PLEASE Help me choose our ADR's!!! 1st timer

[Rachel6236]

We just booked our May 06 trip - 1st time going to WDW~
I want to have a rough plan of what we are going to do each day so we can make all of our ADR's.
We will be doing the dining plan and staying at the POP (5 days,4 nights). Our group is me, DH, daughter (22 months), my sister 13, and my mom.
What are your favorite CS restaurants (and favorite meal there if you don't mind sharing)
What are your favorite TS restaurants (and why)?
What are the "CAN'T MISS" restaurants?
What is your favorite CS or TS restaurant at each theme park?
What is your favorite CS or TS at the resorts?
Best meal you ever had at WDW?
What restaurants are worth the 2 TS credits?
What TS restaurants are only 1 TS, but worth 2???

THANKS SO MUCH for all of your comments!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Well, I don't do the dining plan so I can't comment on what's worth how many credits but I can give you some of our favorites!

At MK for sit down we love Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. Wonderul character interraction in a unique setting. Very nice comfort food that my whole family enjoys. This has become our new first night tradition! We also liked Crystal Palace pretty well, but my kids are getting too old for Pooh characters and since we discovered LTT, we stick with that! For cs at MK, we enjoy the hot dogs at Casey's, the burgers at Pecos Bills and love the fish and chicken baskets at Columbia Harbor House. They also have a very nice ham sandwich there with broccoli slaw that is delicious.

At Epcot, we enjoy San Angel Inn for the atmosphere and find the food to be pretty good, not the best Mexican food in the world but still tasty. We also loved Le Cellier, it was our splurge and I am still thinking about that steak weeks later! We enjoy the Coral Reef, think the food is okay but overpriced but the atmosphere is wonderful. Lunch is cheaper and they don't mind if you share, the portions aren't that big but it saves money and allows us to eat a cheaper snack before or after! For cs at Epcot we enjoy the place in Japan, the place in Mexico (tastes about the same as San Angel for a fraction of the cost but you don't have the fun atmosphere). We had okay fish and chips in England but liked the ones at Col. Har. House in MK better, but it was a great spot to watch Illuminations.

At MGM we always have to go to Sci Fi for lunch. We love eating in the cars and the reubens and hamburgers are huge (we usually share) and my kids love their kids mac and cheese. The milkshakes are to die for. It is always very relaxing in there as the whole place is mesmerized by those corny movie flicks! I have heard others on this board who don't like the food and had slow service but this is the one place we have eaten all five trips and its always been great. For cs in MGM we generally have a hot dog while waiting for Fantasmic. We also ate at Rosies once and it had decent burgers.

At AK we enjoy Rainforest Cafe (the only full service place that serves lunch and dinner but its separately owend and operated). HUGE portions, great atmosphere but always slow service. For cs we love Tusker House and Pizzafari. I think pizzafari's pizza is kinda gross but I like their sandwiches.

At DTD we like Rainforest Cafe, same menu, same atmosphere but the service seems faster than the AK location. We also love the Earl of Sandwich. Great food at incredibly reasonable prices, one of the best deals around at WDW.

We have enjoyed eating at the resorts several times. In particular O'Hana. Probably our best meal at WDW inside or outside the parks. We also like Chef Mickey's, we have done breakfast and dinner and enjoyed both. We love 1900 Park Fare for breakfast.

We have also enjoyed the food courts at all three All Stars, Pop, and both Port Orleans FQ and Riverside. Food courts to us offer a pretty decent deal for a pretty decent price. And they have a great variety. If you are going off season when the park hours are reduced it is nice to eat at the food court after you come back at night so you don't spend park time eating dinner. Unfortunately it will be crowded as everyone else is doing the same thing!

The best meal I have had at WDW would probably be O'Hana with Le Cellier a close second.

I hope this helps, have fun with your planning!

 

[Terk-1]

What are your favorite CS restaurants (and favorite meal there if you don't mind sharing)
Casey's @ the Magic Kingdom -- Love their hot dogs
Tusker House @ Animal Kingdom -- the rotisserie chicken, with mashed potatoes & green beans is great.
Main Street Bakery @ Magic Kingdom -- Yummy cinnamon rolls & giant rice crispie treats
Starring Rolls @ MGM -- Yummy cinnamon rolls
Sleepy Hollow @ Magic Kingdom -- love their warm chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. YUM YUM!!!

What are your favorite TS restaurants (and why)?
Crystal Palace
Liberty Tree Tavern
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Rose & Crown
Le Cellier
50's Primetime Cafe

What are the "CAN'T MISS" restaurants?
All of the above!!

Best meal you ever had at WDW?
All of the above!!

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Congratulations on your 1st trip!! You are certainly off to a great start planning on where to make your ADRs. I think an essential part of having a great Disney vacation is to have a flexible plan of what to do each day.

Here are some of our favorite TS:

Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge Resort--They have great food and the waiters are very entertaining. You can take a boat from the MK that will take you to that resort
Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club Resort - They have a great clambake seafood buffet there in the evenings.
50's Prime Time Cafe at MGM studios - This place is so much fun. Everyone needs to try it at least once, there is no other place like it.
Sci Fi Dine In at MGM - This is like a drive in theater where you acutally sit in "cars" to eat
Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort - This is a character buffet with Mickey and friends, it is very festive and fun. You can take the monorail over to the resort.

Be sure to check out the menus for each restaurant at allearsnet.com and this should help you make some decisions.

