Tell me your kids' favorite restaurants!

[lntsmom]

I have one extremely finicky eater, but as long as we can get chicken fingers or nuggets he's fine.

I've read the guide books, the menus here, info on other websites, and I'm still debating. I have ADRs for 50's, Marrakesh, and Tusker House breakfast.

Everything I've read about Sci-Fi says their food is terrible. My travel agent told me the food is great and it is a must-do. (?)

I've read great things about Marrakesh, but then I looked at the pictures and it looks like a big cafeteria.

I decided to turn to the experts...your kids. Tell me their favorite restaurant in each park...and why they liked it...if you would. I think this info would be more valuable than everything I've seen so far!

BTW...my boys will be 7 and 12 at the time of our trip. NO princesses, please, !

Thanks, Beth

 

[jenb1023]

I have a picky eater as well and was surprised that many TS restaurants in WDW do not have chicken fingers/nuggets.

My suggestion would be buffets. All of the buffets we went to had a "kid" section with foods typically preferred by picky eaters.

CS restaurants seemed to me to have more "kid friendly" options than TS.

Good luck!

 

[RN2003AZ]

My son was 20 months when we went and is the epitome of picky eaters. Will only do grilled cheese, chicken NUGGETS, and plain pasta. The one place I found that actually had nuggets and not chicken fingers was 50's Prime Time Cafe. We did fairly well everywhere we went with a simple request of the other mentioned items even if they weren't on the menu. Hope this helps!

 

[kangaand2roos]

You might not believe this, but last year we ate at 9 TS restaurants with between 2 and 5 children under the age of 5. This included several character meals. BY FAR the most kid friendly place we ate was the California Grill! I had avoided eating there because I expected the opposite and I was wrong. They had paper spread on the tables and crayins for coloring. They brought out goldfish for the kids to snack on while they waited for food. Our server was absolutely amazing and the kids LOVED being able to see the fireworks from the restaurant. They were wonderful about accomodating our picky eaters. Yes, a bit more expensive, but the best meal/dining experience of the trip!

 

[_queenie_]

Keep in mind, they all are already gourmet eaters


DD3 (these are at least the ones she remembers, but I know she enjoyed them)

Epcot: Coral Reef
Cont: Cali Grill
MGM: Brown Derby
BW: Flying Fish

DD13 (wicked sweet tooth if it isn't obvious)

Epcot: Teppanyaki (Teppan Edo)
MK: Main Street Bakery, Aloha Isle
MGM: Writer's Stop, Brown Derby
DD: Pucks, Candy Cauldron
BW: Flying Fish
Cont: Cali Grill

DS17

Epcot: San Angel, bakery at Mara
MK: LTT, el perico
MGM: Sci-Fi (I don't personally see the attraction)
DD: Fultons
AK: Tuskers (haven't been since it's changed)
SD: Shulas, Kimonos
BW: Flying Fish

Flying Fish I think is the winner!

 

[daisyduck123]

DS9's favorite: Shula's in the Dolphin. It's a "MUST DO" every time.

Also loves:
Chef Mickey's
'OHana
WCC
LTT

 

[My2Cinderellas]

My picky eater did well, she didn't get the variety of foods we have at home, and I didn't push her to taste new things, but this was one battle I was not going to have on vacation.

She was able to get grilled chicken breast, chicken strips or steak with either buttered pasta or french fries at the sit down restaurants we were at. At CS she had chicken strips and fries most of the time with a couple of cheese pizzas thrown in for variety, plus a kid's cold chicken meal at Pecos Bill's.

We ate at Le Cellier (steak - her favorite!), Whispering Canyon, Akershus, Mama Melrose, Kona Cafe, and 1900 Park Fare (buffet).

 

[DCSxTwo]

My ds was 3y 9mo when we went and his quite picky. He did fairly well with the cs. TS were a little more difficult to get him to eat at, but he eat great at Chef Mickey's and at Crystal Palace (Not my favorite though, to chaotic) both buffets. Ordering off the menu he didn't eat as well as he did at the buffets. When we go back in Dec. 08 I plan to have ADRs at several buffets. We went to CRT and he didn't really eat that well there. He was to busy looking around. Anyway, I highly recommend Chef Mickey's for picky eaters.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My DS's (9) favorite restaurant is Chef Mickeys.

He also likes Sci -Fi and Beaches and Cream.

 

[Rylee]

I have 5 children and my youngest can be very picky.

Here's what we do...

