Table Service Newbie! Need suggestions!

[TexasKel]

We are planning our visit for mid-September. Normally, I stay at a value resort and just do quick service dining. This time, we are staying at WL so I am preparing for the possibility of free dining, which means we will do table service restaurants (am I right?) We've been to O'hana and will do that again. We've also tried the Sci-Fi dine in. Where else should we eat? Character meals are not important because I have a teen.

 

[Quellman]

Hi, welcome aboard. I can see you are pretty new around these parts!

You are correct about doing table service with deluxe resorts. When new discounts are announced, you have to act quickly, unless you booked with a travel agent, then they take care of changing to free dining for you.

But really, pick a restaurant, just any restaurant, and you'll likely have a decent meal, and since you want to skip character meals, you'll have better chances according to the opinions of others. You have until mid march to make up your mind for your 180 day reservations. In the mean time pull up some of the unofficial Disney dining or Disney food websites, check out some menus, or some reviews. Pick what looks pretty tasty and then ask some more focused questions. As it is, you will find fans of just about any restaurant on property. And since you didn't mention what type of dining you want to have, or what is a no food for you we can't recommend anything specific. Can you imagine if we said to check out The beirgarten, but when you get there you find out you would share a table with someone else? Yikes! Or what about if you don't want to eat something you could easily have at home? Or you want to avoid signature dining, like you could find at California Grille or The Hollywood Brown Derby?

 

[lala5176]

We are planning our visit for mid-September. Normally, I stay at a value resort and just do quick service dining. This time, we are staying at WL so I am preparing for the possibility of free dining, which means we will do table service restaurants (am I right?) We've been to O'hana and will do that again. We've also tried the Sci-Fi dine in. Where else should we eat? Character meals are not important because I have a teen.

If you enjoyed the family style service at O'Hara you may like Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom and Garden Grill in the Land Pavilion at Epcot. Those are two of our favorite places. There are characters at Garden Grill but we would go if we didn't have children too.

 

[Hopefully]

I would check out the menus here on the DIS & at all ears.net.
Are you interested in theme park dining or resorts or Disney Springs. With over 100 TS restaurants on property you have lots of choices.
Good Luck

 

[TexasKel]

Hi, welcome aboard. I can see you are pretty new around these parts!

You are correct about doing table service with deluxe resorts. When new discounts are announced, you have to act quickly, unless you booked with a travel agent, then they take care of changing to free dining for you.

But really, pick a restaurant, just any restaurant, and you'll likely have a decent meal, and since you want to skip character meals, you'll have better chances according to the opinions of others. You have until mid march to make up your mind for your 180 day reservations. In the mean time pull up some of the unofficial Disney dining or Disney food websites, check out some menus, or some reviews. Pick what looks pretty tasty and then ask some more focused questions. As it is, you will find fans of just about any restaurant on property. And since you didn't mention what type of dining you want to have, or what is a no food for you we can't recommend anything specific. Can you imagine if we said to check out The beirgarten, but when you get there you find out you would share a table with someone else? Yikes! Or what about if you don't want to eat something you could easily have at home? Or you want to avoid signature dining, like you could find at California Grille or The Hollywood Brown Derby?

Hi, welcome aboard. I can see you are pretty new around these parts!

You are correct about doing table service with deluxe resorts. When new discounts are announced, you have to act quickly, unless you booked with a travel agent, then they take care of changing to free dining for you.

But really, pick a restaurant, just any restaurant, and you'll likely have a decent meal, and since you want to skip character meals, you'll have better chances according to the opinions of others. You have until mid march to make up your mind for your 180 day reservations. In the mean time pull up some of the unofficial Disney dining or Disney food websites, check out some menus, or some reviews. Pick what looks pretty tasty and then ask some more focused questions. As it is, you will find fans of just about any restaurant on property. And since you didn't mention what type of dining you want to have, or what is a no food for you we can't recommend anything specific. Can you imagine if we said to check out The beirgarten, but when you get there you find out you would share a table with someone else? Yikes! Or what about if you don't want to eat something you could easily have at home? Or you want to avoid signature dining, like you could find at California Grille or The Hollywood Brown Derby?

Thanks! That's funny that you mention Biergarten...that's actually on my list of places to try! I don't mind sharing a table, I can make friends with anyone!

 

[TexasKel]

So far, my list includes Biergarten, O'hana, Rose and Crown, Whispering Canyon and Yak and Yeti. I have been reading the boards and the DisneyFood Blog. I really want to try Be Our Guest just to experience it. I just don't see anything on the menu that jumps out at me. I would most likely order the steak. I don't eat seafood, but I really like the way Coral Reef looks! So many choices!!!

 

[IndianaRRT]

Our favorites are O'hana, Beaches and Cream, and omigosh...Trails' End! Atmosphere? check! Food? check! Wishes on the beach? check! We are big Trails' End fans!

 

[cruisingmom1977]

I really want to try Be Our Guest just to experience it. I just don't see anything on the menu that jumps out at me.!

If you want to experience Be Our Guest try it for breakfast or lunch. Both are EXCELLENT values for a quick service credit. That will still leave all of your TS credits free. The experience is different for breakfast and lunch but you will still have the castle experience. We have a pre park opening breakfast planned for May.

 

[GillianP1301]

You will love TS dining! To me it really adds a lot to the overall vacation experience. The regular dining plan will include 1 TS per day, the deluxe has 3 if you decide to go that route, although that would be additional $ on top of the free dining.

Since you are staying at WL, you should really try Whispering Canyon, it's so much fun and the food is pretty good too.

Some of our other favourites (I won't list character meals since they aren't a priority for you): Yachtsman (it's signature so 2 credits), Biergarten, Coral Reef, Yak & Yeti, Sci-Fi, Boma.

Honestly, we have eaten at a lot of TS restaurants and you really can't go wrong. Everyone has their own opinion on which are the best and everyone has some that are better than others. I have only had one truly bad dining experience at WDW and that was Via Napoli, but other than that, I would go to just about any of them and enjoy it. Check menus for sure, that will help you in finding the ones that are more suitable to your preferences.

 

[Vernie822]

Hello! Table Service dining is one of our favorite parts of vacation! As others have said definitely check out the different spots eat, and their menus, and you usually will end up with a great meal. Of course there are lots of dining reviews with photos around here so that is always really helpful to see what the restaurants offer as well.

 

[crabbygal902]

I would begin by choosing restaurants that work with your plans and not the other way around. There are so many good places to eat, you can find something terrific just about anywhere. Since we usually have dinner at a table service location, I will pick the evening's entertainment first (mini-golf, fire works, walking around the World Showcase, etc) and then plan my meal somewhere convenient. I like the others' suggestions to take a look at the menus and see what appeals. Have fun planning!