Disney Experts -- restaurants and shows...

[mlktwins]

Hi all! We are planning a 2 week trip to Disney World in Dec. I have the accomodations booked (Windsor Hills), the auto train tickets, and I do have ADR's for one character meal (the one with Mickey and the gang). Now I'm planning the rest of the trip. So...for all you experts out there, I'd love to hear your TOP 3 picks for the following:

 

1. Restaurants within the World

 

2. Must see shows

 

Thanks so much!

 

Mendy

[Mom in High Heels]

For the restaurants, it depends on what you want. Are you looking for sit down, character, quick service or international cuisine?

 

We've done almost every character meal in the parks (we always stay on property and get the meal plan, which means we can max out the character meals). If you booked Chef Mickey's I'd say YAY! Chef Mickey's is hard to get into unless you book way out. We've done it 3 times and it was Indy's favorite. Other than that, our top character meals would be:

 

O'Hana's Best Friend's Breakfast at the Polynesian. The food is served family style (meaning they bring everything to your table and keep bringing whatever you want). The Hawaiian bead was divine!

 

Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Lane (Grand Floridian). Even though I have a boy, he had a great time at this one. My cousin's daughter was with us and she was in heaven. The stepmother and stepsisters slayed us! They were so funny. Indy got to dance with Cinderella and my cousin's daughter dances with Prince Charming. It was super fun. The food is buffet and was pretty good considering it's a buffet.

 

Our hands down favorite character meal though is the Garden Grill at The Land in Epcot. It is served family style and the food is outstanding. Most of the food they serve there is grown (or raised in the case of the fish) in the Disney gardens that you can see if you take the boat ride in The Land. We always do this before our reservation. They also offer a small "behind the scenes" group tour of the gardens for an extra fee (about $20/pp) that was amazing. Instead of just riding a boat through the ride, you actually get to walk through the gardens with a guide who explains all the experiments they are working on (farming in drought areas, hydroponics, natural pest control, etc). Indy (and I) learned so much on this tour.

 

For regular (non-character) dining, we like the following (one in each park):

 

Le Cellier Steakhouse (EPCOT). The food is amazingly good, but it is expensive. If you're looking for something less pricy in Epcot, try San Angel Inn (Mexico), The Nine Dragons (China), or the Rose and Crown (England). To be honest, I really like to eat at EPCOT!

Tony's Town Square (Magic Kingdom). The atmosphere is great ("Tony" is supposed to be Tony from Lady and the Tramp) but the food! Oh, the food! The portions are ridiculously huge IMO. The eggplant parm (they list chicken in the menu, but you can get eggplant) is delicious, and the pistachio creme brulee will make you want to weep it's so good. :D The lemon-walnut cake is pretty outstanding too. Make sure you all order different desserts so you can share!

 

Tusker House (Animal Kingdom). We're not big fans of any of the restaurants in AK, but this one is our favorite. It's a buffet of African foods. Their couscous and tabbouleh are outstanding. If you have kids who are not adventurous though, it's probably not for you. Indy will eat anything, so of course he loved it. He thought the hummus and vegetable samosas were great.

Mama Melrose's Ristorante (Hollywood Studios) Loads of fun and you can book a special seating during Fantasmic and eat while you watch. The wood grilled Tuna is fabulous.

 

 

We go to Disney a lot. And we like to eat well while we're there. :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I forgot about shows! Are you talking about dinner shows or just shows? We're not big fans of the dinner shows because while they are fantastic, they're crazy expensive and the food is no better than any of the other restaurants. If you're taking just shows, see Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (awesome!), Fantasmic (you can watch this at Mama Melrose's), Indiana Jones Stunt spectacular (obviously Indy's favorite), and the Extreme Stunt show (do NOT miss this) all at Hollywood Studios, The Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo-the musical (do not miss either of these!) at Animal Kingdom and the Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom. You can book a dinner table at Tony's and request one by the windows so you can watch the parade while you eat. You have to eat pretty late though.

 

HTH! For the record, this only the 4th year in 16 years (and the first year in the last 8) we haven't been to WDW, Disneyland Paris or on a Disney cruise. :( We'll have to make up for it next year. :)

Edited August 3, 2011 by Mom in High Heels

[Guest twentyoneeight]

1. Best Restaurants- for Character dining we love Chef Mickey's character dining at the Contemporary, but I've heard Cinderella's castle with the princesses is wonderful. Nice sit down would be Tony's Towne Square in Magic Kingdom (very good Italian), and for counter service try the restaurant in the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot. You have to try the churros.

 

2. Best shows- It's been a while since I was able to sit through a show (I have very small children and the last time we were there it was only for a day so I really didn't attempt too many shows), but all my kids liked the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland (MK) and The Lion King show in Animal Kingdom is really good. In about fifteen minutes they do something like the Broadway musical and they have audience participation which the kids love.

