Must Eats for First Time Family

[mom4girlsinMI]

Hello seasoned travelers!
We are going to WDW Jan 5 -12 for the FIRST time. We have 4 girls (ages 13,11,10,9). My dining questions are:

Where are your favorite "must eat" restaurants.
Would you recommend the DDP?
We are staying at Saratoga Springs, is it feasible to return for lunch each day or more hassle than it is worth?

Thanks so much, the information is truly overwhelming and your insight is greatly appreciated!

 

[luvsTink]

Hi and congrats on your upcoming trip!
I just did ADR's for some clients and I had a tough time getting the places they wanted for the times they wanted, so be prepared to be flexible...

My favs for first timers are:
Chef Mickey's
Ohana
Princess Storybook (Norway) for breakfast
Le Cellier
Prime Time
and with kids the ages of yours...Whispering Canyon

Good luck and don't hestitate to ask if you have more questions.

Anne

 

[loopner67]

Our favorite Character breakfast is at Ohana (Polynesian Resort) - it's served family style and not another buffet. As for Buffets, you should try out Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort. Both places can be reached via monorail, which helps when planning.

 

[boo72]

Can't speak about DDP as we haven't done it.

I think a good thing is to read up on restaurants (you can find menus on wdwinfo) that interest you and your family and maybe to come back to the boards for opinions. (our family all comes to the table with their own suggestions after researching and we make a game of pulling them out of a hat/discussing them/etc.)

I would say Boma would be a good one. It is always a memorable meal and the AK Lodge is beautiful.

Several of the other suggestions are character meals. Even as an adult I think they are a lot of fun and add a lot to the meal, but again you should talk as a family about if that is something you are interested in. All the ones suggested I would also say are good-- key is to look for meals with characters you want to see.

I second the suggestion of 50's Prime Time at MGM.

Hoop De Doo is another really fun meal! (Fort Wilderness)

I hope you all have a magical 1st trip!

 

[mackeyapp]

One other that is a great stop for counter service, espcially since you are staying at SSR would be Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney. It's a short walk away and a great place for a lunch or lighter dinner. They have the best sandwiches and excellent chicken ceasar. With our family of 4 we generally will get two sandwiches and two salad along with the drinks and deserts and it's wonderful. Their sandwiches are also great to buy and have in your fridge for the next day. Great value too for the counter service items.

 

[Woodcourt]

There are so many. We love Le Cellier, Liberty Tree is a good character meal. Our girls love the castle. Kona is my favorite. We waited too many trips before we tried it and now its a MUST HAVE!

 

[Disneychix]

I would recommend Whispering Canyon at the WL also for dinner. The girls might like Ohana at the Poly for dinner as they can join in the Hula fun. You might want to try the RainForest Cafe either in DTD or at the AK.
You might even want to try to get an ADR for Cindy's Castle. I bet 4 girls would love to eat in the castle!

 

[shortypots]

One of my fav places to go is Rose and Crown Pub right around 7:30-8pm and attempt to get a lakeside seat. We got a lake side view the last time and saw illuminations from there.

I might also splurge on the Cinderella's castle meal for at least one of the meals. We had Christmas dinner there in 2001 and it was really magical.

 

[AdWayInc]

Going back to Saratoga Springs for lunch every day is really going to taking a lot of hours traveling back and forth. If you are staying at a Villa with full kitchen benefits - it would be better to breakfast and cheaper for late lunches.

For Meals for the girls I recommend =
MK = Crystal Palace - character buffet with Winne the Pooh and friends.
or CRP depedning how much $ you are willing to pay.
EPCOT = Garden Grill in the Land
MGM = I personally like Sci Fi but alot of people like 50sPT
AK = There are 2 that I haven' tride yet - Yak & Yeti or Tusker Huse

Hope this helps - and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

 

[simonkodousek]

Here is a link to a list of all WDW restaurants...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

And, here is some info RE: the 2008 Dining Plan...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

Some of my favorite restaurants are Crystal Palace, Le Cellier, Nine Dragons, Sci-Fi (atmosphere is great, food isn't very good), Kona Cafe, Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Hope that helps!

Have a great trip!

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

First off a big congrats on you first trip to WDW!!!! I will agree with others that I don't think returning to SSR for lunch everyday is worth it, I think the time you lose in the parks is much more valuable than what lunch money you would be saving. And here are my restaurant suggestions:
Biergarten
Sci Fi Dine In
San Angel Inn
Cinderella's Royal Table
Garden Grill

 

[ZoZo]

I definitely wouldn't recommend going back to SSR for lunch - you'll waste a lot of time that way, and there are plenty of good places to eat at the parks.