 

[JennInTN]

What are your favorite CS restaurants (and favorite meal there if you don't mind sharing)
Tusker House at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Chicken Sandwich ( they put a ranch dressing on it, if you don't like that flavor, like me, ask them to leave it off) The desserts are very tasty, but you'll have little room.
Earl of Sandwich DTD

What are your favorite TS restaurants (and why)?
Le Cellier - I think it's just that good

What are the "CAN'T MISS" restaurants?
breakfast at Park Faire
Earl of Sandwich

What is your favorite CS or TS restaurant at each theme park?
AK - Tusker House (I'm a broken record)
MK - Cinderella's Royal Table, dinner which is soon changing.
DS - Hollywood Brown Derby
EPCOT - So many choices, I rank Rose and Crown, Le Cellier highest. Yorkshire Fish is a good CS choice.

What is your favorite CS or TS at the resorts?
Poly - Kona
Contemporary - I like the Concourse Steakhouse
GF - 1900 Park Faire breakfast


Best meal you ever had at WDW?
So far, my sister's bday dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby @ Studios in 2003.

What restaurants are worth the 2 TS credits?
I’ve always had impeccable service at Brown Derby, so I think it's worth it. Haven't tried Cali Grill, Citricos or Narccossee's yet. (spelling is off, I know)

What TS restaurants are only 1 TS, but worth 2???
Le Cellier, We had fantastic steak.

 

[DawnaJean]

Le Cellier - in Canada at EPCOT. It is the best 1 credit TS on the dining plan in my opinion (at least it was one credit last year). Great meal there ....a must-do every trip. One of my coworkers asked where they should go for dinner on the dining plan and I said keep going to Le Cellier and try different things!

Tusker House in AK for CS. Chicken is very good!

I'd pick a character meal for one meal if I were you. We have enjoyed the Chef Mickey's buffet (Mickey and friends), Crystal Palace buffet (Pooh and his friends), Cinderella's Royal Table (Princesses but it is VERY expensive). The character meals don't have the "best" food but you're paying for the characters coming to your table for pictures/autographs.

Have a great time!
Dawna

 

[ksumn1]

Magic Kingdom
CS -Cosmic Rays rotesserie chicken wtih mashed potatoes...HUGE. My DH, DD, and I shared this.
TS -we loved CRT for breakfast. We found the food good, the time with the Princesses a little rushed, but eating in the castle was a wonderful experience.

Animal Kingdom
CS-Tusker House, don't remember what we ate excet it was wonderful
TS-Rainforest Cafe, great ambiance if a little dark at times, huge portions, service was a little slow but DD loved it. Also had an interesting gift shop to browse while waiting to be seated. We had the sampler platter which was very good. Loved the crab dip. DH had the Maine Stuffed Lobster, and I had the Shrimp platter. It was way too much food. If you want to see a reaction, order the volcano. I thought my DD was having a heart attack when she caught sight of it! This was my DH's favorite resteraunt of the trip. In fact, it's our 1st meal at WDW 1st day of our June trip.

MGM Studios
CS-didn't eat CS here
TS-50's Prime Time Cafe, really liked the atmosphere, the pot roast was to die for, DH wasn't too impressed, but us girls really liked it. Especially the Smores.

EPCOT
CS- Sunshine Seasons (the Land), really good selection for everyone form soup sandwiches, salads to stir fry. I had grilled salmon (yummy) and DH had some kind of sandwich (a cuban?) that he really liked. DD had chicken strips like usual.
TS- Le Cellier, the cheddar cheese soup and the breads are awesome. DH loves the Stak Sanwich and so do I. I also like the beef tendeloin salad. Also like the fruit cobbler. Overall the best TS we've tried but we're excited to try Marrakesh this trip.

Overall, we stayed at ALSMO and really thought the food in the food court was very good. Usually pretty fresh, but the service could be a little slow. We ate alot of breakfast in the rooms and a late lunch with no dinner, or a very ligt sandwich etc at night because th portions at most resteraunts are huga and enough to keep you going almost all day.

We also really liked Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club resort. Great atmosphere, shakes and great hamburgers (and I'm not a great lover of hamburgers) Maybe try a Kitchen sinf or make sure you get a look if someone else orders it!

The best meal ever was at Artist Point at the WL. The service was excellent, the resteraunt is beautiful and the food was outstanding. I was never a big fish person but I decided to try the salmon based on reccomendations and it is the best food hands down I have ever had! Dh had the chicken and was really pleased with the taste but the portions were too small. (The portions were fine, he was just used to Disney sized not normal portions) DD rally enjoyed the white chocolate paintable cookies. This was our anniversary dinner and our server gave us each a complimentary glass of champage. The berry Cobbler for dessert was again the best I've ever eaten.

 

[Kirsten77]

2 credits California Grill, hands down best two credit meal I have ever had. What can't be missed is Les Chefs de France, breakfast at the Kona Cafe, Dole whip in Disney World in Adventure Land (pineapple float). I'm leaving in 19 days and all of these things are on the list of must do's!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Favorite counter services:

Columbia Harbor House in MK
Tusker House in AK
Norway Bakery in Epcot
Sommerfest in Epcot

Favorite table service:

Liberty Tree Tavern in MK
Plaza in MK
Sci-Fi in MGM
50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM
Hollywood Brown Derby in MGM (2 credits)
Le Cellier in Epcot

1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian
Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary
Kona Cafe at the Poly
Ohana at the Poly

You can't go wrong with any combination of these