Restaurant must do's

[caty2k7]

I'm leaving in 7 days for disney and would love to know the restaurants i defo have to put on my planner!!!! Thanks!

 

[sherabby]

You may need to make some reservations ahead of time or you may not get what you want. I'm not sure about the crowds now in Sept-Oct but I know when we went in mid Aug we saw so many people turned away from sit down dinners because they were booked. This was before free dining and I really didn't think the parks were super crowded with ride wait times at 20 min or less.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Yikes!! I hope you are talking about CS restaurants!!!

Some of those we love:
Pinocchio's Village Haus in MK
Pecos Bill in MK
Pizzafari in AK
Sunshine Seasons in Epcot

 

[smep013]

Hello!

Since you are just a week away from your trip, you may have a hard time getting into certain more popular restaurants without an Advance Dinner Reservation (ADR).

You should think about which restaurants you REALLY want to try (based on what recommendations you get here) - and call Disney Dining to make ADRs for those places.

These are some of my favorites, and they are the favorites of MANY people, so they may be booked for the time you are there.

Ohana at the Poly
Le Cellier in Canada in EPCOT
California Grill at the Contemporary

You may have luck walking up to places in Downtown Disney. We like Bongo's, which serves Cuban food and tasty mojitos!

Good Luck!

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

I agree with what has been said, if you are talking about TS, your choices may be quite limited at this point. If you don't mind to specify if you mean CS or TS or both, there could still be some TS options out there that are very good and aren't as likely to fill up.

 

[caty2k7]

Both!!! Thankyou so much for letting me know!!! I'm gonna phone and see if the ones i really want to go to have places left!!!! Thats been a big help thanks!!! xxx

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

For CS, be sure to try Sunshine Seasons Food Fair in The Land at Epcot. By far the best CS! We also enjoyed Earl of Sandwich in DTD.

For TS, try to get to Biergarten in Germany and Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco, both in Epcot. But if you're going, make sure you book your ADR to coincide with the entertainment schedule. That's half the fun.

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

For CS I would say:

MK

Pinochio's Village Haus
Columbia Harbor House
Breakfast or snacks from Main Street Bakery

Epcot

San Angel Cantina - Mexico
Sommerfest - Germany
Dessert or snacks - Patisserie - France

DTD
Wolfgang Puck Express
Desserts - Ghriadelli

I'm not real big on CS at MGM or Animal Kingdom so just about anything will do.

For TS I'd say:

MK

The Plaza Restaurant
Tony's Town Square for lunch just before parade time and request patio seat

Epcot

San Angel Inn - Mexico
Biergarten - Germany
Garden Grill - The Land ( you can check for openings here but may be full)

MGM

Sci Fi Dine In

Animal Kingdom

Rainforest Cafe - only if you must do TS at Animal Kingdom and go for the themeing not the food.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I have to disagree with Sci-Fi Dine-In. We literally could not eat the food, it was so bad less a couple of items. The atmosphere is definitely fun but because of the lousy service and food, we won't be going back.

If you're looking for a good CS option in AK, we would recommend Flame Tree BBQ. It's not bad.

 

[MJMcBride]

I like Boma, 'ohana, San Angel Inn, Chefs de France, House of Blues, and the Flame Tree BBQ ( a CS)

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

I have to disagree with Sci-Fi Dine-In. We literally could not eat the food, it was so bad less a couple of items. The atmosphere is definitely fun but because of the lousy service and food, we won't be going back.

If you're looking for a good CS option in AK, we would recommend Flame Tree BBQ. It's not bad.

I understand what your saying about Sci Fi, I should have mentioned that we only go at lunch and do so because of the availability of items such as the burger. We too have ordered their higher scale menu items in the past and were dissapointed but we have found that if you stick to the burgers/fries/onion rings/shake fare, it's really good. We have never experienced any problems with the service, however.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

we only go at lunch and do so because of the availability of items such as the burger ...... have found that if you stick to the burgers/fries/onion rings/shake fare, it's really good.

Are burgers available at dinner time? We will be going there on our next trip at 4:20 (I assume that time will be the dinner menu).

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

They aren't listed on the dinner menu but, I believe you can still ask for it and it's the same price as on the lunch menu, $11.99 with fries I think. This may not still be the case but it was at least a few years back, when we had dinner and saw no burger on the menu, we've been doing lunce ever since so I'm not totally sure.

 

[ZoZo]

As others have said, some of the more popular restaurants may be very booked up already. But if you're flexible with your times (say, an early dinner around 4:00 or 4:30 pm, or an early or late lunch), you might be able to get into some of them.

The TS restaurants I like: Le Cellier, Kona Cafe, Crystal Palace, California Grill.

Counter Service: Sunshine Seasons, Fish and Chip shop at Epcot, the bakery in France, Columbia Harbor House, Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, Flame Tree BBQ.

