Which restaurant/resort on our date evening?

[moesy4]

We are taking a Monday afternoon/evening as a date at the end of October on our trip. We are planning to head to HS around 3ish to hit up the "adult" rides like RnR and Tot, as well as enjoy the fireworks. I would like to make a dinner reservation around 1ish and none of the restaurants at HS fit the bill (under $20/entree, high quality food, good portion size, and able to get a reservation 5 weeks out lol).

I thought it might be nice to eat at one of the resorts and take a look around as we have never stayed on Disney property. This obviously adds an extra transportation step, but I think we would enjoy it. First of all, do you think this is a good choice, or will it be too much of a hassle?
Secondly, which resort? Right now I was looking at Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL, Kona Cafe at the Poly, or Sanaa at AKL. I would LOVE to explore AKL, but I'm worried the transportation would be a hassle. We are coming from Fort Wilderness if that makes a difference.

There is always Disney Springs but we have been there before and nothing really wows us about it. Plus it seems transportation would be a hassle.

 

[Nancyg56]

For a date I would not choose WCC. Not for any meal. It is a loud and busy restaurant.

If you do not want to go to Sanaa due to transportation, why not consider the Grand Floridian Cafe? It is a lovely bright restaurant in the Grand, and not wide open like Kona. The food is reasonably priced, the Grand is gorgeous, and the grounds are a nice stroll.

 

[Hi Pluto]

How about one of the boardwalk area restaurants? That's a fun experience in itself, but there are some good restaurants over there that are reasonably priced. Plus, then you're just a boat ride or casual walk away from DHS.

ESPN Club
Big River Grille & Brewing Works
Trattoria al Forno

~Cari~

 

[ChasingLeslie]

I don't know how many places are going to hit your wish list of high quality, big portions for under $20/entree.

Have you considered any of the Boardwalk area eateries...? It's an easy boat ride over and you can probably get an ADR or use Open Table.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree. There are few, if any, resort restaurants that will meet your criteria. 1ish is lunch time and not every restaurant is open for lunch.
I agree with Grand Floridian Café, it is quieter than most. The Boardwalk eateries, while convenient are not really "dateish" if you will.
Good Luck

 

[Kimosabe]

Among your choices listed, for a "date," I would go with Sanaa. It is not terribly difficult to get to AKL (take boat from FW to MK and then just hop on a bus), and among the choices listed (and just in general), it has more of an out-of-the-way, quiet feel to it, as if you have somehow escaped the rest of the world. Sanaa is probably on my top five restaurants (if not top two or three) at WDW, and, as you said, you'd have the option of exploring the resort, too.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I love the Epcot resorts. You can park at HS and take the boat or walk down to Yacht Club and eat at the Crew's Cup, no reservations or Captain's Grille. You can eat and stroll around Crescent lake to the Boardwalk. Depending on the weather some of the Boardwalk restaurants have seating outside.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I recommend Sanaa for the reasons listed in previous posts. The food is very good and you can't beat the atmosphere. We eat there almost every trip when we are without the kid.

 

[Disneypapa]

My suggestion would be for "House of Blues" at Disney Springs. Outdoor seating and live entertainment or indoors. Try the shrimp & Grits, they are awesome!!

 

[moesy4]

Haha I guess I should simplify that by date I mean a place to have adult conversatuon. It does not have to be romantic or fancy lol, although bonus points for not being completely surrounded by other people's kids.
I liked the idea of the boardwalk particularly for the evening, but none of the restaurants really had the appeal we were looking for.
I think we are going to Uber over to akl and do sanaa, I really love the look of the resort and the restaurant fits our criteria. Then we can take the bus from there to hs. Will that work?

 

[Praying Colonel]

It's going to be hard to find a quiet, date-type place for under $20/entrée. (In fact, there probably aren't too many TS restaurants that have even 1 entree for <$20/per.)

If you can stretch that a little The Wave has a pretty good atmosphere and entrees in the $22-25 range. DW and I will often split an app, entrée and dessert and doing that would also get you around $25/per.

You may also want to consider going someplace and getting 3-4 apps and sharing them. That would get you around $20/per.

 

[saskdw]

High quality food + DisneyWorld + under $20 = Unicorn

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Sanaa is lovely and lunch is a great time to go so you can still see the animals. Yes, I would uber to AKL and then bus to DHS.

Another option would be to simply take the boat to CR and eat lunch at The Wave and then take the boat from CR to DHS. The Wave has excellent food.

 

[Nancyg56]

Haha I guess I should simplify that by date I mean a place to have adult conversatuon. It does not have to be romantic or fancy lol, although bonus points for not being completely surrounded by other people's kids.
I liked the idea of the boardwalk particularly for the evening, but none of the restaurants really had the appeal we were looking for.
I think we are going to Uber over to akl and do sanaa, I really love the look of the resort and the restaurant fits our criteria. Then we can take the bus from there to hs. Will that work?

At first I thought he $20 was going to be your biggest obstacle, but it's not. It's going to be the pesky kid thing! LOL!