Please review my dining picks...

[MinnieSweetheart]

Sunday: dinner at Rainforest Cafe at Disney Spring (we are staying at port Orleans)
Monday @ magic kingdom : no reservations
Tuesday @ magic kingdom :character breakfast at Ohana. No other reservations Tuesday
Wednesday @ Epcot : lunch at via Napoli, dinner at Biergarten
Thursday @ animal kingdom: dinner at Boma
Friday @ Hollywood Studios: dinner seafood buffet at Cape May
Saturday (makeup day and departure day: lunch at T-Rex.

Switch to T-Rex on arrival day. I think it would really wow a 7 year old boy and you want the wow factor in the beginning. I would switch biergarten and via napoli, because lunch buffet is cheaper at biergarten and via napoli price will be the same.

I would also skip Rainforest Cafe. It's not unique to Disney, so therefore boring to us.

I agree with Tuskerhouse instead of Boma. The only thing Boma has that TH doesn't is zebra domes.

Also, if you do Cape May Cafe, that's a fine pick since you love seafood, but make an early reservation so you can be back for Fantasmic! I think that will likely be your son's favorite evening show unless you go after Rivers of Light has opened.

 

[jimmytammy]

taking my son to Disney World for the first time and it's the first time I've been in 20 years. We are arriving on a Sunday and leaving the following Saturday. Here are the ADRs I've made so far.
I currently have two days blank for dinner, Monday and Tuesday as we will be at the Magic Kingdom those days and I didn't see any must-do restaurants that were really jumping out at me. I figured for most breakfasts we will grab something quick service like a cinnamon roll or something. For lunch most days I thought about just winging it and going snacks or quick service. Here's what I have so far. Please tell me if I've made good choices or if there's places I should skip. Also suggestions on what to book to fill in my two missing dinner days.

Sunday: dinner at Rainforest Cafe at Disney Spring (we are staying at port Orleans)There are much better choices at DS than this. Avoid Planet Hollywood and pretty much all others are good.
Monday @ magic kingdom : no reservations Liberty Tree Tavern, The Plaza and Tonys all good choices if you opt for a meal
Tuesday @ magic kingdom :character breakfast at Ohana. No other reservations Tuesday
Wednesday @ Epcot : lunch at via Napoli, dinner at Biergarten Both great choices! Try to spread them out as much as possible
Thursday @ animal kingdom: dinner at Boma We love Boma, go hungry!
Friday @ Hollywood Studios: dinner seafood buffet at Cape May Good choice
Saturday (makeup day and departure day: lunch at T-Rex.

Thanks!

 

[Deborah LeSueur]

I wanted to do T-Rex on arrival day, but unfortunately the only times they had available on Sunday for dinner were past 8pm! I can always
re-check.
QUOTE]

Have you tried calling T-Rex directly? They limit number of reservations through Disney. For our Aug '15 trip, DD was showing no availability for T-Rex. I called and got they were wide open..got the time I was wanting.

 

[acarsme123]

Thanks for the advice everyone. For the most part we decided to keep our reservations the same....I just adjusted some times to be earlier.

I kept Rainforest for our arrival day. I know my son, and he'll still love both Rainforest and T-rex.

I kept Boma....my wife really wants to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge itself. And since I have a feeling we will get done with AK early, I don't mind traveling to the Lodge to eat dinner.

I moved up our dinner time at Cape May for the seafood buffet so we could hopefully get back in time for Fantasmic. I see that I can take water transportation to/from Hollywood studios to Beach Club resort....so that might be nice and relaxing after a day on our feet. Just hope we can get back in time for the show. I heard people start getting in line early.

I did cancel Via Napoli for our Epcot day, and I moved up our Biergarten reservation. But now we are torn as to whether we should stick with Biergarten or swap it for Via Napoli for dinner that day. We are already doing a few buffets on our trip, and I don't want every meal to just be a buffet.

 

[dancemonkey]

Going AK - AKL - PO is kind of a nuisance, too.