 

[TANYABETH]

Some of our favorites are

TS
San Angel Inn
LeCeillier (coudn't get an ADR for our Nov trip though)
Chef's De France
California Grill

CS
Flame Tree BBQ
Cosmic Ray's
Sunshine Season's Food Court at Epcot

 

[amery]

This may not be what you want to hear but unless you get real lucky with ADR's especially for any higher-profile place, you may be relying on counter service alot.

All may not be lost however as you can walk up to any podium in hopes that there was a cancellation.

 

[GoofyWaterCoaster]

I would highly suggest Chef Mickey's (Character Dining Buffet) at the Contemporary Resort. It is mere walking distance from the Magic Kingdom. You could also take the monorail to and from and explore the beautiful resorts. The menu changes every day, but here is a sample menu from Allearsnet.com (Includes pricing and character information)

Menu Date: February 2007


5:00 pm to 9:30 pm

Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale, and Donald

BUFFET PRICE : $27.99 FOR ADULTS
$12.99 FOR CHILDREN 3-9


SAMPLE MENU

PREMIUM SALAD BAR AND SOUR DU JOUR
Today's Soup: Chicken and Corn Chowder

ON THE CARVING BOARD
Spice Rubbed Prime Rib & Oven-Roasted Bone-in Ham

CHEF'S BUFFET SPECIALS OF THE DAY
Madeira Wild Mushroom Beef Tips
Orange Teriyaki Chicken
Tamarind Glazed Salmon with Pesto and Wasabi Mango Coulis
Penne Pasta with Chicken and Italian Sausage Florentine

WONDERFUL ACCOMPANIMENTS
Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Mickey Cheese Ravioli and Marinara Sauce
Rice with Peas
Garlic Steamed Broccoli Polonaise
Mandarin Orange Glazed Baby Carrots

CHILDREN'S FAVORITES
Chef Mickey's Macaroni and Cheese
Goofy's Cheese Pizza
Minnie's Vegetables
Chip & Dale's Tender Chicken

SAVE ROOM FOR THE FABULOUS SUNDAE AND DESSERT BAR

Non-alcoholic beverage included in price.

A Gratuity of 18% will be added to parties of 8 or more.

(Note: Be sure to try the Parmesan Mashed Potatoes. They're out of this world!)

The mashed potatoes are out of this world! Instead of ham, they had pork for us. Good luck and have fun!

 

[kimluvswdw]

One of our favorite places to eat is at Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney. My favorite sandwich is the Earls Club made with cheddar instead of swiss. Oh great, now I want one.

 

[queenmum2]

TS places - we've really enjoyed LeCellier in EPCOT, Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK, the ESPN Zone at the Boardwalk, Narcoosee's at the Grand Floridian, bluezoo at the Dolphin and O'Hana for breakfast. Oh- OH- OHHH -- BOMA for breakfast is a MUST for us. I usually consider it to be both breakfast AND dinner because it is so extensive (and a little expensive) you can fill up and then some.

CS places - we've enjoyed quite a few of them: MK - Cosmic Ray's (love the hamburger toppings bar, and a Meteor Meal can easily be split between a parent and kid); Columbia Harbor House (another great place to get splittable meals -fish & chips with chicken!); Pecos Bills - not fabulous, but not bad and the salads are nice and fresh; and finally, Pinocchios - the food isn't that good, but we love seeing the IASW boats passing by. EPCOT - the Cantina in Mexico gets mixed reviews but we enjoyed it; Sommerfest -- great brats and beer (and I even liked the saurkraut); Electric Umbrella - toppings bar is not QUITE as good as Cosmic Rays, but good nonetheless. I can't recommend CS at MGM or AK -- I used to love Tusker House for lunch, but I understand it's gone through some changes.

HTH -

Tracie

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I understand what your saying about Sci Fi, I should have mentioned that we only go at lunch and do so because of the availability of items such as the burger. We too have ordered their higher scale menu items in the past and were dissapointed but we have found that if you stick to the burgers/fries/onion rings/shake fare, it's really good. We have never experienced any problems with the service, however.

I actually did stick to fast food fare and still found it to be horrible. I had onion rings to start and they were bad. I had a burger/fries for my main. I barely touched the burger and the fries were horrible as well (although most of the fries in all of WDW were pretty bad). Even the chocolate milkshake was nothing special. The worst was dessert. I had the chocolate tart. The bottom cookie bit was inedible. I just scaped some of the chocolate bits off the top and ate them. That all being said, my husband did enjoy the BLT soup. However, we left feeling ill. As for service, it was completely rushed. Our waitress was nice enough but she only checked back once and made us order dessert before we had even had our meal. Like I said, we loved the atmosphere. Sorry to ramble but I think it's only fair to warn people that they might not actually enjoy it even if they only order burgers & fries or dessert.