Where to eat before the Holiday parties?

[iHEARTflorida]

Hi,

Coming into town for the both MVMCP and JN. No day tickets. Just party tickets. 2 adults.

I’m thinking of meals before the events;

For MVMCP I was thinking of making an early dinner reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern as we can get in from 4pm and party starts at 7pm. As I’ve never dined there before and always been curious. I wish it was a character meal, they are really missing out on a lick not having characters there.

And then for JN, I enjoyed Sebastian’s at Caribbean before and would like to do it again. They don’t open til 4:30pm and JN lets you in from 6, we’d take the skyliner to get there. Don’t know if this is a little tight on time. Or could do Hollywood and Vine to meet the characters in their Christmas attire.

Any other ideas for meals before the parties? Would only grab snacks at the parties,

Also it’s just two of us, would be able to have the regular option and the plant based?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Many Thanks

 

[buzz1fan]

Following along as well. We are going to mvmcp on our one day. I was thinking at liberty around 4-5:00. We have never been there.

Or maybe late lunch at steakhouse- then grab some counter service later in evening.

 

[HopperFan]

Hi,

Coming into town for the both MVMCP and JN. No day tickets. Just party tickets. 2 adults.

I’m thinking of meals before the events;

For MVMCP I was thinking of making an early dinner reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern as we can get in from 4pm and party starts at 7pm. As I’ve never dined there before and always been curious. I wish it was a character meal, they are really missing out on a lick not having characters there.

And then for JN, I enjoyed Sebastian’s at Caribbean before and would like to do it again. They don’t open til 4:30pm and JN lets you in from 6, we’d take the skyliner to get there. Don’t know if this is a little tight on time. Or could do Hollywood and Vine to meet the characters in their Christmas attire.

Any other ideas for meals before the parties? Would only grab snacks at the parties,

Also it’s just two of us, would be able to have the regular option and the plant based?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Many Thanks

In case you didn't know it used to be a character meal and if I remember right before the Halloween Party they wore extra costuming. If you have never been it could be a good choice!

We have also eaten at Grand Floridian Cafe or Kona before heading in to MK.

We loved Sebastian's too. If I was sure H&V wouldn't encroach on any party time I might try that.

 

[buzz1fan]

In looking at menus- the resort lunches end at 2:00 and start back up dinner at 5:00. We will most likely eat at magic kingdom!

 

[tx911]

I would eat at a resort before MVMCP rather than in the park.

VGF, CCV, Poly, and CR all have very good restaurants.

Also could consider a Boardwalk restaurant before Jollywood and then hop on the skyliner.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Hi,

Coming into town for the both MVMCP and JN. No day tickets. Just party tickets. 2 adults.

I’m thinking of meals before the events;

For MVMCP I was thinking of making an early dinner reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern as we can get in from 4pm and party starts at 7pm. As I’ve never dined there before and always been curious. I wish it was a character meal, they are really missing out on a lick not having characters there.

And then for JN, I enjoyed Sebastian’s at Caribbean before and would like to do it again. They don’t open til 4:30pm and JN lets you in from 6, we’d take the skyliner to get there. Don’t know if this is a little tight on time. Or could do Hollywood and Vine to meet the characters in their Christmas attire.

Any other ideas for meals before the parties? Would only grab snacks at the parties,

Also it’s just two of us, would be able to have the regular option and the plant based?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Many Thanks

We do exactly what you are planning on doing. My wife and I have done a lot of Parties and After Hour events and we always eat at a buffet or all you can eat before pushing through the long night. I'd still eat at Sebastian's it's not going to hurt to get there a few minutes after 6. It beats wasting 1.5-2 hours eating inside HS. We really enjoy Liberty Tree.

 

[Lillian Gracey]

DH and I and one of his friends went to Steakhouse 71 for dinner before heading to MVMCP and really enjoyed our meal. The vegetable wellington was to die for! I highly recommend it. I usually want to be in the park at 4 for a party unless I'm already at MK for the day, but DH's friend wanted to treat us to dinner so we did that and got to the party shortly after 7.

Otherwise, I'd go for Kona Cafe or Grand Floridian Cafe so you can get to the park around 4 and not miss park time. DH and I aren't doing a park day before MNSSHP so we're planning on eating at Kona Cafe for a late lunch before heading over to MK.

 

[iHEARTflorida]

I’ve read the gates can be a mess at MK trying to get in for 4pm, what time would you book the dining reservation for ?

