Recommendations for dining to suit 10yo daughter

[marant]

Hello to everyone.

Hope Im doing this right and in the right place too as its my first post.

We are a family of 3 (from Australia) planning out first trip to Disneyworld in October and like everyone else, super excited AND absolutely overwhelmed by how big Disneyworld is, its mind blowing.

I have been trying to research as much as I can but I need help and I know these kinds of questions get asked alot so hope you forgive me

We are booked to stay at the Beach Club resort arriving Friday night, Oct 18th and departing Oct 23. Have the hopper pass but we wont be buying any of the dining plans.

After reading quite a bit on lots of diff websites, I now learn its recommended to reserve in advance for dining especally for character meals and special events but Im just overwhelmed at the choices so I thought why not just ask

Can anyone recommend dining, whether its casual, table service for all meals types that would suit our 10yo daughter? We thought to just wing it for some days but want to know if there are ones you would recommend because of the experience.

If you have any other advice, would be so appreciated.

Kind regards

 

[Linda T.]

A few of our favorite restaurants:
1. O'Hana (dinner at the Poly) Family style meal with great atmosphere

2. Crystal Palace (character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at Magic Kingdom) We always schedule this for an early time before the park is open. It is neat to be inside Magic Kingdom with very few guests present.

3. BOG (dinner at Magic Kingdom) This is brand new and if your daughter is a Beauty and the Beast fan, you should try and get a reservation.

4. Chefs de France (lunch at Epcot) When my daughters were younger, they enjoyed Remi coming out and talking to them. We also do like the food.

Good luck and hope you have a great vacation.

 

[marant]

Hi Linda and thanks so much for your reply.

I will have a look at those and see what I can get.

Can you give some more advice?

Is Liberty Tree Tavern or the area its in a good spot to view the fireworks? If we were to book dinner there, what would be the best in time wise to finish so that we have time to see the fireworks?

Thanks!

 

[Linda T.]

We have never eaten at Liberty Tree Tavern. We always watch the parade and fireworks on main street. We go and stake out our seats (at least an hour in advance of the parade) so we have a good spot. I don't know about the view of Liberty Tree Tavern. Hopefully someone else can answer that question for you.

 

[vacation_junkie]

Hello to everyone.

Hope Im doing this right and in the right place too as its my first post.

We are a family of 3 (from Australia) planning out first trip to Disneyworld in October and like everyone else, super excited AND absolutely overwhelmed by how big Disneyworld is, its mind blowing.

I have been trying to research as much as I can but I need help and I know these kinds of questions get asked alot so hope you forgive me

We are booked to stay at the Beach Club resort arriving Friday night, Oct 18th and departing Oct 23. Have the hopper pass but we wont be buying any of the dining plans.

After reading quite a bit on lots of diff websites, I now learn its recommended to reserve in advance for dining especally for character meals and special events but Im just overwhelmed at the choices so I thought why not just ask

Can anyone recommend dining, whether its casual, table service for all meals types that would suit our 10yo daughter? We thought to just wing it for some days but want to know if there are ones you would recommend because of the experience.

If you have any other advice, would be so appreciated.

Kind regards

Our 13 yr olds must visits are

1) Rainforest Café
2) T-Rex
3) Cape May (All you can eat crab legs)

#1 on most peoples list is Chef Mickey's!
We're Chef Mickey'd out that's why its not on that list. But its a great place to visit. Lost of characters to take pictures and visit with.

 

[marant]

Thanks Linda re advice on the fireworks. I think that sounds like the best plan.

And thanks Vacation Junkie for your recommendations.

I have booked a Cape May breakfast and trying to get BOG which seems really hard but will keep trying.

I will also try for the others as well that you both have mentioned and see what we can get as we have also booked one night for Mickey's Halloween Party!

Again, thanks so much

 

[pigletto]

I find we do best with the buffets and family style meals. In our party we have one picky child, one vegetarian child, and two adults with different tastes. Most buffets will have something everyone can eat.
Our favourites are Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Ohana for dinner (served family style), Tusker House in Animal Kingdom (characters for breakfast and lunch) and Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom (characters all meals).
As for Epcot we love just about every restaurant. If you go to allears.net they have every single Disney restaurant menu. So you can see what your choices will be

 

[marant]

Thanks so much Pigletto. Definitely have one fussy child (and maybe one adult......me *cough* .

Really like those suggestion and thanks for the link to allears.

 

[randi817]

Hi there - We are going with our nine year old daughter at the end of the summer... so far we have reservations at:

Character Meals
Garden Grill - Epcot - dinner with Chip and Dale Mickey etc.
Chef Mickey – Contemporary - breakfast with Mickey, Goofy, Pluto
Aksherus - Epcot - lunch with Princesses
1900 Park Faire – Grand Floridian - breakfast with Mary Poppins Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland

Other meals:
Hollywood – lunch at Sci Fi
Animal Kingdom – lunch at Sanaa
Grand Floridian -dinner at Narcoossee’s (in time hopefully to see the wishes fireworks)

Then we're treating ourselves to two other things:
Contemporary – Pirates and Pals cruise (you book this with a separate phone number - is a Peter Pan style cruise with a snack to see the fireworks)
Magic Kingdom – Tomorrowland Dessert party (can book this as a dining reservation - also gives you a good spot in MK to see the fireworks)

We are debating doing any others - but I think the rest we'll just go with the flow... Hoping to do Be Our Guest for lunch (which is not a reserved meal) the first day we're there.
Good luck!!

