need your opinion on dining choices...

[Mommyof2]

We will be traveling with 4 people, myself & DH, and our two DD's, who will be 3 yrs and 5 months at the time of our trip. Our 3 yr old is not a picky eater, so that is not a problem.

For breakfast we will be doing most quickie breakfasts in our room, but we have Kona Cafe, 1900 Park Fare, and the Princess Storybook Breakfast planned.

For lunch we will be doing counter service and the hotel food court/

Dinner- Rainforest Cafe in DTD
Crystal Palace
Rose & Crown
San Angel Inn
Hollywood & Vine
Chef Mickey's
'Ohana

Do you think these are appropriate with two very young children? Is 4 character meals to much?
Thanks!

Christine

 

[bicker]

The only one of yoru choices I'd question is San Angel Inn; it's fine, on the surface, but not as kid friendly as all the others on your list. There are several choices at Epcot that might be better. Plus, remember that while at Epcot, you can always duck out the International Gateway for dinner at Cape May Cafe or Spoodles.

 

[momto2inKC]

San Angel Inn was the worst place we ate at. I don't know if it was a bad night for service, but it stunk. Our waiter was basically non-existant. The food was not what we expected either.

Chef Mickey's was another one we weren't to pleased with. We had a 7pm PS and did not get seated until almost an hour later. The food selection was not that great, but the character interaction was fabulous!!

 

[mbrittb00]

Do you think these are appropriate with two very young children? Is 4 character meals to much?
Thanks!

Christine

No 4 Character Meals is not too much. In fact I'm going to recoment you add another one.

I too would recomend replacing The San Angel Inn. It isn't kid friendly, plus it isn't your standard mexican restuarant. Its more of an upscale style Mexican food. See the menu here http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_mex.htm

I would suggest replacing The San Angel Inn with the Garden Grill in the Land at Epcot. This is personally my favoriate restuarant on the entire Disney site.

 

[b4u2love]

May I also suggest "Mickey's Backyard Barbque".

 

[stacy6552]

OH no! skip the San Angel Inn. Horrible service. Down right rude, thought we'd left Disney somehow.

If you've got Rose and Crown for Illuminations, great. otherwise skip it. none of us are big fans of the food.

Other faves of ours include the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. Cape May Cafe for the seafood buffet at dinnertime. And Wispering Canyon anytime.

 

[Mommyof2]

thanks for the advice! it looks like no San Angel Inn for us. For our second Epcot night, I am now considering either the Seafood buffet at Cape May Cafe, Alfredo's, or now I'm thinking Mickey's BBQ might be fun, although a pain to get to from Epcot.
Thanks for the reassurance about 4 character meals. DH was afraid we would overstimulate our 3 yr old but I figure, hey you're only 3 once. Don't know how he'll feel now that I'm thinking of adding the BBQ also. I was thinking of the Garden Grill as well, but I have heard negative reviews of the new menu. Anyone a fan?

DIS'ers are the greatest! Thanks everyone!
Christine

 

[b4u2love]

I think you're really enjoy the Backyard BBQ. I've never had a bad experience at San Angles Inn either. I love it there too. And of course Itlay is my faviorate too.

 

[disneygemuk]

I agree with other suggestions e.g. Cape May. But give Alfredo's a miss. Service was slow, wait (even with PS v.long), bad atmosphere and not great food. I personally enjoyed Chefs de France at Epcot. Cape May's lovely also. Rose and Crown's okay (not brill - though biased being from UK want to escape!) - good view for fireworks but you can get same view by going into small seating area (free) next to Rose and Crown.

 

[Mommyof2]

Thanks everyone!

This is what we have decided for dinner- Rainforest Cafe, Crystal Palace, Rose & Crown, Garden Grill, Hollywood & Vine, 'Ohanas, Mickey's Backyard BBQ

 

[b4u2love]

Looks like you made some great choices...did you book the dining plan? It's a steal of a deal.

 

[EthansMom]

Hi Mommyof2,

Where are you in Fairfield County? We're in Bridgewater in Litchfield Co.

I've got to agree with the other posters about Rose and Crown. Service was okay -- nothing to write home about, took around 15 min. (during a nonbusy lunch) for the waitress to come by and check on us while DS refused to eat his fish without any tartar sauce (tartar sauce wasn't automatically included and server didn't ask if he wanted any). And the food wasn't stunning by any means -- wasn't bad, but wasn't good. DH and I had the Guinness stew which was bland and had too much pepper. DH said his Black and Tan tasted watered down. DS didn't hardly touch his fish, which is apparently the same as the fish served outside at the counter service. We took our DS3.5 and DD13 mos. and didn't notice too many young children -- atmosphere was much more "pubish" than "family restaurant". All in all, not a place I'd recommend to others.

If you're looking for a place to dine at Epcot for Illuminations, try the Cantina San Angel. It's counter service, portions are large and food isn't bad. It's basically fast food Mexican, but we enjoy it. Also the view for Illuminations is very nice!

The restaurant I'd like to try for dinner at Epcot is The Coral Reef. I've heard very nice things about the food and the kids would love to watch the fish swimming by. Think we'll try to eat there on our trip in Dec.

On the other hand, I have to say the best dinner we ate on our trip in April was at Crystal Palace. The food was delish! and offered something for everyone. We ate and ate and ate! Our server was wonderful. The characters were fun. Crystal Palace was a joy and well worth the price. We will definitely dine there in the future.

I hope this helps!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Great choices!

IMHO, all Disney restaurants are kid-friendly.

Have a great trip!

 

[Mommyof2]

Ethansmom...we are in Cos Cob. We moved here in 2002 and we still have not been to Litchfield County! Heard it's beautiful though.
We have not booked the dining plan, not sure if it would be worth it with a 3 yr old who won't eat much.
I know that the Rose & Crown reviews have been mixed, but I was just looking for a good place to watch Illuminations. I can always get an earlier dinner seating, and than watch Illuminations from somewhere else, but I'm having a hard time finding a kid friendly World Showcase restaurant. San Angel Inn is definantly out, what about Le Cellier or Chefs de France?

 

[b4u2love]

The Dining plan is only 9.99 per day for kids 3-9. This would include a sit down restuarant and a counter service restaurant and a snack (ice cream, pop corn, or drink). Now you know you'll have to buy them a Mickey shaped Ice cream pop, now that cost $2.50 minus that out of the dining plan your at $7.49 per day. Now won't they eat at list $3.75 worth of food and drink in one meal? Just a thought...