What are your "must do" restaurants?

[wdw-ocd]

I'm in the midst of trying to decide which character dining experiences/dining shows/restuarants to book (Only a week and a few days left until the magical 180 day mark! ). Last summer we did Cinderella's breakfast, breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, Chef Mickey's, Hollywood & Vine (Fantasmic package), and the Coral Reef.

DH and I are trying to be a little more cost conscious since we won't be using the dining plan this time around (way too expensive for our family of 6! ) We were thinking of the Hoop-dee-doo Review and dining with the princesses at Akershus (so our youngest can get her fix! )

I'd love to hear what you think of Akershus and Hoop-dee-doo as well as which restaurants are a "must do" for you!

Thanks!

 

[Stacerita]

Ohana is our must do.

 

[simonkodousek]

Crystal Palace, Kona, and Whispering Canyon Cafe are our must-do restaurants.

 

[KatMark]

Crystal Palace, The Plaza Restaurant (great shakes!) and LeCellier are our must-dos every trip!

 

[Pakey]

It's BOMA for us.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

LeCellier is a must do for us, but a bit expensive. We enjoy the Cape May Cafe which is a very good buffet and less expensive. Ohana's and Bomas are also very good. Linda

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

LeCellier is a must do for us as well. Unfortunately when we were there in 2006 on our honeymoon they were fully booked. We had never had that happen to us before in all the years we've been going, and were so dissapointed.

This trip, ADR's will be made for ALL of our favorites.

 

[exnortherner]

As for "must do" restaurants, we always make it our business to get to Boma. DW and I consider it one of the best at WDW. But as for character meals, we just came back from our Christmas getaway with the kids and grandkids and found Crystal Palace to still be one of the best. We ate at the Princess dinner in Norway, but beyond the Princesses, we were not too impressed. You order your entre from a limited menu (my orzo with clams, mussells, calamari and cod was absolutely delicious) and there is a small appetizer/salad bar buffet. The buffet was mostly cheeses, sliced deli meats and smoked fish. I liked everything they offered, but I think the selections were very limited for the high price of the meal. Of course you are paying to meet Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine and Cinderella. It was great fun for the little girls (and many of their mommies too). Cape May offers a nice character breakfast with Minnie and the gang, but the best breakfast is to be found at Hollywood and Vine (at MGM). The characters are from Playhouse Disney and the food selection is the best we have encountered at WDW.

I know that everyone has their favorites, but I hope some of this helps.

 

[SwhJess]

DH and I chose The Plaza restaurant on a whim (when making ADRs...don't worry...we didn't just walk by and try to get in : ) and really enjoyed it. Reasonably priced, and maybe some of your kids could even share a full-sized sandwich, to save room for the delicious looking desserts! We didn't have room for them, but next time we definitely will! Good quality/sized sandwiches, great german potato salad, and the tomato bisque soup was awesome. (We'd had similar...actually, probably it was exactly the same...tomato bisque at SSR earlier in our trip. Loved it.)

Enjoy your trip!

 

[TANYABETH]

For the past four years Jiko has been a must do for my husband and myself.

 

[TigerKat]

Since our last trip we've decided we have three "must-do" places from now on:

Blue Zoo
JIKO
California Grill

 

[MickeyNicki]

We took our 2 nieces to the Princess Breakfast and it was a huge hit with them....they loved it and had a great time and the food is very good. We chose a breakfast character meal because the kids are super picky with lunch/dinner food but love all breakfast foods and the cost is cheaper for breakfast.

Our must dos are Beaches and Cream, Crystal Palace and Cape May breakfasts, WPE in DTD, Kona for breakfast and dinner.

 

[Lamandpercy]

Our WDW must do restaurants are:

Le Cellier
California Grill
Sci-fi dine in

We also eat at Pecos Bill for CS in MK, DH just loves that salad bar!

 

[donaldsgal]

We only have one must-do, which is Teppan Edo. we've only missed it once when it was down for a rehab.

That said, we have some we like to hit regularly (but not every trip). These include California Grill, Coral Reef, and (our newest addition) Yachtsman Steakhouse. We've done 50s Prime Time Cafe several times but are taking a break for a few trips.

We've done several others twice (Spoodles, Le Cellier, Fulton's, Chef Mickey's, Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast, Donald's Breakfastosaurus, and Olivia's) but they haven't earned their way into our hearts as "must-dos" yet.

For CS, we like to frequent Toy Story Pizza Planet, Sunshine Seasons, Main Street Bakery, Starring Rolls, Pizzafari, and Casey's.

 

[Tricia1972]

Our Must Do's are

Jiko - Adult's night out
Chef Mickey - Breakfast
LeCellier - Dinner

 

[Tigger79]

Cape May for breakfast! Its the best breakfast IMO. Its a character breakfast,but it isnt as crowded and as noisy as some of the other character meals. They have one of the selections of fruit! YUMMY!!!!

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

Boma for breakfast
1900 for dinner

 

[LMO429]

The Sci Fi ...Yes the food isnt that great! but the atmosphere cant be beat!

 

[OceanAnnie]

As for "must do" restaurants, we always make it our business to get to Boma. DW and I consider it one of the best at WDW. But as for character meals, we just came back from our Christmas getaway with the kids and grandkids and found Crystal Palace to still be one of the best. We ate at the Princess dinner in Norway, but beyond the Princesses, we were not too impressed. You order your entre from a limited menu (my orzo with clams, mussells, calamari and cod was absolutely delicious) and there is a small appetizer/salad bar buffet. The buffet was mostly cheeses, sliced deli meats and smoked fish. I liked everything they offered, but I think the selections were very limited for the high price of the meal. Of course you are paying to meet Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine and Cinderella. It was great fun for the little girls (and many of their mommies too). Cape May offers a nice character breakfast with Minnie and the gang, but the best breakfast is to be found at Hollywood and Vine (at MGM). The characters are from Playhouse Disney and the food selection is the best we have encountered at WDW.

I know that everyone has their favorites, but I hope some of this helps.

I agree with the Princess Dinner in Norway review. I wasn't very impressed either. We were there last week. The food was ok. Nothing to write home about. Our princesses weren't very zippy/energetic. Wasn't "upbeat" fun, but a more subdued fun for my little girl.

I really liked Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park. I didn't care for the Crystal Palace so much. Characters were fine, food not so good to me. Too much garlic in everything. I ate mostly desserts that evening.

Loved California Grill, Narcosses, Garden Grill (at GF). The wow factor being on the 15th floor, at 6pm, seeing the fireworks at California Grill was a great ending for our vacation.

 

[engle]

Boma and V&A (can't do a trip without it!!)