veal parm was great (although I have issue with having to pay extra for spaghetti with a veal parm dish) and the “fake lasagna” dish — that’s how it was described to us! — made with a variety of pastas and zucchini was delicious and a great price point.

from memory i had the same issue at via napoli that i couldnt substitute potatoes for pasta. was a few years ago now. had to pay for it as a side

 

[Disneypapa]

At Disney Springs, I recommend House of Blues. The shrimp and grits are awesome. The restaurant has some outdoor seating with live entertainment. I have been, but have reservations for Raglan Road in late May. Have seen many good reviews and I am looking forward to going.