Non themepark restaurant with easy access from Pop

[justkeepswimmin]

My family and I are spending Sat. 9/30 at a waterpark w/ friends who are coming to Orlando just for the 9/29 MNSSHP and our waterpark day. We want to go to dinner together after the waterpark but they will not have theme park access.

Keeping in mind the following, any suggestions?

-We will be a party of 9, with 5 little girls (ages 8,7,5, 2, 1 1/2)
-There are 2 birthday girls in our group and we are looking to celebrate!
-Our family will be relying on Pop buses to get there
-We really don't want to have to transfer buses, etc (Day after MNSSHP and a day at waterpark=tired family)
-We like kid friendly places and don't mind a little noise with our meal.
-At this late date the more popular places might be impossible to get ADRs for so any "best kept secret" kind of suggestions would also appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

 

[singingpixie]

Hi,
The only restaurants you will be able to access via the busses w/o some sort of transfer are the ones at Downtown Disney. Check out the menus at Allears to see if any of these appeal to you-
another thought would be going to one of the restaurants on the monorail- you can take a bus to the MK (a longer trip from Pop but at that time of day you'll probably get a seat) and then transfer to the resort monorail- while it's still a transfer, the monorail is much more exciting for kids than a bus. Some places to check out on the monorail that may still have openings are:
Kona Cafe (Poly)- great ambiance, great food, Grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian)- seems fancy for the birthday girls, but still fairly casual, and the Concourse Steakhouse (Contemporary)- the lobby there is cool with kids.
Hopefully this is some food for thought!

 

[gatour]

The no-bus transfer is the kicker, that eliminates other resorts, unless monorail transfers don't count.

That leaves Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk. I would say that Rainforest Cafe or Cape May Cafe would meet the kid celebration requirement although they are not "hidden". Spoodles might be an option also

Yacht Club Galley is more like a conventional restaurant but doesn't seem to get packed.

 

[gatour]

Oh I forgot about the Rainforest at the Animal Kingdom you have to go into the park to eat there, however I am not sure how late it is open since the Animal Kingdom closes early. However I imagine it would be less busy than the one at Downtown Disney.

 

[Lewisc]

You can dine at the RFC at the AK without paying for park admission.

Can you go from the water park directly to the restaurant? Then you'll only have to worry about bus transfers for the ride back to your resort.

 

[MadToad]

I'd try Raglan Road in DTD...
It's been getting very strong reviews and when I booked my ADR for October, I was the only person booked for that evening at the time.

 

[justkeepswimmin]

The no-bus transfer is the kicker, that eliminates other resorts, unless monorail transfers don't count.

That leaves Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk. I would say that Rainforest Cafe or Cape May Cafe would meet the kid celebration requirement although they are not "hidden". Spoodles might be an option also

Yacht Club Galley is more like a conventional restaurant but doesn't seem to get packed.

Yeah, I was thinking that the no transfer thing might do us in. I am worried about it taking 90 minutes each way with transfers and not sure I want to deal with this hassle as it will be towards the end of our 10 day stay and we will likely be a little run down. Our friends will have a car and likely be staying at Shades of Green so transportation will not be an issue for them.

I also love Rainforest Cafe but we have one that we go to regularly near us and also when in DTD at Disneyland so I kind of wanted something unique to WDW. We are also using the dining plan for our portion of the meal and will likely treat our friends OOP.

What is the atmosphere at Cape May like? Is the boardwalk area more adult oriented?

 

[justkeepswimmin]

I'd try Raglan Road in DTD...
It's been getting very strong reviews and when I booked my ADR for October, I was the only person booked for that evening at the time.

The atmosphere here looks very appealing to dh and I but I am wondering what it is like with small children? Has anyone with kids tried this?

 

[gatour]

It has a nautical motif but if fairly conventional looking. The buffet is fairly decent and is popular with families.

 

[vassar36]

You might want to take the bus to MGM (less than 10 min?) and then take the boat to Boardwalk area. We did this on our 1st night at POP after a very LONG day of travel with me, dh, & 2 young kids (and rest of group) and it worked out great b/c the bus ride to MGM from POP is very short and the boat ride, (although longer) was more relaxing and the kids liked being on a boat. We had a big party too, 4 kids all under the age of 5 and 7 adults. We ate at Big River, food was ok, but I did reserve an ADR for an outside table which was great when the kids got rowdy and restless. I haven't eaten at other boardwalk resturants so I can't compare BR to others but i do know the boat stops at all the hotels in the Boardwalk area so you have lots of resturants to choose from. Afterwards we walked around the boardwalk which was nice at night with all the lights etc... But in hindsite would have taken a taxi back, as 2yr old dd had a meltdown on the boatride back.

 

[timandlesley]

Our favorites at DownTown Disney are:

Planet Hollywood
ESPN
Rainforest Cafe

Your party would love these and can get a direct bus there from POP.
Have fun.

Lesley

 

[Laura]

The MK resort restaurants could be a good choice, especially at the Contemporary. You can walk to that resort from the MK entrance. Otherwise, the MK monorail resorts are a short ride by boat or monorail. It would be easy to get back to Pop, just go back to the MK entrance. And it's fun to take the monorail/boat, anyway!

 

[brat5063]

The atmosphere here looks very appealing to dh and I but I am wondering what it is like with small children? Has anyone with kids tried this?

I haven't eatin here yet, but we have ADRs for Sept. When making them the CM said that we would be fine here. They have dancers/entertainers that come around to the table. We are traveling with a 1 and 2 year old.

 

[shellybaxter]

The atmosphere here looks very appealing to dh and I but I am wondering what it is like with small children? Has anyone with kids tried this?

I personally wouldn't take young children to Raglin Road, not because its too fancy or the children would bother people, but because its a bar. Its not a restaurant with a bar attached like Rainforest or Chilis, its a bar with tables for eating. I'm not at all prudish but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking my niece into RR for dinner because its a bar and feels like a grown up place to me. I know others feel differently, but I thought you might like another opinion

 

[justkeepswimmin]

Thanks for all these ideas. I am going to look into the DTD and Boardwalk area restaurants. This seems easiest and although I would love to do a big group at Ohanas or Whispering Canyon Cafe, I tried to get ADRS and at this late notice, there is nothing at either for a large party until after 9 PM. With the ages of our kids and a whole day at a waterpark we would be into major meltdown territory!

 

[justkeepswimmin]

You might want to take the bus to MGM (less than 10 min?) and then take the boat to Boardwalk area. We did this on our 1st night at POP after a very LONG day of travel with me, dh, & 2 young kids (and rest of group) and it worked out great b/c the bus ride to MGM from POP is very short and the boat ride, (although longer) was more relaxing and the kids liked being on a boat. We had a big party too, 4 kids all under the age of 5 and 7 adults. We ate at Big River, food was ok, but I did reserve an ADR for an outside table which was great when the kids got rowdy and restless. I haven't eaten at other boardwalk resturants so I can't compare BR to others but i do know the boat stops at all the hotels in the Boardwalk area so you have lots of resturants to choose from. Afterwards we walked around the boardwalk which was nice at night with all the lights etc... But in hindsite would have taken a taxi back, as 2yr old dd had a meltdown on the boatride back.

Can you not get directly to the Boardwalk area from Pop?

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

On my trip last week the Pop bus stopped at one of the water parks going to and from Downtown Disney. So, you can get on the Pop bus from the water park, and it will very likely stop at DTD before going to Pop. I would try the crab house or Raglan Road.