Eating at Disney???? Help

[Stacy in NJ]

Disney people, Tell me about making reservations for dinner and the best resturants at Disney.

 

We'll be their in late October, and I've purchased the basic meal plan.

 

Do I really need to make reservations for dinner for the whole week as our travel agent recommended?:D

[snickelfritz]

We didn't have a dining plan. We ate at the princess breakfast (reservations a LONG ways in advance). The rest of the time, we ate at the resort or grabbed quicker stuff at the parks (chicken sandwiches, burgers, etc...) We didn't have reservations for any of that.

 

The one place we wanted to go, didn't find out about it until too late to get reservations was Chef Mickeys. I think it's in-between 2 parks on the tram system.

[Just Another Jen]

If you want a character meal-then yes. We always camp at Ft Wilderness and cook a lot of our own food. But we do eat at the parks for counter service meals and always make reservations for at least one character meal. We also usually go in October to attend Mickeys not so scary halloween party. TYhe characters dress up too at that event.

Chef Mickeys is one of our favorites. They serve a meal GFCF waffle!

[abbeyej]

Any table service meals that you want (not counter service) will require reservations. Since the introduction of the dining plans and the frequent offers of free dining plans, it has gotten *exponentially* harder to get in to restaurants without reservations. (There are still a few that are usually easy -- Marrakesh in Morocco in Epcot is one of our favorites, and nearly always has tables available -- but many fill up *months* in advance.)

 

So yes, I agree with your travel agent 100%. Make reservations *now*. You can always cancel any you decide not to use.

 

And this isn't just dinner -- it's breakfast and lunch too... Any time you want a table service meal, you'll need advanced reservations. Also, sometimes it's good to be flexible about meal times. A mid afternoon meal (around 3pm) can get you out of the lines at a hot, crowded time of day while letting you do rides and shows at mid day and early evening when lots of other people are off eating... A late breakfast in a park (around 10 or 10:30) can let you take advantage of a morning extra magic hour (if you're staying on site) and have a park completely to yourselves for a couple of hours, then have a relaxed meal just as the crowds pick up.

 

There are lots of great places to eat at Disney! :) Have a great time!

[ma23peas]

Okay, your personal concierge here...here is the start for you trip!

 

 

I will plan your entire itinerary but I need to know what day of the week you will be arriving...it's key to knowing when the best days to avoid are and how to strategically use your meal plan to maximize your park time. I also need to know where you're staying and what time you'll be checking in.

 

Also, have you bought extra tickets for any of the MNSSHP? What night will that be?

 

I have this down to a science and it works everytime!

 

Give me those details and you'll have a blast!!!

 

Tara

[Krista in LA]

Okay, your personal concierge here...here is the start for you trip!

 

 

I will plan your entire itinerary but I need to know what day of the week you will be arriving...it's key to knowing when the best days to avoid are and how to strategically use your meal plan to maximize your park time. I also need to know where you're staying and what time you'll be checking in.

 

Also, have you bought extra tickets for any of the MNSSHP? What night will that be?

 

I have this down to a science and it works everytime!

 

Give me those details and you'll have a blast!!!

 

Tara

 

Hey! Where were you when I was trying to get our trip planned? We are going the last week in October and I finally gave up on planning everything out. We have some basic plans thanks to the Unofficial Guide, along with tickets to MNSSHP, and reservations at the Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine with Fantasmic seating. Then I gave up.

[Krista in LA]

Disney people, Tell me about making reservations for dinner and the best resturants at Disney.

 

We'll be their in late October, and I've purchased the basic meal plan.

 

Do I really need to make reservations for dinner for the whole week as our travel agent recommended?:D

 

So when in late October? We are going the last week for my dd's 13th birthday. I have never been there before and was totally clueless about all the planning until the kind people here told me.

[Stacy in NJ]

Wow, I had no idea it was so involved!! We're going the week of Halloween and our agent has already made arrangements for the Halloween party Rivendallmom mentioned. We're going to be at Epcot on our first day, so I'll make reservations for an early dinner at Marrakesh as Abbey mentioned (even though it may not be necessary).

