Rate my restaurants (and priority ADR?)

[Mintycake]

With my ADR window coming up in less than two weeks (c'mon Dec hours already!) I am narrowing down my restaurant choices for our trip. We have 6 days in the world (3 MK, 2 EP, 1 HS), staying at BC, and we are me, DH, and DD (6) who is a pretty picky eater. Here's what I have so far, and I've ranked them in order of what I feel is priority on ADR day for booking

Akershus (PPO breakfast) - for the new Frozen attractions as much as breakfast food is easier with DD at buffets
Be our Guest - PPO breakfast - again, DD won't eat the lunch or dinner offerings.
'Ohana (breakfast) - for Lilo and Stitch. Hoping to get 7:30am and head right to MK after. Or would it be better to do RD at MK and then book the latest breakfast at 'Ohana (brunch?) - we plan to take breaks in the afternoon anyway.
1900 Park Fare (dinner) - DD really wants to see the stepsisters
50s Prime time diner (lunch or dinner - have not decided. Likely dinner)
Cape May Cafe (breakfast) - we are staying at BC and DD loves characters so this is a no brainer - 7:30am and head to Epcot
The Plaza - (dinner) Seems like a reasonable priced menu for TS and we all like the menu. Can you see the parade from here?

I am also considering:
Narcoosee's for dinner (would likely drop The Plaza for this) as I believe you can see Wishes from here (please correct me if I am wrong).
Beaches and Cream for lunch or dinner - I've just heard so many good things about this place and it's at our resort.

Feedback welcome! TIA!

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I'd probably skip Prime Time and do Hollywood and Vine with Minnie in holiday dress. That's me though. Plaza isn't my favorite and I know my kids would prefer Crystal Palace.

I do think you're missing out a lot by not doing Animal Kingdom especially with all the new stuff there at night.

 

[Mintycake]

I'd probably skip Prime Time and do Hollywood and Vine with Minnie in holiday dress. That's me though. Plaza isn't my favorite and I know my kids would prefer Crystal Palace.

I do think you're missing out a lot by not doing Animal Kingdom especially with all the new stuff there at night.

I've been thinking about CP as well! But my daughter isn't a fan of Pooh and friends so was thinking it was kind of a waste. We are skipping AK for a few reasons (mainly time), but hopefully will get there some day.

I heard the food at H&V wasn't very good? 50s prime time is a must do for my daughter. Maybe do both?

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We love 50's Prime Time. We eat there on every trip. Great fried chicken.

 

[Quellman]

Lots of Breakfast options on the list, and I know you justified why they are listed so. But they are all early morning reservations, so unless you don't have a problem waking up early to get everyone going and to those reservations more power to you. We don't have early mornings with my group, so we either do an early lunch, 1100 or afternoon.

Another school of thought it to plan a lunch table service, it gives you a chance to sit and recharge after being on the go. Just some thoughts. You know your family best. Looks like you'll have a great trip!

 

[WDWNY]

I wouldn't recommend The Plaza. We ate there in February it was the worst meal all trip. We wished we had a quick service meal instead. We were by the window and could see the top of the castle, the tables outside of it block most of it if I remember correctly, so I don't think you'd be able to see the parade.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Out of all the restaurants in MK, I would say the Plaza and Tonys run at the bottom of my list. I do however like the desert options at both those places, lol...I would skip the Plaza and maybe do Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree Tavern...even though she's not a big pooh friend things change when they are in Disney and all of a sudden meeting any character becomes an amazing experience, lol. For Hollywood Studios I would skip 50s Prime Time, I wasn't impressed when we ate there...I would either do Hollywood & Vine either the breakfast with the Disney Jr Characters or do the dinner with Minnies seasonal dining and see the characters in their Christmas attire! If you are not big on Hollywood & Vine then my next choice would be Sci Fi Dine In...seriously the coolest theme of all Disney besides Be Our Guest of course, LOL...you get to eat in Cars! And watch a big screen TV like a drive in movie theater...my kids and my husband were absolutely in love with that theme, lol...your other choices look great though!

 

[Yahweh]

I wouldn't recommend The Plaza. We ate there in February it was the worst meal all trip. We wished we had a quick service meal instead. We were by the window and could see the top of the castle, the tables outside of it block most of it if I remember correctly, so I don't think you'd be able to see the parade.

I agree about the Plaza. It was pretty good for the price the first time we went there (2012) but last time, it was gross. The worst meal we have ever had at disney. I'd go with California Grill if you wanted to see Wishes from a restaurant.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

The food at the Plaza is just ok for us...its on the bottom of my list of places to eat in Magic Kingdom like I said before...we only eat there because I hate eating at the same place multiple times on 1 vacation and there is not too many places to eat in Magic Kingdom, lol...usually it comes down to eating at either Tony's or the Plaza and I will choose the Plaza every time, because Tonys is just disgusting, lol

 

[WDWNY]

Basically Magic Kingdom needs some better food!

