Suggestions

[disney1sttime]

We just booked a trip to Disney World in June and purchased the dining plan. We have 2 girls, ages 5 and 8. I booked breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, but that is it so far. Any suggestions or tips on where we should eat? We are not picky eaters and like to try new things too. We are staying at the Polynesian. Any help is appreciated, I am overwhelmed!

 

[KatMark]

We just booked a trip to Disney World in June and purchased the dining plan. We have 2 girls, ages 5 and 8. I booked breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, but that is it so far. Any suggestions or tips on where we should eat? We are not picky eaters and like to try new things too. We are staying at the Polynesian. Any help is appreciated, I am overwhelmed!

Some thoughts with two little ones:

Crystal Palace for breakfast at the Magic Kingdom with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet; Ohanas at the Poly has a character breakfast with Lilo, Stitch and others (not sure who they all are--we don't care for Stitch); 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi at the Studios--kids seem to enjoy both (personally, we would stay away from Hollywood & Vine--we've had two really bad experiences there); the only sit down we've done at AK is Yak & Yeti and we loved it; for Epcot we love LeCellier, Biergarten (a buffett--but something for everyone and the kids really love the live German band and they can dance on the dance floor). We also really like the Plaza Restaurant at the MK as a change of pace from all the heavy meals we eat on the dining plan--great sandwiches, shakes and awesome desserts.

 

[natalielongstaff]

psb at akerhaus in epcot

 

[caroline1851]

My kids loved breakfast at Crystal Palace. We went to SCi fi for lunch and even though the food was quite good,the kids didn't really care eithe rway for it. The coral Reef is nice if you get near the tank. I think it would be boring for kids if you were not seated near the tank.

 

[Steelersfan]

I'd say, just because our daughter 3 (now 5) loved it the last trip...

Play-N-Dine breakfast
Princess breakfast in Epcot (Akershus)
Crystal Palace breakfast
Chef Mickey's Dinner
Biergarten dinner
Whispering Canyon Cafe lunch or dinner

She liked Sci-fi, but the food there isn't good at all and trust me, I'm not picky. We are skipping Whispering Canyon too because we want to try a few new places and something had to be sacrificed. Plus, I learned how to make ribs and pulled pork at home, so I can live with skipping it this time.

We are going to hit 1900 park fare this time for dinner so she can see Cinderella. We never did the two credit meal in the castle so I can't comment on it, but 1900 Park Fare, plus the Akershus princess breakfast in Epcot gives you two meals and a chance to meet almost every princess for the same amount of credits. You might want to consider that, unless they have their hearts set on eating in the castle. You could cancel the 2 credit ADR if you are able to get the other two booked 90 days out.That's up to you. You can't go wrong either way.

Basically the play-n-dine, akershus, and crystal palace are great experiences. We liked Chef Mickey's too. You may be able to book that one right now.

Whispering Canyon has fun and games the kids enjoy and my daughter loved the band and singing/dancing at biergarten.

The thing I'd do is try and book breakfasts with about 1/2 hour left on their schedule. They won't rush you or tear anyything down and keep serving fresh food, but you get two advantages...

1. Once they stop seating people, seats empty and are not filled. This means the characters have fewer stops and will visit your table more, and they will stay longer. At the play and dine, Jo Jo and Goliath came by so many times I was ready to feed them. Our daughter didn't eat much buut felt like she had them to herself. Definitely worth the credit!

2. If you book it on a day the park opens early, you can go in an hour before the park opens and get every major ride out of the way before you eat. For example, our play-n-dine was a 10 or 10:30 ADR. We rode tower of Terror and Rock-N-Roller Coaster 2x each, Star Tours once, watched a High School Musical show, then just sat around for awhile before we ate. Good luck doing all that in the afternoon!

If you book an earlier breakfast, you will be eating and missing out on this valuable time. Then you can leave the park if it gets too crowded and do something else like swim, nap, etc. You won't be missing anything during that time because the lines are too long. Then you can go back to a park in the early evening when everyone else is tired and ready to leave!

This is the only way to do it and enjoy yourself in my experience.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We took our nieces, age 6 and 12 (at the Poly too) and I have to say character breakfasts were the hit, TS dinners they were miserable...the didnt want to sit and chill out like DH and I did and the food options were not the greatest.

I suggest doing all character breakfasts like CP, Ohana, Princess Breakfast in Norway was a huge hit!

 

[Pakey]

We really liked the Tusker House character breakfast at Animal Kingdom. We did it at a late seating and made it more of a brunch meal as they have many unusual non-breakfast type of offerings. Also, it's the only character meal where you can eat with Daisy Duck.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Princess Storybook Dining in Norway is awesome!

I would also check out Coral Reef at Epcot. The food is good there and the little kids always seem to enjoy the fish in the giant tank!

Ohana is fun! I've never done breakfast but for a TS dinner that won't bore the girls there is a lot going on. Plus it is right in your hotel!

Also another good character meal is the dinner at 1900 PF with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her evil stepsisters and stepmom. It's really entertaining and the Grand Floridian is gorgeous!

I would stay away from Whispering Canyon though, gross!!!

 

[Perditamarie]

Welcome to the DIS!

I like to figure out which park we will be in, then choose a restaurant in/near the park so I have the smallest commute time.

We have been enjoying character meals and had great luck w/character breakfasts at Crystal Palace and Norway. We also like to schedule a latish breakfast/brunch to get some am touring in and it also keeps us well filled until dinner.

In our mother/daughter trip in June, I think we will do all character meals! We are going to CRT (lunch so we can hopefully squeeze in BBB in the am), Norway Princess meal (dinner so we have a chance to meet Ariel), Chef Mickey (dinner), Cape May (character breakfast) and either Park Faire (Alice, Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins) or Tusker House (Daisy!)....hopefully we can collect most of our autographs this way too!

For non-character meals, we also like the Cape May dinner buffet and Biergarten. Teppan Edo is also on my list to try! Happy planning!

 

[ms*mountaineer]

Princess Storybook in Norway is wonderful - but if you already have CRT, it's not necessary to book that one. (Of course, we did both - and enjoyed both! We like lots of princess interaction!)

We loved Biergarten in Germany. My kids ate a lot at that buffet and enjoyed getting up to do the chicken dance!