 

What is MNSSHP?

 

Also, We're staying at the Polynesian. They offer a Luau thingy. Any experience with that?

[Stacy in NJ]

So when in late October? We are going the last week for my dd's 13th birthday. I have never been there before and was totally clueless about all the planning until the kind people here told me.

 

 

We'll be there the week of Halloween.:D

 

We did a very short 2 day trip a few years ago, but didn't really get a good look around. We're spending 6 days this time.

 

Planning for Disney seems to be very involved!!!! I used our very reliable travel agent that I've used for prior vactions/trips. I did some internet seaches to see how she did price-wise, and I'm happy to say she provided really competitive rates with little planning on my part. I just need to get the eating thing figured out.:tongue_smilie:

 

Are you going to the Not so Scary Halloween party? You're dd should have a terrific birthday!

[Stacy in NJ]

We didn't have a dining plan. We ate at the princess breakfast (reservations a LONG ways in advance). The rest of the time, we ate at the resort or grabbed quicker stuff at the parks (chicken sandwiches, burgers, etc...) We didn't have reservations for any of that.

 

The one place we wanted to go, didn't find out about it until too late to get reservations was Chef Mickeys. I think it's in-between 2 parks on the tram system.

 

 

I'll look into Chef Mickey. Our hotel is on the tram line, so that might work out well.

 

I have two ds' so breakfast with a princess isn't a priority.;)

[ChristusG]

Yes, definitely make reservations for any table service meal. However, if you are going at the end of this October....as in a month away....you may be too late for some reservations. Some you should still be okay for though.

 

We're Disney freaks LOL. We live 2.5 hours from The World, we go ate least once a year, we're also going at the end of October. We have reservations for Chef Mickey's, Hollywood & Vine, and 1900 Park Fare. I may make another for Whispering Canyon but I'm not sure yet. We're not doing the dining plan. We've added it up and it just wont be worth it for us. There's no way we'll eat that much food and we can eat for much cheaper than that.

 

Planning for Disney can be VERY overwhelming for someone who has never been or doesnt go often. I grew up on Disney so I've never been confused LOL! But there's so many options that I know it could get sooooooo confusing.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them for ya!

 

You might can get some of the princess meals still. I called only a few weeks ago and got ressies to Cinderella's Royal Table, but I ended up cancelling them. And ressies to CRT are usually the hardest to get.

[Krista in LA]

What is MNSSHP?

 

 

It's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We are going to it on Oct. 28. What date are you going?

[Stacy in NJ]

It's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We are going to it on Oct. 28. What date are you going?

 

We'll be there on 10/31. Our agent said it was hard to book.

[Deece in MN]

Disney people, Tell me about making reservations for dinner and the best resturants at Disney.

 

We'll be their in late October, and I've purchased the basic meal plan.

 

Do I really need to make reservations for dinner for the whole week as our travel agent recommended?:D

 

You have received some great advice already! We just got back from Disney and had a great time! I would highly recommend getting reservations. I saw soo many people turned away from sit-down restaurants because they were booked for the night.

 

I loved O'hana at the Polynesian! We also loved Le Cellier in Canada in Epcot's World Showcase. Le Celleir might be tough to get into, but definitely worth it! We ate at Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom and after this year the dinner will no longer be a character meal. It wasn't exceptional, but the service and food were good and we wanted one character meal during our trip. The other places we ate were Coral Reef (Epcot), Tusker House (Animal Kingdom), Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge), and Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue (Fort Wilderness Lodge & Campground). I thought they were all nice. We ate at Boma for breakfast and I would probably not do that again. The food was great, but it was typical American type foods. There were a few African/ethnic choices, but not as many as I was hoping. I do want to try them again for dinner as I have heard great things about their dinner menu. The Hoop Dee Doo was fun, but I would not recommend going to the 9:30pm show. That was the only time I could get a reservation, but it is so late to be eating a big meal. The food was great and the show was entertaining, but this will probably be a one time thing for us. I enjoyed Tusker House as they had many ethnic dishes to try. My dh and ds are quite picky and are meat and potatoe eaters, but they did ok at Tusker House. I don't know that they would want to go there again, though. Coral Reef was good and we had a great table by the aquarium. Overall, I think this was probably the least favorite, but that is mostly because my family is not big into seafood (I thought it was great and they do have steak on the menu).