 

[Mintycake]

Basically Magic Kingdom needs some better food!

Exactly! This is what I am struggling with! We are spending 3 days in MK and are scratching our heads. I am wondering what people think of going to Ohanas for brunch but I have heard they get really backed up (I am NOT keen on a 7:30am breakfast there but that seems to be the only way to do the breakfast without getting the day backed up.)

I am thinking since we are going to take breaks anyway maybe we should go back to the resort for lunch and eat at Beaches & Cream for lunch one day or try one of the restaurants at the Poly for lunch (any recos? QS preferred).

Although if I had my way I'd sleep in on vacation, my DD is an early riser (typically 7am). So we may as well take advantage of the mornings.

I love the idea of a lunch TS as a break, especially if we are headed back to the resort anyway. Is it a huge pain to eat at one of the monorail resorts from MK and then head back to BC (I assume we'd have to monorail back to MK and then catch the bus from there?)

 

[WDWNY]

I am wondering what people think of going to Ohanas for brunch but I have heard they get really backed up (I am NOT keen on a 7:30am breakfast there but that seems to be the only way to do the breakfast without getting the day backed up.)

Sometimes I'll eat breakfast at Sleepy Hollow in MK. They don't open when the park does, I think they open at 10? But they have waffles and its quick service so it doesn't waste much time out of your day. Occasionally I'll stop at Poly before going to Magic and get tonga toast at Capt Cooks. Just some other breakfast options for the other 2 days in MK if you do Ohana one day.

Usually on our MK days we eat at one of the monorail resorts for dinner. They've all been fantastic! We've ate at The Wave, Kona Cafe and Grand Floridian Cafe.

From one of the monorail resorts you would take the monorail back or the boat to MK and then catch the bus.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Beaches & Cream have amazing ice cream! But their restaurant is extremely small, lol...last time we ate there I felt like we were literally on top of the table next to us...maybe what you could do since you are planning on heading back to the resort for a break anyways is get dressed in your swimsuits (if its not too cold, lol, I don't know what FL weather is like in November/December) eat at Hurricane Hannah Grill (Beach club quick service by their pool), and relax by the pool while you eat lunch and then get ice cream from beaches and cream's to go window and eat it by the pool for a snack...anyways really depends on the weather though

 

[honeybunches]

So fun! I love your list! We accidentally saw Wishes from 'Ohana last year, and my husband still talks about it. If that's the only reason why you're going to Narcoosee's, consider that....
Akershus---love it. Now I'm rethinking my ADRs and wanting to add that one.
I'd drop The Plaza and do Crystal Palace instead. Even though your DD doesn't like Pooh, it's so pretty inside and the food is good.
1900 PF - she will LOVE it!!!

My kids and husband are early risers, so we do a lot of 7:30 breakfasts. You will be glad to be in the parks early --- the lines are so short, you can do much more in less time. We also take a midday break (nap) after lunch and head back out to the parks in the evening. We like Kona at the Poly, we only do 'Ohana for dinner because it's so much food.

I love the idea of a lunch TS as a break, especially if we are headed back to the resort anyway. Is it a huge pain to eat at one of the monorail resorts from MK and then head back to BC (I assume we'd have to monorail back to MK and then catch the bus from there?)

It isn't a huge pain to get there, but the buses seem sooooooo slow at both the Poly and GF. If you don't mind waiting, it's no big deal. We usually do this only at night, and take a cab back to our resort.

 

[Mintycake]

Wow you guys, thank you so much great advice here! I love the idea of Sleepy Hollow for a later breakfast snack. And grabbing a sandwich at Hurricane Hannahs is an option I hadn't thought of, but a great one! - though DD won't eat anything there likely except the carrots and fries. We can always grab her a pizza from the QS at our resort though, plus we have the option to walk to boardwalk as well. I would LOVE to try Ohanas for dinner but as we are mainly vegetarian there aren't a lot of options for us on that menu
Hubby wants to try California grill as our "expensive" night out (but that's all relative at WDW, LOL) as he wants to eat Wagyu beef. I'm happy with fish tacos and DD will eat something off the kids menu. Will be great to watch the fireworks from there! Maybe we'll stick to dinner at the monorail restaurants - since we're early risers I'm thinking 7:30am breakfasts, 11am lunches and 5pm dinners. We can get to a restaurant on the monorail on our MK days and then head back to the park!

 

[dledger]

Planning for MK days is a challenge for us as well but we really loved Kona on our last trip for dinner! It is the one ADR my fiancé insisted on this trip.