New here! Need advice for meals!

[BellaCat17]

Planning a trip for the late fall and never been to Disney. Learning a lot from reading these boards. Please help with a few things:

How inconvenient is it to travel from parks to resort restaurants? Perhaps there are better (or equally as good) eats in the parks. I am traveling with 3 kids (9 and 7 and 2) so I know it will be a little work. It seems as though every place that sounds good will require some travel and I am just not sure how complicated it is.

What restaurants are definitely worth making a special trip to? Character and non-character. We think our little one will be afraid so don't want to plan every meal as character.... some as just down time.

Plus we don't want to plan many early meals so we can maximize well rested time in the parks.

I will be using the DDP.

We will be visiting all 4 parks.

 

[Taja]

You'll definitely want to plan resort dining around your park(s) of the day. Otherwise, whether driving or using WDW transportation, you'll spend far too much time commuting between venues.

It's fairly easy to travel from MK to the monorail restaurants and EPCOT and/or DHS to the EPCOT area restaurants. Essentially, if you elect to dine at a resort on a park day, be sure to schedule it at a nearby resort. AKL is the only resort convenient via bus or driving) to AK for table service.

Everyone has different ideas about food. We've found that Crystal Palace in MK is quite good for a buffet (Pooh & Friends). We've only had dinner there--we rarely eat a large breakfast or lunch. We find it has a reasonable variety of food--plain for me, a few things a wee bit more adventurous for my BFF.

The Turf Club Bar and Grill (may have been renamed) at SSR was a good choice for us. It's away from the parks, a nice boat ride from DTD (or bus from parks, then boat ride to DTD afterwards). Quieter and less frenetic--children are very welcome--than many of the other TS venues. It's one of the few TS venues where we ate lunch. We're a bit weird! *LOL*

Beyond that, we enjoyed Yachtsman Steakhouse (at YC), but it is 2 TS credits and not the best place for young children. It really depends on the individuals--we've seen some younger children there, but most probably were age 10 or 12 and up.

We've dined at a number of other TS locations, but these were our favourites. We had a few others, but they have closed during the past few years.

 

[flyingcat2003]

I would suggest the following:
MK- Jump on the monorail to the ploy resort (the kids will love the monorail). Go to Ohana's for dinner. The food is good and the kids will love it. They do limbo and have coconut races in the resturant. They will get lai's. The food is served family style so there is no ordering and waiting. It is brought to your table and the kids can eat the things they like. It is all you can eat. If you don't want to leave the park, I would say the Plaza is the way to go.
http://allears.net/menu/menu_oh.htm.
http://allears.net/menu/menu_pr.htm
http://allears.net/menu/men_prk.htm

HS-What about Sci Fi for dinner? You get to eat in a car in front of a drive in screen showing hooky B ratede movies. They have yummy ribs, pasta and chicken nuggets. THe kids will think it is cool.
http://allears.net/menu/menu_scid.htm
http://allears.net/menu/men_sflk.htm

Epcot-There are so many choices here. I guess it depends on how your children are in sit down resturants. IF they enjoy them, I would suggest Teppan Edo. It is a Hibatchi grill. The chef puts on a show as they cook your food. We love Chefs de France. They have a great mac and cheese for the kids. If you need something that is quicker, Sunshine Season's in the Soarin pavillion is great.
http://allears.net/menu/men_cdfd.htm
http://allears.net/menu/men_cdfk.htm
http://allears.net/menu/men_ssff.htm
http://allears.net/menu/menu_teppan.htm

AK-This one is a hard one for me. We always eat at the Yak and Yeti.
http://allears.net/menu/menu_yak.htm
http://allears.net/menu/menu_yakids.htm

I hope this helps. Go to allears.net to get a listing of all of the menu's.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I will place a 2nd vote for 'Ohana on a MK day. You can take the monorail or a boat to the Poly. A nice break from the park for a fun meal.

EPCOT has many great restaurants so no real need to leave the Park to eat anywhere else. Teppen Edo is hibachi. Coral Reef has a huge fish tank that is fun (but the food can be hit or miss). If you did want to give the characters a try, Garden Grill in the Land pavillion is a rotating restaurant served family style with Mickey and Chip & Dale.

In DHS, I agree Sci Fi is fun in the cars but lunch is much better for us than dinner. I would say to try Mama Melroses if you want to do the Fantasmic package.

Animal Kingdom is a bit trickier. For us, the only place we really enjoy if Yak & Yeti for lunch. Since the Park closes so early, we go someplace else for dinner.

You can take any resort bus from a Park to get to a resort restaurant. Getting back to where you are staying can be time consuming. You would have to take a bus to a Park and then your resort bus. We plan for a certain amount of cab money if we are too tired to deal with that.

 

[dilligaf212]

At Animal Kingdom we did Tusker House for breakfast it is a character meal.. My son is 3 and isn't really fond of the characters yet but he loved it there.

At Hollywood Studio we did Hollywood and Vine for lunch food wasn't my favorite but son like oso and the other characters there

for a non character meal we went to Downtown Disney to the T-Rex we all enjoyed that meal and the atmosphere

oh and don't forget to make you reservations ahead of time so you will be sure to get into the places that you want.. like they all have said so far plan your meals around the parks you choose for the day

 

[Hootch]

parks or between parks and resorts does take time. If you're traveling in late Fall the park hours will not be as long as say in the middle of summer.

As mentioned above, if you keep your dining plans relative to you park touring plans, you won't eat up too much time. One of the first things my wife and I do is sit down with the park hours, decide in general where will be and outline where we want to eat. It's simply then a matter of matching park days to desired restaurants.

You may have this but if you don't here is a link to the overall WDW map. It's hard to get a real feel of how large the area is. When you go to Animal Kingdom you can eat in the park, go to Animal Kingdom Lodge or have dinner somewhere else. The transport time to other resort areas would take too much time in the middle of the park visit.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm

There are good suggestions already out there.

MK - I have always enjoyed eating at Crystal Palace. The restaurant can be quite loud but the character interaction is ideal for introducing your youngest to the concept. As mentioned above, Ohana has things to entertain kids and is easily accessible via the monorail.

Epcot - I'll add Biergarten. The food is very good. It's a buffet so no waiting for food. There is a band that plays short stints. Kids (and adults) are invited to dance and play on a small dance floor while the band is playing. Restaurant Marrakesh can be interesting. The belly dancer often invites kids to learn.

For DHS I'll add 50s Prime Time. It has what is generally considered home staples. You eat in your 1950s kitchen with your aunt, cousin or some other relative serving you. They want to help the adults remember their table manners.

Animal Kingdom - The Tusker House breakfast is one of the better character meals. Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge has a breakfast and dinner buffet. The buffet quality is a step above. It has enough traditional items to please everyone but also allwos those willing to try some new and different items.

 

[Linda T.]

At Magic Kingdom - We like Crystal Palace for breakfast (we do this our last day before we go to the airport). This year we are trying Ohana for dinner taking the boat over to the Poly.

At Epcot - We like Teppen Edo and Coral Reef for dinner. We also like Chef's de France for either dinner or lunch.

At Downtown Disney - A must restaurant for us is Raglan Road. We love the food and entertainment.

At Hollywood Studios - We like the Sci-Fi for lunch and if we eat dinner, we try to get the Fantasmic package and eat at Mama Melrose's.

At Animal Kingdom - We usually eat at Rainforest Cafe for lunch. We have never been in the park in the evening for dinner.