 

I don't know if you can go wrong with any restaurant you choose. :) You can go to http://www.allears.net and look at sample menus for the different restaurants to get an idea of what they offer. That is how I made most of our choices because I have some picky people to work around.

 

We also did the Halloween party and it was great! Everyone enjoyed it.

 

Have fun!

 

Deece

[Stacy in NJ]

Thanks so much for the reviews. We'll definately eat at O'hana and Le Cellier sounds good. Soooo many choicessssssssssssssss. My head hurts. :-) Thanks all!!!!

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Are you all talking about Disney Land or Disney World? We are going to Disney Land the last week of Oct as well! We have been putting off doing much planning because it's been crazy around here. We have no plans for meals, but I don't know if we'll be doing sit-down dinners much with three crazy little boys. :)

 

Is MNSSHP at DL or DW?

[kokotg]

We've found 'Ohana to be hit or miss, but you should definitely try it since you're staying at the Polynesian. We've eaten at Kona there, too, and it was good but nothing too exciting. We all LOVE Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (for dinner, not breakfast). It is actually my DH's favorite restaurant period, not just at Disney World. The food is nothing special at Liberty Tree Tavern, but we've had great character interactions both times we've gone, and the kids love it.

 

If you have trouble getting what you want when you call, you can keep trying until your trip, since cancellations are very common.

 

have fun!

[Jan in SC]

Whatever you decide, you need to be on the phone Monday morning. The free dining was extended for a lot of people. We just returned from a week at Disney and while the parks were very manageable, the restaurants were sold out because everyone was on a dining plan!

The Canadian restaurant was sold out 6 months in advance. We were able to get in for lunch, but not for supper. It was wonderful!

 

Bottom line... plan quickly & call SOON!!!!

 

Have a wonderful trip!

 

PS- The Tusker House in Animal Kingdom was gross!

[ma23peas]

Stacy...we stayed at the Poly and it's my kids favorite...

 

Here's what I would do...

 

Never go to Magic Kingdom on a weekend, stick to Mondays-Thursdays...hit Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios on the weekend if you must or visit Downtown Disney...the crowds just make it miserable...you may find that doing MNSSHP on the day before or even two days before might be better than the 31st..it's going to be a madhouse even with the limited tickets. Just make sure you have a plan to stick together (walkie talkies are great if you split up)

 

Must eats:

 

Epcot: Le Cellier...but if you want more 'fun' you might try the Teppanyaki, thought it was changing names but they cook in front of you and that might be fun for the boys.

 

Hollywood Studios...you must eat at Sci-Fi with two boys, it's just too much fun and the food is greasy but good....

 

Animal Kingdom...strategy here..plan the breakfast at the character breakfast think it's Donald's Dinosaur thing or something...make ressies for the earliest time...you can get into the park and have eaten before they open the gates..run yourself over to the safari ride or Mt. Kilimanjaro and knock out those rides first...that's really the best part of some character breakfasts is that you can get into the park early.

 

Magic Kingdom, our kids really liked eating at the castle..there's just something cool about eating in the castle..but I think you'd have just as much fun at Liberty Tree Tavern.

 

We did not like the luau...but we did like O'hana's...they've changed the menu a bit but it's fun for the boys and you're right there...

 

We always start our first night out at Chef Mickey's then head to Magic Kingdom afterwards...just take the tram to Contemporary then to the park or just enjoy the short walk to Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary. It kicks our family trip off to a great start and puts us in that Disney frame of mind.

 

If you like Irish, Raglan Road is supposed to be really cool (Downtown Disney) and they have a new dinosaur restaurant your sons might really like, not sure if they're taking ressies yet or if it's on the dining plan.

