Worried about noise level: Quietest restaurants on property?

[Tricia1972]

For quiet, a good rule of thumb is to avoid restaurants that accept the DDP or are resort restaurants.

For places we've eaten:

Quiet
Victoria & Albert's
Jiko - one quietly crying child one time and the servers and managers were over at that table in a flash offering 'assistance' took about 10 minutes for the parent to get the hint to move their fussing child out of the restaurant.


Not Quiet, but not Loud
Table Service
LeCellier - Once we were seated at a small table for two that was so close to the next table that we ended up quietly talking to the party there. Once we were seated alone and had a very quiet meal.
Garden Grove
Mama Melrose - We dine early and while not silent it's never been noisy
Cap'n Jack's - Hopefully removal of Lobster Tails has made this even less popular and even more quiet
Fulton's

Counter Service
Tangeriene - Outside
Cantina de San Angel - Outside
Wolfgang Puck Express - Outside
Earl of Sandwich - Outside
Boulangerie Patisserie - Outside

Loud
Table Service
Tusker House
Boma - OMG Noisy, not even inbetween. Breakfast was better than lunch, but neither was quiet
Kona - Just off of Monorail Exit
Narcoossee's - Quite a few kids and a very open design
Crystal Palace - Lots of kids at a buffet, complete with parade in middle of meal
Liberty Tree Tavern - This may be better once the characters are gone.
Chef Mickey's - Lots of kids at a buffet, complete with napkin twirling and singing
Whispering Canyon Cafe - Keeeeeetchuuuuuup anyone? Lots of yelling, pony races, and being loud is just part of the charm of this restaurant.
Spoodles - Open design, open kitchen and everything seemed to bounce here
Beaches & Cream - It's basis is kind of 50's diner/ice cream shop.
Les Chefs de France
50's Prime Time Cafe - Again antics are part of the charm for most.
Rain Forest Cafe
T-Rex (Haven't been there but ALL reports are that it's very very loud)
Planet Hollywood

Counter Service
Restaurantosaurus
Electric Umbrella
Artists Palette at SSR
Backlot Express
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Goffy's DTD - Don't eat inside there but horribly noisy inside
Sommerfest
Liberty Inn - (In America - Epcot)
Pinochio's Village Haus
Cosmic Ray's
Main St Bakery
Casey's - We took our hotdogs out to the picnic tables outside and had a nice meal with just regular Disney crowd noise
Sunshine Seasons - There is not a noiser CS that I've run into. It's in the basement of The Land Pavillion so in addition to being very popular, it also absorbs the crowd noise for those getting to Soarin and other attractions in The Land.
Pecos Bills
Old Port Royale
Ghirardelli

 

[Judy from Boise]

Oh a person after my own heart! Quiet is my key to enjoying a meal, even more than food quality. We skip breakfast except for coffee and a granola bar, so by 1100 we are in line for a CS lunch, we then take the tray and find outside seating in a quiet corner.Just by eating outside, any noise is more of a "theme" experience and enjoyable. We then are ready for a 4 pm dinner, usually a buffet in the park, and later a nice 9 pm dinner at Hotel (we stay al Swan so it is at Picabu). Another variation is to eat by the pool.
So my big advice is eat al fresco whenever possible.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I also don't like noisy resturants. That's one reason why I always do TS at lunchtime now. When I ate dinner at Coral Reef, it was very noisy; Lunch-nice and quiet. Same difference at Rose and Crown and somewhat at Grand Floridian Cafe (I found it very peaceful at lunch). Conversely, I've eaten at some CS at 6:30 or later, and found them almost empty. At ABC Commissary and Flathead Grill (or whatever it's called now), I even asked if they were open. Pinocchio's Village Haus and Columbia Harbour House were also close to empty. Pecos Bill's, on the other hand, always seems busy and noisy.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

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

I agree, this was the quietest place we ate at on our last trip. We had a late breakfast and almost had the place to ourselves.

I would skip ALL CHARACTER MEALS! They are loud and hectic. I'd also skip the Rainforest Cafes, Whispering Canyon CAfe, and probably the new T-Rex. I'd also skip Pop Century, maybe avoid eating in the food courts at almost any resort during peak times (8:30am, dinner rush, 11pm at Pop) - though at many you can take food outside, see below.

