This is such an exciting day for me! This is the first "real" installment of Disney Tips Tuesday! Today I'm asking for all the tips you can think of in regard to restaurants.
So far, here's the advice I have received:
1. Make reservations NOW. (So really I should have done it last week. But what I haven't done, I haven't done, and I really want your input ... so I'm waiting until tomorrow.)
2. Plan what park you'll visit based on the night you have reservations at one of the restaurants in the park. (Again, restaurants first, parks second.)
3. Do the Disney Dining Plan. (Done.)
4. Eat at 'Ohana (at the Polynesian) and Chef Mickey's (at the Contemporary).
The other restaurant I think we might like to try is Coral Reef at Epcot. It just looks cool, but I don't know anything about the food.
So, Internet: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT? Hit me!
Next week: PARKS.
10 comments:
We're going next week and we made our reservations right at the point where the reservations open up. You might have an easier time eating early with the younger ones. If you're staying on park property, there are special hours where one park is open early or late each day. We based the reservation nights on that, as well as the special evening performances at each park (like Spectromagic, Fantasmic, etc.--we found out by looking at the website www.wdwinfo.com that they don't all perform every night.) It was this great matrix of late park hours, show times and restaurant reservations. Which I totally see you getting into!
At any rate, we used our Disney Dining Plan and doubled up a meal to do the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. Then we have reservations for Coral Seas (I thought it looked cool, too), and Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We still have one night open--I'm not sure what we'll end up doing. Good luck!
We have not been to Disney in the last couple of years - but have gone about 7 or 8 times total. One thing that is neat is if you eat at the Brown Derby and one other restaraunt in MGM, then you get to sit in a special place at Fantasmic and not have to sit there for a couple of hours before "holding" your spot. We did this the last two times we went and it worked great.
Also, my kids really love the drive in movie theater at MGM for lunch. Mom's Cafe at MGM can be fun, too.
We ate at the Coral Reef two different times and it was just OK. Kind of a place we would go when we could not eat somewhere else - it is cool and let's you relax - but it is not going to be hot weather when you are there.
We have tried the last three times to go to the Hoop-De-Doo review and have not been able to get in - but thought it looked cute!
Have a great time!
Susan
Thanks for your comment on my blog! Are you guys going to Disney World??? Even though I'm 30, I am dying to go. Hope you guys have a great time and post a lot of photos!
Tour guide mike and unofficial guide to WDW say to stay away from the park that has extra magic hours that day, too crowded. We love Ohana's, princess norway dinner at Epcot, the garden grill at epcot, hollywood and vine at hollywood studios, crystal palace at magic kingdom. All of these are either buffet or family style, except Norway, but they have normal kid's meals.
I've heard that Ohana's isn't as good as it used to be - and the 'good' food is at the luau. The performance is great and it's totally worth getting a reservation if you can. That said, I would still try Ohana's even if you can't get to the luau. We have never eaten at any of the restaurants other than Ohana and Tony's Town Square (which served a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner even though it's Italian-themed...). We eat at the places where you don't need a reservation, and have never gone hungry :)
I grew up in South Florida, and was lucky enough to visit quite often (I stopped counting at 125). You HAVE to eat at Cape May (at the Boardwalk). Yummy clam-bake style buffet. The clam chowder is da bomb!!
BTW, you definitely do need to check on the fireworks and other nighttime shows. When we went last year, we pretty much planned what park to visit based on if there was a nighttime event that we wanted to see. Then you can plan your meals by that. I had forgotten about that until I read Lauren's comment. So pick the park for the day first, especially since I think you said you weren't going to park hop.
Princess meal at Epcot's Norway is awesome (reservations required) Chef Mickey's is good too. One thing to remember with the dining plan, YOU GET ALOT OF FOOD! If you can't get an advance reservation somewhere, try walking up and seeing if you can still get it. We did that w/ 3 different places. Check out my blog for our trip, especially this page:
http://thewelchsgrapenews.blogspot.com/2009/10/yummo.html
I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but there is only one sit down restaurant that counts on your meal plan at Animal Kingdom, and it wasn't that good. Lots of African type food that the kids wouldn't touch - I ended up getting them fruit out of the display baskets and cookies. If you are doing a big dinner (that counts as two meals), maybe just do a fast food type at Animal Kingdom. Don't know if your kids are still Winnie the Pooh fans, but Crystal Palace at Magic King. has those characters and a great buffet. They do a parade for the kids to join. Also, fyi - even though you didn't buy a meal plan for Jake (under two don't need one) everyone will still give him a meal at the sit down places. The first night I was trying to base what I was going to eat, thinking my daughter would have to share, and the waitress said not to worry, and brought her chicken strips, a drink, and everything. We're hoping to return in a year, so I'm taking notes on everything. : ) Kim
Ok, I was going to email you, but outlook is doing something funky right now. First - you can view menus at www.allears.net - this can help see if there is even something you'll like!! If you do not have a park hopper, you might also want to check the park hours - some close early for special days, and that might effect reservations. I like to personally have a restuarant at the park we are in, so we don't feel like we HAVE to leave if we're having a good time to go to a resort (like for O'hana) - but I have heard good things about them both. At Magic Kingdom, we LOVED (favorite meal BY FAR) Liberty Tree. Just some good ol' Thanksgiving type food - you don't have a choice what they bring, but they bring a LOT of variety. We also LOVE Crystal Palace - even though Pooh's there, we've just enjoyed the buffet. MGM in my opinion has the worst restaurants, but Mama Melrose's was our favorite - OR you can just do 2 quick service on your MGM day, and use 2 table services another day ...
Epcot, our faves are Germany (kids LOVE it and were disappointed I didn't make it - but I like to try new restaurants!) It's a buffet. And Le Cellier in Canada, but it's near impossible to get reservations!! At Animal Kingdom, there is Yak & Yeti - it was good asian food, but was FREEZING and according to the reviews, it is cold in there all the time ...
As for the meal plan, with the quick services, if there is a meal you can share, do it! the boy's quick service are only kid's meals if you order them at the same time as yours. For example, at MK, if you go to Starlight Cafe there is a rotesserie chic & BBQ ribs meal that is HUGE - you would not need all the food - order 2 and you could really feed everyone. Or, just about ... AND - you do not have to get dessert. Ask for a bottled water as your dessert. if someone tells you they can't do that -they're a rookie. They absolutely can, and do (but we did have one person in the past 3 years of doing this not know what we were talking about ...) Ok, surely I'm running out of room on YOUR blog - call me if you need any other info about dining ;)
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