[momofkhm]

1. Restaurants within the World

 

2. Must see shows

 

Keep in mind that my kids are much older than yours! When we go, we also stay on site and get the dining plan. That way dh doesn't nickle and dime me to death. In fact, we tell the kids to order the most expensive thing on the menu! That being said:

 

We love love love the Hoop De Doo Review. It's corny. Your kids will like it. The adults will get all the jokes. It's the only place anywhere that dh actually likes ribs! - Restaurant and show.

 

We really enjoy Rainforest Cafe. It's loud, depending on your kids, you may need to warn them about the occasional "stampede" or you may need to take them out. Portions are huge here though. Share, especially desert.

 

The Rose and Crown (English food) at EPCOT. Ask for a table outside, near fireworks time if you can manage to eat that late. Really good food. Really loud inside.

 

The Coral Reef if you are seafood people. I love seafood but it makes me physically ill if I'm not careful. We still go and love it.

 

For character meals - we enjoyed Chef Mickeys, Cinderella's breakfast and the Princess Storybook breakfast.

 

We're not really show people. We like rides!

[SailorMom]

Restaurants:

 

Sit-Down: Marakesh, O'Hana, Raglan Road

Counter-Service: food court in The Land, Liberty Tree Tavern, Mexican place in Epcot

 

Shows:

 

The Nemo show at Animal Kingdom..... other than that - but not really shows - Illuminations and It's Tough to be a Bug

[Jennifer in MI]

Food:

 

Whispering Canyon. It's in Wilderness Lodge. The waiters are loud and obnoxious and my kids LOVE it! Food is pretty good. (Oops. Just saw that you wanted ones in the park. This one is worth it though! We usually go after Animal Kingdom. We go when it closes at 5 pm)

 

Coral Reef. It's in Epcot. One whole side of the restaurant is an aquarium. The last time we were there, we were seated right by it. A sea turtle kept coming down and sleeping right by us. The divers came in and wrote us notes and communicated with our table. I LOVE the food here!

 

Le Cellier. The BEST steaks around. Reservations are very hard to get, however.

 

O'Hanas. This is at the Polynesian and totally doable quickly from Magic Kingdom. Just hop on the Monorail.

 

The counter service place at Mexico in Epcot is wonderful!

 

Beer in England is great! (And, then, ride Soarin'! BEST ride ever!!!)

 

The lunch or dinner show at Cinderella's castle is GREAT. I don't know if you have dds or dss, but my dd absolutely LOVED this show - especially after a visit to the Bippity Boppity Boutique!!!

 

Boma. Again - not in the parks. But, an AMAZING meal!!!!

 

Shows:

 

Lion King at Animal Kingdom - NOT to be missed.

 

The Bird show (Birds of Flight? I think it's called) - Animal Kingdom. Again, GREAT show!

 

We weren't huge fans of the Nemo show at AK.

 

Lights, Motors, Action at Disney Studios.

 

Beauty and the Beast at DIsney Studios.

 

Mermaid show can be skipped at DS

 

Playhouse Disney show is really cute if your kids still watch Disney Jr.

 

Star Wars show at DS - one of mine got pulled up on stage!

 

Indiana Jones show is great - but my dd was a little scared.

 

Watch the fireworks at both Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Totally worth it. I loved the Electric Light Parade too.

 

We also loved the luau at the Polynesian!

 

A tip - bring ear plugs. The shows are ALL way too loud. It helped with the fear factor a couple times.

[whitestavern]

We also stay at WH and take the auto train down!

 

Our fav restaurants:

 

Artist Point, CA Grill, Le Cellier, 50s Prime Time, Flying Fish, Jiko, and the takeout Fish & Chips in Epcot. If you wanted to add an additional character meal, we like the breakfast at Park Fare the most, although the food is just okay.

 

Our must-see shows:

 

Wishes at MK, and Flights of Wonder, Lion King & Nemo at AK

 

We've never seen Fantasmic!, though we will do our darndest to see it when we go in February.

 

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

ETA: Agree with a PP--forgot about Beauty & the Beast and Main Street Electrical Parade--both very good.

Edited August 3, 2011 by whitestavern

[2cents]

Dec is a great time to be at Disney World! We live in FL so we have annual tickets and Dec is our fave time. You should try to see the Osbourne Family Lights at Hollywood Studios. At EPCOT they have a fantastic candlelight processional and choir with a well-known narrator. It is always very good! The Magic Kingdom has Mickey's Very Merry Christmas that is a lot of fun.

 

Our fave place to eat in EPCOT is Teppan Edo in Japan. At Hollywood Studios our #1 is Sci-Fi Drive In and #2 is the 50's Prime Time Cafe. In the Magic Kingdom we like Tony's Town Square.

 

Must See shows: Magic Kingdom Electrical Parade & Hollywood Studios parades. The fireworks display at EPCOT is FANTASTIC!