Boma's not bad. 'Ohanas wasn't too bad, but then we were seated away from the 'show.' Still, Kona would be quieter.

Not all TS places are loud. If you dine during off times, like 11:30am, you'll find many are actually fairly quiet. Also, often you can dine outside, which helps. There might be folks walking around you, but the overall noise won't be bad.

Another tip is to try the resorts at lunch time. Usually they are very quiet. It almost won't matter: TS or QS. The monorail resorts especially come to mind for lunch. GF has outdoor tables, you can hear some park noise in the distance, but it's pretty quiet, and the lake view is relaxing.

Over by Epcot or HS, try hopping over to the Swan, Dolphin or maybe even the Boardwalk. Some places won't be open for lunch. Kimonos comes to mind for dinner sushi, if you get there before 10pm when kareoke starts. The Boardwalk will have folks walking by, but you can sit outside with a slice of pizza. From DTD, we had a very quiet lunch by hopping over to Artist's Palette at Saratoga Springs. (Though my personal favorite at DT is still Wolfgang Pucks' Express. (Marketplace side, not the other side). They have outdoor tables, so even though you can see folks walking by, it's kind of relaxing.

The other quiet option is to have breakfast in your room. Often this is a great option. You may get room service at the deluxe resorts, or you might grab food from food court and bring it to tyou room at any WDW resort (some places this will be a long walk). the least expensive idea though is to have cereal. bring some from home, stop at a grocery store. You'll need a room fridge. At Coronado, I was able to get my food 'to go', and eat it outside by the lake - very quiet and nice. Come to think if it, we had a late dinner there on our last trip that was also pretty quiet. The decor in PM is bright and colorful, but the place iteslf was pretty quiet. After dinner we had a quiet walk around the lake. I think you can also do the same at CB. As I recall, PO doesn't have much outside seating.

Another quiet meal that comes to mind was Olivia's Cafe when we had an early ADR (don't know what it was like later, but it was fairly quiet at 5pm.) I hear that Turf Club is quiet with nice view, also.

Avoid any Waffle Houses in the area during breakfast.

 

[Villainess]

Turf Club at SSR is very nice, great food and quiet - a nice atmosphere w/ a view of the water/DTD.
GFC was also pretty quiet and very nice as well.
Brown Derby - early dinner was quiet and enjoyable.
Flying Fish - I've had dinner here twice after Illuminations, so rather empty, good food.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Citricos, Yachtsman, V&A & Bistro de France, Jiko's all lovely & quiet

LOUD~ WCC, AP, CG, FF, The Wave

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I thought Biergarten was loud. We enjoyed the meal here and we chose this for the festive atmosphere, so it's not that we didn't get what we wanted. But I had to shout across the table to talk to the others with us.

Tutto Italia was quiet. I could carry on a conversation with the people at our big table just fine.

Ohana - loud!

Princess Storybook in Norway - I don't think this one is too bad. Yes, you have characters wandering through the tables and the children are excited to see them. But I didn't think it was frantic or loud. You can talk with your family at the table no problem. A PP gave it a mid-range - that's a good rating for it.

 

[GailT]

Cirticos and Nicossess (sp) at the GF are both sig rest the food is amazing and even with kids there you could almost here a pin drop.

 

[SwhJess]

Probably our biggest disappointment as far as noise goes was Narcoossee's. It wasn't even obnoxious kids, I think it was just the general sound carrying in that dining room. (Food, however, at Narcoossee's was excellent!)

Thinking about our quietest dining experiences, I immediately thought of two:
1) Garden View Tea Room - delish, fun (different than anything we'd ever done!), and quiet/refined...just by the nature of sitting down to "high tea", I think.
2) Maya Grill at Coronado Springs - we were there early (like 6pm) before the convention crowd made it, and found it dark and quiet. There are some complaints about the food here, but we either hit it on a good day, or ordered the proper stuff. DH had the filet and I had the filet and catch (mahi-mahi at the time).

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[DizzKneeGeek]

If you're looking for quiet. DO NOT go to Ohana, California Grill, any buffet, Hollywood and Vine and San Angel Inn. Those are the ones that come to mind. Too bad for you though cause that's some good eatin' you'll be missing out on.

