Resort dining vs. park dining

[MarinaDelRay]

We have 3 kids (8,6 and 2) at Disney in early December. I keep hearing about lovely dining experiences at places like Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare which are at resorts, not at parks. Is it worth it to leave the park we happen to be at that day and travel to these places (with a stroller) for dinner? We don't have a car there so would rely on bus or monorail I guess.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

we like resort dining way better than in the park. they are a little less crowded and the quality seems to be better we've found. it's nice to take a break from the park as well and see a nice resort! enjoy!

 

[catne]

if you're at Magic Kingdom, it's fairly easy to leave the park & hop the resort monorail which will take you the Contemporary (California Grill, The Wave, and Chef Mickey's) or The Polynesian ('Ohana, Kona Cafe, and the Luau), or the Grand Floridian (1900 Park Fare, Grand Floridian Cafe, Citrico's, Narcoosees) You can push the stroller right onto the monorail, no problem. When you're done eating, hop the monorail back to the park.

When you're at Epcot, besides being so many restaurants in the parks (including character meals) you can walk out of Epcot through the International Gateway (up in World Showcase just past England area) and walk over to the Beach Club (Cape May Cafe, Beaches & Cream), or Beach Club (Captain's Grill & Yachtsman's Steakhouse) as well as Boardwalk (Kouzzina, Espn Club, Big River Brewing, Flying Fish)

So from those two parks you can fairly easily get to a lot of additional restaurants without too much hassle.

 

[Cafeen]

if you're at Magic Kingdom, it's fairly easy to leave the park & hop the resort monorail which will take you the Contemporary (California Grill, The Wave, and Chef Mickey's) or The Polynesian ('Ohana, Kona Cafe, and the Luau), or the Grand Floridian (1900 Park Fare, Grand Floridian Cafe, Citrico's, Narcoosees) You can push the stroller right onto the monorail, no problem. When you're done eating, hop the monorail back to the park.

When you're at Epcot, besides being so many restaurants in the parks (including character meals) you can walk out of Epcot through the International Gateway (up in World Showcase just past England area) and walk over to the Beach Club (Cape May Cafe, Beaches & Cream), or Beach Club (Captain's Grill & Yachtsman's Steakhouse) as well as Boardwalk (Kouzzina, Espn Club, Big River Brewing, Flying Fish)

So from those two parks you can fairly easily get to a lot of additional restaurants without too much hassle.

While it's a little longer of a walk (or boat ride), the Epcot/Boardwalk area stuff holds true for DHS as well.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We have 3 kids (8,6 and 2) at Disney in early December. I keep hearing about lovely dining experiences at places like Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare which are at resorts, not at parks. Is it worth it to leave the park we happen to be at that day and travel to these places (with a stroller) for dinner? We don't have a car there so would rely on bus or monorail I guess.

It's a little bit of a hassle to leave a park, eat and then return but not terrible. With three kids in tow, it may be more hassle than it is worth considering there are perfectly fine places right there in each park. On the other hand, if you are spending time in the afternoon at your resort, it's not so bad to go to a resort restaurant and then head over to a park.

 

[n2mm]

We love leaving the parks for meals. When at MK we will often grab the boat to Trails End for a nice quiet lunch and some down time, then take the boat back to MK. We've also done it for Kona Cafe for lunch. It's a nice break for us. We are AP holders so come and go through the parks as we wish. It all depends on how you visit, commando or relaxed. We are the relaxed type and if the lines are long we leave and say, we'll do it next trip!