Noise & Chaos in some Restaurants

[CaroM8]

Now listen, I know it's Disney, I know there are excited kids (and adults!) everywhere and it's gonna be busy and loud. We expect it, and we know it is unavoidable to some extent. As a point of reference, none of us have ever been to Disney and not likely to return very soon. Going for 7 nights in September.

But we would like our sit down meals to be a bit more quiet, a time to chill out a bit from the parks etc. It is my husband and I and our 6 year old daughter. She is pretty low key herself and can get overwhelmed if there is too much going on at the same time in an indoor setting. We also want to book at restaurants that will be fun for her. Here are the restaurants we have picked out so far - please let know if we are heading in the right direction.

As an example, I watched videos of places like Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace and those are a hard no. It looks way to chaotic! Same with the T-Rex one...

Akershus - DD is obsessed with princesses! So this one is sort of non negotiable, even it's on the louder side. We would be going for late breakfast/brunch.
Ohana - early dinner
Topolino's breakfast
Storybook - dinner

We were leaning towards Tusker for our AK day but not sure about the craziness of it ...

Thanks in advance for your input and opinion!

 

[sponica]

I don't remember Topolino's being loud and chaotic, but it wasn't seated at full capacity...and I was with a 30 month old chaos monster. If memory serves, the characters do have a dance through the restaurant before they take a break though.

I don't remember Storybook Dining at Artists Point being too chaotic but it could have been where we were seated.

ETA: The most chillaxing character dining will be Garden Grill. I prefer their breakfast over their lunch/dinner.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

It looks like all your sit down meals will include some character interaction. That will certainly lead to more activity than would be the case when choosing a non-character dining option. In any case, it looks to me like you’ve selected some of the calmer character experiences. Breakfast/brunch at Topolino’s is a particularly good choice in that regard. Be sure to take some time after you finish to visit the adjacent outdoor viewing deck. We’ve found Tusker House to be quieter than some locations, since we’ve usually been seated in a smaller room off to the side of the larger dining room. This did not cause any loss of character interaction. We’ve not visited ‘Ohana for dinner in a number of years, but I remember there being a character parade around the room where young folks were encouraged to join in. I don’t know if that still the case.

 

[KPeterso]

Tusker House for a late lunch around 2-3 PM range was so quiet last year. We were in the room off to the side and for the majority of the meal were the only ones in that room. We got so much character attention though. Like each came by 3-4 times to visit. We actually went back later in the trip around the same time and it was a little busier since we were in the main room this time but still not bad at all.

One to skip for sure is 50s Prime Time. We like going there but it can be very loud.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Ohana is as noisy as a chain restaurant (Olive Gardens, Red Lobster, TGIF) in a mall. Consistent rumble but less louder sounds except when the kids parade around the eatery.

Never eaten at any of the other restaurants you mentioned.

 

[Disneylover99]

When you say you have an early dinner at Ohana, do you mean at 3:30pm when it first opens? That is when we book our dinner at Ohana and it’s very quiet.

 

[BarlowFamily]

Now listen, I know it's Disney, I know there are excited kids (and adults!) everywhere and it's gonna be busy and loud. We expect it, and we know it is unavoidable to some extent. As a point of reference, none of us have ever been to Disney and not likely to return very soon. Going for 7 nights in September.

But we would like our sit down meals to be a bit more quiet, a time to chill out a bit from the parks etc. It is my husband and I and our 6 year old daughter. She is pretty low key herself and can get overwhelmed if there is too much going on at the same time in an indoor setting. We also want to book at restaurants that will be fun for her. Here are the restaurants we have picked out so far - please let know if we are heading in the right direction.

As an example, I watched videos of places like Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace and those are a hard no. It looks way to chaotic! Same with the T-Rex one...

Akershus - DD is obsessed with princesses! So this one is sort of non negotiable, even it's on the louder side. We would be going for late breakfast/brunch.
Ohana - early dinner
Topolino's breakfast
Storybook - dinner

We were leaning towards Tusker for our AK day but not sure about the craziness of it ...