I do remember Nine Dragons being relatively quiet, however.

 

[mitros]

Turf Club at SSR is very nice, great food and quiet - a nice atmosphere w/ a view of the water/DTD.
GFC was also pretty quiet and very nice as well.
Brown Derby - early dinner was quiet and enjoyable.
Flying Fish - I've had dinner here twice after Illuminations, so rather empty, good food.

Wow, I forgot about the Turf Club. That can be generally quiet for the most part, unless, like another poster said, someone has a screaming child with them.

 

[GF Girl]

I would go with Citricos or Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[kent285]

Another vote for Turf Club at Saratoga Springs Resort. Lights are low and the ambience is very peaceful.

 

[Judy from Boise]

you know we had an early dinner at Grand Floridian about 3 weeks ago.....and it was very loud. We were eated in the "gazebo" part....no one was obnoxious, I think it was just lots of tables and bad acoutics.

 

[magicalcouple]

Here is my list, though I love them ALL...

Quiet:
Le Cellier
Tokyo Dining
Brown Derby
Coral Reef at 8:45 Dinner

Loud:
Coral Reef at Lunch
Chefs de France
San Angel
Mama Melrose

But again, I do SO love them all....

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Another place that can be very quiet that I hadn't thought about is the Japan quick serivce in Epcot. The menu isn't as great as it once was, but the outdoor location is great. We always stop there.

Sometimes if there is a concert over in the American pavillion, you can hear it from there...but it will be slightly muted, and the music can be very nice. (Besides, you'll probably know it before you order your food.) Otherwise, the spot has a babbling water pond with Koi...so it has a tiny bit of white noise. The water is very relaxing. It really doesn't feel like you are in an amusement park at the very least. It is meant to be like a Japanese garden.


My personal favorites form the menu are the terriyaki chicken and the udon noodle soup. They also have California rolls.

But then again....someof the prime quiet places to dine are just outside Epcot via the rear exit.

If you are looking to destress....not dining per say, but on the way to/from Boardwalk/Swan area dining or Magic Kingdom (monorail, WL, Ft. W) resort dining - I highly suggest taking the boat. As much as I love the monorail, the boat is much quieter and relaxing.

 

[crisi]

Its Disney, with the exception of V&As (which no longer allows young children in) you risk at any restaurant parents who have a screaming child at the table next to you who are of the "Disney is for KIDS! If you don't like kids you shouldn't be at Disney" combined with the "I'm not going to miss my meal because my kid is screaming" attitudes. And as said above, the restuarants that aren't likely to have that issue might have the drunk conventioneer issue (we had a meal at Shulas that was next to a large party of people on expense accounts drinking and being loud).

(I like kids, and have two of my own, but think that people should make an effort to take screaming children out of restaurants.)

I will agree that signature resturants, lunch, late nights, and hotels are better bets for quiet and that there are meals to avoid at all costs if you are looking for quiet - any character meal, Ohana, Whispering Canyon, 50s Prime Time. Some signature places (Narcoosee's and California Grill) have loud kitchens and an open setting which encourages noise while others (Artist Point) are a little smaller and the decor seems to encourage quiet.

 

[Wuzefelix]

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thank you all soooooo much for your great answers. It means a lot to me that you all are willing to share your experiences with me and give me this bunch of advice. I am simply overwhelmed by the amount of wonderful information you all gave me . I have written almost everything down and will take it with me to the world so that I am well prepared.

Some of you have different opinions or have made different experiences than others, of corse. This is only natural. However, I found some trends in all your replys:

Most seem to aggree that California Grill, 50s Prime Time, Narcoosees, Ohana and maybe Les Chefs de France are some of the loud restaurants on property.

Many say that Jiko, Victoria & Albert's, Sci-Fi Dine-In, Citrico's, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Bistro de Paris and maybe Artist Point, Captain's Galley and Grand Floridian Cafe belong to the quietest places.

May the above list and this whole thread be a help to everyone who is concerned about noise levels in the Disney restaurants. Have a great trip, everyone!

I'll head to the airport in a couple of hours! Bye bye and thank you very much!

 

[jess20k]

Coral Reef is the LOUDEST that I have ever been too!!!!!

I remember Artist Point as being nice and quiet.