I've never used free dining (we stay at Shades of Green, and are not eligible), but would use it in a heartbeat if I was eligible.

Some of my favorite places are: Le Cellier, California Grill, Earl of Sandwich, Wolgang Puck Express, Sunshine Seasons (great CS!), Fish and Chips shop at Epcot, and Columbia Harbor House. I also found Tambu Lounge at the Polynesian last trip - they have wonderful lettuce/chicken wraps!

The only place I didn't like was Raglan Road - food was sub-par (fish and chips were cold, soggy) and it was extremely noisy.

 

[thatgirl23]

I'll through my support in for Sci-Fi.

I see that others have suggested Prime Time. I would suggest looking at their menu before going. It might not be what you're looking for, especially if you have any picky eaters.

 

[kathie859]

With the changes to the DDP in 2008, it's not quite the deal that it used to be. I'd only sign up if I were going during a "free" time. What works for my crew is to eat a decent breakfast in our room (we usually have kitchen facilities) and either have a late sit down lunch as our main meal with a light supper of some sort or a light afternoon snack and early dinner. That way we're not spending our vacation sitting in restaurants--not that I'd mind but the rest of the family would be antsy.

Some of our family favorites (as opposed to more adult oriented venues):

Akershus has a great lunch and dinner with fantastic princess interaction.
O'Hana (think early dinner) is an experience with the games and fun for the kids.
We love Boma and visiting the AKL--but again, it's an early evening event for us. Don't forget to track down the night vision binoculars to peek at the animals after dinner.
We also enjoy Prime Time cafe and Liberty Tree Tavern and the character interaction at the Garden Grill.

Be sure to check allears for up to date menus and have fun planning.

 

[gogo65]

Hello seasoned travelers!
We are going to WDW Jan 5 -12 for the FIRST time. We have 4 girls (ages 13,11,10,9).
QUOTE]

Hi There,

We are also going to WDW for the first time from Jan 6-12 (I have a 14 DS and 12DD) We will be staying at the CR.
I have no idea about the best restaurants, but I have read a lot on the dis and found some great information. I have booked all our ADR's based purely on the info I have read here. We are doing the DDP

My main problem is there is not enough days to try all the restaurants we want

You better make some ADR's as soon as possible though.
Personally I don't think you need to go back to your room for lunch, I know my kids won't want to, we are planing fairly full days in the parks,

Enjoy your trip

 

[stitchlover]

With 4 kids here is a suggestion you might want to entertain...we did this our first trip (somewhat modified). Get a tour book (Birnbaum's, Passporter or Unnofficial Tour Guide), if you do DDP mark all the restaurant's that are on the plan, then tell your girls that each of them can pick on Table Service restaurant. That is how we did our first trip. We read the restaurant descriptions and that helped us figure out where we wanted to eat.

 

[kimsuenew]

We used the DDP in 2007 and will again in 2008... even though it changes somewhat in 2008 (IMHO) it is still "worth it" for the convenience factor it provides. As long as they offer it, we will always get the DDP (free or paid) for our WDW trips!

The TS repeats we did in 2007 and are doing again in 2008 (we loved these places) are:

Boma (we are going twice)
Crystal Palace (again, we are going twice)
50's Prime Time Diner (again, we are going twice)
Planet Hollywood

These use 7 of our 13 TS meals... the for the other 6 TS are places we have not visited so with we have left we have chosen:

Cinderella's (uses 2 TS each)
Coral Reef
Chef Mickey's
2 TS places to be decided on later!

WDW dining is so much fun. The decor and vibe of each place is fun!

The only place we ate at but would not go back to ever is Garden Grill. Other than that, all TS & CS places we ate at were good and some we will return to and return more than once!

We stayed at SSR as well and while we loved using the Artist Pallette as a CS (breakfast and lunch) place we did not like it enough to go back there daily to eat (we did not eat at the TS at SSR). SSR is an absolutely wonderful resort!

Have a WONDERFUL trip! Happy dining!

 

[kent285]

If you go to AllEars.net you can look up the menu for each restaurant and maybe that will help with your decision. Have a great trip!

 

[hematite153]

You can also view menus here at wdwinfo dining.

 

[LglBlonde]

I'm going to say Ohana for dinner - yum.