Thanks in advance for your input and opinion!

Had early dinner at Ohana last week. Tuesday at 3:40pm. It was pretty loud and only about half the tables were seated. Live music, big open room of people...not the quiet early meal I was expecting.

Tusker House lunch also last week. 1pm on Saturday. The restaurant was less than half full. So many open tables. Much quieter than Ohana. Food was abundant and delicious. Excellent character interactions. The restaurant is divided into smaller rooms which helps.

I agree with the Garden Grill recommendation. It's a much more relaxed character meal. If you have a second day in Epcot, I'd add it. It's been a while since we had breakfast at Akershus. The line outside of folks just checking in was pretty crazy.I imagine it's not one of the quieter restaurants, but will be full of the beloved princesses. Perhaps CRT in MK isn't quite as loud?

I recommend stopping at the podium at each restaurant when you arrive and just request a quieter table.

 

[disdreaming2]

I had to Google this answer because nothing came to mind when thinking of Disney + Quiet.

Here are five restaurants at Walt Disney World with a calm atmosphere.
Coral Reef Restaurant – EPCOT. ...
California Grill – Contemporary Resort. ...
Kona Café – Polynesian Resort. ...
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano – Hollywood Studios. ...
Liberty Tree Tavern – Magic Kingdom.

My two cents...
Storybook Dinner can get a bit noisy when they do a special song. Everyone claps but it's not crazy or anything.
For a Character Breakfast I echo the Garden Grill breakfast idea.
Topolino's is not really that quiet but it is a beautiful environment. Characters sing & dance to a song every so often and it can be loud.
Grand Floridian Cafe always seemed calm to me but maybe it was the Victorian environment?
Narcoosees
Victoria + Alberts comes to mind the same as Monsieur Paul - but the prices are steep

 

[Micca]

I'm just gonna throw this out there: Sci-Fi Diner. Low lighting, not a lot of movement in the room, people mostly watch the 50s movie trailers so they don't talk as much. Sure there's audio from the trailers, but it doesn't seem like "in your face" loud.

 

[jemtx]

Garden Grill is pretty quiet and calm, especially when you have a booth on the lower level.
If you’d like a character breakfast that is kind of like chef mickeys but not as loud and chaotic, you might try cape May cafe at the beach club. We had a late breakfast/brunch there around 11:00 am or so and the food was good, lots of character interaction and a much calmer environment.

 

[erinch]

We were there in April. The most chaotic dining was Le Cellier, Cali Grill and Trattoria al Forno (which was a loud as a Chuck E. Cheese.)

For quiet but interesting:
Tiffins! So awesome, and so much art and things to interest.
Yak & Yeti if you ask for upstairs
Tusker House at off hours, we request to be seated in one of the side rooms
Boma right when they open-- ask for a side bay
Coral Reef exactly at 11:30 am will get you a table by the tank
Boathouse on the porch
Brown Derby --request a booth
Satuli Canteen is excellent quick serve
ABC Commissary is quieter
Spice Road table is wonderful
We found Storybook Dining crazy chaotic, but it was a lot of fun
At an off hour, Sunshine Seasons in the Land was a great respite

 

[Toolulu22]

In my opinion- Tusker House can be chaotic, have long waits even with reservations, and the food isn’t all that. Characters are charming, but there may be better options. We’d not return because of the chaos and food quality.

 

[Marthasor]

I'm just gonna throw this out there: Sci-Fi Diner. Low lighting, not a lot of movement in the room, people mostly watch the 50s movie trailers so they don't talk as much. Sure there's audio from the trailers, but it doesn't seem like "in your face" loud.

I completely agree with this - Sci-Fi is possibly the quietest, yet best themed restaurant in all of WDW.

Also agree with Garden Grill -maybe it's the rotation of the restaurant, but I find it quite calming.

Topolino's is great - IMHO, any of the character meals that are seated meals, as opposed to a buffet, will lend to less chaos (and the food is good too!)