 

The only restaurant I would avoid would be Tony's in Magic Kingdom...I picked the ones above for their strengths on fun food fare you can only get at Disney.

 

Tara

[Jennifer in MI]

Wow, I had no idea it was so involved!! We're going the week of Halloween and our agent has already made arrangements for the Halloween party Rivendallmom mentioned. We're going to be at Epcot on our first day, so I'll make reservations for an early dinner at Marrakesh as Abbey mentioned (even though it may not be necessary).

 

What is MNSSHP?

 

Also, We're staying at the Polynesian. They offer a Luau thingy. Any experience with that?

 

We just returned from Disney. We're Disney freaks here! We tend to go with the flow for lunches and have dinner reservations at nice places for dinner.

 

We LOVED the luau thingy! It's separate from O'Hanas though - just so you know. It's a dinner show and will cost you two sit down dinners for each person on your meal plan. It was VERY worth it for us!

 

Some of our favorite places for sit down meals:

 

O'Hanas - We just ate there the day we were at Magic Kingdom - hop on the monorail and you are there. VERY yummy.

 

Le Cellier - Definately call for ressies. Eat later here (7:30 or so) and the fireworks there start at 9. Good viewing from Canada (IMHO!). (Sorry - but we ate at marakesh and we really didn't like it at all. I ordered a beef/couscous dish and was very disappointed. It was SOOOOO bland!!! So, YMMV!)

 

Whispering Canyon - this is my boys' favorite restaurant. Food is okay - atmosphere is REALLY fun!!! Our waiter kept us laughing ALL night!!

 

Boma - Simply AMAZING. Really - my kids tried foods that they didn't even know what was in it!

 

Coral Reef - Fun! You eat while watching the fish swim around. Very good food.

 

Hoop De Doo - VERY fun. Dinner show and will cost you two sit down meals on the plan. Everyone in my family wanted to do this again!

 

Brown Derby - My kids were NOT impressed with this place. I didn't go, so I can't say. Plus, it cost two meals!

 

MNSSHP - My kids did this. It was AWESOME!!! They got complete access to the rides with no lines! Plus they came home with too much candy. We gave it to the person who cleaned our room.

 

To top off our trip, we won in the Year of A Million Dreams!!!! We got passes to stay at Magic Kingdom after it closed one night. They threw a wonderful dance party where my dd danced with all the characters. Only about 50 - 100 people were there at any one time (at the dance party. Nearly 1000 passes were given out). All the rides were open and there was such a fun atmosphere!! It was sort of eerie with the park so empty after dark!!

 

Have fun planning. Just decide which park you want to go to on each day and plan your meals around that. Are the extra magic hours out yet? We did avoid the parks with extra magic hours because we were told they tended to be busier on those days. But, if you want to stay later, plan your days that way. Let us know what you decide!!

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

YES! I hated the idea of planning where we were going to eat before we got there, but in retrospect, I wish we had. We had wanted to try several restaurants, but were unable to get in AT ALL. WE went after Thanksgiving, which is considered one of their quiet times. FWIW!

[LizzyBee]

We just got back from Disney. We made our meal reservations several months in advance, and still didn't get any of our first choices.

 

If you can't get reservations in the park you're in for the day, Wolfgang Puck's in downtown Disney was incredible. Transportation is a royal pain though, because the buses do not run from the parks to downtown. You have to take a bus to a resort, then another bus or boat to downtown.

 

In Animal Kingdom, dh and the older girls loved, loved, loved Tusker House. I didn't get to eat there because our 7 yo was sick that day, so we were stuck in the hotel room.

 

We ate at the Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios. It was very good, but I didn't see any reason it should be worth 2 table services. Quick Dining in Hollywood Studios was terrible. We walked into a couple of places and didn't even find the smells appealing, so I think we just used snack credits and skipped our QD meal.

 

We ate at the Rose and Crown in Epcot. The food was good, but the service was not as good as the other TS restaurants we tried. We had lunch at the Tangarine Cafe in Morrocco, and really enjoyed that. I thought for sure the girls would be freaked out by the choices, but they liked it too.