 

[Happyjen27]

I have been picking my dining based on convenience and location. All of the places listed below I would return to, and here is why I recommend them:

For example, if I planned to be in Epcot that day, I ate at Via Napoli (oven fired pizza, can't go wrong there).

I ate at Chef Mickey's one night, just for the character interaction, and because it was just a monorail ride away. The food is not great, however it is edible and you'll find something for every palate.

We ate at 'Ohana one night because we were staying at the Poly and it was convenient.

We ate at Tusker House because we were going to be in AK that day.

We ate at CRT because it was magical, and because it is in the MK, which is where we planned to be that day.

We at at Whispering Canyon Cafe because it's a quick boat trip from the MK, so we went there once we were done touring the MK for the morning, we hopped a boat, ate there, hopped a boat back to MK and then hopped another boat back to the Poly.

Which brings me to my next talking point: When thinking about meals at other resorts, keep in mind that Disney transportation in general doesn't go from resort to resort. (in a few cases, like monorail resorts, or resorts on the same boat loop this isn't true, but overall it is). Which means that you need to "transfer" at a park or the TTC. So, if you're staying at Port Orleans and you want to eat at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary, you'll have to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom, get off the bus and get on the monorail from the MK to the Contemporary Resort. It's all very possible, but it does take a while (most experts estimate an hour) to get from resort to resort using Disney Transportation. To avoid this, you can always take a taxi for approximately 15-20 dollars and get from place to place in roughly 20 minutes.

That is why location plays a big part in my restaurant decisions. I can't see leaving our resort, busing/monorailling/boating them somewhere out of the way, then having to go back to a park to transfer and get back to our resort: just for food. If it's not on the way, or a very short commute toward where we are going I really have to think twice. That may change as I visit Disney more, and get more comfortable on the transportation, or my kids are older and care more about food and less about rides and attractions.

 

[marant]

Hi and thanks Happy and Randi

I have booked Sci Fi lunch and we'll just keep our fingers crossed for a BOG lunch.

I agree with you tho Happy. Its hard to plan things when you cant get in for the days that you want. Between the halloween party and fireworks and Fantasmic etc, it all gets a bit too much to plan and esp when what you want is booked out on the day you want.

Either way and none the wiser, Im sure we'll have a blast no matter what we do.

And thanks for the advice Happy re to take transportation and time to get to these places into account as I didnt think of that initially either. That makes a big difference in what to choose so will study that a little better.

Again, thanks so much to you all,
We are really excited, countdown begins!

 

[Suzanne74]

My picks for a 10yr old girl would be Ohana, Chef Mickey's, Cape May (get the kitchen sink!) Teppan Edo in Epcot, and Sci-Fi,

You are right to not do a lot. They can eat up a large portion of time. Plenty of good counter service meals!

 

[marant]

Thanks Suzanne!

We have Cape May. Now the kitchen sink...I think Ive seen a foto of that one....I dont even think us 3 would even finish half of that one! I thought that was at Beaches though?

Actually which brings me to another question. We are using Magic Express to get to the hotel. Our flight gets in at about 7:30pm on Friday night (Oct 18th) so Im assuming we will get to the hotel at about 8:30/9pm? (We are staying at Beach Club Resort)

Any suggestions on where to grab something to eat that is easy access to get to?

 

[Suzanne74]

Thanks Suzanne!

We have Cape May. Now the kitchen sink...I think Ive seen a foto of that one....I dont even think us 3 would even finish half of that one! I thought that was at Beaches though?

Actually which brings me to another question. We are using Magic Express to get to the hotel. Our flight gets in at about 7:30pm on Friday night (Oct 18th) so Im assuming we will get to the hotel at about 8:30/9pm? (We are staying at Beach Club Resort)

Any suggestions on where to grab something to eat that is easy access to get to?

You are in a great area by the boardwalk. Lots of places to eat in those resorts.

 

[NMK62303]

Beaches and Cream will be open until 11, the ESPN Club is the closest walk from the Beach Club and they have a varied menu and would be open late. I'm not sure how late the service is at the snack area at the Beach Club in the lobby, I've had a flatbread and a sandwich there before. We love the Beach Club, enjoy your trip!!

 

[marant]

Thanks! Boardwalk looks gorgeous esp for a walk at night!

And thanks NMK for reassurance of BC. Saw not so great reviews on Trip Advisor but choosing to ignore and hoping for the best.

 

[lizzi6692]

Thanks! Boardwalk looks gorgeous esp for a walk at night!

And thanks NMK for reassurance of BC. Saw not so great reviews on Trip Advisor but choosing to ignore and hoping for the best.

Don't listen to the reviews on tripadvisor. You have to remember that people rarely write reviews when something is great, but if they did they would beat out all the bad reviews by at least 10 fold(and probably far more than that).

 

[marant]

Thanks Lizzi. If I didnt find this forum them Id be stressing but not now. This board is just the best so Im really glad I found it.