What was the First Table Service Restaurant...

[PoohsFan1]

My first table service in WDW, was where the Kona Cafe is now but back in the early 80's (or was it where Ohana is, I can't remember) when I went with my parents (not sure what the name of the restaurant was called back then). Yes I have been back but to the current restaurants.

Now jump ahead to 2005 when DH and I first took our 2 DDs who were 4 and 2 at the time. Our first TS restaurant was CRT. We wanted them to experience eating in the castle and visiting with their favorite princesses. We all loved everything about the restaurant (we were there for breakfast). The best part was, at that time, when you first went in to the castle you didn't meet Cinderella but instead it was Fairy Godmother and then you would see Cinderella upstairs with the other princesses. When we first went in, my kids didn't want to meet Fairy Godmother because that was their first experience with a Disney character and they were a little bit scared. Therefore, we proceeded upstairs, and after seeing that the Princesses were fun to M&G with, they couldn't wait to visit with Fairy Godmother downstairs....note that when we did go downstairs, there was no one there so we had a wonderful M&G with her. And to answer your question, do we go back to this restaurant?....absolutely , we really enjoy eating here at dinner and breakfast, plus you can't beat the atmosphere .

 

[jcjen519]

I can't recall the first one because I was less than six months old and it was 1982. None of the ones I recall are here now. We always stayed at the poly in those days and I do recall when I was young eating at the place Ohana is today and there was another buffet I think where never land club is or around there now. I want to say it was tangora terrace. There was one we ate at a lot when on the gold key thing but I can't recall the name. I feel like the restaurants used to be more fancy and formal. I remember being very dressed up

 

[awhitman80]

The first table service I remember as a child was Hollywood and vine. I was actually a teenager then. (My family was the pack a sandwich and take to the park kind) when I was younger.

My first grown up table service (where I went with my kids and husband) was ohana dinner. It was wonderful. It won my disney skeptical husband over and now it is an arrival night tradition!

 

[goofy4prez]

Our first table serve restaurant was Narcoossee's. We loved it and it continues to be our ritual arrival day restaurant.

 

[jenjersnap]

On my first trip as an adult, our first meal was at Boma for breakfast. It was fantastic.

 

[pepe of ohio]

The Pueblo Room in the Contemporary. Loved it. It's been long gone.

Ours too... Pueblo Room at the Contemporary Resort.... back in 1977.....was the best

 

[sleepydog25]

WCC. It was achingly mediocre: bland food, disinterested server (despite the fact we were celebrating a birthday), and generally lackluster. Have gone back twice since with the exact same results, so it's on our "no fly" list. Same trip we ate at Artist Point, and it was superb. It remains in our rotation to this day.

 

[Pete S]

Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, back in 1999. It was good and we have been back since, but since we like trying new places we have never been anywhere more than twice.

We started another sort of tradition at Liberty Tree that day - we come from Ontario, and every time we have been to WDW (4 trips so far) we have run into different friends from home who we did no know were going to be there. We are trying to guess who is the lucky family we will see in January.

 

[Grumpy92]

Since I date back to 1972 there were few options for TS restaurants at the time. We always went to two restaurants. The first was LTT and then the Coral Isle Cafe at the Poly. The Coral Isle is now Kona's

 

[Uncleromulus]

Papeete Bay Verandah in Sept 1975. Now long gone--replaced by Ohana

What a drop in quality------

 

[isabellea]

Bongos at DTD in 2009. Don't remember what I ate or even if we liked it or not.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Papeete Bay Verandah in Sept 1975. Now long gone--replaced by Ohana

What a drop in quality------

THIS. I miss all the original Poly restaurants.

Although, I'm pretty sure that my first table service restaurant was the Town Square Cafe, where Tony's is now. Breakfast in the open-air porch was heavenly.

 

[HadesTX]

We ate lunch at Tony's & it was really good back then! We've had it on two trips since & didn't like it either time. We won't go back.

 

[dpswift]

I remember that!!! They called it a buffeteria! We had dinner there a couple of times when it was still served that way. LOOOOONG before the characters took up residence.

We went there for breakfast when we went there with my parents and 2 oldest boys around 20 years ago. I still remember the buffet line.

My first trip had been in the late 70s when I went with my grandparents. All I remember about eating was going to the Luau they had at the Polynesian Village, and the room service breakfast we had.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Crystal Palace lunch. My second trip in 2008 at 25 years old, my xh and DS.

My xh had been to Disney many times. He went every summer as a kid. Sometimes twice a year. He would stay off site and did no table service. They most times packed food for the parks.

We went in 2003 but I didn't know about ts meals. For this trip I found the did a few weeks before and found out about Ts places.

I knew xh would not be happy with these prices. His favorite as a kid was Winnie the Pooh. His little brother is Christopher which he picked the name from the show.

I sucked him in with Crystal Palace. And Tusker House and garden grill. We went twice more before we divorced and with the dining plan those times. That's how much he loved it. We have always done crystal palace.

 

[JustPeachy2014]

I grew up going to WDW. If there were table service restaurants back then and you had to make a reservation for them, my family didn't go to them. My parents probably didn't even know you could make reservations at a theme park restaurant. We always had the mediocre quick service food.

Once I became an adult and started researching other ways to vacation at WDW, I made a reservation for the Wave for breakfast the night before we went. Great buffet, but probably overpriced.

 

[Chrystmasangel]

My first trip was back when they still had the Lake Buena Vista Vacation Villa's, the blue, slate gray, and white outsides looking like town houses. I was 15... It was a dream vacation. My aunt, who is an RN, had brought me with permission from my doctors because I had just been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. The very first restaurant we walked into was the table service restaurants for those Villas... I think it was called Lake Buena Vista Club???. I can't remember the name for sure, but oh can I remember how it looked! I was in such a whirl wind of "OMG I can't believe I am here" that it didn't matter what it tasted like, I LOVED IT! IT was amazing. It was the best place in the world!

 

[Networth]

Crystal Palace

 

[enchantedny]

When I was a child we only did day trips to the Magic Kingdom while visiting family in FL. I do remember eating in the Crystal Palace when it was a buffeteria.

My first trip as an adult, when my youngest daughter was 1, we ate in the castle. It was King Stefan's Royal Banquet Hall then, not CRT. There were no characters and we WALKED up on a Saturday evening and were seated within 10 minutes. We had a great table overlooking Fantasyland, the atmosphere was magical and the food was delicious. The butter was a little Mickey statue.

Of course, having our own little princesses, we have been back to CRT. I have never enjoyed it as much as the first time we were there.

 

[ilovebassets]

Lunch at Tony's with my husband. We sat on the outside porch on a lovely day in September, and there was a parade! We didn't know there would be one; we just got lucky! We were a lot poorer then than we are now, and it seemed so luxurious to spend probably $40 on lunch at WDW in a sit down restaurant. We returned there regularly for a while, but then discovered Liberty Tree and now have kids so then there's Crystal Palace, too. And while the food is okay, let's face it, it's not the best, so it's fallen a bit out of our favor. But I'll always defend it when people really knock it!