 

By the way, the ladies on the board helped us choose our restaurants. I told my dh y'all are the Well Trained Disney Guides.

[Karenciavo]

Le Cellier is wonderful, but it is one of the most difficult restaurant to get an ADR for due to delish steaks and great value (you could make up the cost of the meal plan for the day here.) Good luck with that. :001_smile:

 

We just returned from the Poly 26 days ago, I loved the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes at Kona for breakfast.

 

Teppanyaki is now Teppan Edo and it is delicious.

 

You're going during the food and wine festival, be sure to save some room for all the wonderful food you'll find in World Showcase.

[Stacy in NJ]

pineapple macadamia nut pancakes? Sounds heavenly!

 

I looked into the food and wine festival...I'm not sure about that.

[Sugarfoot]

We'll be there in mid-November, and we have 2 dining reservations per day all laid out. You may not need that many:), but you won't regret having them when you're all tired and hungry. It just makes things easier for us with a 2 year old and a 1 year old to have a plan. We're more relaxed that way, but that's just our preference. We never miss Chef Mickey's or the Crystal Palace, or the Garden Grille, or the Biergarten....oh, or Mama Melrose! Those are all places that we've seen people without reservations be turned away. I'd make a list of sure places that you want to get to and call the reservation line. Then you won't have to worry about it during your trip!

[Matryoshka]

Are you all talking about Disney Land or Disney World? We are going to Disney Land the last week of Oct as well! We have been putting off doing much planning because it's been crazy around here. We have no plans for meals, but I don't know if we'll be doing sit-down dinners much with three crazy little boys. :)

 

 

We went to Disney Land in April, and we ate breakfasts of Trader Joe's cereal, brought cheese sandwiches, sliced apples and trail mix to the park for lunch, and then left around 6 and had dinner elsewhere. (Okay, we were staying with relatives, so we had a hot meal waiting for us :tongue_smilie: - but I think we'd have eaten outside the park). We loved looking at the restaurant you can see at the start of the Pirates of the Carribean ride, but when I looked at the prices, I just about fainted. The one night we ate in the park (stayed for fireworks), we did take out at one of the places in New Orleans.

 

We went for the rides, not to pay outrageous amounts of money on so-so food. Okay, even if it were fabulous, I can't spend $40 on an entree.

 

I admit if I were in Epcot I'd probably have to eat some food :) but the last time I was at Disney World it wasn't built yet. (Yes, I'm as old as dirt).

 

Anyway, we did nothing but buy entrance tickets.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

That is how we did food when we went a few times as kids. It was so nice to go as a grown-up (without kids or spouse) and just buy food whenever I was hungry, LOL. I think we'll do a modified version of this on our trip this next month. Thanks for the input.

[LilyK]

Have fun. Lucky!!!

[StaceyinLA]

I mentioned the places we ate. I have done the Morocco food and not been impressed (and I love that kind of food). We were very pleased with Tutto Italia, and we tried hard to get Teppan Edo because of reviews we've read (totally booked though).

 

If you are eating at traditional times, you will certainly need reservations (and for some restaurants, it won't matter what time it is, there will be crowds), but for many of them, if you eat at off-times (late lunch, early supper, etc) you may be able to pull it off with no reservations. I, personally, liked having reservations so we could plan better.

 

Check out my post when you get a minute...

[Gretchen in NJ]

Okay, your personal concierge here...here is the start for you trip!

 

 

I will plan your entire itinerary but I need to know what day of the week you will be arriving...it's key to knowing when the best days to avoid are and how to strategically use your meal plan to maximize your park time. I also need to know where you're staying and what time you'll be checking in.

 

Also, have you bought extra tickets for any of the MNSSHP? What night will that be?

 

I have this down to a science and it works everytime!

 

Give me those details and you'll have a blast!!!