 

Outside the parks: Walk around Downtown Disney because the Lego shop is a must see! Downtown Disney also has the T-REX Restaurant that is a great place to eat if you have anyone interested in dinosaurs. We never get tired of eating there! Here's a link: http://www.trexcafe.com/

[mlktwins]

Thanks so much everyone! I've printed off this thread and will use it to help guide my reservations and plans! I really, really appreciate it.

[DawnM]

We are going in November. I don't have a place booked yet, but I do have two 1 week vouchers through SkyAuction that I have already paid for.

 

I also have homeschool passes/tickets as I found the CarolinaHomeschoolers had homeschool tickets available the time we were going.

 

I am getting excited!

 

Dawn

[ma23peas]

It is really hard to do/see all your first trip, but if you're there for 2 weeks you should be able to make a dent! :)

 

Top five restaurant experiences:

 

Eating inside the castle (breakfast, lunch or dinner...is great)

Sci-Fi (my kids prefer this to PrimeTime 50's..but if your kids are scared by Bmovies, then maybe go to PT)

German restaurant (just make sure to go when they have entertainment...it was just a cool experience, I prefer LeCellier for the food, but the atmosphere there is just like an adult restaurant, no shows or anything)

Chef Mickeys (I think you have this one) another option we love is 'Ohanas at the Polynesian resort...

 

For the best food, I have to say Yachtsman Steakhouse...wonderful food!!

 

Shows:

Fantasmic, Hoop De Doo Review, and one of the shows at Animal Kingdom (when we were there it was Tarzan, but they do great shows there, usually two of them, I would hit them both!)

[CarenM]

We also stay on property and take advantage of the dining plan...

 

Our favorites are...for character meals......

 

Chef Mickey at the Contemporary

 

Breakfast with the Princesses at the castle

 

Character meal at the Beach club for breakfast as well

 

 

 

 

Outside of character meals.....

 

Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge

 

At Epcot we LOVE to have dinner in Germany! They put on a great show!

[ChristusG]

Chiming in late because I didn't see this thread the other day. We are Disney freaks and go several times a year.

 

As for restaurants, we're not fancy type of people, so we go places that the kids would enjoy too. A few of our favorite places to eat are....

 

The Hoop De Doo Musical Revue....BEST dinner show on Disney property, in our opinion. It's located at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. Anyone can take the bus over there. The food is southern style (fried chicken, corn on the cob, corn bread, etc) and is DELICIOUS. The show is hilarious. Even our kids loved it when we went there....they were 2 and 5 at the time.

 

Another one at Ft Wilderness that's great is Mickey's Backyard BBQ. It' "picnic foods".....ribs, hotdogs, hamburgers, corn bread, Mickey bar ice cream treats, baked beans, lemonade....all yummy. There's great character interaction. Mickey, Minnie, Chip, and Dale come out and lead dancing. It just a good ol' hoe down. It *is* outdoors under a covered pavillion, so I don't think that it would be too fun if it's too hot. We go in the fall.

 

A staple of ours is the Crystal Palace, inside the Magic Kingdom. Great food, you get to meet Pooh Bear and his friends. Convenient if in the park that day.

 

O'Hana's for breakfast is good. It's at the Polynesian. You get to dine with Lilo & Stitch, plus Mickey, Minnie, and friends. The food is good.

 

 

 

As for shows, the Festival of the Lion King is a MUST. It's top notch. You won't want to miss it.

 

People say Fantasmic is awesome....I have no idea why LOL. I never love it when I see it. However, I LOVE the Wishes fireworks show each night at the Magic Kingdom. Pure magic.

[DianeW88]

We're huge Disney freaks here, too! We just went in March and our next trip is in April 2012 for 14 days...woo hoo!!

 

We do the Dining Plan everytime. So...for restaurants:

 

Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch in MK.

 

Les Chefs de France in Epcot (also lunch). Remy comes out on a silver cheese tray to visit your table and "talk" with you.

 

Le Cellier in Epcot (dinner).

 

50s Prime Time in Hollywood Studios. We love the atmosphere and the peanut butter & jelly milkshakes. Sound :ack2:, taste divine. Really.

 

Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

Ohana at the Polynesian.

 

For character meals:

 

Crystal Palace in MK (for breakfast).

 

Askerhaus in Norway (princess meal)

 

Tusker House in AK

 

Shows:

 

Hoop de doo review (love it)

 

Any (and all) shows in the parks, especially "The Lion King" and "Nemo".

 

Also, note that you may have difficulty in getting reservations to some of the restaurants and character shows (any you will need them) if you are not staying on Disney property, as those who are can make them up to 180 days in advance of their trip. Be persistent, make the ressies as early as you are allowed, and be flexible with your times. It's pretty much a guarantee that all of the "normal" times for eating will be taken by the dining plan members and the hotel guests. You might have better luck with breakfast reservations.

 

Have a blast!!