Worried about noise level: Quietest restaurants on property?

[Wuzefelix]

Hello everyone!

For us, the most important factor when it comes to restaurants is neither the service nor food quality: It's all about the noise level. We love eating in relatively quiet places.
Of course we know that WDW has millions of visitors per year. Many of them are families with small children who have a tendency to be noisy (no complain, really). So we don't expect places to be as silent to hear a pin drop. However, if we have the choice we prefer the calm places to eat.

Which restaurants can you recommend for being quiet?
Which ones should we avoid because they are usually louder than others?

Without ever having been to the world, we would expect CS and buffets to be generally louder than TS. Nevertheless, we would love recommendations for each category of restaurants.

Any help is greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[ga9497]

Some table service options that come to mind right away to AVOID are California Grill, Narcoosees, Whispering Canyon and 50's Prime Time unless you plan on dining there at 9pm or later. I find these to be noisy

Generally if you can eat later in the evening, say 9pm, you will find restaurants to be quieter

Others that come quickly to mind that are quiet are the following

Artist Point
Citricos
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Flying Fish
Jiko
Brown Derby
The above are all signature restaurants

Boma - I don't find it very loud but not very quiet either
Captain's Grill (Yacht Club)
Coral Reef
Chefs de France
Le Cellier
Olivia's Cafe
Artist's Palette

 

[TifffanyD]

Hi there! This will be your first trip? How exciting! Here is our experience with quiet/noisy restaurants.

Quiet:

Jiko (this is a classy restaurant)
Sci Fi (a lot more casual but I think it's more quiet because it's dark and there are the move trailers for entertainment)
Le Cellier (also I think the dark factor helps)
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch seems fairly quiet

Noisy:

Raglan Road at Dinner (there's live music so it's noisy)
Any buffet (Boma is probably the least noisy of these since there are no characters)
Ohana (they have coconut races and stuff for the kids)
50's Prime Time

That's all I got for right now - hope that helps!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We ate at Jiko around 5:30 and it was pretty much empty...and the food was incredible.

The Yachtsman wasnt loud either and the Captains Grill at the YC was very very quiet, we loved our meals at both places.

The GFC at the GF wasnt too loud, the food there was very good too.

 

[catne]

Basically, all character meals are going to be very, very noisy. We found buffets to be very noisy, also, even those without characters (With no characters, Cape May Cafe was probably the quietest, while still being noisy. Tusker House was 2nd quietest. Boma was can't hear the person 18 inches away from you noisy...and very crowded.)

The Wave was very quiet...and though there were children there, it has kind of an upscale, classy feel to it.

 

[suzimar57]

aside from the sounds of the movie trailers, i'd say the sci-fi was the quietest (with most people staring straight ahead, watching the screen and not talking very much)

 

[mitros]

Through all of our years of dining at WDW, there are really no truly quiet restaurants other then V&A.
Best bet is to go during the off hours. Just around opening if for supper, and mid afternoon for lunch, {between 1:30 and 3} or VERY early for breakfast. All of Disney restaurants unfortunatley are noisy.

 

[MissionMouse]

Hello everyone!

For us, the most important factor when it comes to restaurants is neither the service nor food quality: It's all about the noise level. We love eating in relatively quiet places. ...we prefer the calm places to eat...

Bistro de Paris and V&A are two quiet TS Restaurants, but it since you do not eat at restaruants for quality or service they may not be a fit for you. Most other TS restaurants get loud and its not all due to children...often in non buffets it adults drinking excessively...

 

[ilovebassets]

tokyo dining was pretty quiet. not many children at all. i think families tend to go more to the teppanyaki hibachi style place.

sci fi is also surprisingly quiet.

 

[Hopefully]

We found Jiko at the AKL to be very quiet, but it is expensive. It is a fine dining establishment with great food, but it may not fit your needs.
For your first trip it is important to note that most all restaurants at WDW are failrly, if not excessivlely, noisy. It is family oriented and there are children at even the nicer restaurants. If quiet is important to you, you may be disappointed. I think it is important to understand before you go, that most places are noisy.
Have a Good trip.

 

[Wuzefelix]

Hello everyone!

We are amazed how much great advice you all have given us.
Thank you sooooooo much! This will be our first trip and we are very excited. Your info helps making our vacation extra special.
Special Thanks to:

ga9497
TifffanyD
MickeyNicki
catne
suzimar57
mitros
MissionMouse
ilovebassets
Hopefully



Of course we do expect WDW restaurants being louder than other places. But from our own experience at DLP we have found, that some are usually quieter than others. Great advice we got from this thread is to visit the restaurants during the off-times. And that most (but not all) signature TS are quieter.

Please keep your lists of quiet and not-so-quiet restaurants coming! Your input is very much appreciated! What about CS? I heard the upside dining room at Columbia Harbor House at MK is usually calm. Any more? TIA

 

[D&R love Disney]

Both Shulas and Blue Zoo at the Dolphin are pretty quiet.

