Where Do Members Like to Dine?

[rinkwide]

In another thread the concept of SSR guests using Downtown Disney as their main dining option was brought up. I'm not a big fan of the restaurants at DD, much prefering those on the monorail loop or in the Epcot area. I'd really like other opinions on which dining/entertainment area you prefer to eat at.

To simplify I've grouped them into Downtown Disney, Epcot and Epcot Resorts and Magic Kingdom and MK Resorts.

Now I know your favorite may not fit into this grouping. Just imagine that you're not sure what kind of food you're in the mood for, where would you go then?

 

[Cruelladeville]

I voted for Epcot eateries, due to the fact that BWV is my home resort, but I actually go to the restaurants are Beach Club, or Boardwalk, which is in the area. My #1 favorite is actually Boma's.

 

[DebbieB]

For last minute meals, many times we go offsite. The Crossroads area has many restaurants.

 

[kathleena]

So, I had to take the joke answer.

We generally eat out at Boma and Pepper Market.

 

[Bracho]

Out of the normal 8 nights at WDW each trip, most all of our evening meals are at Epcot, a different country every evening.

 

[dizfanz]

Besides maybe one meal my wife and I like to share at an exceptional restaurant(V&A, Bistro de' Paris, Cit., etc...), which we make a PS for, we consider ourselves on vacation and eat where we like. Maybe just wine and cheese in France, sushi in Dol/Swan, a great salmon at Artist's Point. We never know until the moment arrives. To us, Disney is just as much about the hotels and quality restaurants as it is about the parks. If you haven't tried this approach, I highly recommend it. But don't tread on my favorite breakfast of all. Being a DVC member, I enjoy a bagel with my coffee in the morning, sitting on my balcony, watching the parents corral their children off to see Mickey for the first time. I watch the hustle and bustle in the morning, and then smile at my wife and say "Hey, what do you want to do today?"

 

[Chuck S]

We do eat several meals at Olivia's, as we have always stayed at OKW...but, we also will "pop" into EPCOT just for a meal. It really depends on what mood we're in. If we're in MK, we eat in MK, and so on.

We also occasionally drive off-site to eat, and if we want a quick and easy meal we go to DtD and get Earl of Sandwich "to go" to eat in our room. We rarely make any PSs more than a day in advance (unless we know the parks will be extremely crowded), the exception being "special" things like CP Dnr Pkg, or dinner shows.

 

[Zimbubba]

We would not think of a trip to Orlando without a meal at Bahama Breeze and one of Emeril's Restaurants.

 

[pplasky]

We try to make a ps for a restaurant in close proximity to where we will be for the day. If we are in Epcot, we eat in Epcot, if we are in MK, we eat in MK. Arrival and Departure days are more apt to be DD or a resort.

 

[eporter66]

I voted for the dont pigeon hole me - as you never know where or when you are going to eat when on vacation. We dont usually plan much...........

but - we do like to eat at the hotel we are staying at a couple times - just for the convience.

Maybe that is a good poll question - best resort for food????

Eric

 

[JimC]

We enjoy restaurants all over the property. Many planned with PS, many not.

 

[MJTinNH]

Generally Epcot and the Epcot Resorts. However, we also eat at a light meal at whatever park we happen to be at during the day.

When we travel to DD, we usually eat-out there too.

 

[doc428]

My Dh always lobbies for the Orlando Ale House, especially during football season.

So, I guess we will be there in 3 weeks, at least 2-3 times.

 

[jennypenny]

We actually cook most of our meals. We're not big on eating out, and with 3 small kids it's not much fun anyway. We usually plan 3 or 4 meals out during our 10 day vacation (usually epcot countries) and then cook the rest of the time.

So I vote cook, but based on the few meals out we eat my second vote is epcot.

Jenny

 

[tjkraz]

Honestly, location of a restaurant doesn't play much of a role at all in where we choose to dine. Sure, we'll plan to do Crystal Palace on a day at the Magic Kingdom, but we also don't mind running over to the WL just for Whispering Canyon.

I could better tell you what types of restaurants we like based upon the cuisine, atmosphere and other factors than I could for solely on the basis of location.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

Well we try at least one new restuarant every time we go.

Actually In August we did three new ones: tried Bomas (loved it) Earl of Sandwich (love it, very affordable) and I can't remember its name but in EPCOT the Japanese Restuarant where they cook in front of you? AWFUL, waste of money. Service friendly and fun, food TASTELESS

And we ALWAYs go to Cape Mays

 

[mb168]

Man, this is another reason we go to Disney, just to go to a few favorite restaurants and try new ones. We also go on many weekend trips and just one week long trip a year so our nights are generally to go to a favorite one eve and maybe try something new the next. We usually do Olivias for lunch the day we arrive no matter where we are staying. The exception to this is if we're going to EPCOT and then we usually go to the San Angel Inn in Mexico. Generally we do Spoodles for the paella(expensive but excellent), get a PS for lunch at the Liberty Tree if we're in MK(DW loves the pot roast), breakfast at Spoodles, Yacht Club Galley, AKL Rainforest Cafe ,or Olivias(all have DVC discount at breakfast at least), and then maybe try something new and revisit if we like it. We had been trying to get into California Grill for several trips and just finally did in August. Yachtsman has great steaks(did that on a Valentine trip DW and I), and Narcosee's has excellent food too(also Valentines trip). We liked Boma the first time we went and stayed at AKL but went nack again and just didn't care for it(was all I could get a PS for on a last minute Thanksgiving trip). I've kind of gotten away from the "buffet" meals at Disney especially if we have the kids with us. We usually opt for less expensive meals for the kids and even I have trouble justifying a $25 buffet for myself, I'd rather eat something nice cooked for me for that kind of $$.

We are the kind of people though that get in the habit of going to a few places and always ordering the same thing. Once I get a favorite somewhere I'm afraid to try something else. When we do venture out its usually based on recommendation like from here or people we meet at WDW. But we do the same thing even at home.

 

[bwvBound]

Originally posted by Zimbubba
We would not think of a trip to Orlando without a meal at Bahama Breeze and one of Emeril's Restaurants.

That is our pattern, too!

 

[DrTomorrow]

To be honest, we find dining one of the least enjoyable aspects of a WDW/DVC vacation. Breakfast: in our room; bagels, pastries, etc. with a hot cuppa joe. Lunch: usually a small bite in whatever park we're in. Dinner: except for a few WDW restaurants that we're emotionally attached to ('Ohana, for example), we feel that the on-site restaurants don't give us value, so we eat off-site. (Note: we find that, even at home, most restaurants aren't worth what you pay....). Paying $10 more for the same cut of meat just because we're at the Boardwalk is enough to send us off-site to Outback; that's one of the reasons we love the location of SSR - quick and easy to skip out to the "real world" for a meal then skip back into the magic.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Our most enjoyable meals are outside of the Parks..at the resorts. We also like DD dining options..Fulton's alaskan king crab claws..yum!!

Interesting comment from DrTomorrow about dining off site due to $$ at Disney. Agree Disney is over priced..but we hate driving off disney property.....just doesn't feel right. Silly, I know....

We tend to have breakfast in our villa every morning...usually on our deck watching the world go by. We enjoy the parks more in the evening hours, so we're in no great rush to get anywhere.

We think Disney had vastly improved their dining options over the past few years, with a lot of options for us who travel sans kids...and enjoy a gourmet meal with fine wines!