Howdy! I'm new here, so throw me a bone! lol
My family of 8 (6 adults, and 4 year old twins) is going to Disney in May. My family only seems to want to eat at restaurants in Epcot... which I'm sure are fine! But we've got the dining plan, and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, etc? All I ask is that it isn't a dinner show, or anything else that counts for 2 table service meals. We only want to use one big meal a day.
My thoughts.
MK, IMO has no memorable one credit TS restaurants. Crystal Palace is a character meal but the food is only so so and we don't like buffets. Liberty Tree is good and for us, it's be the top TS option. OTOH, MK has one of the best places to use your CS options, at least from a value standpoint. That is Cosmic Rays which has a Chicken Rib Platter that's plenty of food to share for most people plus, they have a lot of choices and we really like Disney's burger bars. We also like the Columbia Harbour House.
EPCOT, I'd be there with your family eating most meals. My top choice there is Le Cellier but only for lunch because it's now 2 credits for dinner. I can't think of a sit down there I dislike though we aren't big fans of chinese food. They also have some of the best locations to use CS options including Seasons, La Cantina and Tangierine cafe. Yorkshire Fish doesn't have a kids meal so it's often a great place to get more value and choice from your kids credits.
DHS is hit or miss for us. We really enjoy 50's Prime Time, the food is good and the atmosphere is nostalgic. Sci Fi is also an experience but we find we don't like the food there and it could be scary for the 4 y/o. We find Mama Melrose is just OK, we used to really like it there but the last few times it's been so so at best. There are no good CS options there IMO.
AK, not a lot for sit down here. Yak and Yeti's is different and I do like it. We haven't been to Tusker House since they changed the format but we're not big buffet people. Flametree is a very good option for a Counter service as is the Anandapur cafe.
Disney Hotels, ignoring signatures, I'd say O'hana for breakfast, less for dinner. Sanaa, Whispering Canyon, Boatwrights. Most hotel restaurants, esp the better ones, aren't open for lunch. While I wouldn't use a TS credit, we really like ESPN for the Teriyaki wings (and we're not big wing people). Best CS option is Pepper Market at Coronado Springs.
DTD and Disney's West Side, Wolfgang Puck cafe is our top choice, we also like T-Rex much better than Rainforest partly because we think the food is much better which is surprising considering they're similar restaurants 100 yards a part owned by the same company. Neither of the Landry's restaurants (T Rex, Rainforest) are on the
DDP IIRC. Wolfgang Puck Express (2 locations) and Cookes of Dublin will be the best CS options for that area.