We schedule ADR's for the restaurants the majority of us would like. Most are chosen for the food, some for the atmosphere, theme or characters, and some for a combination of both.

I no longer worry about what my 6 year old will eat...

We just feed him whatever he wants, whenever he wants!

If I know the restaurant offers something he will like, great! If not, we grab him a slice of pizza, or nuggets at a Counter Service (CS) location, before or after our meal, depending on the time of our ADR's.

We used the Dining Plan the last couple of years, and if he wanted to nibble on something at the Table Service (TS) Restaurant, he usually ordered a meal and ate what he felt like eating. If it wasn't enough or he didn't like it, we just paid out of pocket (oop) for something he liked, on our way to the next attraction.

My DH, and the other kids and I enjoy finer dining and I can't let his taste dictate all our meal choices but I also don't want him to be hungry, so this works for us.

As for the Si-Fi Dine In... My kids love it there, obviously it's the theme that appeals to them. We usually schedule it for a "lunch" and haven't been disappointed, because most of the food they offer is what you would expect on a lunch menu. If you'd like to check it out, you can always drop in for just dessert

Each of my kids have their favorite restaurants but they all say we have to go to the Coral Reef on every trip. We always do at least one character meal and we like to try different ones but Chef Mickey's is very popular.

 

[irene_dsc]

First of all, we just were at Marrakesh, and it is NOT at all like a cafeteria! It is gorgeous inside, with faux Moorish architecture. That said, my 6 y/o ds spent pretty much the entire time not eating playing his Nintendo, and ignored the bellydancers. (My guess is, the 12 y/o probably will notice, lol) Food was decent, but not exceptional.

I really enjoyed the food at 1900 Park Fare, but you said no princesses, lol. I think ds enjoyed talking to Prince Charming, tho - not to mention, it was the only place I saw broccoli. Boma was also good, with a huge variety. Garden Grill with Chip n Dale, Mickey & Pluto was relatively calm for a character meal, and decent food, family style. 'Ohana was fun, but the kid activities seemed more aimed at younger kids.

 

[agentpleakley]

I have one extremely finicky eater, but as long as we can get chicken fingers or nuggets he's fine.

I've read the guide books, the menus here, info on other websites, and I'm still debating. I have ADRs for 50's, Marrakesh, and Tusker House breakfast.

Everything I've read about Sci-Fi says their food is terrible. My travel agent told me the food is great and it is a must-do. (?)

I've read great things about Marrakesh, but then I looked at the pictures and it looks like a big cafeteria.

I decided to turn to the experts...your kids. Tell me their favorite restaurant in each park...and why they liked it...if you would. I think this info would be more valuable than everything I've seen so far!

BTW...my boys will be 7 and 12 at the time of our trip. NO princesses, please, !

Thanks, Beth

I have DD(5) and DS(11) -- we've been going the past 3 years and here is my opinion of their favs:

(1) OHANA breakfast -- they gorge themselves on the juice plus great character interaction -- they eat the food because it is breakfast

(2) Sci Fi: this was a first this time. I'm glad we opted to pay OOP for this one -- way too much food. We stuck with the hamburgers and they did not disappoint -- they are really big -- I gave DH 1/2 of my burger and left most of my fries. Eating in the car was super cool too. (my opinion -- Sci Fi was much better than Prime Time (except of course when the server made DH eat his tomato)).

(3) 1900 park Faire/Chef Mickey's: while the food was so-so, the kids scarfed up mac n cheese, chicken nuggets and pizza from the kids buffet.

If your kids are picky, I would skip Marrakesh. Tangeriene Cafe (IMHO) had MUCH better food. One day, I grabbed a schwarma platter then joined the rest of the bunch down at Liberty Inn where DH had gotten the kids burgers/nuggets. We still got our middle eastern food fix -- very large portion by the way.

Generally: the buffets are good for kids - -also the family style restaurants - like Ohana and Liberty Tree Tavern (MK) - kids get great interaction with characters and you don't have to stand in as many lines -- plus they eat. Our worst experiences with our kids was at Le Cellier -- which was awesome - but I won't go back until the kids are grown and gone.

Teppan Edo -- surprise surprise -- both of my kids loved this... it may have been the chopsticks -- don't know. This year DD got her meal in a monorail dish -- pretty cool. This isn't for all kids I know -- look at the menu first.

Good Luck

 

[tinkandpan]

According to ds6
Crystal Palace
California Grill
Teppanyaki