restaurant rec for a 1st timer?

[minnie_chic]

Hi everyone,
My friends and I have decided to go to Disney World next year for the first time. We're all very excited but we have no idea how to plan this. We're college students on a budget and were wondering what restaurants(for breakfast, lunch and dinner) were good. Also if you guys can reccomend one a restaurant a little more luxurious.
Thanks!

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

welocme to the Disboards!

I will give you the favorites of my 24 year old college student daughter.

good food at a decent price - Grand Flordian Cafe, Kona Cafe, Boma, Beaches and Cream, Casey's, ESPN Club, Earl of Sandwich, Yacht Club Galley

more upscale - Spoodles, Le Cellier

if you really want to spend some $ - Yachtsman Steakhouse, Jiko, Flying Fish

Buffets are good .. all you can eat! Boma has breakfast and dinner and so does Cape May. Yacht Club Galley has a nice breakfast buffet.

We like getting a hot dog and fries from the cart on the Boardwalk in the evenings. They are huge! We split one and then get some ice cream at SeaShore Sweets. It's a fun inexpensive dinner.

have you looked at the menus on Deb's site? The prices are included.

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm

 

[pooh2001]

Congratulatoins on going to WDW

To be on a budget - do breakfast in your room. Moderate & deluxe have refrigerators. You can buy milk/juice at your resort.

To get breakfast supplies if you are flying in - cereal, granola bars, pop tarts - what ever you like in the AM - use a car serive (see Transportaion board for suggestions) with a 30 minute food stop.
Also buy your own water bottles to save cash in the Parks.

Now for meals - do an early lunch 11 AM or late breakfast 10:30 AM.
Try a nice buffet like CP with Pooh and Friends - no matter what your age you can get your picture and autograph with them.

Chef Mickey's breakfast buffet is fun too - great place to go after an early entry MK morning.

Lunches at ADR (sit down) places are less expensive than dinners.
Save dinner for the food court at your resort.

For budget suggestions - see the budget board.

Have fun at WDW - you are there to enjoy - not just eat

 

[Hopefully]

A cheaper way to procure grocery supplies than a Town Car ($100 ish) and a grocery stop is to use a delivery service such as wegoshop.com. For the current delivery fee of $19 above the cost of your groceries, they will shop for you and deliver to your resort room. You can order just about anything you desire.
We used them in October and will again this weekend
I was pleased with their service.
Have a great trip!!

 

[Goofybec]

Hey there
I'm 24 and ususally go to WDW with 3 others around my age so we definalty know about budgets. I agree with eating breakfast in your room. We actually eat it at the bus stop and on the bus on the way to the parks. We bring granola bars and caprie suns from home. We also usually pack some fruit snacks in our bags in case we get a little hungry at the parks in between meals. I suggest eating counter service while at the parks. It saves time and money. The only sit down we do at the parks is Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic dinner package, which is a great idea if your going to stay for Fantasmic! The days we are not at the parks we usually eat lunch in the food court of our hotel and then make ADR's for a nice sit down meal for dinner. We like Boma (very unique and great atmosphere), Cape May Cafe (god seafood buffet), and Ohana (great atmoshpere and great food). Beaches and Creame is also a very cool place and not as expensive as most sit downs. Hope this helps nad Have fun!!

 

[drew2wdw]

One of my favorites trips to Disney was when I was in college and I went with group of 7 other friends on our Spring Break! I'll try to list some our favorites then (and I'm only 28 so it wasn't THAT long ago )

We usually ate breakfast in the room or on the go (granola bars, etc) but one morning we ate at Crystal Palace for a late breakfast. Had lots of fun and enjoyed the food and didn't need to eat again until dinner!

We ate at San Angel Inn in Epcot for lunch. Some people here don't care for this place but we had a great time here (atmosphere is FANTASTIC) and I've been back several times since and always enjoyed my meal. Eating here (or any other sit down restaurant) for lunch is a less expensive than having dinner there.

We all really enjoyed the ESPN Club at the Boardwalk, a little less expensive than many sit down places and a fun place to hang out.

For our "splurge" meal, we ate at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I don't really remember a lot about it -- the food was good but I seem to remember feeling like the service was a little "stuffy". I'm not sure they were thrilled about serving a table full of college kids. (And we were all "good" kids -- excellent manners, dressed appropriately, not at all loud or boisterous... oh well). If I had to do it over again, I think we would have done Le Cellier instead.

Other places that I didn't do on that trip but that I've done since that you may want to consider:

Columbia Harbor House is my favorite counter-service in the MK
The Plaza for a nicer alternative to counter service.
Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney
Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney
Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom
If you want a little bigger "splurge" perhaps California Grill - depends on the budget.


Ya'll will have a great time!

 

[minnie_chic]

Thanks everyone! for giving those all those great recs!
We're definitely try to hit all those eateries. What's ADR?

 

[Goofybec]

ADR is Advance Dining Reservation. It's basically a reservation at a restaurant that you make ahead of time. I would suggest making them as soon as you know what your schedule is for the time you will be at WDW. You can call 1-407-WDW-Dine to make ADR's. Depending on what time of year you are going alot of the restaurants are difficult to get in to if you do not make ADR's.

 

[BTown]

If you are on a budget, but really enjoy being able to eat a nice, table service meal every night, consider going in on the dining plan. It's a bit pricey, about $40 a day, per person, but you certainly get more than your money's worth. On my last trip, I consumed an average of about $65-$70 worth of food, per day, but it was all covered with the dining plan. Of course, it's considerably cheaper to bring your own food, eat CS meals, etc. But if you want the little bit of extra luxury, there is no better way to go.