Romantic dinner for 2

[Lady and the Buc]

I'm very excited to finally be heading back to Disney this October, bringing along the fiancee for her first trip to the magical land . I was disappointed to hear they canceled the sweetheart dinner for two. So, I decided to book a night at Victoria & Albert's but I recently had to pay a large sum to fix my car so that may be out. Does anyone have any great recommendations for a special romantic spot?

 

[fredtom]

Narcoossee's
Citricos
Jiko
California Grill
Yachtsman Steakhouse

 

[Mrsjvb]

I second Jiko. bonus if you can get seated in the smaller room where the wine cellar is. much more intimate and slightly quieter.

 

[honeymo78]

Shula's would be our "date" spot. Subdued lighting and very few children, if any, plus amazing steaks. Can get a little rowdy if there are larger convention groups seated near you, however we have had no problem asking to be seated in a quieter area.

 

[NJFireman22]

I second Jiko, my Dw and I had a very nice "dinner date" there a year ago. We also a
very nice adult dinner at Sanna which we really enjoyed last Aug., our server was fantastic. The food and window seat were just great!
Offsite I would recomend Emeril's at Universal for a lovely time ( ask for the wine room) upstairs.

 

[christine*]

Me and DB usually go to California Grill for our "romantic dinner" night. I love watching the fireworks from there after dinner and they pipe in the music.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Quiet romantic is hard to come by at WDW. I agree with Honeymo78--Shula's is a great spot.
You might also consider Blue Zoo and Citricos--they seem to have fewer kids running around than the other spots.

 

[RMulieri]

Me and DB usually go to California Grill for our "romantic dinner" night. I love watching the fireworks from there after dinner and they pipe in the music.

LOTS of kids here though.It is not as intimate as it used to be since everyone figures the same thing..LAter mealtime and they can see Wishes from the restaurant

 

[BLTLDZ]

California Grill- Very nice, but can get very noisy. Actually, it is noisy.
If you do go here, I recommend requesting a seat in the wine room

Citricos in the grand Floridian is one of our favorites for both food & ambience.

Jiko is also very nice. Low lighting. I would say of all 3, Jiko is the most romantic, Citricos has the best cuisine (Again only my opinion).

Oh, but my top pick would be Blue Zoo,in the Dolphin .

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Our last trip there, DW and myself had our "date night" at the California Grill and it was great

We scheduled it rather late though - basically right at the time wishes was starting.

So we got there a little before our ADR, got a drink at the bar and then went out to watch the fireworks. We then came back in and had an amazing meal

- After the fireworks a lot of the kids/families cleared out so it was much quieter and romantic feeling at that point

 

[Pakey]

Quiet romantic is hard to come by at WDW. I agree with Honeymo78--Shula's is a great spot.
You might also consider Blue Zoo and Citricos--they seem to have fewer kids running around than the other spots.

I always agree with Uncleromulus

and I would add Il Mulino to this list.

(Disclaimer: I have found the Swan/Dolphin restaurants to be busier/noisier during Food & Wine but still better than WDW restaurants for adult/quiet/romantic chances).

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Romantic and Disney Dining is usually an oxymoron.
. . . romantic is not kids yelling at dinner
. . . romantic is not adults talking way above normal levels
. . . romantic is not waiters running around to turn tables quicker
. . . romantic is not waiters carelessly banging plates and glasses
2) This eliminates most of the eateries.
. . . at DDP, even many adults do not know how to act
. . . many feel it is free, so they do not respect the eatery
3) For the top eateries, for claimed "romance"
. . . Cali Grill -- so loud, one can't always hear your date
. . . Narcoossee's -- also very loud surroundings
. . . Citricos -- nicely sedate, as off-the-beaten-track
. . . Shula's -- doesn't do DDP or kid menu, so lots of folks eliminated
. . . Bistro -- doesn't do DDP or kid menu, so lots of crude people don't go
. . . Il Mulino -- doesn't do DDP, plus out of the way for many
4) Thus, we recommend - for romance -
. . . Bistro -- cultured, refined service
. . . Shula's -- stately environment
. . . Citricos -- Mediterranean-style food
. . . Il Mulino -- fine Italian
. . . Victoria's & Albert's -- elegance

 

[Lady and the Buc]

I appreciate all the insight. I like the idea of watching wishes while we eat. She won't care where we eat, she'll probably still be in shock that we are in Disney. She thinks we are taking a week vacation in Pittsburgh and will continue to think so until the morning we head to Disney.

It is most likely going to be a toss-up between Jiko and California Grill.

 

[ElizabethB]

Bistro now allows kids to order off the kids' menu from Chefs de France downstairs. That, IMO, is why the place was overrun with kids when we dined there late one night a few months ago. It was worse than Chef Mickey's for noise and chaos.

As for quiet romantic dining at WDW, the only place you can be assured of that is V&A.

We love Il Mulino, but it is a festive atmosphere, as opposed to quiet and romantic. Shula's has a back room with some tables for two, which are good. Other spots in the restaurant can be very noisy with conventioneers.

We usually try to dine late at Disney signature restaurants to avoid noisy children, but our last meal at Jiko, we were in the wine room, it was 10 pm and -- lo and behold -- they start setting up a table for a large party right next to us and it includes 5 (count 'em 5) high chairs and boosters seats. We figure this is not good. We mentioned it to the waiter and he prevailed upon the manager to move the big party to the other side of the wine room. Why they had to be in the wine room I don't know -- I guess it was a service issue. That party arrived and they indeed had babies and a couple of toddlers -- at 10 pm. The toddlers proceeded to roll on the floor, run around the room and ultimately began hanging on the beaded curtains that hang in front of the wine bottles. The parents did nothing to stop them. The manager finally told them to control the kids once the kids started hanging on the beaded curtains.

Moral of the story -- even dining very late can leave you in a hopeless situation as far as quiet romance goes.

Other noisy and not very romantic places -- California Grill, Narcoosee's, Citrico's, Flying Fish.

 

[nickandlarisa]

We loved Flying Fish, food was amazing, more sophisticated atmosphere, and walking around the Boardwalk afterwards when everything is lit up is quite romantic.

And you are in Disney World after all, and the concept of romantic dining may be a little skewed, so what about the castle?? CRT if you get a window seat for two for dinner is fun for grown up princesses, too!!

 

[jbuey22]

we will be there for 10 days with the kids, but the wife and I are getting there 3 days earlier and will have a few nights to ourself. I just booked Shulas for the 2 of us on Oct 13th. it works out good because we always wanted to try shulas but its not on the DDP so we never did. So since we are not starting our ADR's for the DDP until the kids arrive and its only 2 of us I thought it was a perfect time to try it out.