Maybe consider Space 220 - it has a bit of a "wow" factor with the elevator to space and the vibe inside is quite chill, IMHO.

San Angel Inn is quite beautiful and unique, IMHO, and very quiet.

If you are doing Topolino's, I don't know if I would do Tusker House as well (similar characters and the buffets are chaotic). For something quieter in the AK area, consider going to Sanaa while the sun is still up (I'm not sure when you are going, but AK typically closes early, so maybe an early dinner?) - Sanaa at AKL has floor to ceiling windows and you can usually see animals walking by as you are eating.

 

[Disneylover99]

In my opinion- Tusker House can be chaotic, have long waits even with reservations, and the food isn’t all that. Characters are charming, but there may be better options. We’d not return because of the chaos and food quality.

Yep. Agree about Tusker House. We’ve done an early lunch there twice. Very loud and chaotic.

 

[Three cats]

Tusker House was unbelievably loud the last time we were there for breakfast.

 

[CaroM8]

I completely agree with this - Sci-Fi is possibly the quietest, yet best themed restaurant in all of WDW.

Also agree with Garden Grill -maybe it's the rotation of the restaurant, but I find it quite calming.

Topolino's is great - IMHO, any of the character meals that are seated meals, as opposed to a buffet, will lend to less chaos (and the food is good too!)

Maybe consider Space 220 - it has a bit of a "wow" factor with the elevator to space and the vibe inside is quite chill, IMHO.

San Angel Inn is quite beautiful and unique, IMHO, and very quiet.

If you are doing Topolino's, I don't know if I would do Tusker House as well (similar characters and the buffets are chaotic). For something quieter in the AK area, consider going to Sanaa while the sun is still up (I'm not sure when you are going, but AK typically closes early, so maybe an early dinner?) - Sanaa at AKL has floor to ceiling windows and you can usually see animals walking by as you are eating.

Yes, I was thinking of doing Sanaa instead for AK day! Thanks for reminding me
Our 60 day window opens on July .. hopefully by then I will have a concrete plan!

 

[holden]

IMHO T-Rex is the noisiest restaurant in all of WDW. We had trouble hearing each other talk during our meal. I'll never go there again.

 

[CaroM8]

IMHO T-Rex is the noisiest restaurant in all of WDW. We had trouble hearing each other talk during our meal. I'll never go there again.

That sounds terrible! So not relaxing...

 

[MICKIMINI]

Chef Mickey's is crazy noisy in part due to the architecture of The Contemporary and the monorail. Kids are just part of the noise and chaos. I would avoid this if possible.

Topolino's is a wonderful breakfast and dinner.

Storybook is lovely. We truly enjoyed dinner there.

O'Hana is busy and food IMO is not good. Kona Cafe is better in every way and cheaper. Capt Cook's is QS and you can eat outside in a garden atmosphere and save a bunch of $$.

Boma is a favorite. We go every trip sometimes twice. Dinner and breakfast.

Space220 was quiet but we didn't care for the food.

Steakhouse71 is a favorite breakfast and lunch.

Enjoy!

 

[SwanVT2]

Akershus is a good pick for the princess meal! It was so much fun for our DD and pretty relaxed. As far as I know, ohana has not continued the parade since Covid restrictions but we have not eaten there so it might be too loud.

Now, I’m going to throw a crazy suggestion out there about T Rex. I will preface this by saying our DD is definitely a kid who gets overwhelmed by large crowds and lots of noise, and the three of us are introverts and like quiet, but T Rex has been her favorite restaurant since we started going to Disney and she is now 12. The animatronics are amazing and the fish tanks are gorgeous. She loves to walk around and look at the dinosaurs while we wait for food. The only time you *might* not hear each other is when the animatronics turn on, which is not that often. For a 6 year old it would be sooo cool! We are going to Florida next February and the one thing on daughter’s list? T Rex! The gift store is also fun and the food and drinks are pretty tasty!