 

[Belle4mygrl]

This is from our last trip a week ago

quiet
Sci Fi
Crystal Palace Breakfast (that was very odd. maybe the kids were too tired to be noisy. LOL)

Princess Story book Breakfast I would say mid level noise

Noisy
Chefs de France (I was very disappointed in the noise level)
Coral Reef
Whispering Canyon very noisy but part of the experience
1900 Park Fare

 

[squirrel]

The Wave at the Contemporary Resort was very quiet when we ate there.

 

[TaraPA]

Columbia Harbor House can be very quiet upstairs - a lot of people don't realize there is seating up there! However, 2 weeks ago CHH was so busy they had CM's just to line handle & move the crowds into the ordering queues! I had never seen CHH this crowded in all my life. It was lunchtime, about 12:30. So as others have said - try eating at off times. Try CHH around 3pm & head upstairs - I was literally the only person up there eating one time. You can also get a seat to see the 3pm parade out the window, as well as to overlook the HM.

As others have said, Sci Fi is generally quiet because people are watching the screens. Jiko was also quiet, Boma was LOUD (but best buffet I ever ate at!) I only have a different opinion on one - Hollywood Brown Derby - I was there for lunch 2 weeks ago & was shocked at how loud it was. I felt like I had to yell across the table to have a conversation with my friend!

I never even noticed the noise level in WDW dining before I went alone. I guess I'm always talking to the kids "wash your hands, sit down, stop touching that, stop whining, please eat, let's go, we're on a schedule here, come on, stop touching your brother, etc. etc." that I didn't notice anything other than that. I went to WDW twice this year without kids & boy is that place LOUD!

 

[Pakey]

With 3 trips a years for the past decade, I've eaten at just about every place at WDW.

Excluding character meals, the TS restaurants at resorts tend to be quieter than those at the parks. Some of the quieter non signature resort places that tend to be empty because they are out of the way are Turf Club at SSR , Captain's Galley (I think that is what it's called now) at Yacht Club and Olivia's at OKW. San Angel Inn at Epcot is generally quiet but some of the worst food.

For counter service at the parks, Columbia Harbor House (upstairs) at MK and Flame Tree BBQ (outside seating) at AK are both decent.

V&A and Bistro are definitely the most quiet adult restaurants but if you are not in it for the food, it is a waste to spend that much to dine there. If you are not on the dining plan, the places at Swan and Dolphin are generally quieter than the WDW places.

Ones to definitely avoid IMO are Coral Reef, Ca Grill, Narcoosees, Le Cellier, Chefs de France, Whispering Canyon, Brown Derby, 50's PTC, Rainforest Cafe (and I'm sure TRex), Wolfgang Pucks Cafe and BOMA. We have found these to be extremely loud.

 

[BoosGram]

For counter service at the parks, Columbia Harbor House (upstairs) at MK and Flame Tree BBQ (outside seating) at AK are both decent.

Be prepared for the possibility that you might get some noise from the resident ducks at Flame Tree . DH and I went early ~11:15 a.m. last Feb. and almost had the place to ourselves, except for the ducks (and if anyone is intimidated by animals, believe it or not, these little guys are persistent and sometimes physical; yes, I've been beaked ).

I do agree that the non-park restaurants have been the quietest in our experience, as well. Yachtsman Steakhouse, Artist Point, and Olivia's were among the quietest meals we had. Quality-wise, YS and AP were the better ones.

 

[626ish]

The Coral Reef at The Living Seas is good, usually. Every once in a while someone brings in a screaming kid that bangs on the aquarium glass the whole time. Go sometime in late evening (probably 8-ish) when all the kiddies are asleep or waiting for IllumiNations.

Le Cellier in Canada is my favorite. It's a nice (read:expensive) steakhouse, so not many people go there that aren't trying to enjoy their own meal.

If you DEFINATELY want peace, you'll have to try some of the 2-table-service places. The Brown Derby is wonderful, but the desserts are too rich for my tastes.

 

[Kmango]

Artist Point, Jiko, and bluezoo (especially the latter) are very quiet. Also, delicious.

 

[Uncleromulus]

As has been noted, there aren't any really quiet restaurants at WDW except for V&A and possibly Bistro. All of the Signature restaurants CAN be quiet if you get really lucky or go way late. But they can all also be over-run with screaming, food throwing kids. We've seen that at every one of the Signature restaurants mentioned in this thread. We had one of our worst kid food throwing experiences at Jiko, of all places.

The restaurants at the Swan/Dolphin (Il Mulino, Shula's, Blue Zoo) do have less kid noise than the other restaurants. Unfortunately, they are in convention hotels. Meaning they can be over-run with drunk, screaming adults on expense accounts and sitting at tables of 8, 10, 12. One of our worst non-quiet meals ever was at Blue Zoo--mobbed with several groups of computer conventioneers who were going absolutely crazy. Several of the servers (including ours) were almost in tears.
SO--just pick your spots and try to go late. Good luck!!