Need MK dining suggestions

[sdgilliland]

This will be our first visit to WDW with our kids. (ages 5 & 2 ) We are definitely going to MK and possibly AK. I'm looking for the best kid-friendly options for dining within these parks, using the Dining Plan. Tell me what you wish you had known about the dining the first time you came. Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

Crystal Palace is probably a good choice - a buffet, Pooh and friends characters, and only 1 TS credit on the DDP.

We also went to Liberty Tree Tavern last trip, which was fine - no characters anymore though, so I think it was better when it was a character meal.

 

[Hootch]

with the PP that CP is a good choice with kids if your looking for a table service restaurant and characters. It has been awhile since we have eaten and CP but I always enjoyed the dinner. All three meals have characters.

If you are looking for something similar in Animal Kingdom, Tusker House has characters at breakfast and lunch. There is no overlap with Crystal Palace. Your kids may also enjoy Rainforest Cafe which is right at the entrance of the park. It was added to the dining plan this year.

Animal Kingdom often takes families a half day followed by another park, DTD or staying at the resort for a break. Flame Tree BBQ is a very good counter service location in DAK. We sometimes combine FT with Pizzafari for the kids. They are relatively close. That could open up a TS meal somewhere else that night.

 

[santadog]

Tell me what you wish you had known about the dining the first time you came. Thanks!

I wish I had known about Flame Tree Bar-B-Que at AK the first time we went: Not only is it arguably the best BBQ on property, but for one QS credit you can get a half a chicken, side and a soda.

 

[gabzee]

If you want to stay in the parks then I would suggest Crystal Palace for your MK day. The food is not fantastic but they do have characters (Pooh and Friends). The TS restaurants at MK are not the best. If you wanted to you could go to one of the TS at the monerail resorts (CR, Poly, or GF). If you were to do this you could go to 1900 Park Fare (character buffet for breakfast and dinner; breakfast has Alice, Madhatter, Pooh, Tigger, and Mary Poppins; dinner has Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step Mother, and both step sisters) at the GF, Ohana at the Poly (family style meal, only characters at breakfast- which I don't recommend- and no characters at dinner) , or Chef Mickey at CR. There are also signature restaurant on the monerail loop that are nice but I don't know if you want that. Remember that a lot of the buffets are not going to be the best food that you have ever had so don't be disappointed. For AK, there is Tusker House for breakfast and lunch which is a character meal. Also, we really enjoyed Yak and Yeti but I would look at the menu to make sure there is something that you enjoy. Typically, AK closes pretty early (5pm or 6pm). I would suggest going to Boma at AKL for dinner. The buffet is one of the best dinner buffet we have had at Disney. You can then walk around the resort for a bit and the kids can go look at the animals at the hotel with night vision goggles. After you are done, you can head back to your resort or go to another park for the remainder of the evening. I really hope you have a great trip!

 

[summermac]

We took our kids at the exact same age and here's the places we ate, TS wise:

Crystal Palace for breakfast which was awesome. It helped that my son loves Tigger. (See siggy!)

Tusker House for breakfast (they only had characters at breakfast then). I preferred CP to be honest. I think we just had a bad day in general at AK though.

Kona Cafe - not a good kids' place but the food was good and we kind of deserved a more "adult" meal for one day. It was our favorite meal in terms of food

Whispering Canyon Cafe - this was tons of fun! Good, decent food and a fun waiter

50's Prime Time - eh. We had a great experience on a previous trip. This time notsomuch

1900 Park Fare (dinner w/ Cinderella, et al) - LOVED it. My son asked Cinderella to marry him. It was fun!

In terms of CS, the kids really liked Cosmic Rays - it was fun with the little alien guy or whatever playing the piano and the atmosphere is neat.

I have heard ppl recommend Toy Story Pizza Planet too but we've never eaten there.

Also, while we didn't eat there the CS above Small World ride was really neat to take a break and relax inside.

 

[sdgilliland]

Such great info!! Thank you all so much! It sounds like CP is a must for us, and I would love to try Boma at AKL. Everything sounds great though, and I'll definitely remember the tip about the BBQ at Flame Tree. Thanks again!

 

[Michigan_Minnie]

We ate at the Crystal Palace on 2/12 and it was amazing! The beef was to die for and we didnt find any as good on property and we ate at Le Cellier.
I would recommend Crystal Palace and Tony's at MK.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Crystal Palace has yummy food for both lunch and dinner. Since your on the DP, i'd suggest dinner to get your moneys worth. Although there is only a small difference between the two. We always have great meals there.

I would NOT recommend Tony's to anyone. They have the worst food in the entire (Disney) world. AWFUL. I would never eat there again as long as I live. The spaghetti & meatballs are beyond disgusting. I had the chicken parm and i didnt even eat 1/4 of it. Gross. Their marinara sauce is a joke. The icing on the cake is the atmosphere. Cold and uninviting. Not worth it.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

The character meals are limited in MK, we always do the Crystal Palace as our arrival night dinner, and usually also do breakfast there. We don't mind the same characters.

For counter service we like Columbia Harbour House. We no longer go to Cosmic Rays, we've had trouble getting a table there and it's annoying to have to wait on different lines if one person wants a hamburger, one chicken, etc.. The lines are split up by food items.

I do like Liberty Tree Tavern but we stopped going there once they stopped having the characters.

In Animal Kingdom we always do breakfast as Tusker House.

Our favorites in Epcot are Chefs de France and Biergarten.

In DHS we just do counter service usually, we've not had good luck with TS there.

Next trip we plan to try a couple new places, Coral Reef and Captain Grill.

Out of the parks we like Kona and 1900 Park Faire. Chef Mickey's was not our favorite.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Characters at Crystal Palace breakfast were good (but it was busy so they don't linger) food was not. We'd be more inclined to try a character meal at one of the monorail resorts. Perhaps Grand Floridian? Any particular characters your kids are interested in?

We hear good things about Boma and are trying it this coming trip (though its at AKL, not AK).