 

[japanese maple]

We plan to eat at Ale & Compass at Yacht Club (great, relatively unknown spot) before Jollywood Nights. Probably right at 5, then boat on over to DHS for party! Personally I would skip altogether and just buy party food, but I was outvoted.

For Christmas party, some of us are doing a late lunch at Sanaa (staying at AKL) and others (me) are just going to eat corn dog nuggets and/or cheeseburger eggrolls once we get to MK. Probably getting there around 4:30/5. Then I plan to buy some party food. There were a couple good savory options last year.

 

[Pens Fan]

The only restaurant we like in MK is Skipper Canteen which we've done several times before a party. If you don't want to try that, I'd choose one of the resorts. Steakhouse 71 is great and an easy walk. Geyser Point at WL is also terrific and a quick boat ride away.

As for JN there are so many great options at the Crescent Lake resorts and I'd pick any one of them over Sebastians. I know I'm in the minority on these boards, but Sebastians was a one and done for us - bland, overcooked food and terrible service. Trattoria Al Forno (Boardwalk) was a surprise hit for us this past March - and it's a nice walk or boat ride away. Crew's Cup Lounge (Yacht Club) has some really great apps that will make a nice dinner - those prime rib sliders that AJ from DFB raves about are every bit as good as she says! Ale and Compass has always been good for us and is easy to get into. Of course if you want to go all out, Flying Fish or Il Mulino are excellent (but not open in time for JN). Or just stay in HS and hit up the Brown Derby Lounge. They serve the entire Brown Derby menu in addition to some lounge bites. We've never done Hollywood and Vine because every review I've ever seen says while the characters are cute, the food is not good.

 

[Marthasor]

Personally, I would do a late QS meal at a resort and get to the parks before they open the entrance to party guests. Plenty of good QS in the MK resort area. Perhaps consider Primo Piatto at RIV prior to JN. I would not waste any party time on TS.

 

[Mikey15]

We’ve usually done resort dining like Sanaa or Whispering Canyon prior to a party like MNSSHP or MVMCP and arrived at MK in time for 4pm entry. Once, we did a Skipper Canteen dining as soon as we got in MK instead. It worked for us that time on a low-key, just the two of us day, but if you’re actually trying to take advantage of the lower crowds in MK the day of a party, it’s a bit of a waste to spend that time at a TS.

If the goal is to try something new to you like Liberty Tree Tavern, go for it! I know not everyone is “go go go, ride ride ride.” That being said i personally can’t imagine waddling around MK stuffed on Thanksgiving food

 

[DJFan88]

We will probably just do QS maybe at Contempo or our own resort. I found out last year for the 3:30-4:00 entry line up that the monorail and boat transportation to MK has a very crowded spill over craziness kind of thing going on, so either we’ll just walk over from Contempo or take the bus from our resort.

 

[Nancyg56]

We are going to Be Our Guest the night of our Halloween party. We have a 4 PM ADR. We have park tickets so we can go early enough to make the reservation without dealing with the early entry lines. We like to have a good meal so we don't have to look for open CS.

 

[LilyWDW]

I just booked our Steakhouse 71 reservation for 1:40 on our MNSSHP day. We did this for MVMCP a couple years ago and it worked well.

 

[georgina]

I'm doing both this year also. I do not spend time eating inside the park except for snacks. I have usually done quick service near the MK for the MK parties, or a big lunch at GFC or Whispering Canyon. I like the GF QS, Contempo Cafe isn't bad, and Geyser Point at WL is good.

For JN, I like the Ale & Compass suggestion, or possibly Bar Riva at Riviera resort.

 

[Bellex917]

We're going to try to do a big late breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (like 11:30) on our party day and then just grab a quick service meal during the 5-6:00 hour of our party day (probably Cosmic Rays or Pinocchio- done both plenty of times, we just want to eat fast and get back to the action).

In the past on party days we did Steakhouse 71 before going in and then walked over.

 

[jillt2ph]

My suggestion on a MNSSHP day is the Plaza. Ask for a table in the back Gazebo-like area. That way you get to see everyone coming in the back walkway dressed in their costumes. We even enjoyed doing that on a day we were not staying for the party.

Of course, this is dependent on the window covering being down by then. I have no idea when that work is scheduled to be completed.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We never made sit down reservations for dinner before the parties. The reason is our party ticket always got us in early and we could use the time in a less crowded park. We would usually book a character lunch or other lunch once the kids weren't into character meals and play some mini golf or something that day rather than do a park and then the party. We'd eat at the counter before it got busy before the party.

 

[jtopp]

Because of the early park entry, we have done both Liberty tree Tavern and Crystal Palace, and still had time for other attractions before the actual party started.