Understanding that you're looking at what your 7-year-old might enjoy, I'd say keep T-REX and drop Rainforest Cafe. The Rainforest Cafes at DS and AK are exactly like the 30-some other Rainforest Cafes on earth. I would swap in Splitsville if you're thinking 7-year-old, or on the first night just play it chill based on arrival time, consider the Wolfgang Puck Express as a stellar option, then go over to the LEGO Store because if he's 7, that's paradise on earth.[/QUOTE

Splitsville was great! We just went for the first time! I think it would be wonderful with a 7 year old! We mini golfed before hand. But we had a car! I'd only pick one of the restaurants in Epcot.

 

[acarsme123]

Well I know this is well after our Disney vacation back in March, but I just wanted to thank everyone for their reply to my question and wanted to provide feedback on what we ended up doing for our dinners in case anyone else is researching these restaurants that we ended up going to.
I will list everywhere I remember we ate and my quick feedback:

Rainforest Cafe: Meh: My son enjoyed the theme, but the food was probably the worst meal we had the entire week. I wouldn't go back again.

Tony's Town Square: I was worried about this place considering the reviews were pretty inconsistent. We were pleasantly surprised by the food, especially after an exhausting day at Magic Kingdom. Was it great? No. But it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Maybe that's why it surprised me, that I was expecting worse but got decent food. It was too expensive for what it was though, but I had expectations of everything at Disney being this way.

Ohana Character Breakfast: We had reservations first thing in the morning, so our food was hot and fresh. It wasn't spectacular quality, and of course it was way too expensive for what it was, but once again I had my expectations lower and walked away pleasantly surprised. My son loved the characters, and had fun doing the conga line around the restaurant. The smile on his face was worth the price.

Riverside Mill Food Court: We actually decided to just get dinner back at our hotel's (Port Orleans Riverside) food court one night. This was on our second day at Magic Kingdom, and no other restaurants were wowing me at that park that I wanted to make reservations for. The food at the hotel food court was actually very good, and a good value! We were able to get shrimp Alfredo pasta....huge portions, and much cheaper than any of the restaurants, and the quality was really good!

Boma: My wife absolutely LOVED this buffet restaurant. I thought it was quite good as well. It will definitely be on our must-do list next trip!

Via Napoli: So we ended up cancelling our Biergarten reservation and changed it to Via Napoli. After much discussion we decided my son wouldn't have enjoyed the food at Biergarten. Though Biergarten would have been interesting, I'm glad we ate at Via Napoli! The pizza was wonderful. We got a white pizza with artichoke hearts. And my wife absolutely loved the salads there.

Cape May Seafood Buffet: Absolutely my favorite meal of the week! The variety and quality was outstanding in my opinion. It may not be a top notch seafood buffet for people from the coasts that have access to good seafood buffets and restaurants, but to us land-locked people, it was heaven! It will be a must-do again on our next trip. Totally worth it!

T-Rex: I know this is done by the same people that do Rainforest Cafe, but I tell ya what, it was better. The food quality seamed better. My burger was awesome, and my son loved the theme of the restaurant! I can see us coming back to this place next time instead of Rainforest Cafe.

 

[acarsme123]

...And one other thing.....If I were to give someone a tip about food at Disney it would be this.....focus on dinner, nothing else. At least this was true for us having a 7 year old along. Honestly we were so busy walking around and riding rides, that food wasn't even on our mind during the day. We at breakfast at the hotel's food court, and if we ate anything during the middle of the day at the parks it was just a mickey pretzel or ice cream bar. I think once my son got hungry during the middle of the day and we got him a hot dog from one of the carts, and he loved it. So I'd keep it simple for all meals except dinner, in my honest opinion.

 

[ariellittlemermaid]

Just wanted to chime in that Via Napoli is easily one of my favourite Disney park restaurants! The pizza is fantastic, the waitstaff are adorable and always so friendly, and the atmosphere really does make you feel like you're at a popular eatery in Italy (Of course...much bigger than typical pizzerias there) Enjoy!!