 

Tara

This girl knows what she is talking about. I would take her up on her offer.:001_smile:

[Saille]

I particularly liked the Japanese steak house in Epcot, and we also found that the African themed restaurants in the Animal Kingdom park were good. The one in the Animal Kingdom Lodge is *amazing*, but I doubt it's covered on the basic plan. My in-laws treated, so I just shut my eyes when the check came 'round. Also, at the back of Animal Kingdom (near the Safari ride), there's a fruit stand that has box lunches with fruit, nuts and cheeses (including Brie), so while we were waiting for a popular ride, we actually had a very tasty, nutritious lunch we didn't have to wait for.

[Jennifer in MI]

I particularly liked the Japanese steak house in Epcot, and we also found that the African themed restaurants in the Animal Kingdom park were good. The one in the Animal Kingdom Lodge is *amazing*, but I doubt it's covered on the basic plan. ride, we actually had a very tasty, nutritious lunch we didn't have to wait for.

 

If this is Boma - it IS covered under the basic meal plan!! That meal would've cost our family nearly $200! With our free meal plan, our family ate over $1500 worth of food in 5 days. It was SO worth it for us!

[kokotg]

The one in the Animal Kingdom Lodge is *amazing*, but I doubt it's covered on the basic plan. My in-laws treated, so I just shut my eyes when the check came 'round.

 

Boma (the buffet) is a regular, one credit meal. Jiko is 2 credits (haven't eaten there, though I hear good things. If we can ever get there without the kids....)

[Bev in B'ville]

(and my dd is a Disney baby!)

 

I haven't heard anything at Disney Village mentioned. If you like Italian, try Portabello's. You'll need a reservation, but the food is good and then you can walk around Disney Village afterwards. Anything you can buy at the parks, you can buy at Disney Village and more.

 

Also, at The Boardwalk there's Spoodles, which has really good Mediterranean food. On the other side of The Boardwalk, near the Yacht/Beach Club, is an old fashioned ice cream shop. They have the best ice cream sundaes, but be forewarned - they are HUGE. Order one and get several spoons. Around The Boardwalk is also a good place to see the fireworks from EPCOT.

 

HTH.

[LizzyBee]

If you are eating at traditional times, you will certainly need reservations (and for some restaurants, it won't matter what time it is, there will be crowds), but for many of them, if you eat at off-times (late lunch, early supper, etc) you may be able to pull it off with no reservations. I, personally, liked having reservations so we could plan better.

 

Even with reservations, we had to eat at odd times, 2:00 one day and 2:10 another day. If the dining plan promotion is over, maybe the TS restaurants won't be quite as busy, though.

 

Stacey, Sorry we missed you there. I left a msg on your phone the day we were both scheduled to be in Epcot, but I saw your other post saying that you were sick one day, so I'm sure that messed up your schedule. My 7 yo was sick the day we went to Animal Kingdom, so she and I spent most of that day in the hotel room. :ack2:

[teachermom_7]

Wow, I had no idea it was so involved!! We're going the week of Halloween and our agent has already made arrangements for the Halloween party Rivendallmom mentioned. We're going to be at Epcot on our first day, so I'll make reservations for an early dinner at Marrakesh as Abbey mentioned (even though it may not be necessary).

 

What is MNSSHP?

 

Also, We're staying at the Polynesian. They offer a Luau thingy. Any experience with that?

 

 

If I remember correctly the Rain Forest Cafe was at Epcot ~ over by The Living Seas. It's a great little place to eat, kids love it, and it didn't require reservations at lunch (not sure about dinner).

 

I also 2nd the recommendation for the Princess Breakfast. My daughter STILL talks about when we went to that when she was five ~ she's EIGHT!!! Very good meal, not too expensive, and the absolute fantasy for a little girl of ANY age!!

 

Mickey's Cafe was really neat, too, if you want autographs and pictures with the characters.

 

We kept our expenses to a minimum on dining and only ate one really good meal each day in the park. I've never stayed at the Polynesian, but just about all of the hotels have a breakfast provided, so if you do a light lunch, you can get by with just one big ticket meal each day.

 

Hope you have a BLAST!!!! We're going back next year. This time of year is the BEST time to go!! Lines aren't long since most kiddos are in school and the weather is terrific.